Cartagena!

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Ola!!

OK this entry is going to be much much shorter..... i promise!!! :o)

Been in Cartagena for over a week now and i absolutely love it... hence why im having trouble leaving! Staying in a really cool hostel, have met so many amazing people and made lots of friends and the town is really beautiful!

Got here last Sunday after getting the overnight bus from Medellin! Came on my own as Paola wanted to spend a few extra days with her parents and Siemei was ill! The bus ride was fine though and slept quite well despite the bus being freezing again.... was well prepared this time!! :o) Got to Cartagena about 10am and got the bus into the city center! When asking for directions to the hostel when i got off the boat, some people were telling me to get in a random boat, others pointing at taxis and some guy was telling me there was no room there! I didnt really want to take his word for it as i had no back-up plan so i just got in a taxi! The hostel was full (i guess too many people read the lonely planet!) but they nicely phoned up a few others until they found a hostel which was free round the corner! :o) Got put in an empty dorm room despite telling the guy i wanted to be in a room with others but it didnt matter as there were always people in the common room so met people straight away!

The first night was pretty quiet but got to know 2 English girls who live in Farnham (near me!) and it turns out they went to the same school as me! I told them i thought i recognised them which they said they doubted as theyre 36! hehe! oops! i always think everyone is my age!! Decided to go on a day trip to some beaches and islands with them the next day! In a nutshell, the day was an absolute disaster - we got the speed boat which was quite small with about 20 people in and as soon as we got in the boat it started raining! After about 5 minutes of being in the boat there was a massive thunderstorm, the rain was like hail whcih really hurt and you couldnt see more than 2 metres in front of you! It was a bit scary! Luckily we had brought waterproof jackets etc with us which we held infront of us to protect us from the rain, which helped a lot especially as i stupidly volunteered to sit in the first row! People were saying they wanted to turn back but i guess the organisers didnt want to as they would have had to refund us so we kept going! Every now and again (when you literally couldnt see a thing) we would turn the motor off and just drift for a while! But eventually the storm passed and the visibility got better.... the only problem then was that the waves were huge and we were flying through the air and landing with quite a bang.... it really hurt! I was sat next to an old Swiss guy who noticed that my teeth were chattering with the coldness so told me to sit closer to him and eventually put his arm around me.... its amazing the survival instint that kicks in sometimes - hugging a stranger just to keep warm! After a while I found it really fun.... like a big rollercoaster and quite a few people in the boat were cheering and having a great time until we looked around and realised that lots of people were really scared and crying as some children were quite small, some people couldnt swim and one woman was about 80 years old! So the atmosphere was a bit more sombre after that! We got to the island absolutely drenched with no dry clothes and unfortunately the sun didnt come out once so we all stayed wet and cold! The 2 English girls and I had a massage to cheer things up a bit but generally it was a bit of a disaster! Over half the people on the boat paid extra to get a bus back as they couldnt face the thought of getting back on that boat! Dont really blame them!

Im on the verge of doing another day to day account of everything which will turn into another essay... so ill just summarise instead! :o) Monday night had a big night out with lots of people from the hostel which was really really fun... went to dinner, an outdoor bar in the old town and then a club until dawn which unfortunately turned out to be full of prositutes! The next morning I did a bit of sightseeing with an Irish guy called Dave and then Paola and Siemei arrived about lunchtime! Went for lunch with Paola and then went up to a bar on the old fortress overlooking the sea which was really cool!

The next day Paola, Siemei, I and a couple of people from the hostel went on the volcano trip! The 2 Irish guys were supposed to come too but were too hungover to wake up! Lucky them because it was a bit of a disaster - a village near the volvano had been without power for 5 days so in protest had set up a road blockade which we couldnt pass! We tried taking a big detour which took forever in order to try and pass it but that didnt work either! So we went to the fishing town along the coast for lunch where we were supposed to being going afterwards instead and waiting for news on whether the road would be open in the afternoon! Unfortunately it wasnt going to open again until the next day so we just had to drive home, bit of a waste of a day but never mind! That evening we just hung around the streets in the old town, watching the dancing, trying a weird electric voltage test (well I didnt I was too scared hehe!) etc! Then Paola and Siemei had an early night and i went to a few bars and to a club with all the guys!

