I had a lot of time to think about it too, life on the Caribbean beach of Playa Blanca is slow and relaxed. In the end I rank it second after Hat Ranti beach on Phi Phi Island, Thailand.
As with many of these places, half the fun was getting there! The normal way is on a direct boat from Cartagena for $35k. Myself, Kev & Lou (from Scotland) and Tamara (from Holland) chose the other option. We hopped on a bus which dropped us off on the side of the main road about 4km out of Cartagena. From there it was a brief walk down a hill through a small village to the side of a large river, where a fisherman agreed to take us to the other side.
The next step was to find someone on a motorbike willing to transport us to the beach. It wasn't hard, they had heard that four gringos were on their way so there were several bikes waiting to take us the remaining 17km. The road was terrible but this just made the ride more fun! $11.5k all up and got there just as the sun was going down - the money saved was put into a piña colada fund.
We found a place where we could sleep in hammocks right on the beach. We'd planned to stay one night but immediately decided to stay two as the place was so beautiful. The days were spent snorkeling, eating fresh fish, walking along the beach...the evenings were spent drinking rum....
There was only one thing that wasn't ideal - sleeping in a hammock might sound relaxing but it isn't! It's quite hard to drop off when your legs are higher than your head. I was also befriended by some puppies who only seemed to have energy at night and kept trying to get in the hammock with me. This resulted in less sleep than I would have liked, but my only daytime task was to make sandcastles so I just about coped :-)
We'd gone to the beach from Cartagena, a large colonial city which has always been one of the main shipping ports in Colombia. Over the years, it was sacked by Sir Francis Drake, attacked by pirates and suffered epidemics of diseases such as Yellow Fever - yet it was always rebuilt and restored to its former glory. It was soooo hot and humid that after walking around for a day I had probably lost about 20% of my body weight. The town has some nice buildings (of course), huge defense walls and people dance in the main squares during the evenings.
I spent one day wandering around and one day trying to apply for a new passport. I have to say that the requirements for replacing a stolen British passport are excessive. I technically need to provide the following:
- a copy of my old passport
- a scan of my emergency passport
- my original birth certificate
- my mother's original birth certificate
- a scan of my driving license
- two pictures certified by someone who has known me for two years
- a crime report
- a completed seven page application form
I think you can tell from my use of bold lettering which items I am least impressed with. As if anyone carries birth certificates around with them! Anyway, the people at the embassy seem to think that they will make an exception as I'm traveling. The application is processed in the US so I am less than hopeful. Also, not only did it cost about £130 to apply for the passport, but it cost £40 just to post the fekking thing!!
After all that I was in the need of some therapy. Luckily there is the perfect natural phenomenon just outside Cartagena. Volcán del Totumo is a small volcano that is mostly underground, the top 15m protruding from the ground. Instead of containing lava, it hilariously contains a load of warm mud!
You can jump in the crater and cover yourself in the stuff, which apparently has healing properties. The bottom is over 1,000 meters below you but it is so dense that you float about chest deep and it is almost impossible to sink much lower than that. Every few seconds some sulphur bubbles up through the mud and pops on the surface - it's great fun!
I'm now in Taganga, one of the cheapest places to dive in the world. It is also on the edge of Tyrone National Park, which is supposed to have some great beaches. Should be good! Here are a few more pics from the last week or so.
Puerta del Reloj, the Clock Door, the entrance to the old quarter of Cartagena.
You can buy these traditional sweets from underneath it. They taste a bit like fudge but come in the shape of a small spooky baby, which is a bit freaky.
I was waiting ages to play the winner of this game.
Lovely colourful things made by people on the streets. Allegedly.
My favourite fruit, the extremely tasty grenadilla. I am going to become rich importing these to England.
Want a coconut? This guy just pops up the tree and picks you a fresh one for £2. I asked him if he wanted to go climbing with me. He said he'd ask his wife.
A large fort in Cartagena - no one could tell me what it was for. I think there is a casino inside.
Another great sunset from the walls surrounding the old town of Cartagena.
Someone offered to sell me this boat for $400k (about £160). I was seriously tempted but it was debatable whether it could float...
This small spit of land is completely covered in high-rise apartments. It is only about 50 meters wide and looks like it will sink if one more is built!
I was only slightly cleaner than this before I got into the mud volcano.
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