GUATAPE (La Piedra). The Most Beautiful Lookout in the World. 71 927Km

Easily done as a day trip from Medellin, the Guatape area is one of those place that you really just have to visit whilst in Colombia. Once an area that was traditionally used for farming, the building of dam and a large hydroelectric project in the 70s had significant economic and environmental impacts on the community. Whilst farming does remain in the are, the development of the lake has seen an influx of tourism and recently a string of resorts and quest houses along the shores.

The main draw card of this area is La Piedra. A giant rock that sits 200m out of the ground and leads to "the most beautiful lookout in the world". It actually sits between two towns, Guatape and Peñol, and so the towns each call the rock a different name claiming that it belongs to them.

From the base of the rock it is possible to climb up the 659 stairs to the first landing or if you're keen you can go up the viewing tower to complete all 740 stairs. Once you get there you are greeted with beer and ice-cream and not to mention a pretty beautiful view.

And if all you have is a day then many would return back to Medellin after the walk up and maybe some lunch at the bottom. We however thought we'd stay overnight and see the local town of Guatape as well.

The town itself is pretty small but they love to add colour to their buildings and on the weekends there are a string of boats for sunset drinking sessions on the lake. During the week though its much more calmer and quite a cool place to hang out. Unlike many towns who classically keep their red brick facades uncovered, the houses of Guatape love decorating their walls and windows.