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Yeowza! It's been awhile since I've updated the blog! Let me bring you back about 2 weeks... Back in Cartagena....
So we arrived in Cartagena late at night, after having hiked out of Tayrona National Park, back through the hot yoga jungle, and after a 7 hour bus ride. We were both really dirty and tired and had decided to get a nice hotel for the night. However, by the time we took the very slow colectivo (local bus) from the main bus terminal to the backpacker neighborhood Getsemani, it was too late to really look around for a good place. We ended up at a hostel that was recommended by some other travelers back in San Gil, but it was full. So, we ended up around the corner at a hostel called Hostal Real which, at first sight, was pretty decent. There was a turtle, a parrot, a fish, and a dog named Lulu who lived in the lobby and it was nicely decorated. Plus, we were able to score a room with air conditioning, which is essential in Cartagena because it is absurdly hot and humid at all times. It was after we had eaten, showered, and were
going to bed that we realized that we had the world's most uncomfortable mattress. It was basically a bunch of springs with fabric around them. Once we laid down, we could feel every spring against our bodies and it was truly unbearable. So, I got dressed and went to ask the lady at the front desk if there was another mattress we could use. In a few minutes she returned, hauling a mattress over her shoulder... but it was a mattress for a single bed. I decided not to push our luck and just thanked her for her help. Indeed the mattress was much more comfortable, stuffed with cotton as opposed to springs, but Ryan and I had to share it the whole night. Fortunately we were both too tired to be bothered by the situation. Then next day, we were determined to find a nice hotel. When we checked out of Hostal Real, I told the owner that I didn't think it was right for us to pay 60 thousand pesos for a double room when we had to share a single mattress. Without hesitation, he told me that because the service had not met our expectations, that he
would not accept any of our money. I felt bad and tried arguing that we should still pay for a single room at 40 thousand pesos, but he wouldn't hear of it. There's something to be said about that level of customer service, I suppose.
So, after checking around at a few hotels, we ended up at a truly fabulous one called Hotel Lee. As nothing in Cartagena is "new," the actual building wasn't new but the interior was totally renovated and very modern. It had a large rooftop patio and a small pool, a plasma TV in every room, AC, hot water (difficult to find in northern Colombia), and FREE breakfast. Our room came equipped with a couch, a coffee table, an armoire, a modern bathroom, and shower with an actual shower head!! Imagine that! And it was actually only $70 USD a night. We might as well have been in paradise... hotel paradise that is.
Needless to say, we spent practically our entire first day in Cartagena lounging around our hotel, enjoying the pool and the super-comfortable bed. Only after dark and a nice long shower did we make it out of the hotel to roam
around the historic downtown. Cartagena is a unique city because the entire historic area is surrounded by a large stone-and-coral wall which protected the city from intruders back in the day, giving it the nickname of "The Walled City." Although it's quite beautiful to stroll around the walled city, it is also pretty annoying due to the incessant street vendors selling everything from horse-drawn carriage rides to miniature Botero statues to cocaine. And unlike the other street vendors in other Colombian cities, these guys are persistent. A simple "no gracias" might as well equate to "hmm, yes, tell me more about your product!!" They have a tendency to follow you all the way down the block, especially the drug pushers. They act like they want to be your friend at first. They come over, introduce themselves, ask where you're from, etc. Incidentally, they all speak English and have, at some point in their lives, lived in the U.S. Then they tell you that they know the best restaurant or the best hostel or the best dance club. And it always ends with them offering up "white Colombian coffee" or marijuana or whatever other drug you could imagine. Again with the
customer service... drug dealers around every corner! It's actually a shame that a lot of foreigners come to Cartagena for this reason alone. No wonder it has the reputation it does.
So, considering that we were pampering ourselves after a few days in the jungle, we decided to find a nice place to eat dinner. We roamed the historic downtown, strolling from plaza to plaza, constantly getting accosted by restaurant employees whose only job is to stand outside the restaurant and do whatever it takes to get you inside. The competition is fierce. Many of these restaurants are next to each other, and if one of these employees sees you looking at another restaurant's menu, they literally YELL at you, "Heyyyy!! Helloooo!!!! Different menu!!! We have different menu!!!" We were offered a free half bottle of wine by one guy, free beer by another, discounts by another, and my favorite one that was offered by several was "You don't like, you don't pay." Money-back guarantee!! We finally ended up at one of these places in a large plaza because we wanted to eat outside. Open air restaurants in Cartagena can be quite nice at night, but in this case
our table (and everyone else's for that matter... we weren't special) was flocked to by street vendors selling jewelry, cigarettes, hats, you name it. This is a great service if you happen to be in the market for a new pair of feather earrings while you're in the middle of chewing your calamari, but if not it's simply annoying. Regardless, we got a giant plate of seafood for two and it was yummy so we ended up having to actually pay for it. And I was just starting to get used to freebies!!
Our next day in Cartagena was relatively uneventful. Because we had fallen so in love with our hotel, we decided to stay another night. That meant another luxurious day of eating breakfast on the rooftop patio and lounging by the rooftop pool. We did manage to make it to the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (a big fort), which had a fairly pricey entrance fee but it was worth it to have the view of the city and be able to explore the dark, underground tunnels of the fort. That night we watched the sunset from a notch in the wall of the walled city,
surrounded by teenage lovers making out in the other notches nearby. I wanted to take pictures but Ryan didn't think that would be very kosher.
Our third day in Cartagena we took a boat tour out to Las Islas Rosario, some beautiful islands off the coast. I really expected it to be a very touristy, party-boat kind of experience, but the grand majority of the other boaters were tourists from Colombia and perhaps other parts of South America. There were only a few non-native-Spanish-speakers on the boat. We had a good time people watching, to say the least. A large group seemed to be on some kind of family reunion and they were taking tons of photos. We got such a kick out of watching them that I took some photos of my own.
