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I got into BC yesterday afternoon and lodged up at the Hamilton after the taxi driver at the airport gave me a brochure and quoted me $30 for a nice room with AC and hot water. The desk wanted $45 US per night, I stood firm and got $30 per night if I stayed for the whole week. This must be the place for the high end price chicas. They are always at the bar, and they want $100 US for TLN. I thought I talked one down to $50 last night, but this morning she said $100, with a promise to return this evening. I was pissed, but what could I do? The day bartender is a cute little number who always gives me a sly smile. Maybe I should see what she would go for. :D
They sell condoms and real Cohibas in the motel lobby here.
I just met Reuben, the number 2 pimp of Boca Chica who tried to sell me his chica for $100 US. I told him to forget it.
Why canīt these people speak english unless they want your money?
I canīt sleep in this place with all the jackhammering outside the room in the daytime, and all the jackhammering inside the room at night.
K.J. Baltimonger
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Guy from Baltimore:
Do yourself a big favor and get out of that place!
It started as a hustle at the airport and it's only gonna get worse. Being on scam-alert 24/7 is real tiring and frustrating. And the noise....give yourself a break.
Not to say that one ISN'T on scam-alert MOST OF THE TIME in the DR, but you definitely got off to a shaky start. Cut your losses and walk away from the Hamilton chicas quoting you $100 USD----it's like paying 4X the price!
And real, genuine cohibas? Please. You gotta be kidding! THERE ARE NO REAL COHIBAS IN BC. I bought, checked it out, and got burned to prove it. Check out the cigar thread here a while back.
I'm not a rental agent in BC, but my own experience was good at EL CANDIL, up the hill at the end of DuArt, close to the action, girl friendly, good security, friendly staff, nice clean rooms with full amenities and QUIET! It's $45 USD. Others have had similar good experiences at CASTALONGA, also up the hill from DuArte. However, have heard reports about noisy kids in swimming pool there. No such thing at El Candil, mostly adults stay there.
Hang tuff Baltimore, get the lay of the land and enjoy the best that BC has to offer! It's a sweet scene. But full of bullshi**ers and con artists. Keep your eyes open bud.
2128
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NO NO NO. Please . I beg of you. Dont pay these girls 100 or 50. h
Hamilton is not high end chica territory and you could have had her for 30 to 40 easily. I don't know your circumstances but unless you just really want her please dont engage in that type of worse case scenario. It puts some of us in a worse worse case scnario because these girls start thinking that 50 and up should be the norm. Do the math. 40 dollars a night for a week =280-300 bucks for the trip. Not bad. 60 dollars a night for a week or higher?! 420-550 for chicks. Thats a plane ticket my freind. Very bad. The peso is gaining strength. 3600 pesos for a non club girl. Never. Pay 1100-1500 if you must. Beleive me. Theyll take it and if she wont, her ass probably isn't worth it in the 1st place . Trust me. I know what I'm talking about.
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Baltimonger
What could you do?
Maybe you could have kicked her ass out!! That is always the same game with the putas there and if you do not stop it the next one will try the same shit again. To many try to avoid the trouble and let them get away with it. I think 50 US$ is already generous. In BC most of the putas are not honest and try to charge you more than you agreed. (you can read my older BC posts)
Regards Kuranyi
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Yesterday was a little bit better. I managed to get one from the beach for RD$1500. I still havenīt gotten out to Duarte at night. I hope to tonight.
Itīs hard to negotiate with my limited Espanol.
The food here is expensive.
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Passed by Salón Blanco tonight. Wanted 3000RD$ for TLN. No thanks.
Question:
Are the motoconchos higher priced at night?
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Question:
Are the motoconchos higher priced at night?
Yes, they quote 30 pesos at night but will most of the time try their luck to an higher price or forget to give your change back.
;-)
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Day 4:
I had much better luck last night if in a way of speaking. I negotiated down to 800 Pesos with the best looking chica sitting outside Zanzibar. Rosa was her name. I was robbed for 200RD$ by the motoconcho driver after he threatened to kill her and I. it seems that the word got around that I refused service at Salon Blanco to which he and a few other street lowlifes were connected to.
The original deal was for 1000RD$ for Rosa. We get to the hotel and this guy demands 200 pesos. I tell him to fuck off. He yells at her in Spanish. She grabs my wallet and gives him the cash. In the hotel bar there is about 12 chicas there 1/3 of which are just as good as Rosa. We get up to the room and I pull out the remaining 800RD$ and she points to it and wants more. I tell her I donīt have it, that the motoconcho driver got it, and she gave it to him. She says motoconcho is mafioso, points to me and her, makes a throat slashing gesture with her hand. She says you go banco. I tell her no, and to fuck off. She agrees to 800.
After I was done, we showered, got dressed and I got her ass out of my room.
This morning I was down in the bar at my motel and before breakfast arrived, I was already negotiating with another. I think I should just stay at the bar for the rest of my stay here. Itīs the safest place for me.
