Caucasia to Cartagena is 360km - way too much driving for one day on Colombian roads! So we looked for a Hotel along our route and found just one! 240km north at San Onofre. The route took us off the main Highway 25 and onto Ruta 90 which was 30km less tarmac to Cartgena, but what tarmac it turned out to be!
Major Military presence - camouflage uniformed soldiers armed with M4 Assault Rifles - Police Road Stops - and two unofficial Road Blocks which we drove through without stopping!
Think shanty towns of wooden shacks with corrugated tin roofs, think scrapyard ready vehicles belching out black fumes, think crazy eyed bare chested Men with Machetes, think 'edgy' !!
After more hours than we'd planned the town of San Onofre hove into view! Cautiously we turned off Ruta 90 into what can only described as a ghetto! Intuition immediately said 'No, no, no!' but Hotel Sinai looked good on booking.com and claimed to have 4 Stars! In the centre of town inside a metal barred cage we found Hotel Sinai - no room for Pablo inside the cage, and definitely not 4 stars judging by the exterior - we followed our intuition and got the hell outa there!!
Hoped to find a Hotel further along Ruta 90, but no joy. Soon we had covered the remaining 120km to Cartagena and were driving through the poorer suburbs of the city - Hotels loomed into view, but no way were they safe! Our big white Toyota 4x4 with Chilean number plates was already attracting unwanted attention in the slow moving traffic. Nightfall approaching fast! What to do? Forget the budget, drive to the centre of the city and check into the first upmarket hotel we see!!
And that's how we came to spend the night at the wonderful San Lazaro Art Lifestyle (5 Star) Hotel right by El Castillo in downtown Cartagena! Underground Car Parking for Pablo and a Superior Double Room with El Castillo view for us scared rabbits!! Bliss! Hotel Restaurant even served us up a Chicken Curry (D) and Caesar Salad (A).
PS - Amanda negotiated this one - not sure what she said to the guys at Recepcion, but we got big discount on the Standard Room Rate plus an upgrade to Superior Room with Castle View! Thanks Henry!!
