Buenos Aires to Vegas - The Trek

Cartagena de Indias lies on the Atlantic coast at the far north of Colombia. It was founded in the 1600s by the Spanish and is a town renowned for its history of pirates, slaves and luxury trade. The town is built up as a fortress, a result of the constant attention it received from pirates that roamed the Caribbean. I arrived fairly late at the dubious-looking bus station in Cartagena . I grabbed a cab driver who insisted he knew where my hostel (North Star Backpackers) was. 30 minutes later I ask again if he is sure with which he responds by saying his friend will know. We go into the old town area and meet some dude who can speak English. He promptly hops in my taxi and starts telling me he has never heard of the hostel but he is a certified guide in the city and can help me out with any tours I want to go on... not really what I needed at the time. Eventually after asking a load of people we find the hostel. I am disgruntled by the fact that he tries to overcharge me on the rid...

I slept for a long while on the bus but I did manage to appreciate some of the beautiful countryside en route to Medellin. The coffee areas ( Zona Cafeteria) and jungle valleys stretched on for ages and never really got boring to look at. The terrain in Colombia is so mountainous and steep that it takes a long time to travel short distances. 409km took us 9 hours. Medellin is Colombia´s second largest city with around 2.4 million inhabitants . The place has received relatively less tourist attention due to Colombia´s infamous past and the fact that the city was the headquarters of Colombia´s drug trade. Pablo Escobar was from Medellin and owned just about all the city. Those days are now past and Medellin is actually a very modern and clean looking city. The weather is slightly warmer than Bogota making for a very pleasant climate. I was booked in at the Tiger Paw hostel. An American-owned place that is open, clean and friendly. Riverdance , Helena and Alan were all there so we all ...