Our Great Adventure: Cartagena Day 327 11/08/2015

We both had a restless night (the air conditioning was noisy but without it on it was very hot). After a cold shower we had breakfast on the roof terrace. We've clearly been spoilt by Casa Amani and their lovely breakfasts! Although better than a lot we've had with fresh fruit and eggs. We headed out in search of a barbers for Simon to get his hair cut which we found not far from the b&b and were entertained by the barber with his box of hair tools and products. From here we wandered in to the old town in search of how we booked a chiva bus tour which we were keen to do in the afternoon. We found a tour agent and bought tickets for a tour starting at 1400. By now it was late morning so we had a stroll (very slow in the heat) around the lovely colonial streets before stopping at a bookshop for a browse and a refreshing strawberry juice in their cafe. The old town is a Unesco World Heritage site with cobbled alleyways, balconies covered in bougainvillea, massive churches and plazas, all surrounded by an impressive stone wall, Las Murallas. It's a lovely place just to wander around. Just after 1330 we boarded our chiva bus ready for our tour. The colourful buses are old USA school buses, still used in the rural areas to transport people and goods, often referred to as chicken buses. We've been lucky in that we've not had to use any to get from around so we thought it would be a good experience to have a tour in one. We set off from near the clock tower and headed south to Bocagrande, along the shore passed masses of tower blocks, a mix of hotels and apartments on a narrow peninsular. After stopping to take in the view and buy ice creams we set off slowly in the traffic back towards the old town where we stopped by a sculpture of two bronze boots, the significance of which was lost on us! Back on the bus with rumba music blaring out we drove up a steep zig zagging road to reach Convento de la Popa on a 150m high hill, the highest point in the city. After a short tour around and admiring the views down over the city we continued to Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas built by the Spaniards in 1630 and expanded in later years. A system of tunnels connects strategic points, built in such a way that any noise reverberates all the way along them making it possible to hear any sounds from the approaching enemy. The last stop was the customary artisan market from where we walked up on the wall to watch the sun set before wandering back to the hotel. It was a good way to see the outer sites of the city and certainly made us very grateful that we hadn't done a long journey in a chiva! In the evening we had dinner at Saint Roque, a small Indonesian restaurant opposite where we'd eaten last night. The food was very good and it was so nice to have something spicy!