life @ 13
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
agua man
detroit to cartagena airport to cartagena centro
it's hard to describe the feeling when you first get off the plane. all the months of planning, reading online and recounting past experiences suddenly mean very little. you're somewhere very, very different. just as i got the bike all set and rolling, it started pouring hot torrential rain, which was clearly worth a chant of "agua-man!" from afar.
but for me, this time, it's also familiar. i don't even know how i did this last time with no spanish, but it's very satisfying to be able to communicate without much pointing and grunting.
one thing i remember clearly from last time is that whenever the guide book describes a city as a must-see, i'm best off avoiding it. cartagena is fine, and i'm sure some of the surrounding beaches are very nice, but the centro area is crowded and dirty and not all that inexpensive. charming, maybe, but i'm just a little too jaded. and i've already had a week of being lazy and have spent my fair share of time in crowded and dirty latin american cities. on the upside, the hostel here is perfect: cheap, friendly, and has free internet.
so tomorrow i'm going to gather some final supplies, get to sleep early, and start riding
detroit to cartagena airport to cartagena centro
it's hard to describe the feeling when you first get off the plane. all the months of planning, reading online and recounting past experiences suddenly mean very little. you're somewhere very, very different. just as i got the bike all set and rolling, it started pouring hot torrential rain, which was clearly worth a chant of "agua-man!" from afar.
but for me, this time, it's also familiar. i don't even know how i did this last time with no spanish, but it's very satisfying to be able to communicate without much pointing and grunting.
one thing i remember clearly from last time is that whenever the guide book describes a city as a must-see, i'm best off avoiding it. cartagena is fine, and i'm sure some of the surrounding beaches are very nice, but the centro area is crowded and dirty and not all that inexpensive. charming, maybe, but i'm just a little too jaded. and i've already had a week of being lazy and have spent my fair share of time in crowded and dirty latin american cities. on the upside, the hostel here is perfect: cheap, friendly, and has free internet.
so tomorrow i'm going to gather some final supplies, get to sleep early, and start riding
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