Sofitel Santa Clara Cartagena

... before arriving.

Our first full day in Cartagena and we spent the morning wandering around the old city, admiring the beatifully restored buildings, enjoying the freshly squeezed lime and ice juices, and wondering how on earth we could possibly survive the unbearable heat that sapped all your energy and left you uncomfortably hot most of the time.
And we found ourselves the perfect solution, find a pub with some fans and some ...

... school kids from the surrounding schools and government workers as the seat of the municipal government is located closeby. For this reason alone, that the colonial part is not just a theme park, I find Cartagen's colonial-ness to be one of the best.
After spending a few days in Cartagena with some of the people from the boat trip, we proceded to Taganga, a fishing village just east on the coast. Adding even more to my evidence that Colombia was like Mexico, Taganga was dry and ...

... in an Indian sweating tent, with temperatures easily over 35 degrees Celsius accompanied by soaring humidity. The tangled mosquito net Hugo had arranged over the bed added to the 'pressing in’ feeling in the small room. At around 3.30am Jacque woke up so hot, that she had to crawl out and sit on the ledge outside dousing herself with water in the moonlight because the heat was so unbearable.

Nevertheless when we awoke, the sweating room seemed to have ...

... and La Paz, Bolivia - pure anarchy and a hub for a lot of activities; honourable mentions to Valparaiso in Chile (charming and fun) and Bariloche (scenic and fun) too

Top hostels: Hostel Natura, Foz de Iguacu, Brazil - rancho relaxo, great food too; Wild Rover, La Paz - great beds, great showers, great party, what more can you ask for?!; Pudu, Bariloche, Argentina - lovely people, beautiful view and a fabulous asado of a Friday ...

... the body part that needed healing. Our next stop on the tour was the formidable Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas. The original fort constructed between 1639 and 1657 was quite small. In 1762 it was enlarged to the point that the entire 40 meter hill was covered by the greatest and strongest fort ever built in their colonies. The fort was never taken despite several attempts ...

... The boat ride back was also an experience, and we hit the waves so hard that the guy in front of me lost one of the sandals that he was holding. Tomorrow we are going to head out to a volcanic mudbath. I´m not really sure what that means, but I do know it will feel good on our sunburns. Later in the day we will be leaving the perfect weather to head down south to Medellin, which I´ve heard is a great city from other travelers.

... Quito, not just the dumb ones.


By early afternoon we reach our last border for the trip. Where Argentina, Chile and Peru were all very casual - fill in this form and get waved through - going out of Ecuador is the first time anyone has bothered to check that our chassis numbers match the paperwork we are holding. While we are waiting for the inspector to come out and go over the bikes, Pierpaolo gets roped into giving some curious local girls an Italian lesson and for the rest ...

Today went for a dip in the local volcano. Very pleasant experience, combining weightlessness and muddiness. Will post some pics asap because they are hilarious. The old town in Cartagena is ...

After a very early bus journey.. where we were hardly able to breathe because of a posh woman's ridiculously cheap perfume we finally got to Cartagena...the heat was still ridiculous but we could quickly start to realize what the whole city was about, its got a feeling to it that not many cities have. The taxi driver dropped us in La Plaza de Santo Domingo, basically the heart of the old city where we met face to face with a huge fat naked woman - art of Botero a Colombian ...