On the trail of Hunter S Thompson in Puerto Rico

Houses upon Recinto Sur Street in Old San Juan. Photograph: Massimo Borchi/ Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis There is something about Old San Juan which makes celebration rum during 11am seem a perfectly acceptable activity. Whether it is a lazy fan encircling overhead, a comfortable breeze primed with sea air or a background fuzz of Spanish songs upon a crackly radio, it all distils in to a undiluted atmosphere. So far, so Paul Kemp a protagonist from Hunter S Thompson's book The Rum Diary who spends most of his time in little cold as good as damp bodegas knocking behind a excellent fermented molasses a city has to offer.My bodega of choice wasn't as insalubrious as Kemp's (fictional) haunt a makeshift club called Al's Backyard yet it was normal sufficient to quell rumblings which San Juan is turning in to a bastardised chronicle of Miami. As we sat upon a sofa in Bodega Chic (+1 787 722 0124) upon Calle Cristo, a independent spirit of a 1950s as good as 1960s fluttered around me, with framed aged newspapers as good as yellowing club tabs clipped to an aged soaking line. Bacardi substantially true from a distillery a short ferry float divided was sloshed in to a glass as good as served with uninformed packet as good as soft drink water. Far divided from a SUVs as good as shopping malls now usual upon a island, this is Old San Juan, a Unesco-protected aged quarter, where a roads have been so narrow which anything bigger than a Chevrolet would onslaught to squeeze through. Scene from The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp. Photograph: Rex Features The movie of Thompson's book which is mainly formed in Old San Juan yet additionally takes in a Condado as good as Isla Verde areas will be exp! elled th is year, starring Johnny Depp as Kemp. Also starring, in all their Technicolor glory, will be a aged town's flattering bright blue, orange, pinkish as good as purple neo-classical houses set upon high hills, as good as a normal bars as good as dusty cafes with very aged waiters.Set in a early 1950s a couple of years after a US decided to have Puerto Rico an unincorporated contingent territory a book shows, by Kemp's eyes, a volatile nonetheless fun-loving Old San Juan. Has most changed?The city is a lot reduction troubled, for starters. Sitting upon a island's Atlantic coast, during a foot of a Cordillera towering range, San Juan these days gives an impression of well-behaved hedonism, with a reduction of African, European as good as Taino Indian cultures. America's efficient infrastructure is a bonus rsther than than a curse, as good as there have been still copiousness of aged haunts from normal shacks to discriminating bars which have been good worth a visit.I started during a tip by San Juan Wall, high upon top of a seafront. Calle Cristo runs from a tip similar to a colourful ribbon, roughly all a approach to a bottom, framed with pinkish flowers as good as vividly painted houses. The thump of reggaeton boomed loudly from cars passing Bodega Chic. The barmaid rolled her eyes as good as said: "They fool around which day as good as night. we prefer dance music."As it was a weekday, we headed to Nono's (+1 787 725 7819) behind up a hill upon Calle San Sebastin. A cantina-style club tucked in to a yellow colonial building, it's not utterly Al's Backyard. But as we sipped a glass of a internal Don Q rum as good as systematic a burger from neighbouring El Patio De Sam (+1 787 723 1149), we felt it was tighten enough. At weekends, a club is packed to a rafters with expats, yet upon an normal day it is quiet, as good as time passes lazily. ! The waterfront, Old San Juan. Photograph: Alamy Puerto Ricans take rum very seriously: a island is home to three distilleries. Local luminary cook Wilo Benet (who has created a book of rum-based cuisine) told me which Don Q tastes most cleanser than other white rums. So we headed to Casa Don, a Don Q notable relic upon a seafront, which hands out free samples of a best-selling range, Cristal. Less flowery than Bacardi, it has a well-spoken aftertaste.Old San Juan, with a excellent cigar shops as good as exploding bodegas, is unfortunately additionally a hearth of a pia colada. And whilst which pale mixture is something every bartender will try to pull upon you, any self-respecting rum unreformed alcoholic would rsther than sup from a equine tray than let it pass their lips. Politely pull it divided as good as instead earn a barman's respect by ordering a glass of Barrilito. This golden-hued rum is available usually in Puerto Rico, as good as is brewed during a internal distillery so vigilant upon preserving a aged ways which they even hang a labels upon by hand. Bacardi competence be a bigger fish in a pond, yet Barrilito, with a warm, well-spoken texture, is a internal champion.I woke up subsequent morning with a staggeringly bad hangover sadly Barrilito's divine taste additionally makes it unbelievably moreish. Emerging upon to a street of bright-eyed fresh-faced locals, we stopped during a very aged cafe, La Bombonera (+1 787 722 0658) upon Calle San Francisco. My disassembled garments as good as bag-laden eyes didn't startle my silent, aged waiter: no disbelief he'd seen many travellers in this pitiful state. Seated during a prolonged club hunched over a coffee, we breakfasted upon restorative mallorcas comfortable pastries pressed with ham as good as eggs. La Bombonera in San Juan. Photograph: Alamy But! nothing is utterly as restorative as a hair of a dog so, not learning my lesson in a slightest, we continued my poke for windy internal bars. Blink as good as we competence skip them, chinchorros little hole-in-the-wall bars competence not have a polish of Depp's favourite watering hole, a Parrot Club (which in reality does a meant mojito), yet they have been little fragile treasures which offer cheap drinks, couple of American tourists as good as a window in to internal life.Caf Celeste upon Callejn de la Capilla is discernible from circuitously buildings usually by a dual outward tables, where workmen stop for a drink or a bite to eat. Colmado Bar Moreno upon Calle Tetun (one of a city's busiest roads, buzzing during night) plays grassroots reggaeton as good as serves clever rum in cosmetic cups. Los 3 Cuernos, tucked divided in a fair facade shop upon Plaza de Colon, serves chichaitos shots of rum as good as anise, cut with ripened offspring juice. Potent, yet very delicious.On my final night, we decided to work at an additional evening to Barrilito rum as good as spent it in dive club El Batey, additionally upon Calle Cristo (+1 787 725 1787), where punters have been encouraged to write upon a walls. (Drinkers have been well known to form human pyramids to get to transparent writing space.) It's a arrange of place any boozy hack would love, so as a loyalty to Thompson, we systematic Barrilito upon ice. Rich, honey-coloured as good as roughly brandy-like in texture, it illuminated a comfortable fire down my gullet.So began an additional comfortable Caribbean evening. Someone kicked a jukebox in to action: El Batey keeps usually vinyl 45s from a 1960s. The song was off by a decade, yet with a ambience, a rum as good as a weathered aged bartender, it was as tighten to Paul Kemp's Old San Juan as it gets. Expedia (0871 226 0808, expedia.co.uk) has flights to San Juan from London (via New York) from 495 return. The Gallery Inn in San Juan (+1 787 722 1808, thegalleryinn.com) has doubles from 95 a night includ! ing brea kfast. The Water & Beach Club Hotel (+1 787 728 3666, waterbeachclubhotel.com) in Isla Verde is a minimalist boutique hotel by a beach with doubles from 100 a night

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