Day 6: Quien William?

Today’s plan primarily includes a visit to some hidden beach in a small island, and have a late lunch/early dinner in Celele by Proyecto Caribe Lab at 3pm. My alarm woke me up at 7:30am, I laid there till just after 8am, I could have slept a little more, because I got a heartburn in the middle of the night, and had to get out of bed to find Tum, Tum, Tum, Tum, Tum… I definitely ate more than I should have last night. Lesson learned, don’t let my eyes grown bigger than my stomach. 

I got out of bed, brushed teeth, ventured out to find some coffee and some quick bites. The sky was very overcast, I know it is not really a good beach day, but oh well, it is my last in town, the beach was one of the things I have not done. I can touch the Pacific Ocean for Christ’s Sake. I thought I’d go anyway. Before that, I must have my coffee fix. I got my Flat White (coffee) and some Colombian breakfast - Carimañolas de Queso - it is a fried yucca cakes filled with cheese in Epoca café again. It is really good I like it. The external appearance looked very much like a Chinese dim sum to me, but tasted definitely very different.  

Daniel sent me off on a cab to the other end of Bocagrande (the newer part of Cartagena I supposed), where there would be a line of water taxi waiting, I would take them to an offshore small island where I would find a beach. The beach belonged to Amare Beach Club, they have a whole page on Instagram showing pictures, how much the water taxi should cost, and which water taxi driver in specific I should look for: William, Orley, Anderson, Eduardo or Joandi… and so on. This Chinese guy who had absolutely no clue what these guys look like. I approached the water taxis, people were all busy talking to each other, bargaining or whatever they were talking about… Omicron? Anyway, I found a chance to talk to someone, I was like ‘Quien William?’ I think I was missing an ‘es’ in the middle. I was too nervous, I swallowed that word. So, I kept asking one guy after another, ‘Quien William?’, ‘Quien William?’. Finally, someone pointed me to who this big William of Cartagena is. I asked him, ‘a Amare en Playa Linda?’, I showed the Instagram, he said something, a word I definitely heard before, but I had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but by his gesture, I think he meant the Amare is closed right now, maybe he said come back another day, or another time. But it really doesn’t matter, because I have absolutely no idea what he was saying. So, I was ‘oh, ok, ok’ and walked off. 

 

I was already at a beach, just not the one I was planned to go. Another beach, Playa de Bocagrande, supposed to be bigger is just 10 mins walk away, so I started heading that direction. Playa de Bocagrande is right next to some huge mall, and had a lot more umbrella and people, and the beach was very long, it almost went all the way back to the old walled city. I found a spot and started sitting down putting sunscreen on. What I noticed was that the men in the beach were very conservative, wearing mostly those knee length beach shorts, basically what American would wear at beach, no speedo, no Brazilian type of short short or bikini... a big fat yawn, if I may say so. I did have a speedo on underneath my shorts, but then I was intimidated and I just laid there with my shorts on. We were really cloud bathing anyway. I stayed for about an hour. It was ok, there were too many people trying to sell you stuff that it was not really peaceful beach experience I was envisioning. I’ll go back to Carson Beach in Boston next summer. After I left the beach, I walked all the way back to my Airbnb, which was probably about 1.5 miles or so of walking. Took a quick shower, and then I went back to Epoca for a 2nd flat white and another Colombian snack thing – Arepitas de Queso Fundido – corn cakes filled with melted cheese and fine herbs butter. Yum!   

I only had a very very light lunch because my Airbnb host Daniel managed to squeeze me in for a reservation at Celele at 3pm. There were absolutely no availability I could find on their website until after I leave on Wednesday. But Daniel’s friend worked as a chef there so he must have twisted his arms. Celele was said to have been picked as one of the top 50 restaurants in Latin America in 2020. So, even though eating at the odd hour, I want to experience that. And I was not disappointed. For starter, I had a Prawn Tartare with coconut mayonnaise, mamey's chutney, green papaya pickles, chives, flowers, cilantro oil, and fried breadfruit on the side. For main course, I originally order the Mompox Style Duck Stew - sour orange juice and coconut milk based, sauté green beans, babaganoush (eggplants puree), yam soup and homemade cured duck breast over cassava bread. But that was out, so they recommended me to try the Celele Style Pork with pork confit terrine, dried bananas puree, roasted sweet peppers, Caribbean beans medley topped with chives and kale salad, over pork consommé. This pork dish totally blew my mind. The presentation was totally misleading, the pork was completed covered by the green, it did not even look like a pork dish, but when you dig in, the pork fell apart immediately, so tender, and there were at least 8 or 9 type of beans with all kind of textures, some soft, some more al dente. It is just a flavor and texture explosion in the month, one after another bite. Very very interesting dish. For dessert, I had Celele Style Merengón with crispy vanilla and bougainvillea wafer, creamy sour guava and rosewater ice-cream. Beautifully presented, unique, refreshing. Now my heart is full after this meal.    

