Today I was harAssed several times in various ways, but the place is so beautiful that it's ok.
First harAssment. While doing my am Yoga- pigeon pose- a naked 3 yrs old boy jumps on me, then throw bottles at me and finally steals my yoga towel. Second harrAssment. Back to my yoga, after a down dog, I discover that I'm surrounded by 3 local women staring at me: one wants to sell me fruit juice, one wants to give me a massage, and the last one wants to braid my hair! Third harrAssment. I go for a long walk along the beach away from people until I reach the area belonging to a 'luxury' resort. The security guards, accessorized with guns, one at a time try to follow me and pick me up with the excuse of escorting me - please!- and one even invites me to smoke a joint! ...but the beach is beautiful, and the people are beautiful: a lot of Brazilian bikinis... so much that we renamed Playa Blanca Ass Paradise or Ass...e Paradise depending on the moment, considering the mixed feelings we have for this place. Back to my cabana i discover that Veronica is giving a Prana Yoga class at 5.30pm on the beach next door: nice class with other 8 people in a circle by the sea. I was fully sanded after it I enjoy the last swim of the day, then bucket shower and dinner at Donde Chocolate: good value.
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Alarm clock at 6.30am: today we go to Playa Blanca and we don't know how yet. After 2hrs we take the Alcatraz, a boat that tours to the natural park of Islas Rosario and will drop us off at Playa Blanca. 25k pesos r/t + 12k pesos taxes (?). Boat is not bad, I enjoy the deck & the sun but the ride is quite long: 2.5 hrs to get to Rosario, 1hr to snorkel around or visit the aquarium, 1hr to Playa Blanca. The beach there is completely full of day trippers and boats of various types and dimensions, including jet skies, which doen't impress me despite the beauty. We walk away from the crowd asap and we find a nice cabana at Refugio de Carol, 30k pesos w bath outside and bucket shower. Fresh natural juice for 4k pesos, about $2. This spot is relatively quiet and we can enjoy the white sand and turquoise water without neighbors walking on our towels. The good thing is the most of the crowd returns to Cartagena at around 3.30pm, leaving the beach to the few adventurous staying for the night. This eve I'm lucky to use the last bucket of fresh water of the day for my shower: the truck didn't come today...sorry... Our host - with speech problems- suggests: why don't you wash in the sea?? Thank you. Robbert ends up buying his shower next door: a gallon of fresh water for $1.5. Dinner at Mama Ruth where we have nice conversations w Argentinians: $8 each for fresh fish, rice and veggies. Good value. Nice starry sky, little light pollution. All the guesthouses use empty gallons of water as candle holders: very pretty.
After trying unsuccessfully again to exchange my travelers checks, today I really fell for the charm of the chic stores in the narrow streets of colonial Cartagena: cute dresses, bags, jewelry, bikinies!... after almost two months of minimalist backpacking I really felt like some girl shopping! Unfortunately the prices would be expensive also in NYC...and Robbert saved me from my insanity at the right time!
On Sunday morning in Getsemani, Cartagena it's almost impossible finding a coffee but on the other end the hair salons are packed with ladies..?? After breakfast I go exploring the historical colonial center of town, which is really pretty, with flowers, cute balconies, and very expensive chic stores and restaurants. There are also a lot of people in the streets who want to sell you all sort of goods, from emeralds to wooden cutlery. Quite pushy, also harassing...
It's very hot and humid here and after lunch I need a siesta. Aperetivo at Cafe del Mar on the ancient walls & Dinner with some of our San Blas friends, which we randomly met around during the day. Fun chats. In Taboga there's almost 3m tide difference between am and pm, and in the morning there's a beach that connects the main island to another smaller one, which is impossible to reach in the pm because of the high tide. We want to catch this opportunity but unfortunately once by the second island it's full of trash and really not appealing.The beach and water next to it is also full of dead sardines, left over of pelicans meals... ok let's go back to the guesthouse! Lunch and then at 3pm 1hr boat ride back to Panama, $7. Stop at El Mercado de Artesania where I bought few really nice hand made 'molas', Kuna Indians typical stitched fabrics. We leave our packs at Magnolia Inn- they are so nice- and go to the fish market for our last panama cheviche: great vibe with locals of all age and type. Taxi to the international airport, $15 after bargaining, 45min ride, 80km. I thought it was less.
