It was very hot when we arrived early in the morning in Cartagena and noticeably more muggy and tropical. We found a hostel in the area of Getsemani which is on the outskirts of the old town and a little bit more ghetto! It was substanitally cheaper than staying in the old town and once you ignored some of the freaks mulling around was quite nice!

Mark and I had quite a lazy day as the effects of our sleeping tablets were still wearing off. Mark was in the wars again when he detected a toothache and so went in search of a dentist. It turns out we were in the right town as Cartagena is Columbia`s capital of dentistry, who would have guessed! He returned having had one filling and booked in for another day of more fillings, cleaning and whitening! It is substantially cheaper than getting any of the above done at home so we thought it very worthwhile. He looks fantastic when he flashes his pearly whites and if he can`t find a job in Melbourne in accountancy then I am sure he will get picked up to present the next big TV gameshow!

Our first afternoon a torrential downpour hit and basically didn`t stop for 15 hours. It was the first rain they had had all year and it cut the power in our area. We managed to find a taxi to take us to the old town for dinner (which still had power!) but by the time we came back our room was getting rained on!! Water was pouring through the ceiling onto the TV and bed. We tried to change rooms but the inn was full so we had to change hostels after getting most of our money back.

Our new hostel, Hostal Real, turned out to be much nicer anyway so it was a blessing in disguise. There was a slight mishap when Mark was making the booking when they thought he was trying to book the room by the hour but all was clarified in the end and the family who owned the business seemed relieved when I arrived. We all laughed about it for the rest of the time we stayed there and these types of experiences can only improve one`s spanish!

It was the May Day national holiday whilst we were there and so many things were closed but we still managed to enjoy walking around the old town and marveling at its beauty. It was founded in 1533 and very quickly became the main spanish port on the caribbean coast. It was also an easy target for pirates and so the spaniards decided to build huge walls circling the town and a chain of forts. It remains Columbia`s largest port but the area now has a much more modern section and so the old town caters more for tourists etc.

We found some fantastic restaurants whilst we were there and enjoyed the freshest and tastiest seafood. One restaurant, El Bistro and german run, made a particularly good curry and I have never seen Mark demolish a meal so quickly!

I`ll write a separate blog on the boat trip we did from Cartagena to Playa Blanca. When we returned from this trip we flew from Cartagena to Panama City. We had really wanted to do the journey via a 5 day boat trip across the caribbean but the timing of the boat departures wasn`t working with our schedule and we were keen to meet up with Kate and Jane who were already in Panama.

All in all Cartagena was a beautiful place to stay and very easy to wander around and enjoy the town. LOVED IT!xx