My first visit to Cartagena began on the 31st of January, and coming from Spain, it's a hell of a long way to go for any purpose! Euros are not wanted at the airport exchange, with a rate of 2500 Pesos compared to the 3086 Pesos/Euros I got through my Visa card. Bocagrande certainly has the feel of an economy in decline with desperation evident at the margins.

A measure of a towns acceptability to travellers is the quality of it's Taxi drivers, and around the world I find them a good source of knowledge on a wide range of subjects. However in Cartagena I had some sour experiences, including one who wanted to charge me for two trips when I had him stop to drop off laundry (leaving my shopping in his Cab, meaning it was still engaged as far as I was concerned) and the attempts to line me up drugs and ninos I found distasteful to say the least.

With precious few guests Hotel Las Velas steadfastly refused to lower their room rate and I moved to Hotel Da Piedra. An all inclusive rate of 55 mil was negotiated verbally, but two days later they wanted to charge me 60,000 plus tax, plus breakfast.

I recommend getting these agreements in writing. Again few other guests apart from Italian males on mongering missions, except for my last two nights when it filled with an aged persons bus tour.

As to mongering activity, having arrived in the evening I was tagged by a street girl the instant I left the hotel to buy bottled water, and was satisfied easily enough, though she was not in the league that I'd travelled half way around the world to find.

My second night excursion to the Casas was disappointing, with Muneca closed for unknown reasons, Club International uninspiring, and Casa Manilla devoid of any ladies near to my taste. But LDV was happier hunting. In my opinion, as a middle-aged fella looking for 20 something Mestizo chicas, it's THE place to go. I found a stunner this first visit, and saw no need to change, but due to several reasons I won't bore you with, kept meeting her there. Waiting for her there other nights I had opportunity to survey the scene, and most nights there were 3 or 4 unattached ladies I found appealing. I'm in the non-drinking category when on such missions, but prices there are acceptable if you consider the entertainment at hand, and on a quiet night you could have a great night flirting just buying a drink for any lady who appealed. I met a very attractive Armenian girl, which I found quite weird, and had not established 'why' when my girl arrived (but you'd have to suspect a drug link).

Other activity? I had an interesting Sunday trip to the Islas Rosario with some Colombians I met in a beach bar. The small boat we were on was heavily loaded, had two ancient Yamahas which broke down repeatedly (about 15 times in total) in some fairly precarious situations, and with scant safety gear you would have to rate this activity as 'standard Colombian dangerous'. It briefly visits La Playa Blanca, and I was impressed enough to make my way back there another day (sadly the same boat, which lost both engines at one point) to spend nearly 3 hrs on the beach. If you do this, look for Maria, an old woman with cataracts and hardly any teeth . The touts seem to respect her and while it won't stop them trying, they seem a little milder here. Refuse all offers of massage until her 18 yo daughter shows up, and have the 20 mil full body massage. She had some story about studying massage at college, but whatever the truth, she's g-o-o-d. Maria will hit you up for a beer for daughter and for herself (her fried fish, coconut rice, plantain lunch was good) but I found them sweet people, I was there only guest and therefore income for the day, and at 80 cents a beer, I'll buy one for just about any reasonable person.

Beach touts and street beggars are bad. They persist because people buy from them, but as this is their only source of money, you decide what you want to do. I observed that once a person bought anything they were more intensely mobbed. I took to avoiding eye contact, and giving a very weary "no gracias", or better still, a single head shake and say nothing. Cruise ships visiting ports where touts are the norm commonly advise their guests not to buy from the first vendor or anyone who is scruffy or aggressive, which soon gets the message through. No such discipline has been effected in Cartagena, although my meeting with the infamous Tony several days into my stay was fairly uneventful, so maybe he has taken heed.

Would I go back? Not from my current location, southern Spain. It's too far, even for that weather I love, the food is unappealing, and despite meeting a fabulous, gorgeous girl whose company alone was priceless (not to mention fabulous sex) for simple sex with Colombian girls, I can do as well here. And see a Brazilian next visit, then a Venezuelan, then an Estonian.......