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Playa Blanca, Bar? Island, Colombia

Posted July 30, 2009 , trackback

A clich?d poem is bad. A clich?d love song even worse. And while a clich? is usually a perjorative term used to describe something that has been so overused as to render it hackneyed, I believe that sometimes a clich? is a very good thing indeed.

A clich?d gelato–what would that be? Hazelnut? Creamy? Slightly sticky sweet and thick? Today it is almost 90 degrees in my house–a hot one, and I would very much like the clich? of a gelato even though it is still before noon. But more than that I want to be on a beach so white tropical and perfect as to be called clich?. I want to be on Playa Blanca off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.

//www.flickr.com/photos/37499479@N00/154137211/

Paradise. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37499479@N00/154137211/

Located on the island of Bar? off the Carribbean coast of Colombia, Playa Blanca is the type of isolated paradise that helps sell Lottery tickets. With 3.5km of white sand and water as gentle and warm as a bath (that is, if your bath just so happened to be bright clear turquoise and salty), this beach is a dream. A beer commercial. This beach is a dream inside of a beer commercial inside of a mirage inside of a joke about tropical islands and mothers-in-law. This beach is a clich? and I have never so much wanted a clich?.

Aside from the physical traits of paradise, Playa Blanca also offers a faint feeling of being remote. A welcome change from the busier city beaches of Bocagrande and Crespo in Cartagena, here there are little to no vendors walking the sand to offer you juices, sunglasses or a massage. And while there are no real restaurants, either, there are several basic places where you can get fresh fish, lobster, crab, octopus, shark and sancocho de pescado (a type of fish stew).

//www.flickr.com/photos/pkmese/349295885/

Starfish. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkmese/349295885/

The easiest way of getting to Playa Blanca is by boat. Small cargo boats leave from Mercado Bazurto, the big market of Cartagena. Make sure you are at the market no later than 9AM to secure your spot on board in both directions. Alternatively, most organized tour boats heading to Las Islas del Rosario pass by Playa Blanca and you can catch a ride with one of these. The trip takes about 45 minutes by speed boat or 2 hours in one of the regular boats, costing around 15.000 pesos.

So you will excuse me if I sign off now to close my eyes and think of Playa Blanca. White sand, warm turquoise water, palm trees and yes, even a small dish of hazelnut gelato at my side that seems never to melt. This is my dream, my own dog-eared clich?, in a house that is now 95 degrees without a pool in sight, from my lips to your ears: Playa Blanca. Go.

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