Day 465 – Cartagena

Today we slept in at LuKa Cartagena Hostel. By the time we got upstairs to the dining room it was 9:55am. Breakfast is served between 7 and 10. We couldn’t find any staff, and by the time I went down to the reception it was already past 10. The receptionist told me that breakfast was over. We went back to our room to start packing.

As we were packing, the phone rang. In a super kind gesture, the receptionist told us to go upstairs as they were preparing us breakfast. After eating, we finished packing and checked out.

Getsemani

Around midday we walked to our new hostel in a close by suburb of Getsemani. The walk was difficult due to the weight of the backpacks and the Cartagena heat. To make matters worse, the hostel wasn’t in the location that booking.com showed. After checking Google Maps we found out that we were only 400m away from the actual hostel.

At Espiritu Santo by Maos Hostel, we were allowed to leave our backpacks in storage until check in. The streets in Getsemani are really beautiful, with colonial styled buildings interlaced with trees. The hostel’s receptionist recommended Carrera 10 (Street 10) for its restaurants. It looks like a walking street, but it has the occasional car or motorbike. 

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After lunch we walked around town for a while. Turns out that the Ironman competition was on today. We felt sorry for the people running in the heat, but as soon as we saw the mountains of plastic bottles, I stopped feeling sorry for them. 

At 2pm, we returned for check in at Espiritu Santo by Maos Hostel. We had moved from our luxurious private room into a cheaper dorm room. However, the dorm room was nice with clean shared bathrooms. 

Free Walking Tour

After settling in, we walked to Santa Teresa Plaza at 4pm to join a Free Walking Tour. Most websites mentioned that we needed to book online, but we just rocked up. The guides welcomed us without any issues. The tour took 2 hours in total, and pretty much followed the route that our friends took us on a few days ago (Day 463). 

We went to Baluarte de San Ignacio, Iglesia de San Pedro Claver (San Pedro Claver Church), walked down various streets in the Historic Centre and ended up at the Teatro Heredia (Heredia Theatre). A security guard who knew the guide, allowed us to enter a side area of the theatre, which was closed. After receiving some information the tour ended. We paid a tip and left.

As we left, we could see a very nice sunset over the city wall. We decided to climb up and watch it. 

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After enjoying the sunset, we went to the restaurant La Diva, which was full 2 days ago. The place has a Michelangelo theme, which is cool. The staff were really friendly and the pizzas were delicious. 

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Then we walked back home along the festive streets of Cartagena.

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Travelled December 2019