How did you welcome your October? Mine starts off with a great weekend getaway! Yup! My dream of a sponsored weekend trip just came true. I've been really wishing that somehow, someday, there would be some amazing sponsored trip to places I've never been. Just like Amanda's all expense paid travel to Mexico. I so envy that trip of her! Anyway, I got my own version of sponsored tour. And it was ah-mazing!
Municipal Government of Medellin invited a team of cavers to explore a few caves in the area. I happen to be one of the lucky cavers to have this rare opportunity. Most of our 1st day in Medellin was spend exploring caves, which I will talk on details in my outdoor blog.
photo by Aldo
The coaster that will take us to Medellin arrived so early in Jollibee, Gorordo Ave. at 5am. We leave Gorodo Ave. for Medellin around 7am, that makes them waiting for 2 hours.You can just imagine the time they had waited for us. But we never heard any tiny bit of complaints from them, most especially from the driver. :) Well, look at us. Aren't we all excited? :)
ALA Mercedes Golden Village and Country Club
We stayed in ALA Mercedes Golden Village and Country Club during our overnight. Locals usually call this place Korean Village. I guess because most people who occupy and stay there were Koreans.
This is not a 5 star hotel but this is one of the best accommodation you can get in Medellin. Its air-conditioned and has a big space, enough to fit 4 people. They also have two clean towel, two toilet paper and a bar of soap which you can use during your stay.
The room goes with this big restroom, equipped with bathtub and hot/cold shower. For a reasonable price of P1,000, I think its worth it. Plus I almost forgot, they also have refrigerator and a TV set that you can use. A little advice though, their TV channels are set to Korean Network. So if you don't know anything about Korean Language, your TV will be useless. :)
If your fond of Korean foods, your lucky. They served Korean breakfast. As for us, we're fortunate. Its not everyday that you can have the pleasure of eating food that your not used to. :) That's the adventure for food right there!
Well anyway, the staff in Mercedes Village were so cool, they made sunny side up just for us. They probably knew we're not into Korean cuisine. :) I do enjoy the vegestable salad though, but not much on Kimchi. I hate spicy food.
While staying at ALA Mercedes Golden Village, as a visitor, you can gain access to their pool. No additional fees required. Too bad we didn't have enough time to take advantage of this. :(
Free access to their golf course is also one of the privileges you have while staying here.
Medellin HideAway
We had our dinner at HideAway, a little farther from Mercedes Village. Mam Jeanette and other staff from Medellin City Hall just bought some home-cooked food for us to share. I found out that these cottages were built by the government and are free for all. NO entrance fee and NO corkage fee for food bought outside the vicinity.
Hideaway has also this beautiful and long bamboo bridge that connects to several cottages ahead. This place are great for couples. The ambiance is so wonderful! Very Romantic! :)
I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures that night but I did make sure I got a shot of this. Now that's what you call a reasonable price!
I thought going to Medellin would be costly. But I just realize its not. Later on my upcoming post, I'll give you some idea where you can stay and what you can do in Medellin. Watch out for my next post, Gibitngil Island of Medellin. :)
