14 Oct 2011

Cartagena de Indias




Unfortunately our arrival into Colombia was not quite as we planned as boats from Panama that are not Colombian are not going all the way to Cartagena at the moment due to an ongoing dispute between Colombian captains and gringo pirates, which means that we left the Wild Card with a little way to go, or at least that is what it looked like on the map.


'No hay problema' we were told, a short skip and a jump (6 hours) and you will be there...


So off we jolly well set in water taxi 1 at 0630 for a half hour around the headland from Sapzurro to Capurgana, then water taxi 2 for 2 hours (booomboooombooom the boat went across the open ocean) to Turbo (stinky water thick with oil/rubbish/human detritus) then minibus 1 for 5 or so hours on what is described as a road - but in reality is 70% dirt track with potholes the size of half a minibus - to the main road (Monteria) where minibus 2 took us the rest of the way - another 5 and a bit hours on a tarmacked road this time but still the potholes of nasty proportions which meant the driver (as with minibus driver 1) would at any moment hit the brakes hard enough to dislodge us from our seats, swerve violently (on several occasions to the point where the bus was on the edge of rolling over) into the path of oncoming traffic. At least we had Shaz/Anna and Andy to share the experience with, plenty of humour as only near death experiences for 10+ hours can induce.


But hey, we had it relatively easy, the other group who had gone directly to Medellin had enjoyed a journey to remember with the added aroma of several people on the bus being sick due to the unrelenting hairpin bend/pothole/dodgy driving mix, it was at this point that we began to understand the issues with Colombian road travel, to be continued...



So Cartagena, the colonial jewel of a Caribbean city and it is all that they say, beautiful, enchanting, exotic...with a twist of modern expansion...



We wandered, we drank great coffee, we found bookshops and patisseries and the odd nice restaurant, we took a city tour in a traditional 'chiva' - funky bus as in the photo - we visited the Gold and Inquisition (a major player in the cities colonial history) museums, Ben did a week of intensive Spanish lessons (1 on 1 x 4 hrs a day) and apart from Pam's iPhone being stolen by one of the money exchanger/pickpocket magicians, we enjoyed a week of Cartagena's unique style and vibe.




This city, before we arrived, was on the 'b' list (ben's list) of places we might settle, with it's Caribbean location, beauty, history, culture + being in Colombia where they say the most correct Spanish is spoken. It is still on the list...



One of the many discussions with my Spanish prof this week included a full account of recent Colombian history during which the situation with road travel in these parts became a little clearer. Firstly there are one or two hills to get round (2 x Andean ranges of 5000 metres in height - a little more than Monte Bianco) that run right down the middle of the country, so you are either in a ravine or running along the side of one of these puppies with cliff wall on one side and sheer drop of several hundred metres or so on the other.

Secondly, until 5 or so years ago if you travelled by road in Colombia (nationals and foreigners alike) you ran the very high risk of being robbed, kidnapped or shot. Add to this intoxicating cocktail many years of no money to do anything other than fight against FARC (and other armed groups) and one begins to appreciate why improving the roads hasn't been top of their list of priorities.


So, in this beautiful country that has so recently suffered such extreme political and social violence, it is definitely time to send our misinformed (Murdoch press) middle class European pretensions packing, get on the bus and enjoy the geographically extreme environment passing by the window, albeit a little slowly...

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