Hotel Estelar Isla Tierrabomba Cartagena

... er een aantal bleke gezichten aan boord en moest er hier en daar één over z´n nek.
Er was weinig animo voor het ontbijt en sommigen kropen het bed in. De ochtend was nog redelijk wild....later kwam de zon door en werd het wat rustiger. Er werd de hele dag gezeild en gevist (zonder resultaat....de vissen sprongen aan alle kanten uit het water, maar wilden niet bijten) en iedereen was erg mak! Wij hadden gelukkig weinig last...we hadden ...

... without our passports.

Determined to make the most of our day in Colombia's fairytale, holiday town, we bundled ourselves and our enormous, boat-smelling bags (in the blazing heat) into the world's smallest taxi. Thankfully we were greeted by the wonderful Media Luna some ten minutes later - a converted castle now reinvented as a funky hostel with a swimming pool, bar and trendy restaurant. After some much needed ...

... the Island de Rosario. The captain played very loud party music for most of the way, trying to create an atmosphere, too bad if you didn't like it, there was no rest bite anywhere aboard. The island of Rasario consisted of a handful of islands, obviously owned by wealthy people. The islands were small, some only big enough for a single house. One of the islands contained an aquarium, which cost in entrance fees $10mil pesos for adults and $5mil pesos ...

... just pours out of you.
As it starts to cool (not that much) I went for a walk to the huge castle overlooking the city, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. Apparently it took 200 years to build and was probably pretty much obsolete by the time it was finished, but an impressive structure none the less.
In the evening we walked off down a steet opposite the hostel to a small ...

... on.... a 5km walk to the beach in 38 degree heat with our rucksacks was torture... then still no sign of civilisation... another long walk up the beach and we found a castaway type that directed us to a house that may let us sleep in their garden with a hammock... it was literally just a hammock...no shower... one outdoor toilet full of spiders of course... no electricity...but we had a 10km beach all to ourselves... a jump in the sea and life was looking ...

... selection but you need a cab to get there or a mini bus. Jon and I had decided that after a few days relaxing in hot Cartagena we would jump on a boat trip to see the Isla del Rosario ( an array of island south of Cartagenta) and on the way back it stops at a beautiful beach called Playa Planca ( white beach) where we would jump off and stay for a few nights.

Isla del Rosario unfortunately had torrential rain and meant all was not worth it and to be honest ...

... through old town I passed numerous jewelry stores barely glancing at their wares. In truth, the green of the emerald is not as attractive to me as that of my peridot ring so I wasn't really tempted. So what happened!?! From the fort the Chiva circled the walled city and headed for the modern area of Bocachica. This is an area of high rise apartment buildings on a peninsula ...

... of their own when it comes to annoying the hell out you. After a day of this place, I jumped on a boat back to Cartegena and took the night bus to Medellin. My time in Colombia this time around is almost finished and I have to fly back to Peru. I actually have visitors coming down from the States so the next month should be cool playing tour guide for my friends. See you south of the equator again....

... br>

The outskirts of Quito confirm what we were led to believe - a very missable crime ridden dump. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for any of you who have managed to feast on the 5 blocks of old town anthropological bounty, but I would rather continue the journey to Cartagena with the motorbike I rode in on and not get donked for my PIN number and credit card by some armed amphetamined goon. Every traveler in South America has a " my friend got mugged / shot / stabbed" story ...

... seven hour road trip to Popayan with adorning vertiginous valleys and volcanic peaks. Known as the "ciudad blanca" for the stunning uniformity of its chalk-white facades, Popayan is a small gem. Churches after churches then cathedrals and monasteries; all imposing white buildings concentrated within a few blocks of the city center. The following seven hour bus trip led me to Armenia, home to the 'Parque Nacional del Café', a great park with ...