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Sorry guys, my blog entries are a bit behind the photos but trying to catch up now.
Tuesday 19th March - Friday: Cartagena
We spent 3 days in and around Cartagena, mainly just strolling around the beautiful colonial city. The old town is crammed with little cobbled streets and stunning architecture which were perfect for just wandering aimlessly. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of street vendors buzzing around all the tourists which was annoying at first but we soon learned to ignore them. Had a great night out with all the people from the boat--they do fab mojitos there!
We spent a day at Volcan del Tutomo just outside the city which is a mud volcano i.e. a crater filled with a couple hundred meters worth of thick mud which is supposed to ´work miracles for every health complaint´. Really weird experience!! You climb down steps into the mud and almost get sucked in because it´s so thick and gooey, and you float in the mud. Next, a man pulls you over, covers you totally in mud and massages you for about 5 mins. We then got to rinse off in a lake beside it which wasn´t an easy task- the mud gets EVERYWHERE!!
On Friday we headed further up the coast to Santa Marta at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which is where La Cuidad Perdida (the Lost City) lies.
We started the trek to the lost city on Saturday, and got in a jeep for a bumpy 2 hour drive up to the starting point of the trek. We decided to try and complete the trek in 4 days instead of the usual 6 so that a) we would have more days to do other things, and b) so that we didnt have to sleep in hammocks in the deep jungle any longer than necessary! So a group of only 6 of us plus our guide set off.
First day was 4 hours of steep uphill but we got replenished a couple of times with fresh watermelon and pineapple which helped, and the views weren´t bad either! Camp was very basic with rows of hammocks, but to our susprise and delight there were showers (much-much-needed) and we got a great meal plus chocolate for desert :-)!
Day 2 was our longest day as we were skipping the 2nd camp and heading straight to the 3rd. Not too challenging though and arrived at camp at lunch time. Not much to do there obviously (due to no electricity) except play cards, so we all headed to bed around 8, after loads and loads of food (since arriving at camp they give us lunch, then popcorn as an afternoon snack then a big dinner--stuffed!)
Day 3 we walked the last hour, including 1200 steps(!!!!) up to the ruins of the lost city. It was incredibly breath-taking and the views of the mountains from the top were incredible. We were the only people up there also for most of it so it really felt like we were on top of the world. Luckily, it´s not touristy at the moment but as Colombia becomes increasingly safe it will probably become much more of a tourist trap in the near future. Glad we saw it when we did. The city is guarded by palamilitaries who live there for a couple months at a time, so it was just us up there plus 10 armed soldiers!
Day 4 was gruelling as it was long, and our legs were pretty much done in by that point. But we made it to the end by lunch time and slumped into the shade. A very worth-while experience!!!!
The next day was spent at a beautiful beach just outside Santa Marta and we just lazed in the sun, swam, and drank fresh fruit juice. Bliss!
Thursday we got an overnight bus to head south to Bogota. It took 22 hours!! It was a looonnnggg journey,but it could´ve been much worse--most Latin American buses have seats that recline right back and loads of leg room,so we managed to get a fairly good sleep. Can´t imagine doing that trip in a city link bus.
Spent the weekend in Bogota. Altitude here is 3,600m so we suffered mildly from altitude sickness the first couple of days, to the point that Ali completely lost his appetite and skipped dinner one night! We had heard and read lots of stories about tourists getting mugged at gunpoint, and lots of scams, so we were quite on edge at first. We soon realised that as long as you have your valuables hidden and have some common sense (luckily Ali has that for those of you that are questioning mine) then it´s not that scary. Went to the famous gold museum (Museo d'Óro) which has the largest collection of gold and relics from the ancient civilizations. We also took a cable car up to Cerro de Monserrate, a mountain with a church at the top and panoramic views of Bogota--it is a massive city!!! The highlight of our time there was a 5-hour bicycle tour which took us to all areas of the city (including the red light district, transvestites and all) and we learned so much about the political history of the city including guerilla attacks on the city which weren´t all that long ago. He also took us to fruit markets where we got to try all sorts of fruit we hadn´t even heard of- some delicious, some pretty strange. An interseting city,but we both felt 3 days was enough there.
Next, for a change of pace, we´re heading to the mountain village of Salento in the coffee region.
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