9pm flight to Cartagena, arrival at 10pm, $6 taxi to Hotel La Magdalena in Getsemani, the hip/up&coming part of the old town. The room is $30 w bath n AC but since there are no windows the air smells humidity and wet dog... Tomorrow we'll have to move elsewhere. Walking around town is fun: a lot of music and locals partying out of their house. On the church square there are a couple of DJs playing good house music and everybody is chilling around drinking chatting and dancing. Cool. We need to get out of here and find a way to go to Colombia asap! After considering every alternative option - including working on a cruise boaton its way there, sneaking on a cargo boat, flying to Cuba instead, taking the bus back all the way to Belize (!) - we just surrender to the idea of spending $360 for a 1hr flight to Cartagena. What a relief. Our plane is tomorrow at 9pm...we are going to Colombia!!!
For some reason I think that the beach on the other side of the island is much better than the one downstairs so after a 30 min walk we realize that even this beach is bad: rocky, with tons of pelicans and dead sardines in the water... let's go back. Relax time and home on the hammock, dinner, fruit juices, full moon, and Buena Vista Social Club playing on Rafael's TV. Audaciously we wake up early and go to the airport even if we don't have a ticket: we want to fly to Puerto Obaldia and go to Colombia from there but it's all booked so we hope in passengers to not show up to get their spot. Once there we put our names on the waiting list but the flight is late and instead of leaving at 8.30am now it's at 2.30pm... bummer... We find a nice cafe with wifi and comfy armchairs to spare the hours... Back to the airport at 2pm and we discover that all the passengers have diligently checked in so now we pass to plan B: take the fast boat to Isla Taboga, 30 min away from Panama City but still a tropical paradise... At least we've been told. Taxi to Balboa Yatch Club and fast boat to the island, $7. At 3.30 we are there, it looks nice, it's full of flowers, but there's nobody around...? We find a room w bath with a local guy, $30, clean and with two hammocks on the front porch with sea view...wait! What are those tanks over there and all those cargo boats? Ah, they are just extracting oil on the island in front of us! No way... And talking about oil my backpack is all oily because a bottle spilled in it and I need to wash everything... I thought my bad day was yesterday!
After a while we walk to the supermarket, there's no fresh fruit and little veggies but we manage to get something decent for dinner: all the restaurants are closed and there's really nobody around apart from kids playing, it's surreal, it's almost like some sort of disaster happened 5yrs ago and now the island is abandoned: buildings falling apart and random trash... Who told us again about this island? After dinner we go to the hotel next door to have a beer and use their wifi and at 9.15pm they told us that we had to leave because they were closing so I had the rest of my beer to go...bizzarre... The sea was rough but we had to go back to mainland anyway and on a small lancha, good thing I had my poncho: everybody was completely wet at the end! Back in Panama at Magnolia Inn we had a nice warm shower and then back out to take care of few things. Unfortunately my green card wasn't in the envelope that was sent here: only the courtesy letter to inform me about its approval so I'm going to have to get it sent again once it arrives in NY... What a headache! Then we went to the travel agency to buy a ticket to Puerto Obaldia and go to Colombia from there and the earliest seats available are on March 22... No way! And now what? Other flights to Cartagena or any other city are not less than $ 300... The last option is going to the airport tomorrow morning and see if some passenger doesn't show up. A lot of inconveniences at this point, I should have just gone back to the hotel and read a book: when we the day turns to the wrong direction you'd better stop fighting and start again the day after... But obviously I'm stubborn and I don't do that! Instead I decide to take a taxi and go by myself to some local artisan market and I arrive when they are closing, then I go back to the hotel and I lock the key of my lock inside the locker...nooo! Not this one!!! Thanks to Robbert and his many talents he was able to open it without breaking anything: he must have been a thief in a previous life! Time to really go to bed and stop making trouble...
Unfortunately the weather is not getting better. Today was dedicated to reading, chilling on the hammock, and drawing another lady, but I like better the one I did yesterday. Uffffhh... this were supposed to be three days of sun, snorkeling and shady palm trees!
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