Cartagena was in some ways similar to Antigua and in other ways completely different. On the positive side we must admit, that the old town is full of beautiful colonial buildings with matching balconies and doors and everything looked like it had been repainted the night before. Also the weather was so warm we were glad we had booked a hostel with a rooftop pool. And at “El Taperia” we ate some of the best tapas we have ever tasted outside of Spain.
On the negative side we felt like strolling through a part of the Europapark in Rust with the difference that everyone tried to sell us something, constantly and very persistent. It cumulated in our second night out when three different waiters constantly tried to upsell us while we were having dinner at their restaurant.
But on our last night we explored the uprising quarter, our hostel was located in, called Getsemani that had even more flair than the old town and for sure less salesmen harassing us.
We also explored the nearby beaches and islands on a full day tour. The tour was nice, the weather fantastic and the islands and Playa Blanca beautiful. A bit sad though was, that during the snorkeling our guide first explained not to touch anything but then told the group to touch several corals and even brought up animals for the guests to touch. Also was the tour operator collaborating with the local food and drink salesmen who constantly tried to sell us something while we had to wait a little bit too long for our included meals and snacks to get served.
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