Thursday 19 November 2009

A Few Days in Cartagena

Sunset in Cartagena
Even here you will find a Hard Rock Cafe...sad

The light is just beautiful....sadly it is not my pic but David'sI love this street mural, a truly Caribbean piece of popular art
For once, there are a few pics of me....it is the good thing of traveling for a while with a friend

Double click on the pic, you can see a view of the town from the Spanish fort, and if you want the back of David's neck

My favourite pic...
Cartagena is an amazing city, with a simmilar feeling than Havana, though lacking on the feeling of security you get there.
You can walk in Havana late at night without worrying about anything. Here things are different. Then again, the reason Havana is so safe has a lot to do with neighbours spying on each other.
Cartagena is the typical town that has a gorgeous old town that has been refurbished, at least partly.
What makes it striking is that there is a new city built in a peninsula that has a Maimi feel to it.
It is not my cup of tea, but the mix of old and new has its beauty.
The old and the new...the walls from the old city, a man in a canoe, and the new miamiesque city in the background

Even the old city mixes its beautiful parts with the more decayed ones...the part where real people lives, where they seat outside enjoying the cooling breeze coming from the sea late in the afternoon.
Poverty is still rampant. Sadly, in some of the poorer parts of town, the smell of rotten meat and fruit is almost overpowering....it has just been left out of the tourist circuit.
As in any tourist town, touts are getting around. Some are harmless, not even irritating, others have to be avoided, offering drugs, girls, boys, whatever a tourist may want....they remind you that poverty is here and not going anywhere anytime soon

4 comments:

  1. Love the pictures - very atmospheric.

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  2. I do love your blog -as there is a real story to it, you have left a London, which is a disaster city at the moment, and you have hit the road. The pics are great, and when I go to SAMERICA, I shall come back here and check out the places you recommended - better than any travel book i tell you. I love that photo of the salt cathedral, man that was really mad. I love big crosses like that. And you are totally right, cartagena looks a bit like Havana -- will you be going to Cuba or have you been there already?

    Best of luck with your trip and keep blogging about it man

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  3. Thank you Tallulah, I am sorry i have not replied to your message before, or to the anonymous one, but I have been trekking for six days in the lost city.
    If you are planning to come to this part of the world, you must go there...i will try to upload the blog tonight or tomorrow...the place is just awesome.

    Thanks again to both for your comments

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  4. Very interesting, I would like to move to Costa Rica, but first I need to find a lot and learn a little Spanish. Decide where to live is very difficult, personally I love the people from Costa Rica are very nice and the nature is amazing. In Costa Rica, one can enjoy lovely tropical beaches, the grandest adventures, the wonders of nature, brilliant and exciting culture and all the necessary components of an ideal vacation.

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