Cartagena Reports

[Tiny 12]

1. It works like going Costa Rica or Bangkok. You don't need a visa. Colombian immigration probably won't ask you anything. U.S. immigration may ask you why you went to Colombia. You could probably tell them you were there to bang a lot of hookers and they wouldn't care, but the perverts might make a point of looking through images on your digital camera or laptop. I'm shy and usually say something like visiting some girls I met on the internet.

2. In my opinion, it's not particularly dangerous. Certainly not as safe as Bangkok, and maybe about the same or a little worse than San Jose. You would want to use some common sense. Late at night stay away from deserted areas and stick to Laguito, Boca Grande, and Old City for example.

3. It's not as user friendly as SJO or BKK. Meaning that you don't have a ton of massage parlors, hooker bars, etc., with everyone speaking English. Cartagena is definitely not as easy or accessible to the non-Spanish speaker. