Advertisement
Published: March 9th 2010
What was once a daily ritual of staggering out of bed to silence a ridiculously intrusive alarm has become alien to me. But the early hour (7.30) of my departure from Taganga left me with no other option.
I later learned that I
could have taken a bus two hours later - but everything worked out well in the end as you will see.
Let me rewind a bit to Friday - my LAZY day. My Argentinian friends (Myriam, Carlos and Emy) had told me of a hostel in Cartagena that was really nice called
Casamara. They had stayted their some nights before and were to return on Saturday for a few days.
They showed me some pictures and it looked great. I was having a fun hanging out with them so I said that I'd book the same place. Well, on Friday whilst I was busy doing nothing, they were out on the beach somewere. And I tried to book the hostel.
The problem was that when I called the number that they had given me I discovered that the phone number didn't exist anymore. So I tried the cellphone numbers on the website. The first said that it
used to be the number for the hostel but not anymore, the second was turned off and the third just rang and rang. So I tried email. I tried MSN. No luck. I would wait until my friends returned and see if they had alternative contact details.
By the time that they got back and I realised that they didn't have any other numbers, I though "oh well, I'll just go for something else". Easier said than done. Although I've since discovered that there is a raft of hostels in Cartagna, few seem to be bookable through sites like
Hostel World. Those that were bookable had no space. I began to panic a bit. I texted Monica who sent me through the names of a couple of hotels that are good. They were fully booked too.
Now, I've told you that things seem to have a way of working themselves out eventually. And again my faith in fate was justified. I spoke to a fellow hosteller who recommended a place called
Casa Relax. Looks nice, eh? I called them up and they had a room! Great! So I booked it tentatively - my thinking being that if I get to Casamara and
they have space, I'd stay there instead.
The hostel arranged for me to be picked up by minibus (a company called Marsol who are pretty reputable it seems) at 7.30 am. They pick you up from the door of your hostel and deposit you at the door of your new hostel - all for the princely sum of 40.000 COP.
I'd pretty much packed everything the night before so I had set the alarm for 6.45 - just enough time to grab a quick shower, have some breakfast and go.
The bus was comfortable enough - it's only supposed to be a 3.5 hour journey (it was actually 5 hours, of course). But it was airconditioned and there was adequate legroom.
On our way out of Taganga, the bus driver discovered a new potential way to get all his passengers killed by somehow managing to get boxed in whilst straddling the level crossing. As we waited with trepidation for the cars in front to clear the junction with the main road, the driver glanced impatiently up and down the tracks - clearly regretting his earlier moment of idiocy.
18 sweaty palms were wiped down as we finally cleared
the crossing.
But apart from that, the journey was largely uneventful (I think - I actually slept most of the way). We drove up the coast road. Occasionally I awoke to see huge palm trees, a vast area of flatlands - uninterrupted by mountains or even hills. People worked the sea, the salt flats, the nearby refinery. Soldiers spaced 100 meters apart lined the road for at least two miles - quite why I have no idea. You get an odd sensation when there are so many police or soldiers around. Part of you thinks "well, it doesn't get any safer than this" and another part of you thinks "there are hundreds of guys standing with fully loaded rifles and pistols all around me...I really hope nothing kicks off".
And, of course, it didn't.
The road to Cartagena from Taganga is odd. For much of the way its really good quality dual carriageway the likes of which I've not seen before in Colombia. But clearly this road is still a work in progress and there are times when you have to literally drive through the building site that is the road construction works in order to get to
where you need to go. Can make the journey a bit bumpy, but no big deal.
Arriving in Cartagena, we drove past tower after tower of luxury appartments overlooking the bay in the new part of town. I think that this is the suburb that they call Bocagrande - the modern part of town - but I could be wrong.
Eventually (after a couple of stops to let people off), we arrived at Hostal Casamara.
The center Cartagena is split into three distinct sections, only two of which I've explored. The main section is the walled old town. Just outside of that is an area called Getsemaní which is where my hostel is based. Getsemaní is more lived in than the center - it's not rough but it has character, shall we say. Any way, it's just a short walk from the center (maybe 5 minutes by foot) to the main entrance to the old town and I'm happy to be staying in this part. I don't think that I would have explored it were it not for the fact that I'm staying here and I think that all the coolest stuff is here. Certainly it's cheaper
than the old town!