 

 

 

 

I better start packing here, need to get up at 5am-ish for an 8:17am flight, airport is only 12 mins away, but I need to find a taxi. Better start early. 

All other photos from Day 6 are here. 

Day 5: Estoy Muy Lleno, Pero Esta Bien

So far, it is like I am alternating between a heavy day in term of activities and a light day. Compared to yesterday, today have been much lighter, I am kind of appreciating that. I even have an afternoon nap to stay away from the heat. It is a luxury I can never have in Boston or when I am living in the US lifestyle, not until I am retired anyway.  

 

 

I woke up pretty early at 6:20am, just brushed my teeth, picked my camera and went out to walk around the hoods to take some pictures when the streets are still kind of quiet. There were still people around, some are just opening stores, or cleaning the streets, or some just sitting around aimlessly. Everyone is still half asleep, myself included, so everyone has absolutely no energy to rise their voice to talk to this Chinese guy with “Amigos, amigos, ba.. ba.. ba..?’ Not even the fruit ladies with colorful dresses, normally they would keep asking me to take a picture or buy something from them, I have no idea. Even they are quiet. Everyone was just chilling, peace, I don’t exist here, and we are just air passing through each other. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could travel like that?! I zipped through the streets of old city Cartagena for about 1.5 hours or so, trying to find the right spot where the sun is hitting the buildings at the right angles. And then I got cansado (tired), so I guess it’s called the breakfast time. 

I looked up the Epoca café hours, it is a place where Daniel recommended me to get breakfast and coffee. I went there, they just opened for like 5 mins, I was their second customer of the day. I had yet another Colombian dish - Arepa e ‘Huevo - that is deep fried corn cake thingy with egg in the middle. When I cut it open, there were still some soft yok in the middle oozing out. Totally calling my name. I enjoyed it. 

 

 

Back to the Airbnb, take shower #1 of the day, worked on my blog and photos a bit. And then I walked back to Getsemani area to try another Daniel’s recommended restaurant called La Cocina de Pepina. Again, I happened to be the 2nd customer, out of the 3 dishes he recommended me to try: Mote de Queso, Copa Si Si Si, and Sopa Caribe. I picked Sopa Caribe, oh that is actually a version of Colombian seafood chowder, without the potato, but with lot of seafood. The broth is total yumo! There is also a side dish with salad, coconut rice and fried plantain. Love the coconut rice. It seems this country also used a lot of coconut in cooking, the ceviche aji coco I had last night was also coconut based. Overall, I love this restaurant, there are quite a few dishes I would have tried on the menu. 

 

From the restaurant, I walked to the Castillo del San Felipe, it is old fortress just outside of the walled city. It was on a little hill, if it was not the sun and humidity, it would have been a very nice walk, let’s leave it at that. After I climbed up to the top of the fortress, there were some tunnels, I hid there for quite a while, because there were some good breezes going on in the tunnels. I needed to completely cool off before I dared walking under the sun again. Good that I got myself a bottle of Gatorade. On the way back to Airbnb, I stopped for another Coffee Frapp, it is a daily must here for me. And I also stopped by La Paletteria, they have all kind of popsicle in different unique flavors. I had the Bailey’s one today. It is a 2 mins of Heaven, I think I will try the grape tomorrow. 

 

It was only 3pm when I got back to the Airbnb, after a quick 2nd shower of the day, for once, I have done something I have not done for a long time, I took a nap, it felt good. My body needed it from all these walking, and it was a sign that my body is allowing my mind to relax and not have to be always go go go. Dinner was at Restaurante Candé, I was told that it was more at the high end side, it is really not that bad at all. I had a Chicharon for appetizer which is very unwise choice for one person, since I was already filled up before my seafood risotto cooked in coconut milk, with a coconut lemonade, the bill comes down to US$30 or so. In US, the same meals easily double that not even including the tips. Cartagena definitely seems more pricey than Bogota, I only gonna be here for 3 nights, so I am going to eat the best I can. 

All other photos from Day 5 are here.

Day 4: An Observer with Ninja Eyes

Checked out my Bogota Airbnb right at 6am, the security guard of the building knew this Chino did not speak much Spanish, so he gave me a hand salute instead. He just seemed like a very kind man. I called an uber for the airport, the skinny driver was very friendly, not an ounce of meat in sight, with the black t-shirt, it submerged with the driver seat. What are we talking about? Oh yes, the airport. I love the uber here. I knew exactly how much I was paying, and there was no bargain, no cash transaction, all done via the apps. I just prefer uber over taxi a gazillion times over. Uber is not officially legal here in Colombia though, so it would be more difficult for me to call an uber from airport.  Anyway, I was dropped off at the domestic terminal, it was quite busy actually, many people were flying today evidently, and my flight was completely full. Boarding the flight involved me paying 200% attention for the row number being called out in Spanish. I had the seat 11B, so I was looking for “Once” to be called, my ears were up. I got it right without asking people, yay! 

