Hotel 3 Banderas Cartagena

... tourist destination. It is one of the oldest cities of the New World. Throughout the 16th century, Spain governed the city through a system of Viceroys. When the Spanish conquistadors discovered that the interior of Columbia was rich in gold and emeralds, these items flowed into Cartagena for shipment to Spain. To defend against pirate attacks, King Felipe II ordered a protective wall to be build around the city. In ...

No Drugs please, we've got enough already!<br><br>As soon as we arrive into the airport in Colombia, our bags are thoroughly<br>searched for drugs. This is amusing, we're entering a country which is<br>the world's biggest producer of cocaine, and we're being searched for<br>drugs on the way in! We figured that maybe the Colombians feel that<br>they have enough drugs already and ...

We headed from Taganga to Caragena, Colombia, about a four hour bus ride. Caragena is much more touristy than any of the other cities we´ve been in, and not backpacker touristy, but bourgeois touristy. Although, that makes it very clean, safe to walk in, and restored to its colonial perfection. Keep in mind that we can´t afford that part of town, so we stayed outside the ¨old city¨ walls on a street littered with prostitutes. The hostel was ...

... You do not sink in the mud, but you are in it up to your shoulders. It is creamy and thick, like custard, with some small bits of harder rock or mud floating about. Most of your body is quickly coated in mud. It is only natural then to cover what is left of your body- your face and hair- until you look like a sort of swamp thing. And then you just lie and float and jiggle and wiggle around in the mud. You can also get a massage for a small tip. Why not? I'm not one to pass on a ...

... transpire to be a major hinderance to any activity over the next couple of days. (With the exception of trips to the bakery.) Because of this, I don´t have very much to report from the four days we spent in Cartagena. On our second night, however, we did manage to muster enough enthusiam to embark on a rumba chiva bus tour of the city. I had seen it advertised in an adjacent hostel and, thinking back on my experiece with the brightly painted ...

... lunch of fresh fish fried whole with coconut rice and Patacones...a wonderful and ubiquitous Colombian side made from mashed Plantains. Washing it down was fantastic tamarindo juice and Café fuerte de Colombia. Though another dive was on offer, we all decided to take advantage of the inn's beautiful main quarters and lazed in bright woven hammocks that swung quietly from the dark wood beams of the high ceilings. When the dive master called us back to the boat, I almost ...

... as badly as I ever did with an appetite that can only be annulled by large quantities of fresh seafood.<br><br><br>Minor amusement before we go to sleep that night as in our room we find a discarded card insert from an electric mosquito zapper. It could be the most effective mosquito repellent on earth, but with the brand name "COCK" it may be a little hard to market in Australia. I save the card in my wallet for future childish photo opportunities.<br><br><br>Sunday is spent sleeping in ...

... 10 times cheaper than the tours and 'since when has a little danger hurt anyone?'. It meant the difference between getting there cheap and not going anyway. The market didn't seem all that bad but some guys tried to convince me to get off the bus just before it left. I smelled a rat and everyone on the bus told me not to get off so I had no troubles. Once I'd crossed the river there only seemed to by bike-taxis going for £7 which would make the return ...

... off street access to vehicles, in preparation for a night of food, music and partying! Our new friend Eduardo, whom we met through couchsurfing of course, met up with us at 3pm. He is a pleasant 22 year old guy born and raised in Cartagena, who is finishing up his degree in Economics. His dad is an anesthesiologist and his mom, a nurse! He also lived in Quebec for half a year as a part of an exchange program and thus, wore his red "Canada" t-shirt for the occasion ...

... to choose something out of all the toys he wanted to have, but ended up picking a set of cars with accessories and the other brother also got cars including a rollercoaster-ish road.<br><br>We also bought loads and loads of clothes for Loreidis - shirts, t-shirts, skirts, short jeans, socks and underwear. Then we picked out toothbrushes for the whole family - imagine that. Toothbrushes is not something everybody has around here! Then toothpaste as well, of course ...