Our first stop on the boat tour was an aquarium, but we were told we only had 45 minutes there and the tickets were somewhat pricey so we didn't go in. Next we took the boat another hour or so to another island for lunch and a couple hours of free time to swim. Ryan got scammed by these guys who were "giving away"
oysters to unsuspecting tourists as we got to the island. Ryan ate a few of them, only to get hounded for money later by the guy who gave them to him. Ryan offered him a few pesos and the guy refused, saying they cost 20 thousand pesos (10 U.S. dollars!)... ridiculous. So Ryan didn't pay him anything. About 30 minutes later, the same guy came back asking for money again. This time he accepted the 5 thousand pesos Ryan originally offered. There were also ladies walking around with buckets of coconut oil or palm oil, offering massages. They would come up behind you and just start rubbing your shoulders. Well, one persistent lady started rubbing Ryan's shoulders while we were eating lunch. He turned and said, "No gracias" but she kept right on. So, I turned around and told her in Spanish that he was not going to be paying her so she should stop. But she said, "Es un regalo (it's a gift)." And she slathered on some oil and kept rubbing for another minute or two before finally walking away.
During our boat tour we met a young couple from England, Tom and Charlotte, who are doing
almost the exact same trip as us. They are even flying out of Lima just one day before us. We also got to see some huge sailboats that were a part of Sail 2010, an international regatta taking place in different South American sea ports this spring. It happened to be taking place in Cartagena while we were there. So, that was really cool.
That evening, after we got back from Islas Rosario, we had to check out of our awesome hotel and go find a new hostel because we couldn't swing another $70 night. Fortunately we found a nice hostel called La Casona with a good bed and air-con. We also found a really great Italian restaurant across the street. The owner was straight out of Italy, so everything was authentic and really good... and cheap! We ate there 3 nights in a row actually.
Our last day in Cartagena we decided to join Tom and Charlotte on a trip to Volcan Totumo, a mud volcano about 45 minutes outside the city. It was the neatest, weirdest experience. First of all, it's not much more than a big dirt hill, maybe 30 feet high. You climb a
long flight of stairs to the top where you have access to the mud-filled center of the volcano. The volcano itself is actually 2,500 meters deep and the warm mud comes up from deep within the earth. First of all, getting in the mud is an experience all its own. You climb down a little ladder, but once you get about crotch-high, you have to just sit down into it because it's so dense that you can't really get much further down into it. It is not only impossible to sink in the mud, but nearly impossible to push someone or be pushed down into it. Ryan and I both tried to push each other under, with no success. Anyway, once you're in there is a group of local men waiting in the mud to give you a full body massage. They say this service is optional, but it didn't seem very optional as every single person was getting a rub down. These men also have to grab you by your legs and situate you in the mud because it's so difficult to move on your own. They literally scoot you around across the surface of the mud until you're
whatever place they want you. If it's your turn for a massage, they pull you into a horizontal position across the top, first so you're laying on your back. Then you get a full body frontal massage, which is weird in itself, not to mention the fact that you're laying in mud. Next they flip you over onto your stomach, and you kind of have to hold your head up so your face doesn't go in the mud, and you get the other side of your body done. They leave no part unrubbed except only the most private of private parts. Bum and breasts are definitely massaged. And the bizarreness doesn't end here. After they give you the boot from the volcano, you walk over to a lagoon looking like a Swamp-thing nightmare. At the lagoon, there are local women waiting to rinse you off (because obviously we are not capable of doing it ourselves). Each visitor gets their own cleaning lady who advises you to sit in the knee-high water, dumps bucket after bucket of water over your head to rinse off your hair, face, and upper body, and then *swoosh! pulls off your bathing suit in a heartbeat
and rinses it out for you. This is no big deal for guys, whose naked parts are underwater, but the opportunity for strangers to see each other's breasts is very present. Then you're advised to put your suit back on and get out of the water. Of course you also must "tip" the massaging men and the cleaning women or they will hunt your *** down.
The whole experience at the mud volcano is one of those things that was thoroughly enjoyable, but probably only because we were in a foreign country. If that kind of thing happened at, for example, one of the hot springs in Colorado, I don't think it would fly at all.
After the volano, we were taken to a beach for lunch. Ryan had an awesome time literally frolicking in the waves. The water was bathtub warm and the sand was dark gray and sparkly. It was a good opportunity to get any remaining mud out of any crevices, although the lagoon ladies were pretty darn thorough... they even put their fingers in your ears!
After we got back to Cartagena, we spent the remainder of the day going grocery shopping, eating
at the Italian place, and checking out all the Sail 2010 events in the old town. The craziest storm rolled in that night. It rained so hard that the streets flooded a bit. Our hostel had an open patio in the center and waterfalls of rain were cascading from the roof. Apparently El Nino has really been affecting South America. We experienced a good amount of storms and rain since we've been here, but every time we talk to someone they say, "It hasn't rained here in 3 months" (or 5 months in Cartagena's case). And they say it's El Nino. One guy in Cartagena told me that in 50 years part of the city will be under water because the sea level is rising and Cartagena is at sea level.
So, that's it for Cartagena. We left the next morning and took a bus to Bucaramanga. More on that city later. Ciao!
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Horhay
non-member comment
Sound like a blast!
Hey, it sounds like you two are enjoying yourselves. Nothing much new here except the naked mud volcano that I'm working on in the back yard. Mud, water, naked massage, and I get paid. What could be better? Enjoy!