Colombia by www.born2travel.it

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25. 01. 2008 Somma Lombarda (ITALY) When you travel there are always unforeseen events... And here we are in a little hotel not far from Malpensa when instead we should have been in flight two hours earlier... They moved our flight to Cartagena by more than eight hours! To make up a little for the damage they put us up in a hotel near the airport. This delay will make us arrive at our destination at one in the morning instead of at 15.00! What a shame! We will lose a whole Friday... But at this point I only care about leaving, keeping calm and not poisoning ourselves, as so many did, to avoid starting this holiday on the wrong foot! Yes, I said holiday! 26. 01. 2008 Cartagena (COLOMBIA) Jet lag fooled me again... Even though we went to bed at four in the morning, two hours later I was already fresh and lively, woken by some shouting coming from the beach of my hotel.

I lean out and see a big group of girls who, completely naked, were bathing in the ocean and shouting! Bienvenido a Colombia! Yesterday's flight was very tiring, partly because of the long wait, waiting for them to fix the technical fault on our aircraft, and partly because twelve hours of flight is quite a lot! Having landed at two in the morning in Cartagena we transfer directly to our luxurious hotel: Hilton, while they keep warning us about this nation and while the "Italian young men", (as we nicknamed the 50-year-olds, our compatriots, "sex tourists") rubbed their hands and wiped away the drool thinking about what awaited them! Right after settling in we make a jump to the famous "Dolce Vita" (which everyone talked about), a nightclub frequented only by the "young men" and prostitutes..

Top level! As soon as we arrive there, out of the door comes a Venus accompanied by the European "grandpa"... She tall, very long blond hair, angelic face, a very "slinky" little dress, stiletto heels, perfect tanned legs... But where are we? Beside us there is a ridiculous Italian man who, sitting like a playboy on a bench next to a very beautiful local girl, in broken Spanish asks her: (exact words) "Ma dos horas nella mia stanza... Cuanto?" We decide to go and rest without even going in, while two other compatriots of the same age haggled with Julio over the quantity of drugs to buy...

I forgot that among the many losers met so far there was one who saved himself: Ivan, a Sardinian man who, a lover of South America, was about to begin a real undertaking, from Colombia to Canada (skipping the U.S.A.) in six months, following the Panamericana! [Editor's note] I hope not to offend anyone, but it really hurt me to see those young girls exploited by men, with wedding rings on their fingers, who perhaps in Italy, with wife and children, would have played the moralists...

In the morning, with Ivan, we stroll a little along the beach and begin to get a first idea of this place that hosts us! The beach is not great, it is volcanic, therefore: black, full of local people and with immense big buildings along the whole coast that give you the idea of being in Brazil! The Colombian beach boys are clingy and tiresome; I am sorry that they offer us only drugs and prostitutes, but after all that is what 99% of "average Europeans" look for here! By taxi we go to the centre. Cartagena is a mix of Panama Vieja and Havana.

It alternates very characteristic alleys with colonial balconies, colourful, with little squares in Cuban style! Every now and then the magic that one breathed in that mythical city came to mind! We visited the centre a bit, we slipped into their calles, confused among them, chatted and joked with them! We had lunch in a supermarket, in their canteen, on a small balcony overlooking the Plaza des Rolojes, enjoying their everyday life! At Plaza Santo Domingo we met Iris, a girl Nick had got to know on the internet before coming here! It was wonderful to wander around with a local girl who told us and explained the beauties of her city! We drank something in a small bar only for Colombians; they gave us attention, they were curious about us...

Wonderful! [Iris Pomares Belem from Cartagena, Colombia]: I have met two new friends, two people who come from the other side of the world, different culture, different traditions... [Nick]: We got a nice shot of some boys playing chess and it was exciting when the promoter of the event left us a video message that went more or less like this: "Watch and you will understand that Colombia is also capable of beautiful events!"

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