Today is the first day that I am traveling completely solo, without Carlos being my guide and communicator, my normal travel instinct started coming back, I became more observant of what was happening around me, I would be looking at people from some hidden corners with my ninja eyes on, observing what they do. There was this bunch of women all wearing the same straw hats written some words on it, they were taking some group pictures at the gate, making this same pose, covered face and then smile. I was like “oh geez!” Actually I was also thinking, even though we may not speak the same language, they could well be a group of joy luck club women, or some housewives from some small towns in Midwest US. I can see some kind of humanity in all of these, even though we are speaking different languages, growing up a little in different culture, behaving a little differently, but we are still doing all the similar things in our lives. That’s one of the reasons why I love to travel alone, it is the time when I can observe humanity, the good and the bad. To judge and be judged or the god given duty to a gay man.      

I was taking the Colombian discounted airline Viva Air today, the big yellow bird, I had to check in my backpack because their carry on allowance is so little. It worked out fine, I just took all my valuables to a smaller day bag for carry on. I arrived Cartagena just before 11am, the suppressive heat hit me immediately as I exited the plane, it was well over 80F (or close to 30C) if not higher and humid, south east asia style, don’t I remember that shit?! I was told that there should be a stand for authorized taxi at the airport, you pay at a fixed price, and of course, life can never be so easy, they were nowhere to be found. Could it be because it is Sunday, everyone went to church or took a day off, tourists fuck that. I am not quite sure. After walking the entire airport front twice, I just ended up talking one of those guys who kept yelling out Taxi, Taxi, Taxi every time I passed by him, maybe the word Taxi should have been my hint. What do you think? I could only guess. I showed him the Airbnb address, and demanded it should only cost 20000 COP, this is what the Airbnb host told me, you can charge me no more than 20000 COP. I was already in my bargain tone before the bargain ever begun. The taxi driver was reading the address and was like, ahh… I know this place, yeah, 20 thousand, and so we went. Just like that, I could have saved my energy for walking the airport front twice. It was really only a 10-12 mins ride.    

  

 

I was 3 hours earlier before my check-in time. Here is the link to this airbnb room. Daniel, my Airbnb host, received me anyway, he agreed to let me drop off my bag, so I could go out to grab lunch and walk around the streets while the cleaner continued to get my apartment ready. Later in the afternoon, we had another long chat, and he gave me all these suggestions on restaurants and places to see…etc. I am kind of excited to try some of those restaurants actually, some of them looked fancy nancy in an interesting way from the menu, I definitely gonna try these 3 places: (1) Celele, (2) La Cocina de Pepina, (3) La Paletteria. Cartagena is definitely not a cheap city, by any means, it is not as expensive as in US, but for Colombia, it is probably one of the more expensive places, thanks to the tourists. Back to the host, apparently Daniel spent a good amount of times growing up in Montreal, so he spoke fluent English, French, and Spanish. We talked about Boston and compared it to Montreal…etc.  The Airbnb apartment itself is very nice. I guess I should call it a studio, the bed was kind of in an attic but is connected with the living space, high ceiling, very nicely decorated throughout, very relaxing and with good conditioning. In this town, you need it. If there is a portable one, bring it along. 

 

 

I have walked so much again today, all around the old walled city where the Airbnb is located, as well as Getsemani, another part of town that have lots of restaurants and painted walls, small alleys..etc. Watched the sunset over the walls around the old city, witnessed a long line waiting to get in the Café del Mar to watch sunset while technically the sun was already setting, I do not think this Café del Mar is “the” Café del Mar, but it is nonetheless a popular place for sunset in Cartagena. I think I got a bit overheated, and I could barely keep my masks on, it was just too suppressing hot, I could barely breathe behind the masks. There were many street hasslers, working girls at the corners asking for money, providing service, seeking help, giving favor for money, but I don’t feel unsafe, in fact, I felt comfortable enough to walk around with my camera. After all, it is a very touristy place, so there are also many policia around. 

 

 

Here are first judgement on this town. Cartagena is indeed very charming, a very beautiful city, I have not even been to the new part of town yet and am looking forward to find a place where I can see both the old and new part of town side by side, it can make a good contrast. I could see myself getting lost in these tiny streets, with colorful colonial buildings, have a coffee here, a gelato there, takes thousands of pictures in the next few days. But I must say after walking around town the whole day, and had foods or drinks in 3 different restaurants/cafes. This town is unfortunately a bit too touristy, not only are the prices much higher, which is expected and is fine if the service is good. However, in a touristy place, it tends to mix in with more opportunistic people, they expect to get more rewards or tips from you just because you are tourists. Within the few days you are gonna be here, it seems, they just grab as much out of you as possible (not the good kind). It is not like I have had a bad day at all, quite the contrary. But it was a judgement from my intuition today. I am just the observer of humanity, the good and the bad. Maybe I meant the humidity, which clouded my judgement. I still have 2 more days here to make my final verdict. 

 

All other photos from Day 4 are here.