Marsella to Medellín

Solento certainly gave us a taste of Colombian countryside, but my thirst for fresh air and hills was not yet quenched. We met a Mexican-based Colombian tourist in Solento and he highly recommended a place called Marsella for an authentic experience. He likened Solento to Disneyworld, which is hilarious. There are tourists in Solento, but tourism in Colombia remains in its infancy and certainly cannot be compared to the western world. In Bogotá there were no tourists, so for us it was actually good to meet an occasional tourist. Still, we were lured towards the less travelled trail and so decided to venture towards Marsella instead of the traditional tourist route to Medellín. The bus to Pereira and then northwest onto Marsella took about 2½ hours altogether. It was an enjoyable journey as the views were amazing.On arrival to Marsella it was obvious that the locals aren’t used to tourists. The looks we received could be likened to type you get walking into a small old Irish bar at two in the afternoon. We wandered around the pleasant town square and sampled the cuisine. Our waiter was very helpful in terms of tourist information. Bizarrely she kept trying to sell other parts of Colombia – obviously she wasn’t aware of the gem she called home. Far away hills ... There weren’t many accommodation options in the town. There is one place known by the locals but not marked or advertised in any way. There is also an ‘Eco Hotel’ on the outskirts of town. Our waitress called the hotel on our behalf – 90,000 COP for a room (about €36) – expensive for the area, but we decided to ‘treat’ ourselves after hostelling it for the last few days. After our pretty good burger we wandered across the other side of the central square in search of a local taxi. We were greeted by an English speaking local who started telling us his story. There’s always an agenda and it took a while to understand his. The Colombians are extremely friendly and in our experience are always there to help, so we took the time to listen. Turns out he’s a Colombian native who spends most of his time in New York. He was trying to promote his ‘new project’ just 10 minutes drive from the town. He was a genuine guy and obviously well known by the locals so we humoured him by joining him in his Landover to see his ‘nice’ place. He describes everything Colombian as ‘nice’. This was obviously a little risky – he could have turned a gun on us at any stage and taken all our belongings. But our gut feeling suggested otherwise and sometimes you just have to go with the flow and see where it takes you ...

Jorge's Marsella Paradise

Our faith in Jorge paid off as his ‘new project’ was nothing short of spectacular. It turns out that he owns a huge self-sufficient farm in the heart of the coffee region. He had cattle, fowl, pigs, rabbits (yes for eating) and a trout farm providing protein requirements and cultivated fruit, veg, coffee for all the rest. It is a huge place with about 10 full-time workers. They had just finishing building a guest house and outdoor pool and we were invited to be the first guests. The guest house was perfect – everything spanking new and top quality. One look at each other and we accepted the invitation. I was keen to get settled quickly in order to fit in a run before sunset. The hilly 12k evening jog was very enjoyable apart from the odd local dog protecting their territory. I’ve become an expert at handling dogs while running in Colombia, so it was no big deal. That evening after my cool-down dip in the pool we were treated to a fab steak dinner, catered for by Maria the full-time housekeeper. We were treated like royalty. Drinks and fruit to take at our own leisure, three quality meals every day, and staff that attended to our every need. We were their pilot customers and they certainly achieved their aim to please. Only possible complaint was the occasional noise from the dogs and farm animals, but it just fitted it with the place.

One morning we were awoken bright and early – just after 6:15am – to the sound of pigs squealing. It was as if they were being tortured, but turns out they were just expecting food. They’re normally fed at 6:30 and their body clock was kicking in. Now I know where the ‘greedy as a pig’ saying comes from. Once fed they were as happy as that other pig related saying. They pigs were absolutely massive, especially the bigamist boar. It’s a tough life he endures servicing about 10 sows. He’s obviously doing his job as there were about 20 cute little piglets, with another batch on the way. I made the mistake of going over to say hello to be pigs at about 3:45pm one evening. 4pm is another feeding time, so they went mad thinking I was going to provide grub.I was definitely due a speed training session, having been six days since my last. It sounds like confession and the guilt creates a similar feeling. I was going to have to improvise as there is no flat land in the area. A standard time based hill session was an option, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I decided on a broken tempo running up every hill at tempo pace and using downhill as recovery. It turned out to be a bit like a fartlek session. I’m generally not a believer in fartlek sessions unless structured in advance. They can condone laziness if you decide on length of the rep during the session when the body and mind is tired. The hills are defined, so that put a structure on my run. I also make sure to run hard over the top of every crest as during races it’s amazing how many take a breather at the top and lose so much time. There’s always time for a breather at the finish J