The next morning Paola and Siemei went to Tyrona National Park (where Im going in a few days) for a few days and I went to the volcano with the Irish boys! Luckily the roads were open this time and we had one of the funniest days I think ive ever had, we just could not stop laughing! The volcano doesnt actually look very big (just looks like a big mound of mud) but actually goes 2300 meters down into the earth! You climb up the stairs in just your swimming suit, giving your camera and flipflops to the men standing around (who obviously charge you afterwards!) and then you climb into the mud! It was absolutely hilarious - you have no control over your limbs whatsoever and cant really move, you just sort of float there and chest level! You cant try and go down under the mud unless you get at least 2 people to push you under, so i guess you could never drown! There are a couple of pictures of us in the volcano but unfortunately before we covered our heads in mud! I ended up doing quite a few face-flops because i lost my balance and couldnt really do much about it in time so just had to go face first into the mud and ended up eating quite a lot of mud... was quite gross! But we had a great time in there acting like children and causing havoc! :o) Afterwards you have to go down to the lake where ladies in the lake wash you off, whip off your swimsuit and wash it for you (also for money!)! After that we went to the fishermens village again for lunch which was yummy! That evening, went for dinner with the Irish boys and then went on a horse and carriage ride with them and 2 English guys.... im usually against that kind of thing but I was assured that the horses werent whipped and the horse tried to bite me anyway before i got on so that helped!! hehe! :o) It was absolutely hilarious as we managed to find a singer with guitar who jumped on and sung songs the whole way round which we joined in with - had a couple of favourite Spanish songs we have heard lots since we have been here but didnt know many of the words! However, then the guy said he knew one English song and started playing "Losing my Religion" which all of us knew the words too so we went around the Old Town singing the song as loud as we could which attracted quite a lot of attention as most of the carriages were full of couples or families, quietly taking in the view! hehe! :o) That evening we went clubbing again and it was already light when we were walking home - not that that stopped the boys buying one last beer! They really were a nightmare! :o)

The next few days were just lazy days really.... just lots of socialising, wandering around the old town, going out in the evenings etc! The Irish guys left on Saturday night (thank goodness as i couldnt quite keep up with their partying lifestyle!). Paola and Siemei got back on Saturday and we all went for dinner! On Sunday Paola and Siemei were going to the volcano again and i just couldnt resist and as its not very expensive I ended up going again! :o) Saw lots of men lose their swimming trunks when they were climbing out as there was so much heavy mud in them! hehe! Didnt feel very well that day though and throat really hurt, realised why when got back to the hostel and looked in my mouth - my glands were like golf balls and white and infected! Gross! :o( Paola told me she would operate and squeeze out the infection so I could save my Penecillin for another time - it was horrible and hurt but it worked! :o)

Paola and Siemei left for Miami and then on to the Bahamas yesterday (although theyre not sure whether they can get their flight to the Bahamas because of the hurricane!) and i did a bit more sightseeing, visited the castle, was supposed to go to the beach but it was thunderstorming all afternoon so wandered around the Old Town with an American girl! Had an early night last night and went to the beach with her today and am now paying the price with a ridiculous sunburn despite putting suncream on! (dont nag mummy im sorry!!)

Leaving for Santa Marta and Taganga tomorrow for one night and then going to Tyrona National Park for a few days after that! Then im going to decide whether to do the Lost City trek in the jungle, depending on the price (takes 6 days) and then after that im heading down through Colombia on the bus and over to Ecuador where im going to hopefully stay in Quito for a few weeks and do a Spanish course! :o)

Hope your all OK and keep in touch!!

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Comments

[zoe gardner]

The mud volcano looks so much fun-love the pictures! I thought you were joking when you said Paola offered to operate on you until I saw the pictures-have you gone completely mad or is she a doctor of some kind??xx