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Goodbye to Barranquilla! Hello to Cartagena!
I took a bus from Barranquilla to Cartagena, checked into my very nice hostel (I’m in a dormitory room for 6. There’s a swimming pool too), and then strolled around the old city:
The flower market was across from my hostel:
I had to pay these ladies before taking their picture (but it was worth it):
And of course plenty of beautiful women: Photos of Miss Colombia through the years, in a permanent street exhibit:
Cartagena was also beautiful at night:
Naturally, Cartagena had a gold museum (I visited four gold museums during my time in Colombia!):
But Cartagena’s most impressive monuments are its Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas...
... and its 17 kilometers of city walls:
The Castillo is the greatest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in any of their colonies. Construction began in 1657. It was never taken, despite numerous attempts.
The tunnels inside were constructed so that any noise reverberated all the way along them, making it possible to hear the slightest sound of the approaching enemy's feet.
Cartegena, tunnels.MOVThe old town is surrounded by Las Murallas, the thick walls built to protect the town against enemies. Construction began toward the end of the 16th century, after the attack by Francis Drake; until that time Cartagena was almost completely unprotected. The project took two centuries to complete due to repeated damage from both storms and pirate attacks. It was finally finished in 1796, just 25 years before the Spaniards were eventually expelled.
They were most impressive by night:
Cartegena, walls.MOVThere sure are a lot of tourists in Cartagena! (Maybe because there is a cruise ship in the harbor?) I can’t just stroll along, but need to navigate carefully amongst the people. There are lots of stores with expensive stuff for sale, and many expensive restaurants. And anyway, it is too hot! I am not tempted to linger. So I have decided to leave after only two days, on an 11 hour night bus to Medellín. See you later!
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