Any way, it turned out that the hostel had a spare room. They explained that the hostel is under new management and that was why all the telephone numbers were wrong - they had still to get the website updated.
The hostel itself is lovely. Walking through the blue front gates (always locked so really secure) you are struck first by the beautiful pool, water cascading from the heads of the twin seahorse fountains that stand at the far end. The rooms themselves surround the pool and the communal area and are painted white. A few plants and trees dotted around only add to the sense of peace and tranquility that exists in the hostel.
My room is a private double with private bathroom, air conditioning, cable tv, no hot water (as with Divanga in Taganga - although in this climate, the last thing that you want is a hot shower).
All for 50.000 COP a night, I think.
In short, I love this hostel and I love the location. I've been super-lucky with hostels so far.
I've actually just checked the website and the contact details have been updated. That's good - it
saves me from writing them here!
The very first thing to strike you about Cartagena is the heat. It's much less sticky than Santa Marta but hot nonetheless. I arrived on Saturday and that was the only really sunny day so far but it's really, really hot - my watch tells me that it's 31 degrees right now - and it's 8pm!
By the time that I'd unpacked and gotten everything sorted it was seriously time for lunch. I called to Hostel Relax to cancel my booking and me and my Argentinian friends headed into the old city.
This was a smart idea - they'd already been to the city some days before and knew the place pretty well.
Heading into the old town typically involves walking through one of the three arches that stand beneath the main clock tower in the Plaza Paz. Immediately your senses are assulted by colors and noise and a hundred street vendors looking to sell you cigarettes, paintings, hats, local crafts, jewellery, sun glasses...each vendor will wait until the last one has finished with you before then moving in. It's dizzying.
You need to be pretty persistent. You start off being all
polite and looking them in the eye and thanking them but no thanks and all that...by the 20th vendor you end up automatically rebuffing them with a sharp wave of the hand, almost as if they annoying flies at a summer picnic.
The colours of the town are beautiful. There is a predominance of dark yellows and reds which glow in the setting sun.
The old city is a succession of squares joined by narrow streets. Passing the cathedral, Parque Bolivar is a gated park within Plaza de Bolivar. Greenery abounds and four big terracotta foutains provide soothing accompaniment to the locals who gather there.
This really is a tourist town. There are more gringos than I've seen at any other time in Colombia. Americans with huge cameras snap lazily away and I wonder to myself how many have been relieved of their ostentatious hardware today. Probably very few actually...the locals know that a bad reputation in this town would destroy it.
Walking along, we encounter Plaza de Santo Domingo - a bustling square dominated by a church and a fat woman. Not any old fat woman but a Botero sculpture of a fat woman. Made from brass, I
was told that if you rub her breasts it brings good luck. As you know, I'm not at all superstitious...but I had a good feel anyway! hahahahaha
We settled down for some lunch (finally). A starter of beef pieces with peppers and onions in a barbecue type sauce. Very tasty (even the Argentinians agreed - as Argentinians, they have very strong opinions about how steak should be cooked). The main course was just a burger - I've had better, but not bad.
ALL the time we were approached by street vendors. Literally every 30 seconds. It's was so annoying to have to constantly break off conversation just to send them away. I actually almost dismissed our waiter as a vendor before realising my potentially embarrasing mistake.
After lunch the Argentinians went there way and I went mine. I like having time alone to explore a place without being shackled by constant stops at tourist shops etc. It's not that I didn't like hanging out with them - just that I needed some time alone in the city.
I walked up to the huge wall that surrounds the old city. You can climb the steps to the top and walk
around. Up there you will find street vendors (of course) and even bars. These are big walls, I tell ya!
More wandering. More wandering. This is a great place to just wander and people watch.
The evening was drawing in and the colours of the town really came alive in the golden glow of the sunset. I really hope that some of these colours are captured in the pics - the screen on my computer isn't great and neither is that on my camera. So I guess that I'm going to have to wait until I get home before I find out whether they worked or not.
I stopped for a couple of beers in a bar and read my guide book. I got talking to the barman and then, later to a couple of local girls. We arranged to meet on Sunday for lunch. And eventually, I wandered back to my hotel.
