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Published: March 12th 2012
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Wednesday 22nd Feb - Panama City to Cartagena
A 30 minute taxi ride and we were at Tocumen International airport for our flight to Colombia. The airport was very modern and you instantly realised that flying in Latin AMerica is a luxury still only enjoyed by the very few and not the masses as in Europe. Maybe because of this and the fact we were again skipping a bus ride (not that that's possible for this journey due to the drug trade) made it a far more pleasurable and exciting experience than it usually is. Copa airlines were excellent. One hour after takeoff and we were in Colombia which was the most excited and eager I'd been to get somewhere since arriving in Guatemala. Unusually it took a little longer than usual for me to get through passport control and they seemed rather keen to make sure they had my finger prints which is slightly unnerving. A short while later and we were wandering through the narrow streets of Cartagena old town which is brimming with atmospherefrom all the hustle and bustle of everyday goings on and is stacked in nostalgia with all its stunning architecture and history. I think
we'll do well to find any place in Latin America which is a better example of an intact colonial city. Not only this but the Colombian people we encountered were warm, friendly and helpful as we'd been told before coming. We've read that Colombians are well aware of their countries reputation abroad and it seems like they genuinely care about trying to change this perception in anyone who visits. From what we've seen so far and it's obviously only early days, Colombia seems as safe as anywhere else we've been and the people are a joy to be around. We finished the day with a lovely Italian meal not far from where we were staying at the Hotel Villa Colonial.
Thursday 23rd Feb - Cartagena
A combination of the heat and feeling a little under the weather made it hard to get out of the hotel as much as we would have liked today. Still we ventured out in search of a supermarket and managed to get ourselves some breakfast and then later had a long slow stroll around the old town once more late into the afternoon as the sun was setting. We sat in Bolivar Square
for quite some time observing the goings on of the handful different shoe shine guys who in stark contrast to the young boys who do this job in Guatemala, were all fairly old guys well into their 40s and 50s. It feels a little strange to watch this going on as you see grown men who've probably be doing this there whole life, bent down on their hands and knees all day, shining other grown men's shoes, who probably are but I may be wrong, fat lazy arrogant worms who feel no shame in treating other humans like peasant slaves in full view of everyone who can see. This might just be how things are or the way of the world but it doesn't mean it's right. Unfortunately in many poor countries it seems to be totally acceptable to treat poor people like slaves and the wealthy feel no shame. Nevertheless, Cartagena is an amazing city and I'd recommend it to anyone with any interest in culture and history to go and make a visit.
Friday 24th Feb - Cartagena
Another hot sweaty day greeted us in the city today. A long walk around the old town in
the heat was deserving of an afternoon siesta. Our best and cheapest dinner so far in Colombia consisted of rice, chicken and beans in a traditional restaurant.
Saturday 25th Feb - Cartagena to Bucaramanga
Not much sleep after getting up at 5am to head for the bus terminal. We didn't realise it was so far and even after our taxi driver drove like a lunatic we still only had 10 minutes to spare before the 6am bus. All seemed to be going well and I managed to nod off on a bus for the 1st time around midday. I was awoken by a bouncy bus that had been forced on a 5 mile detour down a dirt track with all the other vehicles. Just before we got back on the main road we were stopped by some sort of dispute and subsequent blockade consisting of a couple of blocks of wood that a 5 year old could move. At a stand still for an hour, it seems when these things happen no one dares to breakup the ceremonial road block until the dispute has been settled. Colombians appear to love a bit of gossip and a nose and
the 1st sign of any incident and they're all peering over or going over to have a look and a chat. After the driver switched off the engine and air con we too were forced to take refuge outside of the bus underneath a ceiba tree overlooking the dispute, rather than be cooked in the sun. No more than 5 minutes after we'd got out than a police motorcyclist rocked up shouting something to which the protesting locals ran over to see what he had and then what followed was a hundred or so people frantically scurrying in all directions back to their vehicles. Maybe they were scared the peace wouldn't last long as everyone attempted to speed off, stopping for no poor souls who hadn't managed to get back on, as if it were the start of the Le Mans 24 hour. Many more hours later and 16 in total since we'd left and we were in Bucaramanga, the 1st city you come to heading south from the coast down the eastern side of Colombia. Shortly after and we were tucked up in our rather shaby hostel.
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