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Hello, me again.

I feel that today, as our numbers continue to grow, perhaps I should start by welcoming all new bloggers from across the world into the family. Worthy of special mention must be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although I can't deny feeling a hint of jealousy; I have to make do with writing mundane entries about cleaning sand from my orifices and embarrassingly located mosquito bites and I won't have some bearded fundamentalist pissing on my chips with all his talk of exercising his fundamental right as a sovereign nation to cruise into the nuclear age! (All's fair in love and war though, Mazza. Just get in touch if you lose your camera and need me to draw you some pics...)

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

Graham Perkins
2006-09-27 09:25:42

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Hello, me again.

I feel that today, as our numbers continue to grow, perhaps I should start by welcoming all new bloggers from across the world into the family. Worthy of special mention must be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although I can't deny feeling a hint of jealousy; I have to make do with writing mundane entries about cleaning sand from my orifices and embarrassingly located mosquito bites and I won't have some bearded fundamentalist pissing on my chips with all his talk of exercising his fundamental right as a sovereign nation to cruise into the nuclear age! (All's fair in love and war though, Mazza. Just get in touch if you lose your camera and need me to draw you some pics...)

So moving on. I left you somewhere along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Oh yes, that's it. I ended up being driven off my little island by some overly-persistent poultry. I must have been mad accepting a lift from a chicken but I was desperate. That's it, thank you and goodnight!

Umm, by lunchtime I'd arrived in Cartagena, more often than not described as Colombia's colonial little gem. Every Colombian's been there and you won't find more foreigners anywhere else in the country. The Spaniards founded it back in 1533 and it quickly grew to become one of the most strategically significant cities in the Spanish empire. Since the city was used to hold plundered Incan gold while it awaited passage back to Spain, it attracted countless pirates and suffered seige after seige. As a response to this, the Spaniards spent two centuries turning the city into a fortress, encircling it with walls and foiling further attacks. Cartagena's wealth continued to blossom and today's extremely well-preserved old town is now surrounded by vast suburbs that house almost a million people.

I spent five days there getting battered. I thought the place was ok but nothing really very ...