After what seems like weeks of luxurious accommodation, we bumped back to earth when we arrived in our windowless hostel in Cartagena. Luckily, Cartagena is probably one of the most attractive cities we've been to in South America with plenty of charm, colour, culture and the Caribbean. We stayed in the heart of the old town (definitely the best area for tourists) and spent the days just wandering around the colourful streets, drinking good coffee (an ironic rarity in Colombia), eating gelato, and trying to stay out of the unavoidable heat and humidity. Due to direct flights from New York and other US destinations, the canny Colombians have unsurprisingly doubled their prices making this by far the most expensive place we've been to for months. However the only caveat to it being the most attractive city in Colombia is that this title only applies to the old town, outside of that it's a bit of a dump. Getsemani is the other up and coming barrio which is a must visit, especially in the evenings for some really great lively bars and restaurants, however be ready for the plethora of drug dealers, drunks, and prostitutes on almost every corner. We also didn't venture into the generic high rise condo area of Bocagrande as everything you could really need is within the old city walls, but apparently it has some good restaurants and beachfront. We did venture out to the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, the 17th century fortress on the outskirts of the old town. However sadly it is fairly missable, expensive to enter, and has a woeful lack of information. Supposedly the views from the top of the fort are meant to be great, but the surrounding area is rough and slightly industrial, so not exactly a highlight.
However it's not what you do in Cartagena that makes it great, it's just being in the city itself, which is a rare thing. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |