Cartagena, Colombia 🇨🇴

We set out for a walking tour at 10am, it is a Sunday and so the streets are nice and quiet. We walk along the old walls until the naval museum which is our meeting point. It is a interesting tour explaining the history of Cartagena and the people. It sounds like even in present day the colour of your skin and origin makes a difference.  

We see the major historical buildings walk to the main plazas. One of the more fascinating buildings is off Bolivar square and is where the Spanish Inquisition evaluated people for witchcraft and other crimes. You could denounce anyone by posting the information through a window anonymously, once they received 3 they would investigate. The charged would automatically be guilty until they proved their innocence. Machines such as ‘the rack’ were used to to encourage a confession. 

We went back to our hostel via a lovely gelato shop to escape the midday heat and try to plan the rest of our trip, slightly concerned that we cannot book our first shuttle out of Cartagena but the guy at the hostel reassures us we shouldn’t have a problem tomorrow.  

At 4pm we go out again and I take Polly to Cafe del Mar. This is the bar I watched sunset from a few days ago, so I knew she would enjoy the environment with a cold beer. It’s a lovely spot with chilled music of the top of part of the old wall to enjoy the sunset. We walk around the city a bit more before grabbing a quick wok rice for dinner, both tired after a sweaty hot day.