6:00am COT
You wake up in Medellin, Colombia on the last full day, as of the previous night, of your shortened trip to Colombia. Today is Monday and you were supposed to fly home on Wednesday, but you were able to book a flight back to the US tomorrow instead. Technically, you were able to book a flight for today back to the US, but you ended up getting the last ticket and you're traveling with a friend, so you changed your flight to Tuesday instead. Such a nice person you are :)
You are on a week-long (well now slightly less) trip around Colombia to Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena. It was already a pretty hectic trip, but last night you heard from your airline that your flight back, 3 days later, was cancelled. But that was a risk you took going on this trip while coronavirus raged around you. You thought going to Colombia would be ok, as, when you got there, there were only 6 cases in the whole country. You figured a week-long trip there would be fine, but now it looks like things are becoming a bit more complicated in the world.
In talking with your friend, you decided to still fly to Cartagena today, as you had planned, but you booked a flight back to Bogota tomorrow and your flight back to the US will leave from there a few hours later. You managed to get in contact with your Airbnb in Cartagena using the Spanish you know and Google Translate to let then know you will only be staying there one night. They were very understanding and reimbursed the other day; everyone was super nice and accommodating here in Colombia!
6:30am COT
Having rolled out of bed, packed all your stuff, and checked out of your hostel (you stayed in a private room, but it technically was a hostel and really nice!) you went to the taxi waiting outside. You had managed to arrange this the night before with the lady working at the desk, successfully apparently, with you and your friend's broken Spanish. You had been learning it on Duolingo and by watching tv in Spanish and your friend had taken it in high school 12 years before. Needless to say, you were basically the equivalent of a 4 year old between the two of you, but somehow you had been able to make it work so far.
Your flight leaves a little after 9, but it's almost an hour ride from the center of Medellin to the airport. It's actually a really cool ride too, because you go up into the mountains surrounding the city and get a great view of the city and then enter this crazy long tunnel (8 kilometers or about 5 miles for us non-metric users) that goes through the mountains to get to the airport on the other side.
You enjoyed your time in Medellin, it was a fascinating city (with the only Metro system in Colombia!) and was very lively and bustling. All the restaurants that you went to were great, and all the meals were really cheap, although you managed to spend about $20 each on the dinners you had, but you had been going to pretty nice places. Also, $20 is 80,810 Colombian Pesos (at the time of writing this, as it has been changing pretty quickly lately with all of this craziness going on) which is a pretty crazy bill to see at the end of a meal.
Unfortunately you did not get to see all that much of Medellin because you took a day long trip to Guatape, which is a town east of Medellin that is now on a system of lakes because the area was flooded when a dam was created. There's a super big rock there called la Piedra del Peñol (the rock of Peñol) and from the top of it you get these crazy views that are noted above. It truly was a surreal experience and it felt like you were in Avatar, as noted by your friend. Definitely worth checking out on any trip to Colombia, but you feel like you should have also spent an additional day in Medellin... Oh well, need to save things for the next trip, whenever that may be.
7:30am COT
You arrive at the airport in Medellin and it's pretty small but it seems to have everything you need, which is mostly Dunkin Donuts, which is somehow all over the place in Colombia. Security is really quick and you have plenty of time to wait for your flight. The system is much like it is in parts of Europe where they don't announce the gate until an hour before the flight. You think this makes a lot of sense, because you can't pass through security until then, so it makes it so that the process is more staggered.
You spend the rest of the time going on your phone and people watching. This has become more interesting now that COVID-19 is going on. You have seen the majority of people wearing masks already in Colombia, which was not the case in the US before you left. Here in the airport is no different. There are signs everywhere to make sure you're washing your hands, staying 6 feet apart (actually it says 2 meters), and to wear a mask. Definitely a strange time.
9:00am COT
You get through security and prepare to board the flight. You're flying on LATAM, which is the discount airline of Colombia. It seems like it's more comfortable than the Ryanair and Spirit flights you've been on, but this is a super short flight anyway, so you don't have much time to relish the relative comfort. You still have to pay for the coffee, although it is much cheaper and much better than any American flight.
10:30am COT
You land in Cartagena and as soon as you leave the airplane you feel the increase in temperature. Medellin was already pretty warm at about 70-80 for the time you were there, but Cartagena is on the Caribbean coast, and is around 90+ for the majority of the year. You look for the exit to the airport so you can find a way to get to your Airbnb, but have time to snap an ironic picture on your way out.
You're starting to sweat with your jacket and heavy backpack so you and your friend look for a way to where you're staying. Ubers are illegal in Colombia, but can still be used as they use a loophole of "renting a car and driver" instead of just booking a ride. It's creative, but it still makes it difficult to actually book one because the police will still pull over Ubers regardless.
You make it to the Airbnb in the end, but you can't check in until 1. Your host said that you could leave your bags in the apartment until then though, but his messages were becoming increasingly concerned about your stay as they were coming in. Your host wanted to make sure you were still coming because lots of things were being closed down because of the virus. You're here though, for better or for worse, and you leave your things and begin checking out the city.
