BoldspiritTravels on a budget: My Cartagena, Colombia #2 [Solo backpacking on a budget in Latin America]

Hi Guys!

You may have already noticed that I fell in love with Cartagena de Indias. I didn’t even plan to travel to the Caribbean part of Colombia. I was already for a month in Costa Rica. I stayed in the Pacific Ocean part of the country so I figured that I don’t need more time on a sea/beach side. But then I was told about this amazing opportunity to do scuba diving and PADI Open Water Certificate in the north part of Colombia. So I changed my plans and arrived in Cartagena!

It was absolutely a great idea. The Caribbean seaside to me was much more beautiful than the Pacific side. As I have never before experienced any idyllic beaches, with white sand and super clear water, I was astonished and I felt like I was in paradise for the first time.
Moreover, after more than two weeks in Colombia, it was the first time when I finally felt safe again. At last, I could walk during the night. Alone!

I don’t want to write the same information that are already in my previous post called “Why you will fall in love with Cartagena”.

The first day in the morning I moved to another hostel - ”el viajero”, which was located outside the “party area” of the town. I let my backpack in a dorm and went to explore a bit. :)

I strolled down the narrow streets of the old town and enjoyed little squares with trees and fountains that provide shade so needed in this sunny city. I honestly fell in love with those stunning small buildings covered with bright or pastel colours, with wooden balconies full of flowers! I could imagine myself living in one of those mansions. I just wonder if the amount of tourists is not too overwhelming for its inhabitants in day-to-day life considering a size of Cartagena.

In Plaza de Santo Domingo we can find “La Gorda Gertrudis”, a sculpture made by famous Colombian artist Botero. She attracts a lot of attention and can make some of you blush. ;) (i have written about Botero, his art and his unique museum that is located in Bogota - you can read about it here.

From time to time I like to participate in a “free walking tour”. The idea behind that is that you are not obliged to pay for the tour although if you liked it, you are more than welcome to show your appreciation. So it is “tips” based. The usual tip per person would be around 10 US Dollars. I did that in Copenhagen, Prague, Cartagena, Rio de Janeiro, and Arequipa. And I enjoyed all of them. Therefore I recommend you to try it! How? Just write “free walking tour” and your destination in your internet browser, there are tours in most cities all over the world.

I used this free walking your as first source of knowledge about Cartagena. It lasted 3 hours approximately and we covered more-less most of the touristic attractions.
A minor problem when you travel on your own is that you don’t have a companion who will take photos of you. I rarely use selfie stick and didn’t have one during my backpacking in South America. I didn’t (and still don’t) like the idea of selfies. But I also didn’t want to be a pain and ask others from the group to take photos of me in each attraction. So here I am, without photos that should have been taken in a destination like Cartagena. I won’t become an Instagram/Steepshot queen.;) Though life of a solo traveller. ;)

Thank you for being here with me. I hope until next time!
Pura Vida and enjoy your journey! 💛

Some of my recommendations:

• Just take it S L O W. Slow movement and travel.
• Would you consider adopting a dog?