There was really no need to leave Jorge’s paradise, but we decided to venture into Marsella to see the sights. There was absolutely no problem taking his 4x4 into the village – there was mutual trust between host and guest at this stage. I even helped out with the corn for a while (don’t tell my dad, as he always had difficulty getting me to work on our own farm). Marsella is a cute little town, but it’s not the reason to visit the area. The amazing countryside is the attraction and we were so lucky to be based in its midst. We visited the unusual cemetery and wandered around the quite streets. If we had more time we could have driven further afield, but we weren’t compelled to leave. There are thermal waters beside a waterfall nearby in Santa Rosa which may have been worth a visit if we had more time.

After three days at Jorge’s place we decided it was time to go to Medellín. I got up with the pigs at 6:30 to fit my run in as it was going to be a day of travelling. Jorge dropped us into the bus station and thanked us for having faith in him. Our trust was certainly rewarded. The stay cost us €110, which could be considered expensive by Colombian standards, but given the full catering and quality of the place and service it was an absolute bargain – a once in a lifetime experience. The bus to Medellín was an arduous seven hour journey. The bus was comfortable, with the Hangover movie to keep us amused, but the continuously meandering roads take their toll. On arrival we got a taxi to the Pit Stop hostel (www.pitstophostel.com). The Pit Stop hostel doesn’t have any Irish connections, but uses the imagery of the drunken Irish to convey its party atmosphere. The Colombian’s seem to associate with the Irish with drinking and the IRA – that’s about it – what an absolutely shame. The Pit Stop hostel certainly delivers on its party image. It’s paradise to those seeking an active nightlife. We weren’t typical guests, but we decided to put up with the noise levels as the room and facilities were good. An Irish backpacker actually died the morning after the night before by the poolside in the Pit Stop hostel last year. In the main it is just harmless fun, but sometimes it just goes too far.

Medellín is a completely different city than Bogotá. Twenty years ago during Pablo Escobar’s era it was the capital of the world’s cocaine industry and had the world’s highest homicide rate, but it’s a completely different place now. It doesn’t feel as safe as Bogotá, but I reckon that’s because there are more tourists around for hard-up locals to prey on. If you’re a little careful and don’t flaunt there's not much to worry about – the same as any major city. There is a huge amount of energy in the city, especially at night. It’s similar to Dublin in character, with Parque Lieras very similar to Temple Bar. The over-ground metro system, including cable car links, makes travel easy. We enjoyed a few top quality meals in the city – Il Castello and Hummus are recommended if you’re ever in the neighbourhood. The restaurant on the top floor of the Dan Carlton also come highly recommended for the views, but we didn’t make it there unfortunately. The city centre is a little grotty and overcrowded, but the outskirts are pristine. Wandering around the centre was worthwhile – we browsed Botero’s statues, the botanic gardens and the San Pedro cemetery. The highlight for me was venturing across this company (San Vincent) specialising in the restoration and renting of classic cars. We stuck our noses in the gate and were invited in to view the 30 odd cars on display. It was a spectacular site. Colombia is a fantastic place for classic car spotting. It’s tempting to go on a hunt and ship one home – maybe next time...

From a running perspective Medellín is difficult. The parks are relatively small and unlike Bogotá the cycle lanes are low quality. There is a particularly good place to run near the city centre airport, but otherwise you’re looking at getting out of the city for long runs. Park Avri is a potential option up a cable car on the metro network, but I didn’t get time to check it out. I did get in my first track session of 2011 in Medellín at their main athletic stadium. The blue track is obviously new as it’s the standard tartan colour on Google maps. Security there was extremely nice and had no problem letting me train there. I got in a particularly pleasing 10 x 1km session. My last session was in Bogotá at 2600m and times were slow. In Medellín at 1500m I was hitting times closer to what I would expect – 3:05/k average. Nothing excellent, but it shows my training is starting to pay off. The lower altitude was a notable difference. I’ve booked my first race back – the New York Gridiron 4 miles on 6th Feb – looking forward to getting back in the game.