11:30am COT
It's really beautiful! An interesting mix of colorful Caribbean city, colonial architecture, and old fortress. Cartagena was one of the first cities founded in what is now Colombia and you can definitely feel the history. The place you're staying is within the old walls so you take a walk along them to check out the fortifications and the coast, which are both impressive. Unfortunately, this will be the only way you can see the coast; you were planning on spending the day tomorrow going to one of the famous beaches surrounding Cartagena, but now the day will be spent on a series of flights bringing you back to the coronavirus infected US. Yay...
You keep walking around the beautiful old city with its flowers and brightly colored buildings and decide you want to know more about it. There are signs up with information around, but it's not really enough. You really enjoy walking tours and did one in Bogota and did the tour to Guatape in Medellin, so it makes sense to do one here too. You head into a coffee shop to book it, partly because walking around in 90+ degree weather is hot and partly because the two coffees you've had already isn't enough when you had to wake up at 6...
After getting your iced coffee, you sit down to book a free walking tour that has excellent reviews and enjoy sitting down for a little rest. However, it doesn't end up as relaxing as you would have hoped, as while you're sitting there, you get a series of messages from your Airbnb host with a mysterious message that you need to double and triple check on Google Translate. Apparently, the government has said that travelers can't stay in residential buildings for the time being, and that the owner of the building had contacted your host to say that you will be unable to stay there.
This is pretty shocking news, but you've just had to deal with the other crisis of needing to rebook your flight, so no big deal. You and your friend look up different hotels that are cheap and available tonight and find one pretty quickly. Although it is stressful, thankfully the internet has the answers to everything.
1:00pm COT
You need to go back to the Airbnb and collect your bags unfortunately, and carry them around in the heat. You haven't really had anything to eat since your DD this morning, so you guys decide just to wait in a restaurant until you can check in at 2. You decide on pizza, as you have already had a lot of Colombian food and, while it was delicious, in your stressed out state you need some comfort food. The pizza is great anyway and it is in an air conditioned restaurant so it's a good place to sit and rest while the sun is blazing outside.
2:00pm COT
You get to your hotel and are able to check in. It's definitely nothing fancy, (there isn't even a window in your room) but it is passable and has AC so it will do for the night. The walking tour you booked is supposed to start at 4, so you decide to use this time to just relax until then so you don't get heat stroke out there. You find Space Jam on the tv in Spanish, so you know you made the right decision.
3:45pm COT
Walking out the the place where the tour is supposed to start, you don't see many people around. As you are double checking the email you got, a couple from somewhere in Europe based on their accents tells you that they got an email that the tour was cancelled because of the virus. Sad and wondering why you didn't get the email, you and your friend decide to do a walking tour of your own. You look up some walking tours online (seriously, the internet really does have the answers to all these problems) and start to find your own way around the city.
The old city really is beautiful and filled with expansive plazas and tight passageways. There are immense structures like the clock tower pictured above and small shops packed with interesting crafts. The city is lush with flora and the green spaces around the town seem to be bursting with life. However, the city does feel a little touristy. Throughout the old city area, there are hawkers everywhere with all sorts of souvenirs that you really don't need. It does become tiresome to just have to walk around everywhere saying "No, gracias" constantly, but you guess that tourism runs this city, so it makes sense that they are there.
5:30pm COT
You decide to walk out of the old city to get away from these vendors and take a long walk around an old fort that was closed due to coronavirus, out to an interesting neighborhood, and to the waterfront to get a view of the super-modern Bocagrande neighborhood seen in the picture. It is an impressive city and you wish you could have spent a little more time checking it out.
All this walking around is starting to get you guys peckish though, and you start to head back into the old city to find somewhere to eat. While walking up a street you see that the walls of the city are right in front of you, so you decide to go up and check it out, especially once you see a big crowd there. You go up to see what all the fuss is about.
And get a great sunset view over the water. It's a very fitting way to end your trip you think, although now thinking back, you feel like all of these people shouldn't have been standing so close to watch it...
7:00pm COT
You find a restaurant with Peruvian seafood (you really did have a lot of Colombian food before today) and it's delicious! You get a grilled octopus and your friend gets a shrimp dish. The restaurant barely has anyone in it, and you're not sure why, because it's all great even if a little expensive for Colombian prices. The staff are super attentive because of this though! It's a great meal to end your Colombian experience.
8:30pm COT
However, you're starting to feel exhausted after your long day of travel and stress so after dinner you just head back to your hotel (after picking up a Club Colombia, the national beer) to relax. In addition, your flight the next day is at 9 so it's another super early morning.
You spend the rest of the evening making sure you have all of your things together, checking to make sure you've checked into your flights, and drinking that Club Colombia. You can't believe that everything worked out even with all the stress that was this day and the day before, and wondering what will happen to the world with all the coronavirus around. You are glad you got one last trip in, and you contemplate when the next time will be that you're able to do something like this. You shower, get ready for bed, and lay down, feeling stressed and hoping that all of your travel tomorrow will go well too...
If you want to see how we dealt with all this travel stress and didn't go crazy, you can read on here!
Comments