Speaking of one of the above mentioned exports, Medellin is probably worst known for it's relationship with the cocaine trade, particularly in the 80's and 90's where it was also regarded as the most dangerous city in the world mainly thanks to a man called Pablo Escobar. He caused chaos and pandemonium in the town by offering $500 for the head of any policeman in the mid 80's, which was a successful campaign apparently.
The most interesting thing we did in Medellin was certainly the Pablo Escobar Reality Tour. Which was a short tour showing some of his old residences, the places he blew up, the site of his execution and eventually his grave.
The reason why this tour was so interesting was the tour guide. At first it seemed that he was only furthering Escobar's false iconic status, but over the course of the tour he managed to completely erase that status. He is without doubt one of the most horrific people to have ever lived, as all the killing he did through the hands of others and other shocking exploits was for nothing but the expansion of his empire and personal wealth - which was quite considerable, so considerable in fact that he offered to pay off Colombia's national debt (a sum of approximately 20 billion at the time) for the simple favour of legalising cocaine.
The CIA and the Colombian government eventually collaborated and formed a squad of 1500 men to capture and kill him, which they eventually did after a whopping 500 day search in 1993.
Sorry for the nasty image, but it really shows how much this execution was a success and a great day for Medellin's and Colombia's future.
These days Medellin is really quite safe if you stay in the right places and we had a few great nights hanging out in the fantastic bar and club scene it offer's, with over one hundred bars in a 3 block area!
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