Nos estamos preparando para ir a Las Palmares

We are planning to go to Las Palmars tomorrow. We started the day by going to the tourist dock to purchase tickets for the local boat to take us to Isla Grande where we are staying at Las Palmares, Eco-hotel. We knew we were had a problem when we asked the taxi driver to take us to Muelle Touristico and he said which one. We told him the location of the one we went to last night. He dropped us of and we found out it was the wrong one. So, we took another taxi to the other Tourist Dock and found out it was a 10 minute walk from our hostel. However, it was a nice ride around the city.

We purchased out tickets for the local boat to Isla Grande for tomorrow morning at 9:00.

Since we had packed light, we found a shop that did laundry and left our dirty clothes to be washed, dried, and folded. About noontime we were ready for siesta. It gets to hot in the afternoon, (95 degrees), to walk around. We took this time to find out how to go to our next destination when we return from Las Palmares in four days. It turns out you can buy bus tickets from the hostel. That was easy.

 

We decided to go back to the walled city for dinner and watch the sunset.

 

 

 

Cartagena

We ended our evening last night by having a video chat with Jessica using Tango with our iPad and her iPhone. It worked great once we turned on our audio. We were ready to relax so we tried out Netfilx and to our surprise it worked great from our room. We turned on the fan, jumped into bed and watched a movie.

This morning we slept in late, 8:00. When we down for coffee we met the hostal's pets. Below are pictures of the animals that roam around the hostal.

Grandmother's dog with pink tonails.

After breakfast we walked around the original walled city of Cartagena, where our hostal is located. Cartagena is a tourist city and there were many groups of tourists walking around the city. They arrive on the cruise ships and follow their tour guide around the city. We tried to avoid these groups. The city is old, beautiful and very hot. (about 92 degrees)

It was so hot that we returned to the hostal during the heat of the day and read our books. Around 4:00 we went out again. We found Muelle Touristico which is the tourist dock where we will take a boat to Isla Grande on Thursday.

We took a taxi back to the walled city and had dinner at La Ceveche restaurant. We sat at a table on the street and shared a large bowl of ceveche. It was delicious.

 

 

Nuestro vuelo a Cartagena

We cooked our first supper last night in our hostal. We found a super marcardo and bought the makings for pasta. Charlie cooked and Jane cleaned up. Music was provided via our iPad. Cocktails were rum and orange juice. One of the best meals we've had so far.

Today we learned how to get money from the ATM using our Spanish. The first attempt failed and we were denied access and had to find another machine. This was the beginning of our hair raising adventure.

We checked out of our hostal and we were off to find a taxi to take us to the airport. The hostal told us not to get a taxi on the street and they would call one for us and they would pick us up in fifteen minutes. After a half hour we were getting a little stressed because we had about an hour to get to the airport to catch our flight. The taxi arrived thirty minutes late. We got into the taxi and were off. The traffic was bumper to bumper, red light to red light. We were worried that we would never make it.

We made it to the airport just as Vianca Airlines personnel were checking people in to board. We got on the plane and sat and sat. The pilot said there was an electrical problem and it would be fixed shortly. After 40 minutes we disembarked the plane and were bussed to another location and boarded another plane. This time the plane was able to take off.

We arrived two hours late in Cartagena. It was at least 90 degrees when we got off the plane. A lot warmer then Bogota. We hired a taxi to take us to our hostal, Hostal Real. The taxi driver didn't know where he was going and dropped us off at the wrong place. We paid the driver and then realized we were at the wrong hostal. We caught the driver before he drove away and he asked for directions from someone in the street and took us to the right hostal.

We tried to registar for our room and were told that our reservation was for tomorrow. We were a day early. They did have an extra room so we were able to put our bags down in our room. With a sigh of relief and a change into shorts we headed out to find a cold cerveza and something to eat.

 

Usaquen, Mercado de Articulos and Bogota Esmeraldas

This morning we took a taxi to the Mercado de Articulos in Usaquen. We had to go a round about way to get there as many of the main streets are closed to car traffic. It is called Ciclovia, a time for the people of Bobota to walk, run, bike, roller blade or whatever down the main highways. Every Sunday many roads are closed for several hours. The people love it but the taxi drivers don't.

The market was an artisan market with many beautiful hand-made items for sale. It covered about 4 square blocks. We walked through the market stopping and buying a few crafts and some food. It was very crowded and we had to be careful of our money and our backpack.

We returned in the afternoon to look at esmeraldas, otherwise known as emeralds. We found many but they were very expensive. We are still looking.

We made it back to our casa before the first thunderstorm and rain we have had since we have been here. This is our last night in Bogota and we are headed for a good dinner. Tomorrow we fly to Cartagena.

 

Catedral de Sal

Today's challenge was to figure out how to take the bus from Bogota to Zipaquira to visit the Catedral de Sal. We found the bus directions on the wall of the hostal. We found the Transmilenio bus station, where we bought a round trip to Portal del Norte station. We then had to find the right bus to Zipaquira. After and hour and a half on the buses we made it to Zipaquira. We ate lunch at a local restaurant. Then we found a taxi to take us to the Catedral.

 

The Catedral is part of a working salt mine, which began with the indigenous people surface mining the salt. The mine continues today, but is adjacent to the Catedral. The Catedral is built in the underground mining tunnels built in the 1930's. It was very spectacular. They have church services on Sunday and special holidays and many people have their wedding there. The mine has enough breathing air for 3,000 visitors a day.

We took a side tour into the mining shafts and we had to wear hard helmets with lights. At times it was totally dark and we had to walk holding on to the person in front of us and one hand on the wall to guide us. We wouldn't have wanted to be there without our guide.

We were in the mine for three hours looking at the various mine exhibits.

We headed home but had a slight problem at the bus terminal. We didn't know which bus to take and asked a man for help. He gave us directions and we headed for the bus. The man came after us and said we were going the wrong way and he took us to the stop where we could get the bus. We made it back to Bogota, only one bus stop short of our destination. We walked the rest of the way to our casa.

The people here are very friendly and helpful. Pictures from today's trip.