We have been getting to know the quirkier side of Colombia this week. The contractor for our boat work needed us to go with him to pick out some materials and he was very enlightening on the daily ins and outs of Cartagena. Bill asked him why most of the passengers on the motorcycle taxis are not given helmets. Answer: during Covid, it was thought that Covid would spread if the helmets were used between passengers. Therefore, helmets for passengers were forbidden during that time and many motorcycle taxis have not reinstated the use of passenger helmets. That sounds safe. Obviously, a massive head trauma would be far more survivable than Covid for the majority of people. Next quirk: due to traffic issues in Cartagena (we have not really seen any more traffic here than in other cities of the world we have visited), cars are forbidden from driving on certain days based on their license plate number. For example, tag A cannot drive on Mondays or Thursdays, tag B cannot drive on Tuesdays and Fridays. I asked how people were expected to get to work. Answer: they have to find another way to get there. Third quirk: in Manga (the area where our marina is located), only one male can ride a motorcycle at a time. A male and a female can ride together but not two males. Why? Answer: two males could be trying to steal things in the area. So, logic from that statement indicates males never commit crime without an accomplice, females will never be the accomplice and once you cross the Manga city limits line, crime must be rampant! Just over the line, there were at least 20 motorcycle taxis waiting to pick up the poor guys who had to walk a mile to cross the line. I could see the thievery in their eyes!
As we ran our errands in Cartagena this week, we discovered the mall (which was air conditioned so I’ll be going there A LOT!), the equivalent of Home Depot and the Castillo de Amor and the Motel Indiana. The Motel Indiana had a huge sphinx head for an entrance as well as a pyramid so we had to research it online. With suite names such as the Ramses and Cleopatra, how could you go wrong? Well, the rates are quoted in two-hour increments and range from $8.00 to $38.00 depending on the “luxury” you want. Room amenities included stripper pole, jacuzzi and “erotic furniture”. If you don’t believe me, take a look! (www.motelindiana.com) We could not find a website for the Castle of Love but we are guessing it is a high class joint as well. My son (in Las Vegas) was recently telling me about a company in Vegas called the Mile High Club which involved renting a private jet for 45 minutes for $1000.00. America vs Colombia….the only difference is geography and price! The day our contractor took us out to look at the flooring for our galley, we found ourselves in a dicey bit of town. As Bill put it, “The place that everyone knows is there but nobody wants to look at; The place you go to in order to get stuff done when you can’t get it done anywhere else.” Our contractor, once again….better than any tour guide…proceeded to tell us the name of the barrio was Heineken and “it used to be bad. Like dumping dead bodies bad.” When he saw my face, he quickly added, “Used to be! Used to be! Now it’s okay!” After leaving Heineken without crossing any dead bodies, we made our way through the next barrio which was named July 20th for no reason that anyone seemed to know (I researched and it was their independence from Spain date) and another barrio named November 11 (which was named after Cartegena’s independence from Spain date). If you want to read more about Colombia’s independence, be sure to check out the Flower Vase Incident which is quite humorous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_Declaration_of_Independence So, it has been quite the educational week here in Colombia! Hopefully, this week will be filled with completing the galley floor repair, completing the deck repairs and waiting for our new stovetop to arrive. Until next week, save your pennies for your stay at the Castillo de Amor!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
|