I was having pizza last night at the place across from Zanzibar, and I was being watched by every chica and street lowlife around. Very few white guys here. I feel like Iīm under siege.
K.J. Baltimonger
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[quote]
Tom Gueguen wrote:
Question:
Are the motoconchos higher priced at night?
Yes, they quote 30 pesos at night but will most of the time try their luck to an higher price or forget to give your change back.
;-)
[/quote]
Just be firm and if they don't except your offer walk over to the next one.
Competition will make for price reduction in DR.
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Baltimore Guy WRITES:
<<<I was having pizza last night at the place across from Zanzibar, and I was being watched by every chica and street lowlife around. Very few white guys here. I feel like Iīm under siege.>>>
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Damn! Do I remember the pizza at that place across from the Z-bar! Plenty of cheese and real crisp crusts. Some of the best. Doncha think? <smiling>
Baltimore, you seem to need a BC friend. Any mongers out there to extend a helping hand before B-more finds himself getting his throat slit? And overpays for it!
Sorry....
But seriously now, Good Luck Baltimore, things can only get better, right?
2128
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Baltimonger,
I hope you're having fun, but you seem a bit stressed in your recent posts. BTW, congrats on 300+.
1. Carry a pen and write on your hand if you can't find paper. Everyone knows how to read numbers and shake their head yes or no.
2. There's a grocery on Duarte on a Northwestern corner down toward the Western side, but a block or two east of Banco Popular, and their prices are better than the vendors. That said, their exchange rates suck, so bring pesos.
3. Use the cambios on Duarte to exchange US cash for the best rates. They were 1/2 peso higher per US $ than the banks (for cash) when I was there. Otherwise, your ATM card offers the best exchange rates. Be aware that the ATM link to US banks sometimes is unavailable, and that happened to me at a few very inopportune times.
4. Anyone that quotes you a price for anything is giving you the gringo price. Since you're white, let's call it a skin tax. Unless it's marked on the product, you can always pay less than what you've been quoted.
5. To practice negotiation, don't wait until you're hungry or thirsty, because they can smell your need. Negotiating from a place of need is something most folks can't hide. Tank up where you've been getting ripped off and get pissed off about it. Then, walk a few blocks, the more the better, well away from your normal haunts and bargain as hard as you can. They won't know you and you can instantly establish a new reputation with a local. The more places you can shop, the more you can practice bargaining. Bargain for shit you don't even want. It doesn't matter.
6. It's not about them needing the money more than you! If you don't even try to bargain, they are laughing at you behind your back and during the transaction! Leave you're heart back in your hotel room. Always respond to their ridiculously high and insulting price with an equally ridiculously low and insulting price.
7. As long as they have those big lovely smiles, you've not reached their real bottom line price. When they start getting tense, you're getting close. If they don't get close enough to what you know it's worth in the local market, walk away, but don't walk away mad. Be sure to tell them you're going down the way to pay the lower price you willing to pay for the exact same thing. If they call you back, great.
8. Remember, they're very used to gringos paying too much! The harder you bargain, the more they respect you. The lower the price you pay, the more they respect you. I relish the times I've seen the looks on vendor's faces when I firmly told them I was only going to pay X (X being the local price) even after they've been charging me Y (Y being the gringo price). It took me a few days to get my sea legs, so you're right on track. Don't even ask me about my 5000 peso chica.
The 3d world is a tough place but for the most part I feel safer in the DR, in Cambo and in Bangkok than I do in Baltimore, where I feel really safe, even in the deepest and darkest hoods. Call me stupid. Call me in denial of the statistical risks. Call me a hopeless romantic.
Have you been riding around on any of the motoconchos (motorbike taxis)? There's really nothing like riding on the back of one of those little 100cc'ers without a helmet, with a lovely lass between my legs, at night, with the oncoming headlights in my eyes and the grit of the road dust in my teeth. That, for me, is the essence of being in the 3d world. That and fucking the local high quality puss for a discount off American prices, and being treated like a king after getting the locals trained to know that I won't suffer their silly games.
Robux
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To Baltimonger:
Your feelings of being under seige or being the only white guy are unique to my dozens of trips to BC. But hanging out all the time on Duarte is a mediocre process at best owing to the oddballs and shysters that abound - even Las Muchacas with the pizza outside is better and ess frenetic.
Don't fret over the RD$800 to Rosa vs. RD$1000 since IMHO RD$800 is also too much. (as is the beach conquest for RD$1500 -wow!)
If you get a moto driver who wants RD$200 in a RD$40 world ( it is now RD$20 days and 40 nights) tell him to wait and ask the security guy to get the price right. They do a fine job of that and then if you want , give the guard RD$50 - you are way ahead on the deal that way and you should always tip the guards anyway since they make dick - well not even an erect dick frankly.
And unless Boca Chica isn't empty as a who*e's heart right now and that would amaze me, why you are at that sh**hole hotel is a total mystery when down the road there are many better ones to choose like Costalunga (where either night guard would not make you pay RD$200 for a moto) , or El Candil. You don't HAVE to stay there for the week you reserved, just pay and leave.
