Cartegena craziness

Trip Start Apr 03, 2003
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Trip End Oct 01, 2003


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Saturday, April 19, 2003

So, after a week of partying in Bogota (and getting sick of the rain) we decided to fly up to Cartegena (we being myself, Helen and Chris, a couple of Brits who have befriended me). We were going to take the night bus as we had been told that all the flights would either be really expensive or sold out due to Santa Semana, which is the week long holiday before Easter weekend (this being a Catholic country means that all religious holidays are huge). Luckily we decided to investigate flights anyway and in the end managed to get some for less than US$100. Which Im sure Iain, another guy we had met earlier in Bogota, had wished he had done as he had got the night bus and his pack had been nicked. But even more unlucky was his French friend who had been stopped by rebels in the middle of the night and had had everything robbed, including his shoes on his feet! So no night buses for me then......
Cartegena is just beautiful and I love it here. Its a colonial town surrounded by a big old wall next to the sea, and the buildings are just incredible. Oh and its around 34 degrees, which is fantastic, although my London acquired pastiness is taking a beating and I have burnt shoulders.
Now whilst Cartegena itself is a gorgeous city, we poor travellers cant afford to stay in the nice part of town, so have set ourselves up in Getsemani, just outside the town walls. Along with all the hookers, dodgy drug dealers and more single limbed people than I have ever seen in my life (although Im sure that will change when I get to India). We havent had any trouble, but have been warned that late at night its not safe, so are getting taxis everywhere. But we have met one character who can best be described as a Colombian Ozzy Osbourne. Hes an old rocker with a classic early 80s BonJovi style haircut, hes covered in tattoos and only has one tooth. He runs a bar/pizzeria/tattoo parlour on the same street as our hostel and sits all day with 2 dodgy Colombian drug dealers drinking straight rum and haphazardly making pizzas (we think he only has one small oven as he can only manage one pizza every 20 mins or so, but they are good!). We found ourselves in his bar on the first night we got here as all the other food places were shut and we were starving. We also discovered that he had cable tv and that he would be watching the Man U v Arsenal match the next day, so we arranged to come back the following day at 2pm. Well, to cut a long story short, we staggered out at around 6pm after having only seen half of the game due to a power cut and we have vowed never to set foot in there again. Its all just too crazy and the possibility of getting a drunken (and shit) tattoo is too high.
We have since met another British couple who are travelling in SA and we hooked up with them a couple of nights ago and went out for a few quiet drinks. Well, if you can call ordering 2 bottles of rum and going through them both between the 5 of us a quiet night... my poor liver.
So, apart from checking out the sights and burning myself, I have been getting drunk. Which is what a lot of you probably expect so I hope not disappointing you!
I am enjoying Colombia so much that I think Im going to spend more time here than expected. Next week we are off to Playa Blanca, a gorgeous white sand beach where you sleep in hammocks on the beach and then we are off to Taganga, where Im going to learn how to dive.
Hope all is well back in London and Oz/NZ/US. Keep me posted with the goss!
Amanda
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