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Published: August 8th 2007
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Cartagena was our first stop in South America and we were both a bit apprehensive due to Colombia being classed as a dangerous country. Before we bought are flight we had a look on the British Embassy website and it highly recommended that we stay away and it had lots of scary stories and reports which did nothing to help in our decision making. We then spoke to other travelers and read some travel blogs and the storey was totally different. Everybody was saying how much they loved the place and had no problems at all. It was a big decision to make because due to the British Embassy classifying it as a no go area our travel insurance would be invalid so would not cover any mishaps! We decided to not let this worry us and decided to take the advice of the fellow traveler.
The flight from Panama City was nice and easy, just over an hour and we managed to book in to a nice hotel, aircon and cable t.v. Shame it was in a dodgy area, on the same road as a few brothels but nobody bothered us and left us too it. The worst problem
was the resident cockerel that lived next door to the hotel or should I say next to our room! It would start at 3.30am and then on near enough every hour! Michelle was ready for killing it and even got up on the first night to look for it!! We got the earplugs out and have a few drinks of the local rum and everything was o.k!!
Cartagena is a beautiful city and took both our breath away it was totally surprising and not at all what we expected, one of the most beautiful colonial cities we have seen. The main part is the old town which is surrounded by walls from the old Spanish port which was built to protect the town from the British and the pirate Sir Francis Drake! We visited a few museums and read on what he got up to, bombing the town for years and constantly returning to rob and plunder what the Spanish have robbed from the locals and it made us very proud! Inside the wall is the Colonial city with lots of amazing buildings which transport you back in time to when the town was in its prime. It was
a great place to stroll around and stop now and again in one of the many cafes and bars with their tables spilling out onto the street then just sit and relax and watch the world go by.
It was also a great place at night as the main square opposite the cathedral would open up to the surrounding restaurants. Once you approached the square there was no getting past the number of hawkers trying to get you to eat at their restaurant and sit at there particular tables, most of the hawkers were pretty girls so I wasn’t bothered being pestered and was gladly led where ever they wanted to take me! In front of the cathedral there would be a number of street entertainers taking turns to please the crowd from Caribbean dancers to acrobats and of course the mariachi, so it made for a great night. We ate around the square on a few nights and the food was good but more expensive then other places, suppose we were paying for the view and ambience.
One of the local attractions of Cartagena is the mud volcanoes, Volcan de Lodo el Totlimo. Instead of spewing out
ash and lava it spurts out mud! At the top you get to plunge in and it’s like having a bath in honey as it’s so thick you just float there and there is no chance of sinking. You get to lie there and without any choice you get a massage of a bloke who’s job it is the manhandle the tourists everyday. Like I have said before it’s not my bag being massaged of a bloke. Where were all these beautiful Colombian women, now that would be different! Unfortunately Shakira was away touring in Europe so had to settle with the bloke! No complaint from Michelle she would get massaged of anybody without any questions asked, so easy! After relaxing in the pools for a while we got out to dry like statues and then eventually headed down to the river to wash the mud and most likely my tan off which I have been working so hard on! As we got to the river there were a group of women in wait and we were totally unprepared for what was about to happen! I got my wish of being groped and fondled of a Colombian women, not exactly
Fruit seller
Colombia is home to some of the world´s strangest fruit. I know your saying all I can see are melons, grapes and pineapples and that you have seen them before. Just believe me, he had some weird ones! how my dreams went though. Firstly she was no Shakira but nice in here own way lets just leave it at that! We were about to dive into the water but got stopped and then pulled into the water and she began to wash all the mud off me. I felt like I was 5 years old once again and I was getting thrown all over the place and here hands were everywhere! After a few minutes she told me to take my shorts off. It was one of those orders for some reason I didn’t think of saying no to or because instinctively I didn’t think I had much choice! She didn’t like the time it took me so she helped me and whipped them off from under me leaving me starkers and then she started washing my shorts whilst she left me to clean the other areas, that mud gets everywhere! All I can say was thank god the water wasn’t cold as I didn’t want to let us English men down! As this was going on I looked over to Michelle to help get over the shock and her face was a picture as she was going
Volcan de Lodo El Totumo
A real life volcano that spews out mud rather than lava, lucky for us! through the same process but at least the water came up to my waist, she was left with her baps out for the world to see as she tried her best to cover up whilst getting the mud of her. In a few minutes we were left, Michelle with here cozzie and me with my shorts, the women didn’t even give me here phone number! Just used and abused, brilliant!
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