Colombia: Villa de Leyva > Medellin
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
Jan 2026 |
This ride was mostly about getting from point A to B, which was fine as it wasn't overly about it and it rained alot. Medellin was superb, and a planned short stop turned into a 2-week stay.
Ride 1: Villa de Leyva > Puerto Berrio
This was my second stop in VDL. It was nice to pop in, eat some good pizza, and drink a Pauliner. From VDL the first hour was a route I had already ridden (towards Barrichara). Then I turned west onto Highway 62 towards Puerto Berrio, my target stop for the day. It rain most of the ride. There was a terrible washout on the road and a major detour that was a big muddy mess -- I was crapping my pants that I would slip out and drop my bike, but I made it. Got to Puerto Berrio, a truly bizarre port town on the massive Magdalena River. I had read to avoid the place as it "is run by gangs", but I managed to survive one night. It is incredible how many dive bars there are in this town.
The pics below don't represent the entire ride! But they do highlight some of the conditions I faced along the way.
Ride: 221 km / 7 hours
R2: Puerto Berrio > Medellín
This road was decent, becoming a 4-lane highway for the last 90 minutes or so into Medellin. The ride into the city was easy, no crazy driving as I had seen in Bogota. As you get closer to the city, the valley narrows, it's built high up on either side of a valley. I booked a room at El Pablado Guesthouse, in the heart of a major tourist area. On Google Maps, I noticed a Spanish school nearby, booked 1 week of lessons, then extended for a second. For the first week, I street-parked my T7 at the school. I moved to an Airbnb for the second week, up the mountain, and rode to/from school every day. Medellin is a city with some fancy malls, where many Chinese car brands are showcased -- and almost no Western ones. The only tourist thing I did was ride to Escobar's house, "La Catedral", though I didn't pay to go in. I got some major dental work done whille there, something the city is famous for. Gotta say: you can see why Medellin is a growing hot-spot for tourism and digital nomadism -- it rocks.
Ride: 172 km / 4 hours
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