COLOMBIA • CARTAGENA

Before coming to Colombia, I had been looking up photos, and the city of Cartagena kept coming up. A city which perfectly showcases a smooth twirl of modern living, and colonial history. I saw photos of skyscrapers standing straight of the beach and buildings which looked like flowers were growing out of every little opening. Although I instantly started drooling from the excitement of this floral city, I try to have no expectations when I travel. Not that I can really say that any new location has ever disappointed me drastically, but I feel like I’m taking in more when I expect less, and I’ve become rather fond of this state of constant surprises, like a tap left open permanently to fill my thirsty curious eyes.

Cartagena is located in northern Colombia, in the Caribbean Cost Region, and in the Caribbean it sure is my friend. The air is saltier, sun is hotter, colours are brighter and the Spanish is playfully faster. Maybe its to charm/confuse away the tourists into buying the tons of handcrafted goods you can get off the old historical streets. It is indeed a tourist city as this is an important aspect of Carthaginian income, as well as the maritime and petrochemical industry, but the tourism isn’t annoying in the historical part at least, on the beach its a whole different story. Also downtown you don’t notice it cause you’re too busy being captivated by the incredible beauty of the colonial architecture of the historical part of Cartagena as well as the more commercially developed areas such as Bocagrande. That’s where we stayed. In the middle of the beach line where you’d see skyscraper upon skyscraper rise from the beach, which got your neck tilted back when you’d look up form a car window cruising through the city. Uber isn’t a big thing in Colombia yet which means they are stupid cheap. We drove everywhere for less than a dollar, which suited me perfect. January is a hot time to visit northern Colombia, and doing a 30 minute walk from the beach line to the historical downtown would have made us into some seriously fried nuggets.

The night we arrived, my attention was given to the overwhelmingly romantic atmosphere. Warm light from the decorative torches outside every single restaurant and bar levitated our mood. Soft humming Spanish ballads could be heard in the distance. And the people, where ever you walk, people where so in peace, talking and laughing, spending time with each other, giving each other all their attention, and always so happy to see you. I couldn’t help but wrapping myself into Milton’s arms and swing down the streets in beat with the music. We grabbed a beer from a man who dragged a huge esky on wheels, yelling ‘CERVEZA… AGUA…GASEOSA’ or whatever other cooling drink he might have. I thought it was charming. Little did I know his style of business is actually one of the most intense I’ve ever come across.

Our next morning, we got up, had the included breakfast that hotel Pueblito Playa offered(very pleasant stay for an incredibly cheap price!)and ran out to buy a couple beach utensils such as a towel, a light beach dress and sunscreen. After finding a spot in the middle of the beach not too far from the water, we were ready to get comfortable, which was impossible. People like the cool-drink-selling man we’d met the night before came over every 4th minute, not only with drinks, but beach toys, dresses, fruits, bbq’d meats, massages, caribbean cruise ship offers, towels, candy, jewellery, hats, shades, ice cream, jetski offers, shoes, iPhone cases and a whole lot more. They had no chill. One woman offered Milton a massage, he politely said no thank you, she tried to convince him that he needed one, he continued to say no, so then she offered to braid his long hair, of which he got so astonished that he started laughing while saying no. She acknowledged this as a yes and started grabbing his hair of which he started cracking up/panicking, still while saying no. She kept going for it and he had to yell at her before she finally got the point. They were all pushing like this for the entire 3 hours we spent there. I said ‘No, gracias’, so many times it became an automatic reaction. We left feeling exhausted, and I left with a sunburn I won’t even dare to describe, I had been using the wrong sunscreen protection.
I’ve always taken sunscreen protection very serious to make sure I wouldn’t burn my nordic pale skin. That second night in Cartagena, I learnt how horrible it can be when you’re not cautious. Milton had to cover our bed in ice cold soaked t-shirts where I laid naked. While he pored magnesium over my red capsicum coloured skin, I screamed for every drop. I got no sleep that night, instead I kept passing out from the pain caused from the movements of me breathing.. Please. Wear. Sunscreen. Always.

Going outside while wearing clothing became a puzzle the following days. How can I wear as little as possible, while covering my skin as much as possible? Kimonos. I now love kimonos. The ones I brought saved our remaining time in Cartagena, truly. We didn’t spend much time in Bocagrande, we ran around in the shade of historical buildings and the sea castle, Castillo de San Felipe from where you could see the whole city as well as the sun gracefully disappear in the horizon of the sea, leaving the sky bleeding.
I fell in love with it all. I just couldn’t get enough of the flowers and colours down town, also every time we returned we found something we wanted to explore further. Like a peaceful little yoga studio named Santuario del Yoga which has classes every morning at 8 am. If you’re there around lunch you can get a 2 course vegan meal with drink for $1,5 US dollars. You sit on little pillows while listening to a meditation gathering in India one a little bulky old squared tv. Its a little humble space, but its colourful and radiant, and so are its guests. Everyone present, is a friend, and we connected to beautiful travellers, Lunah and Emilio, who shared stories of where they’d been, and where they were off to. So did we. They showed us their craft, and we spoke of our work, but we mostly spoke of how grateful we were for have found our way to a city so magical. Its amazing when you encounter strong positive energies, our goodbye’s weren’t sad, cause we could feel we will meet again, soon. Cartagena in general was an incredible experience. A feeling of freedom, if I may describe it as such, was upon me. I had no worries, and nor did anyone we encountered. Everything was so effortlessly relaxing and beautiful.

See more from Cartagena HERE