I arrvied in Cartagena on the coldest bus known to man. It was actually rather warm outside, but the bus driver insisted on having the aircon pumping out snow for the duration of the trip. So no sleep for me. But what the hell... I often stay awake all night for my own amusement so no great shakes there.

Cartagena then - Colombia's tourist destination par excellence. Famed for it's incredibly beautiful old town and fortifications which took two centuries to complete and were necessary to keep the town and it's wealth of Spanish gold safe from pirate attacks. Blackbeard! Willmerding! Oh I do love those pirates.

The first place I stayed in was recommended by Kev and Claire and truly sucked. Naye bother... I just moved around the corner. I hooked up with a couple of English girls I had met in Medellin and enjoyed one of their birthdays, and generally wandered around the town marvelling at the architecture whilst fending off legions of drug dealers and pimps. A great spot indeed, but after three nights I decided to head further along the coast to Santa Marta and the beautiful Caribbean beaches I had been longing for.

Santa Marta is a non-descript kinda place but nearby is the small tourist town of Taganga, a mecca for cheap diving courses and for those who simply want to fry on the beach. Unfortunately the town has also become a magent for Israeli backpackers so I was out of there after three hours and back in Santa Marta. This did not annoy me in the slightest, I still had the main event on this coast to savor, Nation Park Tayrona.

I had met a nice Dutch girl called Liset and with along with Englishman Peter we prepared our packs and headed off for two or three days in the stunning Tayrona. This is the postcard Caribbean as you can imagine it... tropical jungle leading out onto white sand beaches with beautiful turqoise seas. We trekked the two hours or so from where the bus had dropped us at the park entrance to our intended detination for the night, the beach at Cabo San Juan. Here you have an operation renting hammocks and tents for the purposes of sleeping and supplying the masses with overpriced food and beverages. And the masses were indeed the massive, there were no hammocks to be had so we spent the night in a baking hot three man tent instead.

Come the morning and Peter was off back to Santa Marta as he hadn't slept due to the inferno like climate in our tent. However, a guy in Santa Marta had recommended a different, less popular and altogether better beach some three hours away so around 09.00 Liset and I headed to off to find Playa Brava. The walk there was difficult yet incredible. Difficult due to the scorching heat and jungle terrain, yet beautiful for the amazing scenery.

Playa Brava was well worth the effort, hardly anybody makes the trek up there so we had a stunning beach to share with maybe a dozen or so other people. The friendly guy who rents out the accommodation and supplies sorted us out with our own hut with two hammocks swinging from the ceiling...perfect! That night we met some Chileans who had been there all week and we made a giant fire on the beach and enjoyed singsongs with a couple of bottles of rum... this was the nirvana that I had been looking for. Still, not so much of a nirvana that I'd want to hang around for more than a day (I get bored of the beach real quick) so the following day we made the equally demanding trek back to one of the park entrances.

Back to Santa Marta for one more night then a return mission to Cartagena for another three nights. As it was the weekend I booked into a party hostel, met some like minded people and enjoyed a couple of nights out in Cartagena. Up on the battlements, near the overpriced sunset bars is the perfect spot to enjoy some drinks (bought from the shop) and meet some locals. We enjoyed two nights just hanging out there, sipping beer whilst pearched on top of 17th Century cannons, practising my best Spanglish with the locals whilst the Carribean sea laps below....lovely!