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Published: September 24th 2010
So we rushed down, with the help of a taxi, to the Bucaramanga Bus Station, arriving there at just after 8am. The next bus to Cartagena was at 12:00 we were initially told, but then all of a sudden there was one leaving in the next 10 minutes. Given that it said Baranquilla on the front of the bus we were led to, we quandruple checked asking for confirmation that this bus was going direct to Cartagena. Without exception we were told yes. So we sat at the back of this coach (not a minbus this time) and settled in for what would be a 12 hour ride - a very bouncy ride.
I began to realise why Switzerland puts all its trucks on trains if they are transiting through the country. The winding mountain roads that we had to negotiate on the way to Cartagena were full of trucks and that meant lots of overtaking in the no-overtaking zones or face long slow snaking traffic. Get the trucks off the road and you've got faster moving safer roads. Unfortunately, Colombia only has about 1600 miles of railway and very little of that is near the mountains. Cue the Colombian
weaver bird driver who, by necessity, weaves about from lane to lane...often when on his mobile phone.
We'd watched our 5th Spanish dubbed movie in just over 24 hours, when in darkness we arrived at our destination. This was Baranquilla and it was 8pm. A friendly Colombian lady who we'd told we were going to Cartagena waved bye-bye and held up 3 fingers to indicate only another 3 hours to go.
We ended up changing coaches in Baranquilla and the driver of our first bus helped us transfer our luggage. He had been driving, with only 3 short stops, for the full 12 hours. But he was still very friendly and helpful and stretched out his hand for us to shake and for him to wish us well in our journey. Just before 11pm we arrived in Cartagena and got a taxi to our chosen hotel. It was over 15 hours of travelling - maybe that was why the price was about USD20 each less than advertised.
Even at 11pm though, one thing we noticed about Cartagena was that it was hot and humid, especially compared to the higher elevations we'd just come from. It wasn't as
bad as Florida, but you definitely knew you were at the coast.
We'd chosen the Hotel San Pietro in Bocagrande as our place of rest. As the name suggests, it is Italian run and has well deserved good reviews in Trip Advisor. Cartagena is not a cheap place to stay as it is a bit of a BOGer's playground, so the San Pietro at about USD80/night is a relatively good deal. Rooms are a good size and the flat screen.TV and WiFi all work well. It also has a roof terrace with Jacuzzis and a nice 'piazza' where a reasonable breakfast is served.
It is about a 5 minutes walk to the beach if you want a dip in the Caribbean and about a 30 minute walk to the old walled centre of Cartagena. The old part of the City is really pretty with Spanish colonial buildings dating back to the 16th Century within the old City walls. It is interesting to just walk around the old city, but inevitably this involves dodging the traffic and waving "no“ to scores of taxi drivers who all sound there horns trying to entice you for a ride. On thing is
for sure, you never have to wait long for a taxi in Cartagena.
According to Monty Python, "no one expects the Spanish Inquisition“ and I certainly didn't expect to find it historically linked to Cartagena. But there is an Inquisition museum (palacio del Inquisition) in the renovated part of the walled City which proudly displays mechanisms of torture and execution such as the Garrott, rack, stocks and so forth that were cheerfully employed by the truth seekers of the Catholic Church in the 16th Century. There's also a list of questions, one of the few things translated into English, of the sort of questions regularly asked people who the interrogators believed were Witches. Such questions included "How can you fly through the air“ and "why did you become a witch“.
The ground floor of the Inquisition museum is the only bit that is related to the Inquisition and is the most interesting bit. Unfortunately, almost all of its detailed history on how the Catholic Church had the processes of the Inquisition develop throughout the Spanish speaking and other parts of the world, is only available in Spanish. Most likely this is because there are "guides“ willing to extract
another 20,000 Pesos off you to tell you what's what in English. Since it costs 12,000 Pesos to get in and one of the 3 floors was closed when we were there, we declined their offer. The Museum is interesting, but compared to those in Bogotá which are often free, it falls into the over priced tourist trap category.
