My Budget Says It's Okay!

Day 13: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...and This is How I Plan for it.

Hola, amigos!

So, after waking up early to work a few hours of overtime, I decided that getting a hotel near the beach would be great. If you guys have been following me and reading my daily blog entries, then you would know that I am about 45 minutes from the touristy area of Cartagena. Specifically, I am away from the walled city, the famous clock tower (where all the bars and clubs are), and the beach.

With that, I decided to book a stay at the Hotel Playa Norte. Now this place isn't the most beautiful place to book on the beach, but it has a bar, a restaurant, a pool, it was near some clubs, and it was just a 2-minute walk from the beach. Most importantly, it was within my budget. As you know, I am traveling for 3 months, so I like to make sure that my money can stretch for as long as possible. I got this place for just $36 (Crazy right)!

Just a quick lap before the kids in the pool find themselves in my camera frame.

Fake smile alert: these kids started yelling and splashing as soon as I took my phone out for photos/videos.

Although my hotel was in a great location, I didn't do too much. I checked in, headed to the pool, swam a few laps, then headed back to my room to start watching a few movies on Netflix. I was just so relaxed by the nice hot shower and the cool AC. I almost didn't want to leave until my stomach reminded me that I hadn't had breakfast or lunch.

I am not too sure if this is a normal thing for the area of La Boquilla, but every restaurant/bar that I wanted to try, closed at 6pm. I was like WTF! I had only just checked into my hotel at 4pm. Luckily for me, I was able to grab a few bottles of water and some crackers at the nearby Arca market. There were so many guys just hanging out in front of the market, that I got a bit overwhelmed. They were following me, cat calling. I mean these dudes would not leave me alone. So instead of walking strait to my hotel, I decided to go for a little walk around the neighborhood to clear my mind and calm down. Thankfully I found this cute little chicken shack. For just $2USD, I was able to get a big chicken breast, a few fingerling potatoes and an ice-cold coke (instead of French fries, they give you potatoes). It was like the sky had opened up and the angels came down from heaven to sing. Y'ALL KNOW I LOVE ME SOME CHICKEN! Don't believe me, check out my viral reel review on Colombian chain restaurant Hashtag Pollos.

Any who... I am kinda falling asleep, but also watching this really great documentary called Poisoned on Netflix. Catch you all tomorrow!

Your friend,

Brookelynn the Friendly Blogger