Cartagena served as a base for accessing other destinations in Northern Colombia. During my brief visits I enjoyed strolling the historic district and the charming Getsemaní neighborhood, all the while hunting down specific street foods that my Colombian roommates made me promise to ingest.

 

 

Transportation

The Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG), was a convenient $4 taxi ride from Getsemaní and El Centro Histórico.

The Terminal de Transporte for busses was far out of town and best reached by metro, $1, 45 minutes. The metro station is walking distance from most hostels. Connections were to all main cities; we went to San Onofre to reach Rincón del Mar.

Mar Sol was a popular shuttle company we used to reach Santa Marta ($14, 4-6 hours) in order to visit Minca and Tayrona National Park. They had both direct door-to-door service and indirect service where you get on and off at the office.

 

 

Accommodation

In the historic district we stayed at Casa Roman, $8, and in Getsemaní we stayed at Mystic House, $14. With the prevalence of bed bugs, both were great. I appreciated the no frills of Casa Roman when I just needed a place to sleep and no more. Mystic had better wifi, good breakfast, a well-stocked kitchen, and I was able to study for my upcoming exams in their common area.

 

 

See and Do

Day 8 (pm)

On the shuttle Parbs announced she was in the mood to eat. I had been waiting for those words all week.

Among objects inhaled were an arepa con queso, a Gol bar, and a veggie wrap at Gokela, the cafe she was obsessed with. Don’t get the acai bowl unless you like spooning crap from a plastic cup.

We circled the old town and laughed at the extreme persistence of street rappers trailing tourists.

 

 

Day 9

We loved Colombians. They let Parbs and I swipe their metro cards. One driver held the rotating metal bar so that three of us could enter on one swipe. Innocent old ladies tried to hold my bags so I could sit down.

“Mi amor” came with every fruit stand purchase. Don’t miss out on the mamey!

 

***

Day 12

I met up with Alyssa and Tati, two friends from my university. Alyssa said somehow travel allowed her to operate on three hours of sleep. I guess after we stayed out until 4:30am, I applied that to my own life. After torturing myself with paleo in Panama, I wasn’t about to miss hostel pancakes.

Our flight kept getting delayed so we got to see more of Getsemaní. Plaza de La Trinidad was were everyone congregated in the evenings before the vibrant nightlife began, which was great for people/children-watching, and I mean that in the least creepy way.

 

 

Whether I was dancing or spooning my last cheap papaya, the fact that these were my last hours in Latin America for a long while had begun to sink in. For the past two years, I was here just about every other month. It was home. Colombia lived up to a high bar and I planned on doing my best to return for Christmas. My feelings for leaving behind what had grown so familiar with were blending with unbearable, heart-in-my-throat excitement.

Southeast Asia, I am so. Ready.