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We arrived in Cartagena quite late into the evening. Upon arrival Jonathan and i checked into one hostel, whilst Mathilde and Ea checked into the one opposite. We all went for a stroll into the old town to get some cash and some food. On first impressions it was fair to say Cartagena is beautiful!
Next morning was a bit of a lazy one, having travelled a lot on the bus the day before. Before we knew it, it was nearly lunch time and to late to do anything really productive to the day. Instead Mathilde, Ea and I went to the beach in town whilst Jonathan slept all day as he had been up all night working.
The beach was good fun, and it was good to be in a modern city with a beach again, it made me think of Rio and Barcelona. However, rain rain stopped play prematurely so it was time to retreat to the hostels once more. Once changed, but with Jonathan still unconscious the girls and I went back to the old town for an explore and walked along the sea wall.
In the evening I met up with Diana and her family, who I had met in Cusco when they were on a family holiday. I visited their house for an hour or so and practiced my Spanglish. They were all so nice and welcoming, as is the way with most Colombians! After a couple of whiskys and some conversation Diana and I headed out. We had a spin around town in her car looking at the different areas before going to a nice restaurant for dinner where we would spend the evening.
Next morning I was up early and visited all the others (who had been drinking the night before). Diana and her family had kindly offered to take me to their summer house on the coast, which also happens to be a 5 minute drive away from the mud volcano, which is one of the attractions in the area. I arranged to meet the others at the mud volcano later in the day, and headed off at 10am with the family.
First, we visited their house - its in a beautiful location. From the land you can see a desolate white sandy beach and the old salt factory and flats. On the land itself they have chickens, ducks, sheep, cattle, dogs etc... so its more of a farm than anything else. I enjoyed a cold beer and told a few tales about my travels. During the middle of the day Diana and I visited the salt factory where they skim the salt from the sea water and went for a stroll down the most empty beach I have ever seen. When we returned to their house the BBQ was on and I was offered more meat than I could eat and they ensured there was enough beer and beverages to wash it down with too.
Once stuffed to the point of bursting Diana, Miguel (brother) and I drove down the road to mud volcano. However, before I left the family very kindly gave me a hammock, as they had heard me saying that I may buy one over the coming week before I leave. Despite insisting it was too much (as they are not cheap) they insisted on taking it so I could think of them whenever I lie in it! Diana, if you read this, again thank you very much!
By coincidence (as it was much later than we had arranged) was Mathilde, Ea and Jonathan amongst a tour group. Diana and I joined them in the mud, whilst Miguel took photos for everyone.
The mud volcano itself is around 15m tall, but 2000m deep. The mud is very thick though so everyone floats. However, because it is so thick it means it is impossible to spin, or even control in which direction you travel. It meant that often if you left your balance and tilted over then you were stuck until someone helped you - likewise to move around you were reliant on other people either pushing or pulling you through the mud, it was very fun!
In the volcano itself we had a rather surreal mud massage and afterwards headed down to the lake nearby where we washed naked by old women - again slightly odd!
After I caught a lift with the tour operator and headed back into Cartagena with the others. We all had a nap before hitting the pre-drinks ready for a saturday night in town. We did venture out that evening, but didn't get far as there was a big group of people, which makes decision making always complex. However, we had fun drinking in the bars and street close to the hostel and I met Chris and Laura (Swiss and German) that night too.
The next day was another lazy one and we really didn't acomplish much. We ventured into town for a cheap lunch and I spent most of the afternoon in an internet cafe. Mathilde, Ea, Jonathan and I went for some luxurious ice cream to try and make ourselves feel better in the afternoon but it didn't do much for the cause. Mathilde and Ea turned in early, whilst Jonathan and I went into the old town for a drink with Laura and Sandra who we had met the night before. The 4 of us had a ride around the old town in a horse and cart and after another beer, called it a night as well.
Next morning I was up early because I discovered the previous night that to go to Playa Blanca you had to catch the boat at 8am! I woke up the others, although Jonathan was in no mood to move, and having rushed the girls to get ready we left with Chris and Laura for port. We had a rather confusing time buying tickets and thought for a while that we had been scammed, but it turned out we were on the last boat to Playa Blanca.
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