Cartagena (part 2)

We decided to spend our last few days in Colombia in Cartagena, in a nice hotel with cold air conditioning and fast wifi. We even found one with a small pool on the roof, perfect to cool off and relax after wandering around in the heat of the city – and in need of a little bit of luxury for our last few days. Perhaps even more surprising was to find a hotel that even had a hot water shower, which is something of a rarity in Colombia!

As we counted down our final few days, we decided to take it easy and not schedule too much to do. We booked on to a free walk by tour of the old city run by a local volunteer, who showcased architecture, historical facts and culture over the course of the two-hour stroll through the city's walled old town.

Some of the fascinating facts we learned were:

-   There are twenty-nine bank holidays per year in Colombia!

-   Every year there is a competition in the old town and the house judged most attractive doesn't have to pay any taxes (as an incentive for all the colonial-style houses within the city walls to keep up appearances)

Old colonial style house in Cartagena's old town

We also paid a visit to the crypt, part of the old Santa Clara Convent - which is now inside one of Cartagena's most premium hotels. The hotel agreed to keep the crypt intact and to allow public access after the story piqued public interest: when the crypt was excavated, a skeleton with long locks of copper coloured hair was uncovered inside, her hair having continued to grow for 200 years’ after her death. The story was originally featured in Gabriel García Márquez’ work, "Of Love and Other Demons," a tale which blurs fact and fiction and is based on this legend.

Famous Medellin painter and sculptor, Fernando Botero, known for his (often satirical) artworks featuring grotesquely large and exaggerated people and figures (including his take on the Mona Lisa) has one of his statues in the main square to commemorate him. It is said if you touch one breast, you'll come back to Cartagena in a year; touch both and you'll come back in two years. Touch her fat tummy and it is said to bring good luck!

 

Fernando Botero sculpture

Botero's Mona Lisa

We stumbled across some amazing - and highly energetic dancing throughout the city. This traditional Caribbean-Colombian "Mapale" dancing accompanied by fast-paced drumming and clarinet represents an erotic courtship between a man and a woman. It was introduced by African slaves brought to Colombia in a Spanish ships. The movements are said to be based on the movements of the mapale fish when they are out of water.

 

Leaving Colombia, we flew back to Mexico for two nights in Isla Mujeres before our long flight back to London. Two days on the beautiful Playa Norte was enough to make us want to stay longer and continue our travels - but no such luck: reality is ready to resume in London; jobs to be found and money to be earned!

 

Blue skies on Isla Mujeres seafront

 

Cartagena

Cartagena is a beautiful, well-preserved old town surrounded by tall city walls. Much like other old Spanish colonial centres, it has a really European feel – both architecturally and culturally – and within the city walls, there were even horse and carts (like we saw in Seville, Spain and also in Merida, Mexico) ferrying the tourists around.

Gate to the old town

Wandering around the narrow streets

Outside of the old town it’s a different story: the chaotic suburbs descend into traffic mayhem, diesel fumes and an urban sprawl where all Cartagena’s residents live. It was quite a contrast travelling in from the noisy suburban bus station outside of town, into the colourful centre of the old town. Needless to say we stuck to the centre of town once we’d arrived!

The city walls are filled with narrow streets, colourful buildings, brightly painted street art and big shady squares. It’s incredibly hot and humid so we were grateful for the cold air conditioning in our hotel room – the first we’ve had in a while and feels like a real treat!

 

View from the city walls

The best itinerary in Cartagena is to drop all sightseeing plans and get lost wandering around the streets of the old town. We walked miles in the shady streets, popping into shops and cafes for a Colombian coffee and some air conditioning, and strolling along sections of the city walls, taking in the city views.

 

City walls and sailing boat

Strolling around the walls

All the doors in the old town are much taller than standard doors as when the city was built, people used to enter buildings on horseback, so the added height is to cater for the horse and rider.

People’s homes also used to be marked with a symbol if they were one of certain occupations – usually the door knocker is in the shape of one of the following animals to represent the following professions:

• Lion – works for the king
• Iguana – rich/noble people
• Owl – doctor
• Mermaid – Sailor
• Dolphin – Fisherman

It was fun to walk around the old town spotting the different animals, though we’ve yet to see an owl…

 

A rich person used to live here...

We stayed in Getsemani, a ten-minute walk outside the centre and a popular location for backpackers. It’s a vibrant area with lots of great bars and cafes and generally the standard of food here is really good. We found a lovely café for breakfast with three resident cats, which serves the best banana pancakes (even better than mine!)

 

Street art in Getsemani

We’ll return to Cartagena in a week or so, ready for our flight back to Cancun before we fly home, but in the meantime, we decided to explore some more of the Caribbean coast and headed north to Minca in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

Minca, in the mountains

We spent a couple of nights there and did a spot of hiking to nearby ‘Pozo Azul’ waterfall for a swim, but our day’s adventure got prematurely cut short when the heavens opened and we got soaked through. So much for 100% waterproof Goretex shoes if they get so full of water that you’re squelching around in them! 

Soaking wet!

After a brief stop in Minca, we’re now in Palomino and I’ll fill you in on our adventures here in the next blog post.