Hola from somewhere in between Cartagena and Santa Marta! No, the bus doesn’t have Wi-Fi (not back at Google just yet….) but drafting this for later posting!
On Sunday, I flew a quick hour from Medellin to Cartagena, a totally different Colombia from the one I’d been living in during my time in Envigado. Cartagena is hot, beautiful, and packed with Colombian and international tourists. Usually I don’t love super touristy spots, but Cartagena is so pretty, you can’t help but be drawn in by its charm.
Beautiful buildings like this on every street in the historic center
I started by going to the wrong hostel. Mine was hostel Santo Domingo de Vidal, but I went to Hostal Santo Domingo. Apparently this happens all the time, and was easily resolved with a $3 cab ride. I had a nice private room, and the staff were friendly and helpful, but it wasn’t a super social hostel, so I didn’t make any new friends like I’d hoped to!
My first day I just kind of wandered around the historic center, which has photogenic buildings at every turn, and many cute boutiques to pop into. I had a drink at El Baron, a nice cocktail bar with seating on a main square, and then found a place for dinner. I don’t mind eating alone, and enjoy it when I’m traveling for work, but this ended up being a little awkward. The restaurant was super romantic, and I felt like I was eavesdropping on dates (I wasn’t….my Spanish isn’t that good). I also ordered WAY too much food and wasn’t even hungry when my entree came. Obviously I ate it anyway.
Lychee spritz, great end to a day of wandering around!
The second day, I didn’t really have a plan but ended up visiting a local market, Mercado de Barzuto. I read about it in my guidebook and quickly Googled a tour and managed to join one that morning (through Cartagena Connections). Local folks from Cartagena think the market is smelly and gross, and…I kind of have to agree. They sell everything from clothes and toiletries to fruits, veggies, fish, and all parts of various animals. Even though it’s not where I’d choose to do my grocery shopping, I really enjoyed seeing a part of Cartagena that wasn’t just for tourists, and it was worth the price of the tour because I don’t think I could have found my way around alone.
Our lunch at the market- fresh fried fish. It tasted better than it looks.
That evening, I met up with some people who were on my tour for a couple of drinks and mediocre pizza at Plaza de la Trinidad, a spot right by my hostel where everyone seems to converge at night, from locals to backpackers and performers like rappers and dancers (who ask for tips, of course!).
Coming to Cartagena, I knew that a popular day trip was go to nearby beaches by boat (the beaches in Cartagena itself are not very nice) but was not quite sure what the options were. I’d heard of Playa Blanca, but it sounded terrible- tons of visitors and harassment by people selling you stuff. What I learned while there is that many hotels on the islands have private beaches, and you can visit one of them on an easy boat ride. The market tour guide was super helpful in recommending and setting up such a visit for me. I went to the beach of Gente de Mar hotel on Isla Rosario. There were about 50 of us on the tour and the beach was private, calm, and beautiful, with towels and lunch included. I’m not much for a party scene so it was just perfect for me (cost was about $70 for the day). I also opted to do snorkeling from the beach (about $15) which was super worth it- saw a lot of interesting fish and coral reef.
Yay! The beach! (tan is still a work in progress)
After my beach trip I cleaned up and did some more wandering around the historic center. I ended up finding a cool little art house/courtyard where I was able to chill out a bit with my book. Then went to La Mulatta for a tasty seafood dinner.
My third and final day, I joined a free tour of the street art in the Gestemani neighborhood- there’s tons of vibrant murals with interesting history behind them (images below are a little slideshow you can click through if so inclined)
After that it was time to grab my bags and wait for the bus! I am taking the Marsol bus to Santa Marta (easily booked by my hostel)- should be about a 4-5 hour trip. So far it’s been 4 hours and 45 min and we aren’t there yet! [update: took almost 7 hours door to door. Whew!]
Cartagena is a great place to visit, but I’m not sure I’d put it at the top of my list for solo travelers. It’s kind of romantic so I think it draws many couples. Maybe it was just the hostel I was in which was not super social, but it was a bit hard to meet people there. Regardless, I enjoyed my time there!
Tomorrow I’m heading to Tayrona National Park, to hike to a beautiful beach and camp out (been a very long time since I've done that!)