the new drug capital

growing up like most americans, the only thing i knew about medellin, colombia was that pablo escobars cartel had waged a brutal war in the streets fueled by american money from the cocaine trade. the city is now one of the most extraordinary cities ive ever been to; safe, modern, progressive architecture, perfect climate ("the city of the eternal spring"), beautiful women, with the added chaos of latin america.

medellin is home to the famous artist, fernando botero who has donated much of his work to the citys plazas and museum. he is known for drawing fat characters.

really neato subjects

he was trained as a child to become a bull fighter but gave it up

the cartel violence permeated all society. entitled 'car bomb'
pablo escobar in his final resting place
it also has a fantastic interactive museum probably the best ive ever seen. everything is hands-on and enjoyable for every age. even dudes as cool as me.

remember those handheld pin thingys as kids?

one of the exhibits was about sensory experience and the mind. the strings represent firing synapses.
this is about perception and the social inhibitions with drinking clean water from a bidet.

i went a pablo escobar tour that explained his rise to power, reign of terror, violence, wealth and impact on the culture and legacy.

basically through ruthlessness and cunning he controlled and grew the cocaine trade in colombia, america and throughout the world. he ran the medellin cartel and controlled 80% of the worlds cocaine sales. the southern city of cali, also had a cartel that escobar felt didnt need to exist thus plunging the country into civil war between multiple factions; the medellin cartel, cali cartel, military and government, the underground arm of the us and government called "los pepes."

one of his 200+ homes/properties, he built all his buildings in white as homage to "the white." it was the first carbombing by the cali cartel, that set the war in motion. in response he and his men walked the street firing randomly into the surrounding homes.

this is an escobar building that was bombed and he just left it. the graffiti reads "pablo lives"

this is another carbombed building that fronted as a legit business but was used for logistics and money laundering. it is reported the cartel spent $2,500/month in rubber bands to bind money. after a brief term as a senator where he exhorted and threatened politicians to change laws to prohibit extradition he agreed to prison. with the caveat that he be allowed to build and run the joint. after an assassination attempt he was on the run for 466 days. he made a call for just over 2 minutes (like in the movies) to his son. they traced the call to his aunts house where the final shootout took place. he jumped out the back window and was shot 100+ times.

the military shaved his moustache to look like hitler
his gravestone with a gift of baking soda left by some adorning fan

we also went to a club called mangoes one of the strangest, most unexpected bars ive ever seen. there are dancing midgets, scantily clad women, caricatures of colombian president uribe and venezuelan president hugo chavez.

"traditional" colombian dance to shakira

uribe and chavez kissing

midget riding a pig