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Published: September 3rd 2015
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Cartagena was such an awesome city - the old town is full of brightly coloured colonial Spanish buildings, all kept in really nice condition. Of course that means it's very touristy and expensive, but I was staying just outside the centre in Getsemani - a neighourhood full of hostels, street art and plaza parties. There's always a fiesta happening in Cartagena, and I didn't get a lot of sleep during my time there! But the city is so hot, it would be difficult to sleep anyway! The first day, I strolled around the old town, just enjoying the amazing streets and buildings. The following day, I caught the boats out to the nearby Islands - Playa Blanca on Baru & the Islas Rosarios. The boat took us around the picturesque little islands and stopped off to do some snorkelling. We then went back to Playa Mujeres for lunch of freshly baked fish and to enjoy the warm Caribbean water.
That night a group from the hostel wandered into the centre for ice creams. In one of the plazas there was a group performing Kumbia dances. Kumbia is a mix of African and Spanish influences in the northern part of Colombia.
They wear awesome colourful outfits and basically just go crazy to the music. A lot of fun to watch. Afterwards, a few of us went to the Plaza Trinidad near the hostel for beers. There was a juggler performing there with flaming sticks and crazy balancing acts, so we got some further entertainment thrown in there. That was the night of the huge weekly party at the Media Luna Hostel, so we went along to that for a bit for some dancing. Later that night, my friends Yola and Kim arrived in Cartagena, and we annoyed a few people trying to sleep by catching up in the early hours of the morning. They were heading back the way I had come to Santa Marta, and we had one day where we crossed paths. The next day we went and sorted out their visas for Brazil and wandered around the old town again. We caught the sunset from a bar on the wall that surrounds the centre and ended the night hanging out in the Plaza Trinidad, listening to the Kumbia music and chatting to some locals. I would have loved to spend a bit more time in Cartagena, but I
knew my next stop was going to be an awesome one!
The next morning I had an early flight to Pereira to meet up with Santi and Maria (friends who had been living in Australia the previous year and had moved back home). After a flight and three buses I finally made it to their home town Armenia. It was so great to see them again and have a home away from home for a few days. So awesome to have my own room again as well! I stayed for about 4 days and spent my time chilling out and walking around Armenia, going to Salento, which is a beautiful old style town, and the surrounding countryside which has some of the most breathtaking views I'd seen in Colombia. Armenia is a nice quiet town that was nice to walk around in. There's an awesome park near where I was staying that has a little mini bamboo jungle and river, which was lovely place to spend a couple of hours. I had a couple of delicious lunches with Maria and Santi's huge family, including a picnic in the Valle Cocora surrounded by gorgeous mountains. I got some serious practice
of my Spanish, which was great but tiring - it was a relief to Skype with my brother and talk a bit of English after a couple of days of constant Spanish! Maria and Santi and their family looked after me really well during my stay there and I really didn't want to leave - but I had a flight to meet Jason in Lima, so it was time to say goodbye to Colombia and start our journey in Peru. I still felt I had lots to see in Colombia, even after spending 2 months there. There's a saying in Colombia that the danger is that you won't want to leave, and that was absolutely true for me... I'll definitely be back!!
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