Sunday, January 29, 2012
Colombia Pt. 2 - Cartagena & Santa Marta
My day started at 8000 feet and ended at sea level. I flew
from Bogota up to the Caribbean coast, specifically, Cartagena. I knew to
expect warm weather, but was shocked to realize how humid it really was. The
temperature wasn’t very hot but with humidity at 90%, it didn’t matter. Within
fifteen minutes of walking around I was drenched with sweat.
Cartagena was founded around 500 years ago as a Spanish
colonial port city. Currently, it’s more or less three cities rolled in one.
There’s the old colonial section that is surrounded by stone fortress walls,
the new high rise section where all the Colombians come for holiday, and
naturally, the ghetto. I stayed in the old town and didn’t really venture out
much further. The new part of town reminds me too much of Miami; a plethora of
modern hotels and stores.
The old town is full of charm. You first notice how all the
buildings look like you would assume they did 500 years ago. It isn’t long,
though, that you set your sights on the people instead. The streets are
littered with people trying to sell you anything and everything. On one corner,
there’s and old woman trying to sell you her homemade dish. Around the next
corner there’s four people with carts of fruit or empanadas. Someone then comes
up to you with a tray of cigarettes, gum and candy. And if you say no, they
then ask if you want weed instead. And lastly, there’s the guys trying to push
coke. They all speak English and say the exact same phrase to every passing
Gringo:
“Hey, my friend, welcome! Where you from?”
I must have heard this phrase uttered by at least ten people
daily. At first you answer, thinking they’re just friendly. But before long you
begin to ignore them.
My first afternoon was spent just wandering the old crooked
streets. I didn’t even bother with museums or anything like that. The city in
and of it self is fascinating enough. And then there’s the sunset.
Along the western edge of town, you can walk up to the top
of the wall that surrounds the city and borders the ocean. At the top is a café
where everyone and their mother go to watch the sunset. You can buy a beer from
the café for $7 or just buy one from any of the guys with a pushcart for $2
(yes, you can buy beer from a street vendor). I made the mistake of buying from
the café the first night. That all aside, watching the sun set over the
Caribbean is the highlight of this city. It’s spectacular.
That night, one of the hostels was having a rooftop party. I
had met these three people from England that were travelling together and
tagged along with them. The main floor inside was absolutely crammed with
backpackers and it was impossible to talk over the live reggae band, who were
actually pretty good. But, there wasn’t really a dance floor and it was really
hot. So we spent 30 minutes waiting in line to get up to the roof. The wait was
definitely worth it. The heat had subsided and there was a nice cool breeze
blowing. It wasn’t packed like downstairs and you could see the entire city.
On my way back, the streets were empty and the city was
quiet. The only living thing I passed was a lone stray dog coming towards me.
You know that dance that people do when they’re walking towards one another and
can’t decide who’s going right and who’s going left? Well, I did that with a
dog. It’s odd to think about, but in South America, stray dogs are everywhere
and they’re often treated as just another human. I’ve not seen one dog on
leash. I’ve also not seen any dog attack a human. It makes you wonder whether
our western form of domestication has just bred bad behavior amongst our
animals.
My second day in Cartagena was spent doing almost exactly
the same thing as my first day. As much as I’d like to say I did something
amazing, I didn’t. I wandered the town taking pictures and watched the sunset.
But it didn’t matter, because that’s all I needed to do in order to be
satisfied with my time.
The next day was a travel day to Santa Marta. The shuttle
ride took up most of my afternoon, so I didn’t really get to do anything
special. However this is where I got to see the poor side of Colombia. There
were a number of little roadside towns with shacks made of anything from old
wood to tin to even garbage. And when the driver stops to pick up people or
comes to a toll, there’s always one or two guys coming up to the van trying to
sell you something. Even weirder, though, at one checkpoint, there were a
number of locals dressed in Halloween costumes dancing in the street at the
passing cars. I’ve never seen anything like it and I still don’t understand why
they were doing it.
Santa Marta was a bit of a let down of a city for me. For
Colombians it’s a cheaper resort town than Cartagena. For backpackers it’s a
hub for going on multiple day hikes, like the Lost City trek. The beach itself
wasn’t that spectacular. Especially since the shipping port and the main beach
are one in the same and there’s a giant tanker anchored right by where people
are swimming. Sadly, the town isn’t much better. The main street is filled with
street vendors trying to sell all sorts of cheap knock-off garbage. This is
where you get your fake Nikes, fake Rolexes, and fake Cell phones. Oh, and just
about every vendor is selling crappy tv remotes. I don’t know why Colombians
need crappy tv remotes, but they definitely have a surplus of them.
Basically, I saw everything in Santa Marta I needed to by
noon. So what did I do? I went back to the hostel and sat on the roof and baked
for the entire afternoon. Should I have tried to do something touristy instead?
Probably. But, was it worth it? Absolutely. Instead of touristy garbage in a
cheap Miami knock off, I hung out with some really cool people at a very cool
hostel.
That night I sat at the hostel bar with another American
watching football. This slowly transitioned into drinking beers and playing
music on the rooftop with the hostel staff.
I won’t bore anyone with details about the next two days,
because they’re both travel days. From Santa Marta, I went back to Cartagena
for the evening. I got a cheap hostel and woke up super early to catch a flight
back to Bogota. I spent a few hours in the airport, then it was off to Lima.
Monday, January 23, 2012
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