Cartagena, Colombia

​28th July – 29th July 2017

What a difference a 45 minute flight can make. We landed in Cartagena after a short flight and were immediately hit by the heat as we stepped off the plane. We got our luggage and got a cheap, air conditioned taxi up to our Hostel.

The heat wasn’t the only difference with this city. Our Hostel was located in the ‘Old Town’ part of the city and it was stunningly beautiful from the moment the taxi pulled in, so after we dropped our bags in the Hostel, we went for a wander.

As we walked down the streets the colours of the buildings and the flowers were so vibrant, you couldn’t help but stare. We walked up and down a few streets until we reached the edge of the town where the city walls were. We walked along those for a while noticing all the protective features such as cannons and lookout points – the walls were built around the city to protect it from enemies in the 16th century.

After walking along the walls for a while, we moved out of the old city and onto the main streets.

It was clear straight away that Cartagena is used to tourists a lot more than Medellin was. The locals were much more welcoming (although also slightly annoying when asking you to buy various tours) and there was a much more relaxing atmosphere. We wandered past the marina and moved towards the newer part of the city (mostly because Ruth wanted a new waterproof after leaving her other one in Medellin).

We got as far as the edge of the new city before deciding to turn back. The heat by now was unbelievable and we were both becoming very uncomfortable, very quickly. The city looked impressive curved around the beaches and even that was completely in contrast to the old part of Cartagena. We had to take several breaks along the way, but as soon as we stopped we could feel the heat burning us.

Before going back into the old town, we had a look at different points of interest along the way. We stopped in Parque de la Marina and Parque de Cementario and had a break before waking to La India Catalina (a statue dedicated to a woman who was abducted by a Spanish conqueror and was forced to be a Spanish translator for the Native Americans) where we could look out over the castle. It would have been an impressive view if there weren’t cranes coming out from the top of it.

We were even hotter at this point so went back inside the city walls, looking for a market – Las Bovedas – which was in the city walls. We couldn’t find it where we thought it was, but did find a shade spot so decided to sit and cool off a little. We ended up being there for about half an hour in the end. As we carried on our journey, we stumbled across the markets we were originally looking for so had a look through the stalls. They were filled with souvenirs and traditional clothing and jewellery – it’s just a shame my backpack has no spare room!

For lunch, we found a small cafe in one of the squares – still in the old part of the city – and had another heat break. Our bodies are still struggling to come to terms with the time change and all the early starts aren’t helping, so by lunch time we feel like it’s evening time and should be winding down for the day. However, as it was only lunch time, we carried on going. There were various points within the city walls that we wanted to visit, so we went off looking for those.

We found the cathedral first but were disappointed with it as it was covered in scaffolding and green sheets, so we couldn’t actually see the building itself. We carried on going, walking up and down most, if not all, the streets in the old town seeing lots of different beautiful buildings. Our last stop before heading back to the Hostel was seeing the theatre (Teatro Heredia). From the theatre we could see part of the cathedral which wasn’t covered in building work, so managed to take a half decent photo.

By the time we had done all of this walking we were very tired, and very sweaty (it was disgusting) and ready for a good rest so we walked back to the Hostel. By the time we got there we were able to check in, so we went to our room where we had air con and cooled down. We felt a bit boring coming back at 2 but our bodies couldn’t have handled much more walking and considering we had been awake since 1.30am, we thought it was acceptable to rest.

It turned out we came back just in time before the thunderstorm arrived. We were able to sit in the dry room watching the rain come down, until we had to go to the shop for something for our tea. The rain didn’t get rid of the hot air but was a refreshing addition in some kind of way.

Cartagena has been a very pleasant surprise and more days here would have been welcomed but there’s just no time as the next city is waiting for us.

To travel is to live, Katie x