Kalamary (Cartagena de Indias)

"Colombia tiene su cerebro en Bogota, pero su corazon en Cartagena de Indias"

I don't know if I can comment on where Colombia has it's heart, seeing as I have been here only two days, and this is the first city I have visited. But, if the quote is right then Colombia can only be good! Cartagena de Indias grabs you from the word go, as soon as I stepped off the plane I was hit by a wall of heat, despite the clouds! I got in a taxi, discovered I didn't understand a word the driver said (I was worried that it was the Colombian accent, but I think it may have just been him) and we drove into the town. My first impressions from the taxi window were of lots of traffic, people, stalls and noise. We drove past some sea - my first sight of the Carribean - and it looked yellowy and uninviting! The taxi got stuck between a bus and a cart, so I had time to watch three men get arrested and bundled into a police van, before we sped on...

My six-pounds-a-night-hostel is small and cramped, and again, HOT. But, for six pounds a night I can't complain too much. I decided to venture out for some food and explore a bit, and spent an hour walking around. The streets leading up to the old town are crammed with different stalls - old books, fruit, phone-chargers, and any spare space is filled with men sitting and chatting, smoking, spitting. It felt really dirty and loud once you added the traffic zooming past and the salsa music blaring from all the different speakers. "Nena, Americana, Blancita, Guapa, Lady, Amiga, Bonita" was all I could hear as I tried to figure out where I was going, and the whole package, combined with the fact I had got up at 3am to catch my flight, meant I was quickly overwhelmed. I did a quick lap of the old city and retreated to the hostel!

After a few hours of rest (and panic - why am I in Colombia on my own?!) I went back out and had much better luck. Today was even better. The old city is really beautiful - it is easy to see why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bright colourful buildings line every street, with flowers hanging from the balconies. The streets are busy: with locals and tourists alike. There isn't really very much traffic - unless you count the horse and carts that can give you a tour round the city. It is full of characters as well. I stopped at a cafe, in a church square, and was greeted by an old man in a hat with a grey mustache. He sat there like he owned the place, bossing the waitress around. The best part was his reaction every time a pretty girl went past - he waved regally at every single one of them, as though they were the luckiest people in the world to receive his attention.

Every so often you come to a square, filled with palm trees and shade, the benches crammed with people looking for respite from the heat. The atmosphere is really different to any other place I have been before. It is only normal to compare to places you know, but so far Cartagena has escaped comparison! Maybe a touch of Barcelona here and there, a bit of Peru. Sometimes you can stop and there is no traffic, there are no tourists, and it feels like you have gone back in time...