The beginning of our vacation from our vacation....

We arrived with barely a hitch. That is, after arriving at the bus and being told there was no 4pm bus (which we had tickets to) that we were on the 6pm bus. Well this has happened a few times already were they don't sell enough of the earlier time bus so bump people to their later time bus. Wyatt wanted nothing to do with that so he returned our tickets and bought some on a different bus that left sooner, were cheaper, and on a better bus! The bus ride was pretty much a breeze, only 20 hours, a few movies, a dinner stop, calm quiet riders, comfortable seats, nothing to it! And the ride was really pretty. There was a surreal stretch where there was silent lightning every minute or so, big, bold lightning that lit up the sky w ith huge bolts, but no rain or thunder. And during that stretch we noticed in the huge dark fields, tons of tiny points of flickering lights. Our best guess was fireflies, but not sure. Anyway, was a strange but cool bit of night riding.
We made it to the outskirts of Cartagena around noon today and were met with a wall of humid heat getting off the strongly air conditioned bus. Then we had to jump on the shuttle into town which took about 45 minutes of clogged, dusty traffic. And then we were ushered into the agtes of the old town, and moved through the maze of streets lined with beautiful buildings, some old and crumbling, some new and clean, with the strong smell of flowers in the air. It feels so different in this kind of climate. People move differently, things go slower, less rush, people hanging out on their stoops because of the heat, people leaving their doors open so my voyueristic eyes can look in and guess at their lives. It is a really pretty city, and right on the water. Not the prettiest beach ever, but that sea air is still nice. We went and got beers and watched some Colombian street dance performers who were amazing! Really, the way these people move their bodies is beyond me. After dark is my favorite time in the tropics, it cools down just a little and hanging out just feels good. We ate watermelon on the patio for dinner, and now are laying under the fan in our room.