Guatapé, Colombia, More than 741 Escalones
La Piedra: 700+ steps, one stop for breath, zero regrets
Here's what nobody tells you about La Piedra del Peñol: from the bottom, it looks impossible. A 200-meter granite monolith sticking straight up out of the green hills of Antioquia, with a zigzag staircase wedged into a crack in the side of it.
The crack itself has a story. Daniela told me the locals say "el diablo intentó cortar la piedra, pero la piedra se mantuvo" — the devil tried to split the rock, but the rock held its ground. Long before it was a tourist climb, indigenous communities considered La Piedra sacred. Guatapé itself is an indigenous word.
We made it to the top in 23 minutes. The average is around 20. Daniela's verdict on why we were slow?
"Es porque tenemos tres, cuatro descansos... we can really slow enjoying the view. So that's because we are in shape."
I love that logic. I'm using it forever.
Lo que comimos (and what you should order)
After climbing comes eating. Always.
Arepita boyacense. Picture a small, golden corn cake — softer and sweeter than the arepas you might know — stuffed with quesito and mozzarella. We bought ours from a woman named Giselle, who let us film her making them on a hot plate right on the street. Cinco mil pesos colombianos each. About a dollar and change. Delicioso.
Buñuelo con arequipe. A buñuelo is a fried cheese dough ball, and arequipe is — well, this is where it gets interesting. Daniela, being Argentine, took one look and said: "El arequipe es como el dulce de leche." The vendor, being Colombian, immediately corrected her: "Es un dulce de leche, pero no es lo mismo." Same leche condensada base, but cooked harder, darker, more intense.
This is the kind of small, friendly, muy latinoamericano debate you can only have in person. And honestly? Both are right.
El vocabulario que vas a aprender
These are the Colombian Spanish words and phrases from this trip that you'll actually use:
Embalse — reservoir
Trovador — improvisational singer-poet (a Colombian cultural tradition)
Carcajadas — bursts of laughter
Escalones — steps (stairs, not feet-on-the-ground)
Chaleco salvavidas — life jacket
Arepita boyacense — small sweet corn cake from the Boyacá tradition
Buñuelo — fried cheese dough ball (introduced to the Americas by way of Arab-influenced Spain — a whole linguistic and cultural history in one bite)
Arequipe — Colombian dulce de leche (or "dulce de leche, but not the same," depending on who you ask)
Chiva / camión escalera — the colorful wooden bus that historically connected rural Colombian towns
Cafeto — a coffee plant
Guitarrear — to riff, to make something up on the fly (Daniela's word — and now mine)
Watch the full episode
This is what we do at Spanish Minds: we don't teach Spanish from a textbook. We teach it from boat tours, mountainside climbs, street vendors, and the conversations that happen when you stop translating and start living the language.
👉 Watch the full Guatapé vlog on YouTube
And if you want more of this — real travel, real food, real Spanish — come hang out with us:
Your turn. ¿Subirías La Piedra o te quedarías abajo tomando café con Arthur? Tell us in the comments — leemos todos. 👇
Your Spanish, Your Journey. 🇨🇴