El Penol and Guatape

El Penol and Guatape are small towns close to Medellin and I visited both of them when I was in Colombia. First I went to the Medellin bus terminal and I bought my bus ticket to El Penol. From Medellin to El Penol it took almost 2 hours and it was a different experience to use the bus between different cities there. The bus sometimes stops and some sellers came onto the bus and asked to sell some snacks or other items.

When I arrive the El Penol I asked the bus driver but probably because of a language problem he misunderstood me and we continued a bit more by bus and then when the bus goes more I told him again and we stopped and I needed to walk back to El Penol almost 30min but it was good I had a chance to see those areas as well.

When I was walking I passed through the Plaza El Tomatero and La Fenix de America and then sit a bit in the Parque Simon Bolivar.

After that, I walked a bit in the center and there were some jeeps for carrying people to the Guatape but they stop where people want to get off. I decided to go El Penon de Guatape. There is an amazing place and a huge rock in the area. When arrive there I walked to the rock and I wanted to see the top. There were almost 700 steps to the top of the rock. Almost every 100 steps needed rest and go up more. In the end, the top view of the rock was amazing. The area has huge lakes and small islands. The top view was so beautiful. I took many photos and bought some souvenirs from there. Over the top, there were some shops and café as well.

I recognized there are some helicopter tours and that day was raining for almost 30 min and then stopped and the sun goes out. I was lucky to see a rainbow over the land. After going down from the rock I went to the restaurant and eat my lunch and then walked around a bit and went to a café to drink coffee and the view of the café was nice as well.

When finish the trip that rock I went back to El Penol by bus and then went to the hotel for check-in. After resting a bit at the hotel. I went for dinner but it was raining a bit. I ate dinner so close to the hotel in a nice place and then walked a bit into the town. There were some concerts. I watched that a bit then go to a café to drink coffee. When the rain got a bit slow I walked a bit more and then went back to the hotel.

On the second day, I went to the Guatape in the early morning and before going there I saw a Iglesia Nuestra Senora de Chiquinquira Church and it was a different style church. I got a taxi to Replica del Penol which was between EL Penol and Guatape. That place was a cute shopping area and had many colorful café and shops.

After that, I went to the Guatape by jeep from there. Guatape was so a beautiful town and so colorful place near the lake. In the morning I had my breakfast there and breakfast was fresh and tasty. After that, I went inside the church in the center and then started walking to the streets. The streets were so colorful and many nice buildings were there.

Plazotela de Los Zocolas was so nice square in the town and there were many colorful umbrellas over the street and nice café and shops for tourists. It was raining a bit but it was so nice experience to see that places. After sitting a bit in those areas walked more in the streets and then went to the lakeside and took a ferry there. The ferry in the lake was going to see views and small islands. On the ferry, the music was nice and many people were dancing with view. We went to see that rock from the lake as well and after some point, we went back to Guatape.

It was a great experience and I went for lunch to a restaurant and tried fish there. When I finished the food went back to the center and drank some more coffee and after that, I went to the small bus terminal and go back to Medellin. I think I will remember all the time my El Penol and Guatape trip to Colombia. It was an amazing time to be there.