A city of contrasts

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Of all the cities that we have visited so far in South America this one we have liked the most. With a history of pirates this town has forts and a Spanish colonial center next to a high rise resort area on a fantastic beach.

But it is hot! When we left the plane the hot moist air hit us. Jose met us at the airport. He would be our host during our visit. He explained some history on the short ride to the hotel. We were staying at Hotel El Viajero inside the walls of the old town. Rooms had shutters only so if the window was open it was open to the veranda and the inside of the hotel. We were unlucky enough to have a room without aircon, only a fan. But there was cable TV! Should mention here that Pieter loves the heat and I hate it. He hates aircon and I love it. So, whatever we get, someone with be happy!

In the afternoon we did a city tour with Jose. He loves his town and gave an enthusiastic account of the history. We started with a visit to Santa Cruz monastery. On top of La Popa hill, the road up passes 14 stations of the cross. On the second of Feb people will walk up the hill, stopping to prey at each cross and collecting beer from vendors for the party afterwards. The view from the top is fantastic. You can see the city and the port. And the church and monastery are also magnificent. Around the back, where the building connects steeply with the hill and there is a big fence, kids put plastic bottles cut in half at the end of sticks and shove them through the fence hoping to get some money. It is quite dangerous but they will do it for the odd thoughtless tourist who gives them money. At the gate was a man with a 3-toed sloth. He looked a little unhappy .. the sloth that is. The man was happy because he was being paid for photos to be taken with the sloth. But the sloth was doing a lot a cuddling and I reckon that was making him tired.

Next stop was the Castillo de San Felipe, used to protect the city from pirates and other invaders. Jose tolds us lots of things but they were easily forgotten when people had cannons to play on, big flags to pose under and tunnels to explore. A few vendors were there. One said Pieter should buy some jewelery for his wife and when he said he didn't have one (little lie to avoid having to say 'No gracias' again) the guy said he should buy it for his secretary!

We drove to the new part of town called Bocagrande. Expensive apartments in high rises that were continually replacing old buildings. Not very pretty but the long beach looked inviting.

Returning to town we continued the tour on foot. Jose showed us the important churches and squares then showed us where the supermarket was. We stocked up on water. We really needed it here.

By day you are bothered by the emerald sellers. By night there are lots of guys who know which clubs to go to. They are very friendly and will get a commission on delivery. Santa Domingo is a pretty square at night with lots of expensive restaurants with OK food. You are entertained by Samba dancers.

After breakfast the next day we went in search of a bank. But there were road blocks in the way. We got through security by saying we needed to go to the bank. It was soon apparent that the bank was outside the cordon on the other side. But never mind, one of the nice emerald sellers helped us to get through in return for a visit to his shop later. Another emerald seller on the other side told us what the cordon was for. The president was in town and indeed there he was around the corner giving a speech. We watched for a bit but all the army guys with guns made us feel nervy about hanging around. Certainly wasn't game enough to take a photo.

Inside the cordon were a couple of museum. First we visited the Palace of the Inquisition. Once a sight of executions it is now a museum containing all the implements of torture and death that you would expect. On the top floor was some historical displays. Not hugely memorable but nicely air-conditioned. Next was the gold museum. It was focused on the Zenu culture and was quite interesting but not so big.

We left the cordon via a barrier guarded by two blokes in full combat gear. They were hot and sweaty but still smiling, even while a local complained about not being allowed in when we were. Others in our group had also been denied.

The Navy museum was very cool. Another fantastic colonial building but quite run down. Someone liked to make models and there was a long room full of models of the local fortifications with descriptions of how they worked. Upstairs was another long room full of ship models and other stuff like old radar machines. The first model we saw was of the Cutty Sark. Ironic because we recently heard there a was a fire on board destroying a lot of the interior of this Greenwich landmark.

After Chinese food we did a bit of 'clubbing'.. well we drank cubra libres (rum and coke with lime) outside a club for a while. We turned back and left the others to go inside.

Next day we went our seperate ways in the morning. Pieter did a solo tour of the city walls while I went with the others to the mud volcano. It is a natural pimple in the earth with enough heat to create a permanent mud bath at the top. You get in and get covered in mud. And there are some nice men there who will give you lots of massages. Fixed my back up a treat. We were roughly cleaned up by some ladies in the river. It was fun.

The afternoon was spent at Bocagrande, a very busy beach where you pay for a shelter with plastic seats. Very civilised. The man who sold us a shelter (after being offered a few other overpriced ones), Luis, was also kind enough to run off to the bar to collect beer and coke. Not having had lunch we were grateful for the constant stream of food opportunities. People on the beach passed every 30 seconds offering fruit, banana chips, biscuits, dumplings, sunnies, shoes, ciggies, soft drinks, lobsters, t-shirts, necklaces, hats. Even music. The tent next door paid for some music to be played so we enjoyed it for free! Lovely. They also had sandstone carvings for sale. It was bothersome but interesting. A great beach.

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