Colonial Cartagena

 

   

The colourful port city of Cartagena, (or Cartagena de Indias) lies in the the north of Colombia, on the Caribbean coast.  The old, walled town and Getsemani, the fast-growing and more 'gritty' backpacker area on its outskirts, are very picturesque and photogenic, so we'll let the images speak for themselves.  We stayed 4 days in this hot city and loved it.  Annoyingly I (Anna) had a 24 hour bug thing, which rendered me unable to put one foot in front of the other, so we extended our stay by a day and I recovered in our big, but economical, modern seafront hotel with air-con, crisp white linen and good internet connection; not our usual choice of accommodation, but it worked out well.  We still saw lots of the city.  We decided not to visit the islands off Cartagena as we'll shortly be travelling to the beach, though we heard that some of them are lovely, others are touristy and crowded.

       

                                   

Eeeuw!  Very picturesque urinal on the ramparts

Images of the old town

                                    

                                    

                                   

     

Selling little ceramic copies of Botero statues

 

                                   

                                 

      

Sombrero, señor?

                                       

                                  

                                   

     

      

Having a break in the sizzling heat.....

  

The Gold Museum provided welcome respite and was absolutely fascinating 

We missed the Gold Museum in Bogota, so this was a another chance to learn about the importance and significance of gold in Colombia's history.  

 

Fabulous earrings

                           

Remember the mice who sang 'Blue Moon' in the film 'Babe'?........

                          

Hee hee

    

    

                                   

       

     

Snoozing until the next customer arrives 

       

       

Tacky fake fruit for sale in a souvenir shop - more great colours 

                                

Inside one of the shops near the ramparts flocked to by cruise ship tourists.... Hmmm

   

I wanna fabulous white bike with flower-festooned handlebars like this one

                         

Sailors on shore leave

       

Old meets new

        

    

You sure you don't want a sombrero, señor? (look at Alan's back - a bit moist)

    

Love this nativity scene in a shop window

In all the central and South American countries we've visited it's not uncommon for Christmas decorations to remain long after the festive season is over.

  

A shop called 'Abba'

                                

                                

OK, señor, you really don't want a sombrero!

                                   

All this sightseeing lark is hot and thirsty work - delicious vanilla and mango frozen yogurt, with maracuya (passionfruit) topping

Refreshed, we headed to Getsemani:

                                             

    

                                        

                                   

Fantastic street art:

     

                        

Metal man caught short - one too many Club Colombias, no doubt

  

                                 

       

        

        

                          

                                 

  

                                     

                                   

                                         

Faded splendour

                                 

Little residential street in Getsemani, with recycled plastic bottle bunting

                                 

 

       

      

Another pit-stop - hey,  that's my limonada de coco!

Like other Central and South American countries, Colombia does drinks and snacks extremely well.  Wherever you go there are little shops and stalls selling home-made snacks and juices.  No-one takes food with them for long bus journeys as the bus always stops for snack and bathroom breaks and all along the route sellers climb onto the bus with empanadas, buñuelos, pan de queso, chicken dishes, bags of sliced fruit and refrescos (bottled or plastic bags of sugary drinks), or they stand at the windows of the bus holding up their wares to pass through the windows to hungry passengers.  

  

Tiny bus station with numerous eating choices 

A very reasonably priced menu del dia (menu of the day) can be as cheap as 4000 pesos to 8000 pesos (less than a pound to about £1.75) and consists of a main meal (usually eggs, rice, salad, maybe yucca chips. and meat for the carnivores, plus an agua de panela (sugar water, tastes like barley sugar) : excellent value for a filling lunch.  

Freshly squeezed lemonade is available everywhere and is delicious and refreshing.  In many places it's available cerezada (cherry flavoured) and, our favourite, limonada de coco, with coconut cream.  Such a lovely drink and somehow very comforting.  They cost around a pound each.  It's so simple to make and is this post's recipe:

Limonada de Coco (coconut lemonade) 

Makes 2 glasses

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup cream of coconut
• 2 1/2 cups crushed ice
• Juice of 3 limes
• Sugar, to your taste

Method  

Mix all ingredients in a blender.  Add mint leaves if desired.  Pour into a tall glass and decorate with a slice of lime.  

       

Cartagena by night - outside a cevicheria and seafood restaurant

      

French themed bar - there's great nightlife in Cartagena, though like everything else here it's expensive compared to most of Colombia

We were so glad that we were persuaded by lots of other travellers to visit this vibrant city.  We had been planning on continuing south, but many people were aghast that we would miss Cartagena.  We were not disappointed .... Gracias, everyone!

  

We agree!

Next post: Minca: waterfalls, sandflies and sweet 'rain'