Cartagena

A 13-hour overnight bus got us to Cartagena. After having flown to Medellin, all three of us thought it would be an experience to take the bus. First I should mention we all managed to catch some real sleep. No idea how that happened but happy. The road was very curvy and green. As I expected, some villages along the way and plenty of stops to drop off passengers or packages.

Cartagena’s historic centre is stunning. A grid of colourful colonial buildings with balconies jutting into the street. Bougainvillea and palm trees crowding out the space. Lots of stuff being sold in both shops and on the sidewalks. For our time here, we mostly walked around and took it all in. The old centre is surrounded by defense walls that are over 400 years old. Built by the Spanish who invaded around that time and wanted to keep others out. Cartagena was also the place where resistance against the Spanish was first successful. Earlier in the week there was a holiday celebrating Colombian independence. Of the few Colombians we asked about the holiday, they all had to think saying there are so many holidays in Colombia it’s hard to remember.

Compared to Bogota and Medellin – where we slept with extra blankets and a space heater – it’s hot here! Sunscreen finally came out. And daiquiris. Not a sunburn, red reflection from the umbrella:)Our final day we left the historic centre for Bocagrande, a Miami Brach like peninsula just south. Our hotel, Cartagena Dubai, was exactly as expected with meals included buffet style. This area is a getaway for Colombians, like DR is for Canadians. So we beached it.

Medellin

We flew here after needing to pay to check our carry on bags, which were not stout enough for this flight, and to print our boarding passes 😳. The bus ride from the airport to the centre took about an hour as we drove steadily downhill since Medellin is in a bowl with the town sprawling up. Views from the subway.Our hotel was massive with 8 or 10 floors. A little rundown, but great service and right downtown. We had a great walk about in our first hours here and eventually found a shopping street, and a Bata store to take cover in when it poured in the late afternoon. The poverty we saw was fairly immense. A lot of street venders selling a ton of stuff, some with stalls and some just walking around with candy or souvenirs. Others looking somewhat disheveled.

That night, Anne-Marie and I opted to eat nearby and wound up in a fast food place in our hotel. While I wanted French fries, I ended up with beans. Should have known when the server looked at me funnily after I ordered. Happily, they were tasty and vegetarian! Then we headed to a place for beer and live music. Even though streets are numbered, it took us ages to find this place and even needed a little help from a local.

The next day we walked over to the Palacio de la Cultura, huge gothic building with an art exhibit on the main floor. The Botanical Garden was three metro stops away. The metro the only one in Colombia and has just two lines – N&S; E&W. Familiar? – why yes! It was unexpectedly high standard and easy to navigate. The Garden was free and made me think of Allen Gardens – a beautiful escape in a big concrete, very busy city. After the Botanical Garden, we walked to the nearby Cemetery Museum, really an intricate graveyard that was equally quiet and peaceful – initially it was smaller than today as it expands outward in concentric circles. Lots of fresh (and artificial) flowers. In the afternoon, another museum tour to check out more Botero works – they are stunning and he’s quite famous in Colombia! En route, we waited out the afternoon thunder shower in a large mall that looked like a church. It’s the rainy season here, so in the south there’re thunder showers every afternoon. When stuck, get an ice cream!

More Bogota

I’ll freely admit, we found it tough to navigate Bogota. What this meant was our second night, we all had pizza for dinner. AM had pizza because she wanted pizza. Marleen and I had pizza because we could not find either of the dinner places we’d looked up and finally decided to eat at the next place we found.

Last day in Bogota we toured the salt cathedral – about 30 minutes north of Bogota. However I describe it, will not do justice. The cathedral started to be conceived in the 1930s with miners creating altars in the salt cave to pray for safety and so on. The initial cathedral was carved and opened in the 1950s but became unstable so this newest one was developed in the 1990s. It is tremendous both in terms of architecture and size. Closest to the entrance are recesses with carvings to depict the stations of the cross. The above is #2 (Jesus picks up the cross) and #4 (Jesus meets his mother). Then there’s a huge cavern with an altar and alcoves for prayer and reflection. Above are numerous salt chandeliers (with led lights). A service is held every Sunday while below the cathedral salt is still extracted from the mine. The entire tour was through a company and our guide, Francisco, told us about his coming back to Colombia 10 years ago, positive changes over the past 15 years and how similar his mother is to Anne-Marie. The average person would not have been directly affected by the ongoing guerrilla/drugs war, but Francisco also told us his own father was kidnapped 20 years ago and his family had to pay a ransom. It was this that prompted them to leave for the US.

That afternoon wandered back to places we’d been. Bolivar Square was closed, we later found out the reason: protests by farmers against the government. A wee bit of shopping – oddly no shoes but I’m looking relentlessly – and then we escaped to Bogota Brewing Company for some craft beer – I would say as many or perhaps more selections than Bandit’s.Day ended with dinner at Andres Carne de Res restaurant, a cross between Honest Ed’s and the Vegas strip with a little Old Spaghetti Factory thrown in. The menu is 75 pages – took us a while to order.

Colombia

My mom, sister and I have talked about going on a trip together for a while. We landed in Bogota, Colombia on Friday!

Arrived around 10pm, so took a taxi to our hotel. It was raining, a lot, and we drove through some enormous puddles to boot. Basically, there was water everywhere. I hadn’t planned to bring my raincoat but couldn’t get to the UP station without it, so along it came. Glad!

Our first expertise was a graffiti tour. As we approached a group with orange T-shirts announcing the tour, a man ran up and exclaimed they were a knock off tour and a bunch of other negative things. After caucusing, we decided to go with them (competition isn’t necessarily bad) and then these two groups of tours had a yelling match = Graffiti tour turf wars. Once that was over, here’s what we saw:The weather was already looking dodgy, so we legged it to the base of Monserrate, a hill overlooking Bogota, to take a cable car to the top. What a view! We went into the church and then shopped in a local market before sitting down for lunch. Anne-Marie and Marleen tried intestines – not a big hit. I settled for scrambled eggs and potatoes, which ended up being the most expensive item we ordered. Who knew they’re imported?At the end of lunch, we walked back to the hill’s edge and found we were totally, utterly fogged out. So we went back down. And found it totally, uttering pouring. We first tried to madly dash back to our hotel. After 15 minutes of that, three exceedingly soggy ladies jumped into a taxi.

Bedraggled, we dried up, changed our clothes and regrouped for dinner. That worked! Beer aperitif.Next stop was a variety of museums and shopping areas. This time we brought umbrellas and my raincoat. While dark clouds rolled in and looked threatening, that’s all they did. Of course 😉 Later on, Anne-Marie tried a local drink called chicha, fermented alcohol from maize. Intriguing for sure, but it tasted about about good as you think it did. Marleen and I opted for beers. Bogota was a crowded place – apparently there are more than 20 universities with many students about.