Cartagena

Arriving in cartagena was a relief, after spending a night on the airport floor we were desperate to get straight into bed for a morning nap. We fantasised on the way to the hotel, our backs oozing into the mattress, necks caressed by the cushions as we would lull into a tranquil sleep. Of course this didn’t happen because when you are travelling the elements whether they be natural or materialistic, they like to challenge every inch of your persona by working forcefully against you, ensuring that nothing goes to plan. It was 10am and check in was not until 3pm and there was no way of getting into our room. Hayley’s sleep deprived brain had no emotional function left, her bloodshot eyes were too dry for tears and her mouth couldn’t find a sentence to express such despair. She was as useless as a phone with a dead battery and no charger in sight. Jonny had the task of recharging Hayley, whilst feeling energy-less himself. We found a french creperie serving breakfast, and whilst Jonny quickly demolished his, it was like Hayley was using up a percentage of dying battery on every bite. Zombiefied she could barely engage in a conversation. After killing a few hours we headed back to the hotel and set up a camp in reception, watching a film on the ipad. It was like waiting for paint to dry. Finally at around 2.30pm we were infomed our room was ready. Hayley’s eyes lit up, a sign of life appeared in her reaction as she moved faster than she had been able to all day. She was asleep before Jonny had even taken his bag off. A few hours later an attempt to gently awake Hayley was useless and so Jonny resorted to shaking her until she drowsily and then grumpily awoke. Unimpressed with his method of choice.

We headed to Plaza Trinidad in search of a much needed proper meal. It was small but lively with local tendors selling street food and beverages, and surrounded by rows of restaurants with tables facing inwards towards the square. Servers hollered their menu’s at us, and we were enticed by a trip advisor sticker in the window of a Pizza place. We sat outside, savouring what was an impressively tasty pizza, meanwhile observing local performance artists, including dancers and jugglers as they entertained crowds for a donational wage. Still tired from the past 24 hours we headed back to bed for a much needed consistant nights sleep.

The following day we explored Cartegena’s old town. It’s colonial beauty is famous and walled off from the exterior. It is a famous touristic atttraction and immensely busy with said visitors. The streets were over crowded and clustered, although it did not spoil our experience here. We wandered the intertwining avenues, admiring the pretty houses and hotels that decorate them. You can get a nice view of the city if you walk along the colonial wall which hugs the old town, also a good way to get your bearings as a backpacker! At night you will find the town lit up, we were lucky to be here just shy of Christmas so everywhere was extra sparkly and festive. We sat and had some drinks, observed a local orchestral band accompanied by dancers in one of the squares and then headed back to the hotel.

Our second day we headed to Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, ruins in the city, we chose to walk there but in hindsight we would recommend a taxi. The walk includes crossing a motorway and it is blisteringly hot. If you have been following our blog posts then you will be aware that we enjoy exploring ancient ruins and learning about the history of a counrty or place we have visited. You pay a small fee on entrance and are then permitted to wander the ruins unaided. They looked like that of an old castle or fortress, with hidden tunnels creating an inneer maze below. Unfortunately all the information was in spanish, so we were unable to find out the original use or source of these ruins. We had been hiding from the sun’s blaze in cracks of shade in the ruins, and we still felt just shy of melting, so decided to head back to the old town, via taxi this time.

We attempted a museum in the afternoon although after 20 minutes we left dissappointed that all the information was in spanish and there were little to none enlish translations.

Cartegena is often top of people’s lists and it is a very lovely city to browse around, however we felt that two days was more than enough time to do this. Backpackers you really can do the city in a day, the focus is the old town and for good reason, although please be reminded of our musem experience-they are only worth venturing into if you can read spanish!

Read our next post about our venture to the north of Colombia to Tayrona national park and why it was a waste of time, money and effort!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