Putting the Cart in Cartagena
Today we saw (very, VERY briefly) Cartagena. The ship, in its wisdom, decided that 5 hours in Colombia is plenty. To be fair, the trip from Cartagena to the canal is a long one, and if you want to do the transit in one day (it takes a bit over 8 hours) you have to get out in a timely fashion.
Unfortunately, Cartagena is worth far more than a five hour trip. Considering the time constrictions we opted for a horse drawn tour of the old town.
It's interesting to observe the underlying network in operation. Who knows who, who is allowed to sell stuff to the tourists and where, etc. The local tour operator is the top dog in the ecosystem, since they ok who approaches the tour to sell stuff,
But it's hard listening to old white dudes talk to the black workers so they can show how not-prejudiced they are. This dude in front of me is having this peace and love moment ("it doesn't matter who you are, it's about the job you do") while less than 15 minutes prior he was talking about how you can't let people starve but it's not fair to give them "too much of an advantage."
But old town Cartagena is an amazing place, even on the "pay no attention to the refugees" tour. Beautiful architecture, amazing knockers - it's just sad that really wealthy people are buying up these properties, gutting them, and making them into high end shopping/living venues that the people who've lived here for generations can't hope to touch. It's the same along the beaches - most are being privatized section by section.
I loved seeing this place, but I suspect I will never get to see it again.
Unfortunately, Cartagena is worth far more than a five hour trip. Considering the time constrictions we opted for a horse drawn tour of the old town.
It's interesting to observe the underlying network in operation. Who knows who, who is allowed to sell stuff to the tourists and where, etc. The local tour operator is the top dog in the ecosystem, since they ok who approaches the tour to sell stuff,
But it's hard listening to old white dudes talk to the black workers so they can show how not-prejudiced they are. This dude in front of me is having this peace and love moment ("it doesn't matter who you are, it's about the job you do") while less than 15 minutes prior he was talking about how you can't let people starve but it's not fair to give them "too much of an advantage."
But old town Cartagena is an amazing place, even on the "pay no attention to the refugees" tour. Beautiful architecture, amazing knockers - it's just sad that really wealthy people are buying up these properties, gutting them, and making them into high end shopping/living venues that the people who've lived here for generations can't hope to touch. It's the same along the beaches - most are being privatized section by section.
I loved seeing this place, but I suspect I will never get to see it again.
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