We decided to take the convenient option today to get to Cartagena, we paid for the hostel's air conditioned mini bus service instead of taking two different buses through Santa Marta. It was 2.30pm by the time we arrived and as soon as we opened the car doors we felt a blast of hot air, it is so so hot and humid. Our hostel 'Las Chancletas' is in Getsemani, a small street in the old, bohemian part of the city. The hostel itself has flip flops on the walls from travellers from all over and we arrived to the sounds of Bob Marley, lots of dreadlocks and some travellers making food to sell later on the streets. The whole area has a lot of character, with most activity going on in the streets, salsa music playing and they have a big thing for board games, like chequers with bottle tops and chess. We spent the afternoon strolling around the old town and the Walled City, enjoying a delicious fresh fruit salad at Plaza Bolívar and then later another ice cream to cool us down. There is a lot going on and a nice lively yet laid back atmosphere, we didn't see many Gringos but more local tourists. The city is really diverse with brightly coloured houses, narrow colonial streets and horses and carriages on one side, and then across the river a mass of high rise buildings which looks a bit like a smaller version of the famous image of Shanghai! We had quite a good view of both sides and it looked like two completely different places merged into one, I definitely preferred the cultural side. They have made the Walled City quite touristy, with high end shops and expensive restaurants in the plazas, but there are still the traditional street vendors selling fruit, jewellery etc.

We walked towards the castle which is one if the city's main attractions however we were both very hot by this point and it didn't look amazing from afar so we headed back to the hostel (the air conditioned dorms are amazing) to plan our next few days. On the route back we caught some of a local baseball match which takes place on a corner of a street every sunday - the whole road was blocked off with music and people drinking in the street. It wasn't that busy though as we were quite late, but the match had attracted a fairly big crowd. The teams looked very professional however the pitch is literally a road and the walls are boundaries! Our washing from the afternoon was ready for us when we arrived back all folded and dry which was nice although our clothes seem to have shrunk significantly.

We have decided to stay tomorrow night on Playa Blanca, a beautiful beach about an hour away from Cartagena as the beaches here are very busy and not that pleasant compared to where we have been, although they are still very popular with the locals (we have possibly become beach snobs already as we started in Tayrona, said to be one of the most beautiful protected areas in Colombia!). Hopefully we can get some more use of our snorkels which have been buried in the bottom of our bags since Galapagos.

In the evening the streets around the hostel really came to life, they were buzzing with people, music and food vendors. At the plaza at the end of our street there were crowds and crowds of people huddled around the square waiting for something to start, we later realised it was like an outdoor aerobics/ salsa class! We headed for a restaurant that was recommended on Trip Advisor however it must have recently changed as the building was something different. In the end we found a lovely small Italian restaurant 'I Balconi', Nathan had pizza for the second night in a row and I had carbonara. Although we haven't been very adventurous with local food this was another delicious meal! The heat and early starts mean we are tired by 10pm, which is before most of the night life even begins here. The Argentinian girls we were sharing a dorm with went to bed at the same time so this made us feel better!