Another possible addition to this category could be the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas - depending on how culturally developed you are. This is a Spanish built Fortress constructed in the first half of the 17th Century and further enlarged in the 18th. It is apparently the most fortified fortress the Spanish ever built in the Colonies and was constructed in reaction to regular plundering attacks by 'pirates', including that of Sir Francis Drake in 1586. It is perched on a hill overlooking Cartagena harbour and therefore has great views and is definitely a place steeped in history. But other than the dimly lit dungeons to walk through, the old cannons to see and the various ramparts to clamber over, what else is there for the 12,000 Pesos (USD7) entrance fee? Well I guess there's the dodging of hawkers trying
to sell you tourist tat you don't want - but you can get that for free in many Cartagena streets.
OK I am being a little unfair. The Castle is an interesting place to visit. But it is a tourist trap complete with tourists even if most are domestic. So just accept it, smile and pay the entrance fee. The thing is you can see a lot of interesting sights by just wandering around Cartagena. The architecture, the old tall ships docked in the harbour, the plazas and the people. There are also a number of other museums to visit, such as the Naval one, that we never got to go to because it was closed the day we tried (Monday). Some, such as the Gold museum, may be a disappointment if you've already been to the big brother version in Bogotá.
There are also boat tours out to the islands near Cartagena, where the better beaches are. We were regularly enticed to buy such a tour from street hawkers near our Hotel. But paying 50,000 Pesos each to be cooped up with up to 98 other tourists for the day on a whistle stop tour of these
islands and only a couple of hours on a hawker-filled beach to be away from the madding crowd didn't seem that attractive. Especially when we have the prospect of other island and beach trips, such as the Galapagos, Burma and the Philippines to look forward to on this trip.
Actually, it was just as well we didn't bow to the selling pressure of the boat trip and sign up. If we would have gone it would have been on our last full day in Cartagena and that was when the heavens opened. It was a wet and sometimes windy day, with a bit of thunder thrown in too. The roads turned into rivers and it was generally a pretty miserable day. Had we paid about USD50 to shelter in a tourist boat, it could have been really miserable. This sort of weather is not what you hope for in the Caribbean. But then again August/September is the stormy season.
So our last day was a bit of a wash out and further exploration plans were skipped. Our next stopping place in Colombia was going to be the infamous Medellin - once known as the most violent city in
the World, thanks to its drug warefare - but now a little more under control. After our Cartagena bus marathon trip and facing a possible (at least) 13 hour bus trip to Medellin, we decided to take the plane to Medellin.
We booked online with Colombia's national airline, Avianca. We had also booked with them to fly back from Quito to Bogotá when we visit Ecuador and the Galapagos. Unlike so many websites, their website accepts foreign credit cards. But although the booking confirmation email we promptly received said that after processing we'd be emailed the e-tickets, they never arrived. However, it was an easy enough process to call their online help centre, talk to someone in English and have him sort the problems out. Within 20 minutes we received both sets of E-tickets. But then my Swiss phone went into SMS overdrive as the Credit Card company contacted me to tell me they'd blocked the card. Thank goodness for Skype. I called the Credit Card Company in Switzerland and explained all was well and they explained there were lots of dodgy credit card copies in Colombia. What a surprise. Card unblocked. Panic over.
The first couple of
nights we had eaten at the hotel, which had reasonable Italian food. The last night we ventured as far as a couple of doors down the road. Prices in the walled area are often a lot more expensive than Bocagrande, for pretty much the same quality, so there was no real sense in going into town to eat. We went to "Danny el Churrasco Argentino“. Understandably, steak was on the menu and we had two pretty large servings of good quality meat. Both, with all accompaniments were less than two thirds the cost of one smaller Swiss steak restaurant meal. Colombia is definitely a place to pig out on meat.
And that was Cartagena. Admittedly we didn't do too much during our brief stop there. It was either too hot, too wet or both to go racing around. It was time to head to Medellin in one of Avianca's State of the Ark Fokker 50 turboprops - first introduced in 1958. No doubt the one that we were going to fly on had been passed around a number of airlines and was approaching its Golden flying anniversary. What it is to live in the modern world.
Places we have visited and can recommend Hotels
Hotel San Pietro (also known as Hotel da Pietro, since that's the name of its Restauarant)
Carerra 3a #4-101
Bocagrande, Cartagena
Restaurants & Cafes
Danny el Churrasco Argentino
Carrera 3a and corner of Calle 5
Bocagrande, Cartagena
Mila Cafeteria (Excellent sandwiches, Cakes, pastries and coffees)
Calle 35, Catagena (in the walled part of the city)
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