Colombia

The 95 per cent humidity and heat of 30 C plus hit me when I stepped out on deck in Cartagena this morning.
 
And the sight that greeted me bore little resemblance to the stereotyped image I had of Colombia, of a poor country notorious for its drug trade.  Instead huge container ships unloaded their cargo next to a harbour stuffed with private yachts while on the horizon a brand new city of skyscrapers lined the waterfront.
 
I elected to tour the old walled city, now a UNESCO heritage site, from the comfort of a horse drawn carriage.
 
This is home to some of the best-preserved colonial Spanish architecture in South America.
 

 One surprise were the big posters outside the opera house and in shops and café bars advertising the Hay Festival. Some people thought it was celebration of hay gathering and they did not realise that it referred to a real place in Wales and its international book festival, which has now been franchised throughout the world.