After the burro deposited our belongings in Minca, we had our taxi driver friend take us back to the bus station in Santa Marta. Arman caught a bus going west to Barranquilla and I took a roughly three hour bus ride to the east to Riohacha.
Riohacha is the largest city in the Department of La Guajira and it is the gateway to La Guajira peninsula (see the following posts for much more on La Guajira). This small city is on the coast and has a very interesting feel. As you can see from the photos below, the street by the beach is lined with vendors.
I passed through Riohacha a couple of different times. I stayed at Laguna la Sala FSL, a combination hostel/boutique hotel. While the combination hostel/hotel was highly rated in Booking.com, I was severely disappointed for two main reasons. The staff was unfriendly and unhelpful. Maybe even more of a problem is the fact that the hotel is right across the street from a very loud karaoke bar. It was virtually impossible to sleep before at least 1:00 AM. I could go on about it, but it is not worth the effort. I gave it a low rating and certainly won't be going back.
Aside from that, I enjoyed my time in Riohacha. It felt safe and I walked up and down the beach a few times. I also found several good restaurants and coffee houses.
Photos -
Rows of street vendors next to the beach. The shoulder bags were incredible and the most common item for sale. Sorry for the shadow in the photo!
These tiny little colorful stands were just across the street from the beach and offered primarily ceviche and smoothies.
The beach was lined with several interesting statues and artwork pieces.
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