Las Escaleras Electronicos

First things first, in English, we might pronounce the name of this beautiful city of Medellin as Meh-da-lyn.  In Espanol, it is pronounced, Meh-dha-yen.  But in Colombia and all of South America, it is said as Meh-dha-jeen.

Here’s a vital reminder.  Medellin, the City of Eternal Spring has not always been so sweet. Remember, Pablo Escobar, the “king of cocaine” who ran the world’s most powerful drug trafficker? He ruled the Medellin cartel until his death in 1993.   Around that time, Time Magazine called Medellin “the most dangerous city on earth.”  Drug lords ruled the city, its guns, drugs, and money with violence, intimidation, and murder. 

Turn the page. In 2013, Medellin was named the “most innovative city in the world” by Urban Land Institute.  It now has one of the fastest-growing economies in all of Latin America.  The key to its success: innovative public transportation.

Moving on . . . Here is our look at the Escalators Electronicos, one of the world’s most unique forms of public transportation.  It’s the first of its kind.    To get there we took the Metro to San Javier station.  From that spot, a taxi, bus, or local tour guide takes visitors to the beginning of the escalators.  We walked.   We were not the only ones walking the one mile to the first set of escalators.  Streams of tourist buses and taxis passed us along the way.  Experiencing a ride on the escalators to Villa Sierra is a major tourist attraction indeed but it is a critical means of transport for the village folk.  Between tourists and locals, 20,000 people use the escalators every day.

Before the opening of the escalators in 2011, the people who lived in this mountainside village of Villa Sierra in Comuna 13 had to walk 26 stories down and back up the hill to access transportation to eke out a living in the city.  There were no roads for cars.

Six sets of modern, clean, bright orange-covered escalators now carry locals and tourists alike to the village of Villa Sierra.  Once considered the very deadliest part of the world’s deadliest city, Villa Sierra has overcome the violence and drug business and has transformed itself into a prosperous tourist destination.  The moment one turns up the final street leading to the escalators, things become festive., and from the first step on the escalators, it’s party time and the party grows bigger, brighter, and louder the higher you go.  At the top of the last escalator, there are kiosks of all varieties packed into even the tiniest space.  There are souvenir vendors, music, teams of fantastic break-dancers, salsa bars, places to eat, and places to get a cerveza, or like we did, to have a tropical drink.

We felt perfectly safe milling around Villa Sierra.  Now would I go there at night???  Definitely not.

The main attraction of Villa Sierra is getting there via the escalators and . . .  street art.  Like an open-air gallery, colorful, fantastic art decorates almost every flat, vertical surface.

I took photos.  We watched several street performer groups and ogled the art.  Like being at a fair, we ate.  We tried grilled fresh corn, shared a corn dog and a Maracumango – maracuja juice in a salt-brimmed cup topped off with a cerveza and garnished with mango chunks.  It demands an acquired taste.

While her daughter mixed and served drinks outside, the lady who owned the shop where we bought our drink invited me inside to use the bano to wash my hands.  I got a glimpse into what one of the houses flung upon this hill might be like.  I saw a very clean-looking kitchen to the right where the lady cooked and served home-cooked meals and snacks to patrons at tables outside.  A small living area sat between the kitchen and the bano with all the necessary features and a small, clean shower.  Bedrooms were below.  The floors were tiled and the walls seemed sturdy and surprisingly nice-looking though there was no glass in the windows.  In total the house may have had 400 square feet of floor space.  The house was tiny but serviceable.  Assuredly the neighborhood has not completely overcome its poverty, but this was no shack. 

May you continue to thrive and be safe, Villa Sierra.

One final note, it was a gift, having what seemed to be a world of time in Panama to live like a local and see all the important cities, sites, hikes, and beaches at our leisure.  Since we will be in Medellin for only 13 days, we now feel stressed about getting it all done, all visited in a short period.  We don’t want to miss a thing.  While I’m not a fan of tourist travel, that must be our mode here in Colombia.