advice on spending money

tigredelnorte says on May 8, 2005, 08:15:

Boca Grande I stayed in a pretty upscale place in the Boca Grande section of Cartagena. One hundred thousand colombian pesos per night (appx $42 UDS). Bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, living room, and kitchen. Pool. You can stay in nice places that are much cheaper in other areas of the city. Having your own kitchen is nice, as you can save some money on meals. The El Rodadero section of Santa Marta is cheaper, and has a very nice beach nearby ( Playa Blanca ). Cartagena however has many more things to do, and see.

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ColombiaBoard says on May 8, 2005, 10:43:

Cartagena That´s more than enough for two weeks, but I´m assuming you already have your hotel paid, if that´s not the case then those 1500 are just enough. It depends what hotel you´ll be staying at, there are some cheap hotels but others are pretty expensive, for example the Santa Clara Hotel in the old walled city has rooms for 250 - 400 dollars a night.
Anyway, I suggest that you don´t take all that money in cash, just use your debit card at any ATM in the city. Tell your bank that you´ll be withdrawing money from Colombia (so they dont get nervous...) and also ask them how much they´ll charge you for withdrawing money from a foreign ATM.
About dining and drinking...yeah, Cartagena is usually more expensive than the rest of the country because it´s a resort town so everything there is expensive for tourists.
What to do in Cartagena?
Well, there´s so much to tell...but in general walk all over the old city, enter all the old churches and museums, go to the beach, go to Castillo San Felipe fortress, go to La Popa Monasteryon top of the mountain. Go to Islas del Rosario.

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robinson30 says on May 8, 2005, 12:42:

hi

thanks for the message, what was then name of the place you stayed in do they have a website

cheers

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tigredelnorte says on May 8, 2005, 14:04:

It's right next to McDonalds restraunte. I know, McDonalds makes it sound a bit seedy, but really, it's a nice area. The name of the apartements is something like "escape cartagena". The management is not on this property, but down the street. The building office is up the stairs behind the patio. Very easy to find. The guy in the office can tell you were the management office is. It's within walking distance. Again this is the Boca Grande section of Cartagena.

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jmbone says on May 11, 2005, 04:42:

CartagenaInfo has info on expenses Hola Robinson,

the Portal on Cartagena, Colombia is:

www.cartagenainfo.net

and it will answer many of your questions concerning lodging, food and
entertainment costs, what to do, where to go etc.

More than 500 pages (if printed) and 2,500 photos, all about Cartagena.

Have fun.

regards,
jim

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Gator says on May 11, 2005, 06:00:

If You are Not Sure... book one night than look around for something that meets your requirements. Personal favorate is the Tres Banderas at:(http://www.hotel3banderas.com/)

Good location in the Old Walled City, lots of nearby restaurants and the feel of real Colombia. Costs from say $40 USD to $50 USD depending on the location. Plus tax, of course.

Depending upon YOUR lifestyle $1500 USD should be sufficient. Colombia Board's advice is good, especially about using a debit card and the ATM's. BE SURE AND LET THE CREDIT CARD HOLDER(S) KNOW YOU WILL BE TRAVLING IN COLOMBIA!!!

Before I moved to Colombia I usually obtained say $200 in American Express Checks as an emergency backup(never had to use them).

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

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lpdiver says on May 11, 2005, 06:54:

Gator Good thing you never had to use the American Express travelers cheques. I used them to carry excess cash and in order to cash them I had to find the RIGHT bank. Had to have a Colombian person with me to show their cedula. They called the company to verify and reported each transaction to DAS.

No real problems but its not like here where travelers cheques are similar to cash.

Tony

"cook some rice!"

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Gator says on May 11, 2005, 07:12:

The one time... I had to cash them I just went to the AMEX Office in Cartagena a couple of blocks off sanMartin. Took five minutes.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

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