Medellin Colombia 哥伦比亚麦德林 – 3/2017 (2)

9/3/2017. From Bogotá, I flew into Medellín instead of taking the bus. It took only 45 minutes instead of 10 hours by bus, due to the mountainous roads. Besides, there was a lot more ground for me to cover in the coming days. Medellín is Colombia’s second-largest city, but I was seduced to come more by its ill repute over the years as a purveyor of specialty weeds. Surrounding this city sprawled rolling and layered mountains, stretching to the distant and obscure end. Near the city center, many contemporary and luxurious apartments stood tall and handsome on the hills to make the city look western and progressive.

The weather was wet and cozy, conducive for almost anything to thrive. No surprise then, that green is the color theme of the city. I made a point of visiting the botanical garden. This was a blessed land, overgrown with flowers as well as weeds, especially those with potency, that both hallucinate and ecstasize. One such homegrown gentleman indeed ingeniously popularized this homegrown weed, which incidentally grows like a weed here. His name, Pablo Escobar, is forever memorialized, his grave now a tourist attraction.

9/3/2017 这次没坐大巴而是破例空降哥伦比亚第二大城麦德林，只费时四十五分；听说因是山路，如做大巴就要超十小时。我是久仰这里盛产可卡因而远道而来。这城确是四面环山，也很美，许多高层公寓都造在山腰，建筑风格得体。

老天还是很眷顾这片土地。我到植物园参观，这土地出美丽的鲜花，也长了野草，有些还是仙草，摄入后飘飘欲仙那种。还记得臭名昭著毒枭老大帕布洛·艾斯科巴 （Pablo Escobar） 吗? 他创办的麦德林毒品集团和盛行西方的可卡因都是这里土生土长的。他坟墓现在成旅游景点，名声遗臭万年。

I took the cable car up the hills to see the city of Medellín from above. This cable car system also serves as public transportation for the people living on the hills. As I ascended the hills, the houses became magnified, the big picture of each becoming a pixel that revealed rough edges. These houses were obviously makeshift, impromptu structures belonging to the less well-to-do section of the populace, erecting the sheds where they spotted any gap. In some Asian cities, the rich occupy the hills for their exclusivity and seclusion. Here, they huddled together as if to keep each other warm. They did not have a choice. I appreciated seeing Medellín in its true colors.

做缆车往山上爬，希望居高临下鸟瞰麦德林市。这缆车也是住在山上居民的公交，逼近山体时，平地看山体密密麻麻的房子开始一一放大的出现眼前，房子在山腰趁虚而入，随机搭建，抱团取暖的一栋一栋紧贴着。有幸目睹庐山真面目，了解麦德林的居民环境。