Cartagena

We arrived in the middle of the day in the baking heat in a taxi which had no air-conditioning but the heat was welcome after the miserable weather in Bogotá. The hotel was comfortable and we had aircon in our room and a TV so lots of films to watch.

We scoped out the town which is surrounded by old walls and is very beautiful with the sea on the other side. It was built like that to prevent attacks from pirates, etc.

We took a trip to Islas Rosario on a speed boat on one day which was fun. Well, the boat ride was the most fun part. One of the islands it was raining all the time and there wasn't much to do but we went to Playa Blanca which had a lovely tropical beach and we had our lunch cooked there which was a whole fried fish with coconut rice and plantain.

Another day we took a trip to the mud volcano. It sounds like it is very big but it in fact isn't. It's ten metres hight and only a few wide. Nonetheless we had a good dip in the mud which was a very strange but also pleasant experience. At the end of the bath we walked down the steps to a lake where the women of the village washed us in a lagoon and they stripped me of my bikini which was a bit of a surprise but it was just to wash the mud off. We ate at another beautiful beach and had a similar lunch as our other trip and took a dip in the sea which was very welcome after the baking heat.

The beach near the walled city where we were staying was called Boca Grande (big mouth) and we went there a few days. You rent a tent on the beach with a couple of deckchairs or a sunbed and hang out usually. There are a lot of vendors trying to sell things. The most persuasive are the massage ladies and they insisted on giving us a ´demonstration´ which turned into a real massage and then we had to pay them anyway.

We went to a castle called San Felipe de Barajas where there were lots of underground tunnels. We were in quite deep when we realised that we shouldn't go further without a guide as it was pretty dark and easy to get lost not to mention claustraphobic and difficult to breathe. I got out of there pretty sharpish. On the same day we visited a monastery on a hill which had great views of the town and where we sat in the courtyard in rocking chairs to cool down from the heat.

We gave in to the typical tourist stereotype when we went to the Hard Rock Café and sat in the Rod Stewart corner (because he's British, not because we're fans) but I DO have to say that they make excellent burgers. Even if we did have to drink half a litre of water afterwards.

After ten days we were ready to escape the heat and head somewhere a bit cooler, namely Medellín an hour's flight south in the mountains, a little lower altitude than Bogotá (2000 and something.). Our plane must have had only about 30 seats and we were at the front near the propellers. Because it was so small we felt every bump of the turbulence and my knuckles were white by the end of the journey! The taxi ride from the airport to the hostel was lovely with the windows open in the evening sun and a beautiful view of the green, green mountains.