Pirates and Pablo, Moustaches and Mullets

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We spent four days in Cartagena, an old Spanish colonial city that was a favourite target for pirates. We spent hours wandering around getting lost in the old city, exploring little shops and restaurants, and walking along the city walls. We stayed at a lovely hostel called Casa Viena, which I highly recommend to anyone. We did a day trip to a mud volcano. It was just a little pimple of a volcano but you could climb into and float in the mud. It was very bizarre but tons of fun! We tried to arrange a boat trip to a bunch of nearby coral reef islands and a beach, but the boats were cancelled due to rough seas and a tsunami warning.

We finally left the coast and caught a night bus to Medellin, Pablo Escobar's city. The stories we heard were true - the buses crank the air con so it is frigid inside! Luckily I had my little travel blanket. Medellin was nice, lots of good shopping in our area. We went to a museum and saw a bunch of Botero statues, but we were too exhausted from our night bus to do anything else. The mullet appears to be very fashionable here.

Next stop, coffee region!

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