A fairytale city of romance, legends and sheer beauty, Cartagena de Indias is an addictive place that can be hard to escape. Routine sightseeing tours won’t do it justice so you have to throw away the checklist of museums and instead just stroll through Cartagena’s maze of cobbled alleys, where enormous  balconies are shrouded in Bougainvillea and massive churches cast their shadow across leafy plazas.

Founded in 1533, Cartagena swiftly blossomed into the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast  and the gateway to the north of the continent. Treasure plundered from the indigenous people was stored her until the galleons were able to ship it back to Spain. As such it became a tempting target for pirates and, in the 16th century alone it suffered 5 dreadful sieges, the best know of which was let by Sir Francis Drake in 1586.

In response to pirate attacks the Spaniards decided to make Cartagena impregnable port and constructed elaborate walls encircling the town, and a chain of forts these fortifications helped save Cartagena from subsequent attacks.

After a 4 hour bus trip we arrived in this beautiful city to start our inland travel. We will be staying in hostels, farms and inexpensive hotels as we travel around. Next we will do a 14 hour overnight trip to Medellin.