Imagine you own a big rock in the middle of nowhere and decide to sculpt stairs out of this rock that people can walk up, and you later realize that was the best idea ever as now hundreds of people pay 6 USD to step up, and you make a fortune of money. That is what might have happened with the Peñol stone next to the city of Guatapé. Around the business of walking up the stairs, the owners created a whole bunch of businesses: restaurants, helicopter flights, souvenir shops, picture spots etc. etc.
But from the start… From Medellin, you can book a full-day tour to Guatapé. Besides some other spots your tour agency might visit with you, you will surely visit the lakes of “Embalse Del Peñol” and do a boat ride. After that, you will see the city of Guatapé with the highlight at the end, walking up the Peñol.
The lakes are called “Embalse Del Peñol”, or in fact, it’s one big lake that looks from the top like a giant ink splash, with a lot of fractions, side arms, pools, and small islands everywhere. Driving around, you will realize that this is an excellent area to live, and a lot of rich people are attracted to it. The lake is full of mansions, villas, and domicils of the rich. During the boat ride, the guide will probably point to one or the other famous houses of famous soccer players or politicians.
From now on, you will visit the city of Guatapé. You will immediately realize that nothing is real there. It’s all made up, artificial, and manicured. They are open to that and say this city is just there because of tourism. In the past (before the big stone), it was just a tiny town with some people enjoying the silence. Nowadays, people are floating in the city, graving for the latest hit in souvenir shops.
Finally, you will drive to the parking lot of “El Peñón de Guatapé”. And you will see THIS:
You may be scared, but these 715 steps are easy as it’s like a stairway. Compared to 715 natural steps on the Inca Trail, it’s more like a walk in the park. The stairs have numbers, which might help you get motivated if you know that halfway is done.
When you are up the hill, you are rewarded with two things: an amazing view and tons of mosquitos. It might be related to the weather, but I had to leave again after a couple of minutes as they tried to eat me alive.
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