good afternoon everyone welcome to another episode here in Colombia this is our fourth stop in this
beautiful country and our first time here on the coastal city of Cartagena yeah we are so
excited to explore the city when we were doing research for what to do here we actually came
across a lot of suggestions of what not to do in Cartagena so while we go around and explore the
city today we're also going to bring to you tons of ideas of what you should not do here
so we are starting our exploration of Cartagena in the old walled city
otherwise known as Centro it's a place where you can find some really like nice
restaurants and shops and bustling like kind of original kind of city center it's honestly
just a beautiful area just walk around take photos of it what makes Cartagena such an
interesting city is that it was actually the first city colonized by the Spanish
in all of the Americas and it was chosen because of its great access to the Caribbean Sea so they
were easily able to bring things into the country as well as out of the country but
what's also very cool is that it was also the first city to gain its independence from Spain
when you're walking around Centro or inside the walled city sometimes there'd be people
that would come up to you and then just start like rapping in your faces like what
was happening to that tourist couple over there and basically what's going on is that they'll
like rap for you and like do a performance and if you like smile or you like take a
photo or video with them all of a sudden like you're going to be paying them for like a tip
so basically unless you want to pay for the performance don't engage with the rappers
so another don't that we have for visiting Cartagena is don't be afraid to say no to
all the street vendors there are a ton of Street vendors especially here in the
central area of Cartagena and apparently they're like one of the most notorious in
Colombia for being really really pushy and like not stopping even though you've long said no
like a thousand times already so you got to be in some ways kind of equally as pushy back and
just say no if you don't want to buy it or you're not interested or anything like that
no gracias no gracias
I knew we were going to get rapped on at some point it happened and
as expected we had to be very blunt yeah no no no
that's how you do you just kind of like just keep walking don't make eye contact they even said like
where are you from to just like try to like get the conversation going but you just ignore them
don't be a dummy like me and forget your raincoat
especially in rainy season it's rainy season right now in Cartagena best time
to come to Cartagena is December to April so I heard that's where you get the best weather
temperature pretty much stays the same but it's a lot more sunny skies I I hear we wouldn't know
all right so we've beaten the rain and have made our way over to the next stop which is
San Felipe Castle we've only got a couple hours till it closes I still feel a little damp but
I think it'll be fun another don't we want to say is that don't leave the castle until
later in the day like we did because it was absolutely packed trying to get a ticket in
here maybe come in the morning and then you're also probably guaranteed no rain I'll be smart
something we've learned about Colombia is you're never far away from some sort of music that you
can dance to you can always hear some sort of music it's always got such a good like vibe to
it and like a beat it's just so easy to bob around makes you want to dance spontaneously
not really not for us but maybe rap though
that is beautiful hey? Look how pretty
If
nothing else comes for the views it's an expensive view,
granted but it's quite beautiful so that is like one of the big reasons you come
to San Felipe Castle apparently you get a spectacular view of Cartagena like Centro
and also Bocagrande which is represented by all those huge towers by the water Mico planned to
this day so I just had no idea where I was in for it I'm like oh look such nice views
another big reason why we wanted to come up here is because that flag is like a very iconic photo
to like take of Cartagena like you can see a lot of pictures online of people
like in front of that flag Cartagena in the background the ocean there looks so beautiful
so we just missed it because I apparently they just took it down so maybe that's another don't
for us to learn and that we're passing on to you guys is like don't wait to take that photo
go to San Felipe as soon as you can and then grab that photo or else they might just take
the flag down before you know it this video is really turning into like just straight up
what not to do in Cartagena because our day has just been not as perfect as we'd hoped oh well
this is probably not a sunnier colorful Vlog everybody but you know that's just
that's just travel this would have been so cool with the flag
we'll just pretend the flag is there okay so this day is I think done I think we just need
to call this this is the end of this day we are getting rained on again yeah I think it's
uh I think it's gonna get thunder and lightning very soon it's gonna be dangerous to be up here
in a minute oh I just saw lightening yeah okay okay we're gonna see you tomorrow in the morning
okay I know we're gonna see you guys in the morning but really quickly we wanted to say
one more don't as we're trying to get home tonight is don't walk around at night it's
just not generally the safest thing especially if you're outside of centro like the really
touristy area for us like we're staying in a district North of Centro so it's always better
to just take a taxi or take an Uber it's like really really affordable usually you know a 10
minute ride would probably be like two or three dollars our hosts at our Airbnb was like do not
walk at night so we are taking her advice yes okay now see you guys in the morning I missed
okay ready all right now I'll see you guys in the morning
oh my god
we have made our way over to Playa de Bocagrande or Bocagrande Beach
and as you can see it is a very popular Beach so we intentionally did not come here yesterday
