Cartagena is different on Sundays. There are many less people on the road. Today, a couple menacing looking black males no more than 20 years old happened to be behind me as I exited the hotel. I decided to slow down and let them pass me by. One of them made a right turn at the next intersection, and the other went into a store at the same intersection. For whatever reason, he kept checking me out, while it was very clear that he wasn’t going to buy anything at the store.
So I’m waiting for him to go somewhere else, and I happen to be standing next to a bakery. One fairly skinny Latino guy who’s obviously stoned comes to me with fiery red eyes and says something in Spanish and tries to hand me a coin. I thought he meant here, take it and buy that bread. But why would I, a tourist, need any money from a stoner? I think about it for a second, and ah ha! This guy was trying to trick me. He was holding a 200 peso coin and was asking me to buy a bread worth 1000 pesos. I, being the nice tourist, say and motion to him to cut in front of me and do it himself. Disgruntled, he walks away. Few minutes later, I saw the same guy at the restaurant I was at for dinner, finishing up people’s drinks as soon as they left.
There are lots of gringos here, but they mostly travel in packs. I’m the only Asian, and to make matters worse, I’m traveling alone. As much as I love Cartagena, I can’t wait to get out of here and get back on the road.
I went to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas today. It used to be a major fort overlooking the main ‘Old City’ of Cartagena. It’s grand in scale, but it’s also almost too simple. So I didn’t stay too long but I did manage to go through a few tunnels and climb up to the top. Plus, the battery on my camera ran out, and the recharger’s in the car, which is in a container on the whip Polaris.