Cartagena and Santa Marta

artagena de las Indies presented itself to me veiled with a cloth of morning fog and 30deg C at 7am. The flights in Colombia are often even cheaper than buses so I decided to fly from Medellin directly to Cartagena and save a bunch of time and km on the road. The first thing you notice in Cartagena is probably the humidity and heat that keeps you sweating through the day :) This is a photo of the new side of town with booming expensive hotel and office buildings. It's a peninsula that stretches out in the ocean.

Of course Cartagena is famous for its white collonial buildings and balconies, making it one of the most picturesque backdrop cities I've evern been in. This is in the old collonial town, surrounded by high walls, protecting it thus from pirate attacs.

The evening is probably the best time in Cartagena, this is when the breeze picks up and it's possible to be outside without feeling like you're in a sauna :) We picked up a few bikes and took a ride around the peninsula with all the new buildings.

By we I mean myself and an american couple from Oregon I met on the flight here. The Caribbean waters are soooooo warm though, it's probably one of the best places to just swim around and enjoy being a kid in the water again :)

Myself on my trusty transport with the setting sun backdrop.

Riding action shot.

Evening colors lighting up the port of Cartagena.

As the evening set up everything became just a bit more pretty. I didn't spend too much time in Cartagena because I was frankly a bit disappointed by it. The streets are overrun with vendors and sellers that try (somewhat aggressively) to sell you all kinds of tours and souvenirs, i understand that they're just trying to survive but it gets a bit too much. Also Cartagena is probably one of the most expensive cities in Colombia and staying there too long with set you back quite a bit even just in lodging.

Santa Marta

I visited Santa marta only for 1 day only so I don't have many photos:) This is a view on the main beach in Santa Marta. The city is actually very nice and more bearable from the touristic point of view than Cartagena.

The beach of Taganga, a nearby village. Apparently it's rather good and cheap to do some diving here. I might do that on the way back to Cartagena. The beach is very nice and worth a visit although the village of Taganga has really taken a reputation of being a major party village.

Gorgeous sunset at Taganga beach, probably made my day!