Pork and Apple: Cartagena

Cartagena is mostly known for it's old town, a neighbourhood of preserved colonial buildings surrounded by a wall and cannons. The top thing to do here is pretty much just stroll around old town, admire the buildings and maybe buy a fruit salad or pastry off the street.

Our first day in Cartagena we spent literally doing nothing. Being on a boat for 8 days really seems to take it out of you. Our second day was spent wandering around Old Town and trying to find a South America guide book. After 3 different bookstores we finally found one. The reward was McDonalds. It's a guilty pleasure of mine to see how McDonalds changes between countries. Look at all those sauces!

After Maccas we checked out the fort, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. The audio guide was a bit heavy on specific fort design details but it was still interesting to wander around and imagine the French and the Brits attacking. The fort offers a bonus view of the city.

On our last day we decided to check out the mud volcano. It was a different experience. Basically you climb up and then down into this volcano full of luke-warm bubbling mud. There's guys down there who will give you a massage for $3000 COP ($1.50 AUD). Then you just hang out in the mud for a while. You can't touch the bottom but you can stand up and sort of just float there. Sometimes people would lose their balance and limbs would be popping up everywhere! Once you have enough you climb back up out of the volcano (a slightly scary experience climbing a slippery ladder covered in mud). You get your final photo taken by the guy you paid $3000 to hold your camera. Next you try and dawdle a bit, have a beer or something. Try and get the mud to really soak in. Finally you walk into the near-by river where you can pay, you guessed it, $3000 for a lady to wash you. She gets right in your ears and even does your togs, leaving you naked in the river for a moments or two while she scrubs. You got back, dry off, get your clothes and then everyone who you owe money to descends upon you all at once trying to get paid. Hectic. Then it's off onto the bus and back to the hostel where you can take a nap.