Cartagena and a taste of Colombia

At first I really wanted to make the trip from Panama to Colombia by boat ( visiting San Blas Islands for 3-5 days) but after calling every known agency I realized that, like so many things, it has changed its status in the last couple of years from “alternative travel” to “I have money and I am European backpacker who wants to look like I am traveling alternatively on my Instagram”.

Why hatred? Well, most of the amazing remote places that I like to visit are now crawling with people because it is mentioned somewhere as a must thing to do. And everybody stays everywhere for a day, two or three and is seen as a quick ATM withdrawal by the local people. In all that mess, it’s getting harder and harder to see the uniqueness of the place. I am not talking about amazing landscape sights that are usually used to lure the tourists in. I am talking about meeting local family that will tell you which traditional meal you have to try or an old abuela that will tell you the whole story about when the road in front of you was constructed.

Cartagena was one of those overcrowded places but still an intense contrast to Panama. People smiling and dancing all day long with amazingly beautiful face features and athletic bodies. Colombia, where have you been all my life?

I joined Getsemani walking tour, which is an artsy neighborhood with street art, caffès, bars and clubs. The place underwent a substantial change in the last years and went from drug-selling ghetto to a must-visit and one of the safest places to be in Cartagena.

The rest of the city I discovered by myself or with other travelers. Even though everything was adjusted to tourism, you could still sense that there was a regular local city flow just beneath the curtain of overpriced tours. An example: people sitting on a chair with typing machines in front of them, offering to type your contracts and agreements in order to make them valid in the court. Another example: I went to a supermarket in the local neighborhood and 6 bananas, 1/2kg lemons, a deodorant, almond milk, sanitary pads and 300g of brownies costed 4$Read more