I’ve been here for over 3 weeks and I’ve noticed a lot of little things about Colombia that stand out as unique to me as a North American. These are my thoughts on interesting things about Colombia.
Continue reading “Things About Colombia”Tag: Cartagena bus
No Sugarcoating Cartagena Problems
So I don’t want you to think this is all a bed of roses and I am handling all the differences with no problems. I have had some setbacks along the way. In this post there is no sugarcoating Cartagena problems.
Getting lost
I’ve gotten lost twice, and it’s highly likely I will get lost again. So much of Cartagena looks a lot the same to me. The inner barrios are full of short apartment blocks mixed in with stores and restaurants. The stores and restaurants sometimes look like homes as well. Probably because they are or were at some point. I get lost! There’s no sugarcoating Cartagena problems.
The first time I got lost was on Monday night – I took the wrong bus from volunteering. The bus line was correct, but I forgot to ask if it was going to “Campestre” and, sure enough, it wasn’t. After about 30 minutes of riding, I looked for a suitable place to get off. I chose a location at a busy intersection with a gas station, figuring taxis would be by at some point. It took about 5 minutes to find an empty taxi and then I was ok and got home about an hour late, but still fine.
The second time I got lost, or “perderse” (lost myself in Spanish), was walking to Libary’s house on Tuesday for my Spanish lesson. I didn’t walk far enough and started walking in circles and got nervous. I What’s Apped her and she came and got me. Embarrassing. I was 30 minutes late for a Spanish lesson, and she lives a 10 minute walk from Marcela’s house. Embarrassing!
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Getting Around Cartagena
So I mentioned yesterday that the bus rides in Cartagena are an experience. They are certainly affordable. Every bus costs 2,000 pesos, which translates to approximately 65 US cents, or 84 Canadian cents. Pretty cheap. But, is it worth it? It depends. Here’s what I’ve experienced getting around Cartagena on public transit and taxi.
Getting Around Cartagena by Bus
I took three buses on different routes yesterday. Two of them I would take again in a heartbeat, the other, probably not.
The First Bus From Campestre
First bus – from my home to the foundation (work). My home is in the “Campestre” barrio or neighborhood. I love that they are called barrios, it makes me feel like I’m in the L.A. of Sanford & Son or something. So retro sounding. But really it’s just a Spanish word for neighborhood.
Anyway, the Campestre barrio is inland – it’s a middle class area kind of far from the tourist parts of town (on the map above, that’s the area along the ocean from Bocagrande – sort of like the South Beach – to Getsemani and beyond to Old Town).
My bus ride today (which I successfully completed on my own) was really easy. I catch the bus at the corner 2 blocks down the street and take it about 20 minutes and walk about 5 minutes from the stop. All for 84 cents. I will do that every morning. No problem.
Bus To Cartagena’s Tourist Area
The second bus took me from the stop near work to the old city. I will definitely take this bus again. It took about 15 minutes, had some great views along the way, and stopped right outside the old city, which is GORGEOUS! As you can see in the map below, the foundation is pretty close to the ocean.
