December 19 – In search of the allure

Our first night in the Hotel Villa Colonial, Cartagena had to be the quietest we’ve spent yet in Colombia. With the fluttering of the ceiling fan and hum of the air conditioner, both Kathleen and I slept very well. We snacked on some of our munchies for breakfast before heading out into the streets of Cartagena, Colombia.

We walked through the streets of Cartagena trying to avoid stepping in puddles that smelled of urine, kitchen waste, or some cocktail of the two, towards the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. This impressive structure was said to provide good views of the city. Kathleen and I were looking for some place up out of the fray. We arrived at the ticket booth to a horde of street vendors. These guys would get right in your face trying to sell you sunglasses and a hat. ‘I’m wearing sun-glasses and a hat, Genius’! While I was paying the entrance fee, a bottled water appeared and intercepted the money I’m trying to slip through the hole to the woman on the other side of the glass. I shoved my whole hand through the hole. The trick would have been for me to have dropped the money, whereby the hawker would have put the bottle in my hand and snatched the bills claiming I just bought the water.

Once we received our tickets to the castle, remember the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the street hawkers abandoned us and lay in wait to pounce on the next visitors. Kathleen and I walked up to the castle where more hawkers were found, however, they were not nearly as aggressive. On the castle we found a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean – the Trade Winds. Additionally, we were up out of the fray and could look around, or stop and sit. That last was not something we found we could do for long in the cities of Colombia. Sooner than later, someone would home in on us and the caper would range from just ‘give me money’ to ‘I’ll take you on a tour’. We found this not to be so in such places as Villa de Leyva, Barichara, or Santa Sophia. Stick with the small towns.

We spent a couple of hours looking out over Cartagena. Kathleen had read that Cartagena was considered one of the most vibrant and eclectic cities in all of South America. Well, we gotta go find this vidrant’ness. We grudgingly left the relative peacefulness of the castle in search of Cartagena’s allure.

Before our search, we needed food. So, we walked into the ‘walled city’ which is within the old Spanish fortress that protected Cartagena from those pesky British and pirates back in the 15, 16, and 1700’s. Within the walls, the streets, shops, and activities kind of reminded Kathleen and I of a dirtier Florence, Italy, or the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana . . . after a Mardi Graz night and a hurricane.

Kathleen had the name of a few restaurants she got from the Foot Print guide. However, the streets were not matching up with what the guide conveyed. We ended up having another fine home-cooked style meal at a small café. A bowl of soup, a plate of beef/chicken, rice, salad, spaghetti, and bottled water for $4 USD. Nothing fried or pre-processed. Kathleen and I have noticed darn few overweight people in Colombia, except here in Cartagena.

We headed off in search of Cartagena’s allure by walking down along the ocean front toward Boca Grande. If you are looking to drop some huge coin to stay at Cartagena, Boca Grande will drain a wallet quickly. The spit of land has high-rise apartments, hotels, and condominiums bordered by the ocean or lagoons. Kathleen and I walked along the waterfront and arrived at the beaches in front of some of the hotels. A number of the locals told us to stay out of the water near Cartagena and instead go out to the islands off the coast. Hear that cash-register sound? We saw some people in the water as we walked along the beach. Mostly, people were just sunbathing. Many people from Europe come here for holiday.

We nearly circumnavigated Boca Grande and found the walk along the lagoons quieter and less hectic until we entered back into Cartagena proper. We walked to the supermarket we had visited yesterday and bought some water and sundries before having a large cup of mixed melon chunks. We then hiked back to our room.
Kathleen and I couldn’t find the allure of Cartagena. We have run into a number of British tourists here for vacation. We met a couple from the U.S. that had been to Cartagena five times! Dunno why. Kathleen and I plan to return, however, only to pick up our motorcycles from the sea port and head south to tour around South America.