What’s In Niquia?

Hang around Medellin long enough and you might start to wonder what’s in Niquia, the northern terminus of the metro line.

A few months ago, I had plans to meet up with a friend on a Friday night.  Boarding the metro on a Friday evening, heading for an unknown part of town, was a little unnerving.

It seemed so far away from the areas of Medellin I’d become familiar already (Envigado, Poblado, Centro, Estadio, Universidad de Antioquia).

Confident there was nothing to fear but fear itself, I motored onward to the north, watching as people exited the metro cars at each stop, leaving them ever emptier.

When I got to Niquia’s metro station, the end of the line, I walked across a pedestrian bridge and was immediately in Puerta del Norte, a big mall with movie theaters and a super-sized Exito.  It was the furthest thing of scary!

In fact, if there was any danger to be had along the metro line, it was probably left behind long ago when I passed through Centro (downtown Medellin).

I met up with my friend, and we walked out the opposite end of the mall, finding a bar up the street to have a beer.

Judging from the walk, there wasn’t much of a nightlife scene in Niquia.  There were some bars and restaurants, but it’s more like a pueblo than the big city.

In fact, Niquia is just a neighborhood that is part of the bigger Bello municipality (Bello is the 2nd to last metro stop from the northern terminus).

As Niquia didn’t seem too lively, we took a taxi to an area of Bello with some salsa bars and nightclubs.  It looked marginally more happening.

We eventually ended up dancing the night away in a crossover club that was practically empty. But when you’ve got a good dance partner on your hands, nothing else matters.

The clubs in Bello close at 2:30 am, which is the similar to most bars in Medellin and Envigado, but not as late as the discos that go until 4 am, and the after-hour ones that go until sunrise.