I met up with the Argentinians there and we sat and chatted for a while. We decided to head off for a quick drink in the old city. They took me to a place called Cafe del Mar which is situated on the
wall of the city. The wind was quite strong but refreshing after such a warm day. And the music was super loud. I thought that I'd be stuffed in terms of being able to communicate but, although the music was loud, the quality of the speakers was great - and I could actually hear everything that was being said to me.
After a couple of beers we wandered the old town a bit and then headed back to the hostel.
Earlier in the afternoon, whilst in the bar, I'd read in my guidebook about a place called "Mister Barbilla" - a nightclub in Getsemaní which tends to be frequented more by locals than by tourists. Already well aware of the passion with which the Colombians party, this sounded like my sort of place. At about 11pm (or was it midnight?) I walked the few short blocks to the bar.
The place was enormous. At least 6 distinct areas all full of people dancing on the tables, dancing on the chairs...even occasionally on the dancefloor. Honestly, they were just dancing wherever they could. Stools and chairs had been stacked up in the corner to make moe room for dancing.
I
stood at the top of the steps and looked down at the scene below. Of course, it wasn't long before I was talking to people and somehow, the night disappeared. At 5am I finally got to bed.
Sunday was a late start but my liberal intake of water the night before ensured that I was functioning in a reasonably coherent fashion. Adriana and Camilla (the two girls that I met in the bar on Saturday) showed up at the hostel and we went to a local place for lunch where I had a delicious (if small) steak and a blackberry juice.
The weather was pretty cloudy and it was quite windy (a strong feature of the climate here). But of course it was still super hot. The girls took me the short ride up to the Bahia (bay) where those huge residential blocks that I was telling you about are situated.
The wind charged off the bay and whistled around the modern concrete and glass apartments that surrounded us. We sat on the shoreline of the bay and I struggled to comprehend even a tenth of what Camilla and Adriana were saying to eachother. They speak sooo quickly here.
And it seems that they only actually ever say half of the word that they utter. I think that the day that I understand these girls in full conversation is the day that I can say that I understand Spanish.
It was getting towards evening so we headed back to the old town where I was introduced to a fabulous restaurant called Crepes y Waffles (you can guess what they serve, I guess). Mine was a chicken and mushroom crepe followed by pistachio ice cream. Hmmmm.
And then, finally, back to the hostel for a well-deserved sleep!
So, we're almost up to date. My plan is to stay in Cartagena today and then head back up to Bucaramanga tomorrow for a couple of days. I was originally planning on leaving Cartagena today. But, as with every other place I've been to, I always want to stay just a bit longer. I was hoping to go to Playa Blanca today but the weather doesn't seem so great so I suspect that that won't happen.
Even so, there are still places to see here and, to be honest, it's great just to hang out in the old town and watch the
world go by.
Yesterday my Argentinian friends headed off to San Andres - an island that is Colombian but up off the coast of Nicaragua (I think - will need to check that). We've swapped details and I'm looking forward to seeing them when I finally hit Buenos Aires in May. Speaking of which, I learned that the bicentenial celebrations are happening in Argentina 25th May, I think. That is going to be one enormous party! I'm such a lucky chap!!
Here's another bit of useless information about Colombia that you're struck by from the moment that you get off the plane but which never seemed to make it into a blog so far: braces! It seems that every other person that you meet within a certain age range wears braces on either their upper or lower teeth (or both). It's something that you see a lot of in kids in the UK, I guess. But here the brace-wearing age seems to be higher - predominantly people in their twenties, I guess. Why am I telling you this? I have no idea. But I guarantee that you won't find this sort of information in a guidebook! 😊
Well, that's me done. Sorry that it's been a few days since I last wrote. The intention is there, but sometimes it's just not easy to find the time to do it. If time flies when you're having fun then my flying machine is rocket powered with a bit of warp drive thrown in for good effect. Hmmm, just realised that some of the timings on this post are a bit confusing. I started writing it yesterday but finishing it today...well, I guess that it's not important. I'll try to keep more up-to-date in furture!
Ah, one last thing. I bought a cheap classical guitar yesterday! I can't tell you how happy I am to have one. I just hope that it survives until the end of the trip.
That's me done.
Hasta luego.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.232s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 12; qc: 63; dbt: 0.164s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
anita
non-member comment
A photo of you copping a fill in public would have made my week LOL