Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiger Beer]

Its been one of my dream destinations for quite some time. Particularly Cartagena.. and to a lesser extent, Santa Marta, Medellin and Cali.

Anyone been to Colombia?

[jg]

Cartagena is cool, and its safe - or it was in 2002, when I went. Hot and humid though, but I guess you already guessed that.

There isn't a lot to do other than walk around - except during the film festival in the Spring. The heat and lack of air conditioning in most places makes a lot of other activities not so fun, I spent hours in the supermarket, one of the VERY few public places thats cooled. There is a thriving chess society that meets in a building downtown, and there are several plazas that are great for chilling out in during the night, when the mighty sun sets. Yeah, the heat merits three mentions. Comfy accomodations might be a bit pricey too, unless you speak Spanish. There were soldiers on the streets with rifles, and outside the Colonial city center the danger level was much higher. There are French, Italian, and German cultural outposts with movies and film discussions and such. Language classes too.

Its an easy bus ride to Santa Marta, another coastal town that has a bit more energy. There is a city wall that surrounds the gorgeous colonial area. Colombian food (at least what I had in Cartagena) is awful. They fry everything, including salads.

Pictures below.

[jg]

[spliff]

Been twice during Jan break back in College. It's where I learned to touch my nose when making a strong conversational point. However, 99% of the babes are staunch Catholic girls (NOT in the Frank Zappa sense) so forget about getting laid for free.

[jg]

On that last point that Spliff made, I experienced a different reality - I would say that a single person with a bit of Spanish and charm would not lack for company. The people there are really cool and outgoing too, so its not hard to make friends.

There is also casino gambling in Cartagena and a SA based airline (I think Copa) offers an intraColombia airpass - six flights for a reasonable price, but the flights must be completed in 30 days. Again, its been four years since I was there, so the flight deal may not still exist. You cannot buy this flight package in-country, for some reason, but its available in Miami.

[Tiger Beer]

Cartagena has always seemed kind of New Orleans-ish to me in pictures. A real colorful New Orleans. I'd love to visit CTG someday.

[liberp]

Hey I am from Cartagena, Col. the city it's great, you have in the north the beach area (bocagrande) where you can find clubs, wild parties, beach, some water sports, something Panama city beach style. in downtown you have a more relax/romactic area. full of nice more decent clubs and restaurants. a little south from there is a street called arsenal, kind of borbune street, and to the east the are some desserted beaches and natural parks for sports and different outdoor activities. the city is complete safe since is the main tourist city. but you may want to check the time you go. sometimes is just too full of visitors that gets anoying. well if you want any detail tips about the city contact me for it.

[HapKi]

A friend of mine was just in Cartagena a few days ago. I don't think he'd mind if I posted his travel blog entry here-


Cartagena is another old colonial town much like Havana and Panama City. I opted to stay in Bocagrande a 3 mile strip of beach 5 minutes from the Old Town.

Since I was able to tour the Old Town in 1 afternoon making the obligatory stops at the cathedrals, Plaza Bolivar (I think there is one of those in every city), and the fort; the other 4 days here were to be spent at the beach.

After 2 days at the beach trying to avoid all the local businessmen selling t-shirts, knockoff watches and sunglasses, Cuban cigars, ganga, and "white coffee" (that�s how one of them described it, I just laughed and thanked him for the offer because I didn�t want to come to Colombia and not have someone at least offer to sell me some "white coffee") I was ready to take a day trip somewhere.

My day trip took me to Volcano Totumo, which is about an hour from Cartagena. Instead of spewing ash or lava, Totumo is a mud volcano. Since I visited a few volcanoes in Nicaragua and Costa Rica I figured it would be cool to actually go inside the crater and swim around in the volcanic mud. The volcano wasn�t what I expected as it ended up being more like a mound of dirt with a pool of mud in the crater.

It was an interesting experience being in the lukewarm mud, much like when I was at the Dead Sea I was unable to stand and just naturally floated. Supposedly the mud contains minerals that give it therapeutic value, once again much like the Dead Sea.

[Tiger Beer]

[I-am-me]

Hey, Im from Colombia. I can tell you that Medellin is a beautiful city to visit. It has modernized nicely in the past decade. The weather is always nice and many nice small towns to visit. What I miss the most is the food. Once you eat colombian food, you will always miss Colombia! Its worth visiting.

[anyangoldboy]

farq???

[just4u]

...

[kangnam mafioso]

[spliff]

Is it de-caf?

[cdmcguire]

I recently spent a couple of months there and if I hadnt come to Korea to earn some money then Colombia would have been top of my list of places to live.

2 months wasnt enough to see the country so I'm hoping to go back. We bussed up from Ecuador, hit the North Coast and bussed back down a different route. Having been to Thailand and Indonesia the beaches in the North were a tad disappointing(Tayrona is nice).

Cartegena has a beautiful Colonial part, but if I had the choice I would much rather go back to the tranquil colonial towns of a Villa De Leyva, Popayan, Santa Fe (near Meddellin) or Barichara/Guane (nr San Gil). Beautiful country, incredibly friendly people. If you want any more info PM me.