#travelpost - Cartagena, Colombia

With a five hour drive from Santa Marta and a loooong hour bus journey with my backpack and small day pack on my lap on a crowded bus from the bus terminal, we arrived in Cartagena.
We got to our hostel, Papaya Getsemani, sorted our bags, had a shower and left for a wander. The hostel isn't in the old town centre, instead it's in an up and coming neighbourhood popular with backpackers, 10 minutes walk away from the main tower. I read the area used to be quite dangerous and a hotspot for crime but nowadays it's bustling with locals, backpackers and street vendors and has the perfect square for people watching. Right next to a police station!

Day one:
After getting in late from a long, hot journey we decided to have a short walk around the centre of the old town... We were immediately distracted by arepas con queso! The man persuaded me to try it with a fluorescent pineapple sauce and it was actually really good; we've seen the same arepa man now about 4 times in the old town with his little cart... He gives us a nod and a big smile. On our wander we spotted a super cute bookshop/coffee shop piled high with stacks of books, we had a peek in the window and told ourselves we'd come back tomorrow but tomorrow came and we tried to find it again to which we failed miserably.

That night we hung around the main square near our hostel, people watched, caught a wedding and fireworks, had some beers on the steps and ate something called plata con todo...TODO. It was intense. I'm pretty sure I didn't actually like it and kept eating anyway but Harry says it would be the perfect drunk food. Feast your eyes on this....

Day two:

On day two we hit the town again with our walking trainers on and cameras ready... 10 minutes out of the door and we were already walking like snails because of the heat. I think I said I was hot every three minutes, Harry stopped responding after ten.

Within the first half an hour we'd already hit up an ice lolly shop that we'd read about and soaked up the air con for as long as possible before it was obvious what we were actually there for. We walked some more, looked in a few shops and sat in some squares and ended up in a little old restaurant crammed with people for lunch... 8000 cops for two courses and a drink. Cheap and old school. On the walk home we stumbled upon Portal de Los Dulces, a tunnel in the made square full of sugared sweets, we got some coconut sweets to take away.

After a long siesta and FaceTime catch ups we headed to the popular La Cevicheria for dinner (another Bourdain spesh!). We got there just in time, as we grabbed a table a whole load of people flooded the place... Some were still waiting when we'd finished. I ordered shrimp ceviche and Harry had a fish, squid and snails with a coconut milk based sauce, it was so so good! After we headed back to our local square for even more people watching and cervezas.

Day three:
I'll keep it short and sweet... We had a lazy morns with a freebie breakfast and some internet time (doing those rounds) and finally found our bookshop/coffee shop. *applause emoji* . We had lunch at a cute little cafe and did a crossword.... We were two words short!!! Ben and Sinead you would have been proud! In the bookshop earlier we found a cool magazine that had the top five views of the city and we found that a chain called Crepes and Waffles had a balling venue in Cartagena so we went there for a crepe that we probably didn't need but a rooftop spot that we definitely did. The Museum of Modern Art followed and then home time for an afternoon nap.

#travelpost - Santa Marta

We almost skipped over Santa Marta as it's most commonly known for being one of the uglier cities on the Carribbean Coast used only as a route to the havens that surround it but for two nights, we're glad we didn't.

Most travellers head straight to Taganga, the neighbouring hippy beach used mostly for parties, diving or both, and most Colombians head to the opposite much wealthier end, filled with hotels and yachts. For us, we stayed in the centre in the sister hostel to our Bogotá place, Masaya Santa Marta, just five minutes from the beach and surrounded by food stalls and markets. When I read about Santa Marta on blogs before we came I read time and time again that Santa Marta had lost it's charm and was a crumbling town... The crumbling was about right but I think it has some charm left up it's sleeve. Don't forget, it is the oldest remaining colonial city in Colombia and is said to be the place where Simon Bolivar, the leader of the Latin America’s independence from Spain, took his final breath.

We spent two nights here and we'd watched the best sunset we'd ever seen , help to collectively drink 5 bottles of aguardiente with strangers turned friends, ate great food for surprisingly cheap prices and soaked up the Carribbean heat in our rooftop pool that cost us just £8 a night. And don't forget, I finally bought a mochila... The dreamiest set of bags you'll ever see on a market stall. Por fin!

I can see why people would assume Santa Marta doesn't deserve a stop over when you use hearsay as your guide as people looking for parties and booze filled nights probably wouldn't make the most of what the old town has to offer but if you keep an open mind and give it a chance, you'll be pleasantly surprised just like us.

#travelpost - Villa de Leyva + San Gil, Colombia

After a hectic few days in Bogotá we started to make our way north heading for the Carribbean Coast. The road up is one slog of a bus journey so we decided to break it up by overnight stays at some smaller towns out in the sticks.

The first town we arrived at was a sleepy old town called Villa de Leyva, full of colonial buildings and the biggest Plaza Mayor in Colombia. We arrived just before sunset so by the time we'd found our hostel and stored our things it was dark out and the twinkly town lights were on. This was the first time I think that I completely relaxed on our trip so far, it was so different from the bustling nights in Bogotá; so, for that night we sat on the stairs of the main square, grabbed a beer and people watched....

And ate chicken...

We've eaten a lot of chicken.

 

The next morning we were headed for San Gil so we jumped in a small shack of a cafe, grabbed some eggs and juice and made our way to the next town.

 

Now San Gil was, again, totally different from Bogotá and totally different from Villa de Leyva. San Gil isn't really known for the town and the buildings itself but for what's around the town... Rivers, mountains, canyons and caves. Lauren and the boys went white water rafting on the first day there whilst I chickened out and took full advantage of the empty pool. That night we finally got to play the Colombian game tejo throwing blocks of stone at clay and explosives whilst fuelled on free beer, we went dancing with some others from the hostel and then had more chicken.

The next morning was our final few hours before getting the 10 hour overnight bus to Santa Marta on the Carribbean Coast. When I say few, I really mean an entire day from 11am check out to 9.30pm bus ticket. So, with that we crammed in a morning at a natural pool Pozo Azul 5 mins from San Gil and a short stop at Chicamocha national park to see the canyons and mountains from high up.

All in all a great way to break up a huge journey north.