Hotel Marlin Cartagena

Back on dry land! That alone would be enough to make me like Cartagena, but it turns out the city is fantastic in it`s own right. Like oh so many other places, Cartagena is talked up as a "pretty colonial town". In this case, though, it really is. The main tourist area is based in the old town -- a section that was walled off and protected by a large fort in olden times. Today, the old walls are still present, and the architecture within the walls ...

... 1657 but was captured and destroyed by the French in 1697. The fortress was rebuilt between 1762 and 1769 and remains an impressive structure in Cartagena. In 1876, Rafael Nunez, a citizen with political powers who later became President of the Republic, convinced the government of the historic and economic importance of Cartagena. He also raised funds for the first of many restorations that have occurred in the city ...

... the first thing that struck us, Brian was again worst affected.
We took a short sight seeing tour through the old town which was surrounded by an external wall. This part of the city was a lot more appealing than the rest of Cartagena.

The Party Bus

That evening, we boarded the loco Chivas bus. Chivas are basically a party in a traditional wooden sided ...

... nice. It looked like it might have been a convent in its previous life, with its arched door ways, large central patio surrounded by two stories of individual white washed rooms. There was even a wading pool in the middle to sit in, a bar with a patio and a terrace with a view of the city.

Our first day in Caragena we wandered around the old city in the afternoon and marveled at the ...

... portions (if it has not been destroyed by something or another). The streets are quite narrow and on both side are houses of various colors, many with wooden balconies, some with bouganvilla plants twisting and sprawling up their walls. It is a fairy tale sight. Mesmerizing. Add to this numerous beautiful parks and squares, a handful of impressive churches, and the sea, and you've got yourself a wandering wonderland.

I thoroughly enjoyed my wanderings, minus ...

... hookers here, or frigid, that's an interesting juxtaposition. This town is full of interesting juxtapositions and we sense that even though we only know the touristic center. When we walk home, some *****s offer us massage and ****i****i. "Muy rico, muy economico ****i****i suckisucki. Cinquenta mil pesos." Conversations with prostitutes usually never surpass a certain level, where only the erectile parts of my being are being taken into consideration. I don't really like that. I'm a bad ...

... the Medellin prior to visiting and since visiting. I didnīt do much talking since my Spanish is not well. Medellin is a large city and used to have tons of murders thanks to the cocaine market and Escobar. It isnīt that bad now. It is large and surrounded by mountains with houses upon houses stacked up going all the way up the hills. It is spectacular to see at night and the day. A lot of poverty. Stayed at a hostel for two ...

... Thanks to a complete absence of any local planning regulations we are quite literally "on the beach", just 5 metres away from the waterline. It's nudging 30 degrees so the temptation to jump in the water is too good to resist, but before we jump in our host gives us a warning about a fish that lives in the water with poisonous spikes. A 10 second mime conveys the general notion that stepping on said creature is not the brightest of ideas, but if we gently shuffle our feet in the water ...

... him 50 cents. Worth it? Certainly...you don't get to swim in a mud crater every day and the whole experience was worth it - you get to see the new (scary?) side of Cartagena. Besides, you could do it cheaper DIY, but it's not an easy bus route and it is hotter than hell up here...and you'd have to walk too! Pay the $11.

On the way back, we stopped in some small fishing village for lunch. Clearly they had a deal with the tour company. Big tables were ...

... for me to get out of the car, and as soon as I did, she ran to me and gave me a MASSIVE hug. I greeted the family, which was all a bit overwhelming and I barely knew how to keep my manners straight and greet all the people properly - realizing I had forgotten to green her father, but at the time I thought he was a stranger, because supposedly he was younger than the mother. From Loreidis' Children International profile, said she had two brothers - Yefris Daniel ...