The city formerly known as MCOTW

It's never been a better time to visit Medellin. In the city of eternal spring it's 25C all year round. The people are considered to be some of the warmest and most gracious in Colombia, which is impressive by their standards. Its metro system is efficient, the eating options are diverse and it has developed as a hub for modern architecture. Even murder is at an all time low.

Hostel RAM. Terrible name but great setup. In our favorite conspiracy as to how it operates with such low turnover of guests, we are the beneficiaries of an elaborate laundering scheme.

A city desperate to shrug off it's former reputation - in the 90s it was the murder capital of the world - it has apparently transformed since ridding itself of Pablo Escobar almost 20 years ago and we like it immediately. Because as far as first impressions go Medellin strikes an emphatic home run. The weather is hot, the hostel has a pool and it sublets the fronting section of the house to a burger bar. It has undeniably good burgers (Ferg, Tolano get in line) and Nic sees the danger immediately; we will not be eating every meal here, she clearly states.

 Huge claim

But completely justified. Mexican burger, 'rustic' fries and Heinz ketchup. Perfectly seasoned pattie and fresh everything else. Slurped down with free refills! Big win.

Which is fine by me because we've done some research and there's a glut of great places to eat. We'd made lots of plans for our time here because in the month building up to Christmas we'd planned to spend over a week in Medellin. This gets cut back to 4 days after a last minute change of heart in Salento and so a few things get squeezed off the list. But one thing we couldn't miss were the famous Christmas lights. Mostly because there's hardly a horiztonal surface in the city without something luminous draped across it, they are everywhere. With Escobar's millions gone from the economy who knows who's footing the power bill.

Maximising your busking revenue - cars 3 blocks back can see these clowns

Orchideorama in the botanical gardens

The Christmas lights and decorations hung across the city culminate in a several kilometer long stretch of fluorescence along the Rio Medellin. In the evening the locals crowd the river bank and stalls line up along the length of the river selling all sorts of fried foods. We escape the throngs to the higher ground of a highway overpass. The sight is intriguing. There's no doubt the lights are something to behold in a sort of low-tech Las Vegas homage type way, but it's difficult to find the Christmas theme amongst it all. It's as if someone searching in the farthest recesses of the council storage cupboard drew out a string of bulbs depicting a cycloptic, javelin throwing, unicyclist and confused it for a fourth wise man. We catch a cab home and it's all I can manage not to have a nightcap of burger.

 Even if the love between these two fatties could set them free of their bronzed confines, the impracticalities of the romance are plain to see

Artwork by Botero

Possibly the coolest feature of any metro system in the world, Medellin's train system is linked to a gondola that daisy chains between stations on the valley slopes. Ill-conceived Christchurch gondola this is not - it's a legitimate mode of transport for people living in the hillside suburbs that can be ridden on the same cheap metro ticket. The final station, several hundred meters above the base of the valley and nearly 10km from the base station deposits you in a national park which feels far removed from the city. And all in a 15 minute gondola ride. Not a bad alternative to weekday gridlock in a city of 2.3 million.

View back from gondola station. The green strip running across the page at the bottom of the valley is alongside the Rio Medellin.

I'd hoped to write a little bit more about what we did and how much we liked it etc. But it's just gone 11pm, I'm tired and we've got a couple of days of transit ahead of us so I need to get something posted now. Medellin is great and you should go there. Goodnight.

xN&G