Cartagena

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Cartagena
<map lat='10.422' lng='-75.525' zoom='10' view='0' country='Colombia'/>
Information
Country:
Flag of Colombia
Colombia
Population: 1,090,349
Major roads: 90
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Cartagena de Indias is a city on the northern coast of Colombia.

Hitchhiking out

Towards Barranquilla, Medellín, Bogota

The one trunc road to Barranquilla and Medellín is the one going past the castle. At La Bomba del Amparo, there is one splitting (Baranquilla-Medellín), if you head down to Medellín some kilometers there is another turnoff to Barranquilla and a good place to hitch.

Another option is to take the road to Barranquilla 4kms past the turnoff to the bus station (Terminal) to a police stopping. Here the cars slow down and often you may get a chance to talk to the drivers.

Another good spot is a gas station (and stamp point) called Florida. There are loads of trucks going to Bogota and to Medellin. Better hours are between 6 and 8 in the morning (better if you sleep there then, you can ask to the restaurant or to the hotel to put your tent somewhere). How to get there: take a bus to Mamonal from the center of Cartagena, and ask to the driver to let you in the industrial zone, where the mototaxis are. Then take a mototaxi to Florida. Alternatively, you can walk about 6 km till the Florida station. Don't make the mistake to stop in the Dona Cleme station(2km before): that is much smaller and with less traffic.

Towards Panama

There are 2 marinas in Cartagena. Try to get a yacht to Portobello Panama, this is not easy though.

Personal Experiences

" March 2022 - We took a bus (T102-2700 COP) from the city center to the last stop (Crespo). After we walked ten minutes by the route, this is the route parallel to the sea. We stopped before Hotel Las Américas and before the bridge, we hitchhiked there and we catched a ride directly to Barranquilla after one hour. All the cars are going in that way but you know colombians are a bit afraid to stop, it´s easier when you talk with them. Also if you want you can continue by local bus to Boquilla or Centro Comercial Las Ramblas to find another spot" - @patagonia.almundo
"September 2019: Cartagena -> Barranquilla. I followed the instructions to go to the police checkpoint about 2km further from the Terminal. In hindsight it was a mediocre idea. Everybody in Colombia knows police checkpoints are just for the police to make bribe money. So cars won’t stop for you because they fear the police could still check them. And already stopped cars are in a bad mood because they just needed to pay. Also it’s just a mess with all the standing and passing cars so that you wont get noticed well. Way better would be to take a bus out of town to Bayunca and wait behind one of the speed bumps. Alternatively if you could somehow reach the peaje in the middle between Bayunca and Clemencia this would be an optimal point. From then on in every little town there are speed bumps and gas stations where your chances are higher than near Cartagena." - Kaulter
" March 2014 - I took a bus to the bus terminal(as you would expect to do) (which I hasten to add is a cracking place to sleep for the night. Super friendly staff and lots of police, and free Wifi, just sleep on the chairs (movable) to avoid being woken up) . Next morning I walked out through the apocalyptic landscape about 2km to were the road forks north and south. Towards Barranquilla there is a police checkpoint, but they would allow me to stand after it. However, on occasion trucks pull in here to secure loads, and it was with one of those happy chappies that I got a lift north. If you are transiting Barren, take any ride, but swap of at a busy petrol station to find rides towards Santa Marta as hitching out of B is a pain in the B. Waited 20 minutes here." - Lukeyboy95
"January 2014: Following the instructions above, I took a bus in the direction of Mamonal (a final stop of a bus was Passacaballo). I left a bus in front of Ferreteria Reina and walked towards Peaje. There the road splits: to Baranquilla and to Medellin. I saw also many buses passing there with a direction "Caracoles", so probably you can take a bus directly to peaje from city centre. I needed to go to Medellin, and very soon a moto took me and brought to first gas station "La gran via", where I stayed for a night. All personal there was very nice and even promised to find a truck for me in the morning. But I prefered to do everything by myself and after 1 hour waiting I got a ride with a small car to Sincelejo." -che.apelsin
I made the mistake of taking the road directly south to Turbaco. I walked all the way to that next city without a single ride. But there were no trucks! Don't make the same mistake, find the truck road. -Chael777