Cartagena

10/27/23

From Bogota to Cartagena

We didn't sleep much (jet lag) and chatted from 3 a.m. onwards.

There are TV channels here only in Spanish (which is also good for escaping the flood of news). And hardly anyone else speaks English here either. This will be fun 🤣

We shower and have breakfast at 6:00 a.m., then transfer to the airport and our flight leaves at 8:30 a.m. Bogota is located at 2,500 m (we have never slept that high) and has around 10 million inhabitants in the surrounding area⛰️ which you can also tell from the air quality.

As expected, this plane is delayed again. The clocks tick slower here⏰ we stand on the runway for an hour.

After a total of 26 hours we land in Cartagena in not so nice weather.

And that's a gross understatement - everything here is under water, as we discover on the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. The journey takes over half an hour and costs €4.50.

Those are prices. The hotel looked much better in the photos and the rooms smelled musty and moldy. But we're almost afraid that this will be standard here.

It's also pouring rain. But when you open the window you can hear salsa music and the people here are really happy and friendly.

Despite the rain, we start our first walk.

Where the water is too high, bridges are built out of beer crates and wooden planks😂 and you are led across for a small tip.

You just have to know how to help yourself. We don't know if it's the weather or our expectations, but the first impression of Cartagena isn't great.

It's really dingy and pretty run down here.

Maybe it's also because we're tired.

The old town is partly a bit more well-kept, but also more touristy. The many colorful houses

and beautiful alleys and finally along the old city walls to the gigantic view of Bocagrande.

We walk back through alleys, past Botero's sculpture “Monumento a Gertrudis” - touching the sculpture is said to bring good luck.

The jet lag is back on us and we take a siesta in the hotel. In the evening we take another tour of Gethsemane. A colorful and loud hustle and bustle in every street and we are tired in the middle.