The annoying jackhammering is a good reason as is the general sleazoid nature of the place and crapola location.
I cancelled my 10/9 trip to BC since I managed to get dengue in Managua (well in the toolies outside Managua) but with the peso doing its ridiculous andnon sustainable gymnastics just as well - at 29 to the dollar it is getting a mite pricey to us veterans of 38-40-50-55 of recent memories, and it can't last so I am off to Nicaragua again in November until things improve.
But take it a lot cooler there - you are the man with the cash, the prodigal son, who they are looking for - and you hold the cards. Start learning some GD Spanish too.
NB - check the cambios for rates in this order: the one with the 82 money transfer signs near the Swiss place, then Rodrigues' across the street in the littel green hut, then the one in the nice little mall next to Zanzibar and avoid banks though the BR cambio in the luggage area at SDQ is not usually too bad and I go there to avoid customs anyway.
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Baltimonger,
(For those that don't know, B'monger is my bud from our home ho-ing grounds, a mighty fine wordsmith and a hardcore monger -- when he's not wetting his pants.) :)
Forget that you're white. :) We are all God's children, even the ho's, even the mafiosos. Your melanine difficiency just makes you stand out. I have the same problem because I am so amazingly gorgeous. It took me a long time to learn how to deal with the effect I have on people. ;)
You're swimming out in the deep ocean, far from the land of Baltimore that you know so well, so don't look like food. Live food attracts preditors. If you feel like food, you'll look like food. Get into the attitude, posture and confidence you feel when you cruise the Clix and when you're walking on Monroe, Fulton, Wilkens, SCarey or at US Gas.
If they stare at you, stare back with a blank stare until they look away. That inscrutability is usually all that bullies need to back down.
Yes, some of the motoconcho drivers are preditors. Your hotel might be able to recommend a some that they know and trust. It sounds like it might be worth an extra few pesos, for peace of mind, to have a regular driver. Have him wait for you while you fetch a temporary girlfriend, go to the ATM or go for food. A Presidente or two here and there while he's waiting will be appreciated as much, if not more than, a few extra pesos. If he knows you'll take care of him, give him regular biz, and if your hotel gives him lots of biz, he won't want to spoil a good thing. Treat him like an employee, even if he invites you back to his house.
Robux
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Day 5:
The deal for Rosa was for TLN. I donīt know if thatīs still too high. I kicked her ass out because I was pissed at her for giving up the 200 Pesos.
Yesterday I had Yolanda from the hotel bar for 500RD$. She was the one I was bargaining with over breakfast (the food is actually cheap at the bar, and better than on Duarte, IMHO). I came back a few hours later to continue negotiations. I get her down to 500 after she quoted me $50 US. I wrote 500pesos and the room number on a napkin and walked back to my room. I put all but the 500 into the safe, and laid the rest on the table beside the bed.
A few minutes later I get a knock on the door. Yolanda comes inside, starts kissing me and taking off her clothes, all the while asking for more money. I keep telling her no. and push toward the door, about to throw her naked ass out of the room. When I turn her back to me, I notice she had a condom wrapper stuck to her back! She also has a few strange old scars on her ankles and abdomen. She gets my drift and agrees to 500.
I pull her into the shower first and make sure I give her a good washing down before we proceed further. We get to the bed and she starts offering me Greek for $50 US. I tell her no.
Later on, after I come back from the liquor store across the street, she meets up with me and wants to go again. I tell her no and go back to my room to knock back a few Presidenteīs.
In between this, I meet up with he 1500RD$ chica, this time without her pimp, and she wants 1000RD$. I walk away with her following me bargaining me down.
This hotel has no security guard. It is a nice place with some recent improvements due to management change.
Yesterday morning at the bar was funny. Yolanda, speaking very little English, me speaking very little Spanish, and an older French speaking Haitian woman who didnīt speak English or Spanish.
I took Spanish lessons for a year back in school, but remember very little of it. I thought it was a joke to take them at the time.
K.J. Baltimonger
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Day 6:
Ahh, the Presidentes are frío, and the weather is caliente. Last night was fun, even if I overpaid. Vicki, the $100 chica from my first night. Last night was 700RD$ + dinner (about 250RD$) for a few hours with her and some picture taking. I have never had actual girlfriends give me the GFE she gives.
Her sister Ingrid had told me earlier that Vicki really liked me and had told her and their mother about me. I left the hotel a little later, Vicki saw me, and refused to let me go out to Duarte. She was also mad because she saw me bring in another chica the night before.
The 700 Pesos came from a major difference in the exchange rates we were going by. I was using the bank rate of 35:1, she was using the Western Union rater of 28:1. I told her $25 US or I was going to Duarte. This would have cost 875 Pesos at my rate.
Afterward, we laid there in the bed, kissing and cuddling, while watching the dubbed version of 8 Mile .
She is dark skinned and quite pretty. The other chicas Iīve been with here donīt come close to her, IMHO.
Leaving here tomorrow will be quite depressing. :(
K.J. Baltimonger