because yesterday was Sunday and we read online do not go on the weekends it's so crowded and
so busy so we're like cool we'll go Monday it's still so busy there are so many people here so
many big families tons of people using the water and this is a Monday in off season on an insanely
overcast day and it is still packed with people I cannot imagine what this place is like on the
weekend in high season with sunny weather like I just can't imagine all of that to say is that our
next don't is don't come to Playa Bocagrande nope it is just not worth it like it is the probably
the closest beach to like Centro and getsemani and like places in Cartagena but you could do a lot
better it's like not that great it's really busy and there's much better beaches in Cartagena like
Playa Blanca and the Rosario Islands we don't have time to go to those places but if you're looking
for a beach skip out in Bocagrande and try those other beaches that are a bit further out from the
city I mean unless you've got like small kids and you just want a place to come and easily
spend like just a couple of hours maybe this would be a lot of fun but for us nah big miss big miss
I'm being offered chairs I'm being offered like head thingies I'm being offered massages
I being offers lots of mango all kinds of cool stuff I am a walking ATM everyone we
also heard that one of the things that happens a lot here and we've seen it as we were walking
around is women coming around and offering massages and we actually have a friend who
was here and she said that she was literally laying down like literally just laying down
minding her own business and all of a sudden her feet are being massaged and she's like
what is happening and this woman just came up and she was just massaging her feet and
then of course expected her to pay for it so be very careful I think of the massage
options here you can't get some we've been seeing people taking the massages and getting massages
um but I think just if someone comes up and touches your feet just tell them no you know
I want to say we kind of ripped into Playa de Bocagrande right now but you know it's actually
not too bad as long as you can kind of find your own spots if you're looking for like drinks and
things like that or like activities it's pretty easy to find so they come to you basically
you know what's something I haven't seen anybody selling yet towels I think I'm actually surprised
right if there are any prospective Street vendors from Cartagena watching this Vlog right now
towels could be a thing seems like a good business so something else that we should
add is although like having Street vendors around and stuff is like you know you just
have to say no gracias a lot and a lot and a lot but it is obviously a completely valid way
of making a living and the locals here seem to use this service a lot like we're seeing tons
of people buying bracelets buying headscarves buying massages buying mango buying agua buying
all sorts of stuff so it definitely is like a well-used service and obviously if that
is something that you are into and want to use it's a great way to support the local economy
so the next don't on our list is don't miss getsemani getsemani is like another just
sort of hippie neighborhood lots of foreigners and tourists come here and stay here there's beautiful
restaurants and shops again really cool street art and then like neat streets like this where
you can come and find your country's flag just hang out walk around oh and I hear thunder so
we might get rained out we might have to go inside earlier then we'd hoped but anyway
it's a beautiful place to just walk around and look look around there's so much to see
so another don't that we've read online is that you don't take photos with the ladies with all
the like fruits and things on top of the head they're called palenqueras I think they are from
a town nearby they used to come into Cartagena and sell these fruits and now they're really
famous for foreigners to take pictures with because they usually hold the fruits on top
of their head it's a really like fun thing to do it's a big attraction but unless you
are ready to pay them like all a tip to take photos with them don't start kind of engaging
with them because they will come up to you and ask you if you want a photo they're everywhere
wow oh I'm getting rained on again shoot
okay we've made it to our last stop of the day this is Cafe Del Mar we're at the top of the walls
of the walled city of Cartagena Cafe Del Mar is a very popular spot to watch Sunset um grab a drink
it's quite pricey yeah like I think like 15 for like a drink which is bonkers here in Colombia so
we are not doing that so our suggestion to you is don't buy the drink from Cafe Del Mar there
are lots of vendors just around you can buy a beer from somewhere and just like go anywhere along the
wall and grab a spot and watch Sunset that's what we were planning to do but we got a little rained
out I don't think it's going to be a beautiful sunset today we're getting rained on again still
we hope you guys enjoyed the Vlog I know it's like all gray and like kind of gloomy but to be honest
that's kind of what travel is all about you're now gonna get sunshines and rainbows every single day
so every now and then you get a rainy day but I think we still had a ton of fun in Cartagena
and would still absolutely recommended it to anybody who's visiting Colombia yeah it's
been a really cool place to come and just like spend a couple of days see the beautiful city
just explore check out really busy beaches and enjoy the cool Colonial Town all right that is
all from us today we are gonna go take shelter we will see you in the next one thanks for watching
so should I say where we are yeah where are we do I have anything in my teeth I feel like I do here
in Colombia we are our fourth we are at yeah to the country and bring things into the city quite
easily into the City and out of the country and as opposed to other I don't know where am
I going with do you want me to say it I can say it it's a great way to support the local economy
is that what you meant
to say? we got there!