Well, it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting! After sitting in my hotel room for half an hour wondering what to do, I decided to venture out into the wilds of Bogota while it was still light and have an early dinner. It seemed perfectly normal to me - hoards of people running around, just like any major city. And there were tons of police all over the place. Devoured a huge soup and pizza (hadn't eaten properly in a while!) and got back to the safety of my hot...

I was picked up from Cartagena in a fairly fancy people carrier with 6 Colombians and then me squeezed in the back corner. I wasn't entirely sure if this was actually my ride as every time I tried to reconfirm my name and the destination, the driver just kept saying "Si, Linda Martines". Anyway, after 3 hours and everyone else had been dropped off, I was ushered out of the nice car and plonked into a dodgy old van. Just managed to settle myself in that ...

I love this place! What a stunning city! The people are so friendly and genuine - always saying hello but not in the sleazy way that it works in other Latin America countries. Although I was called the most beautiful girl in the world and the queen of all girls the other day (clearly by a blind man!!). Anyway, Cartagena is renowned as a fairytale city of romance, legends and sheer beauty. It's official name is Cartagena de Indias and it's a walled city full of c...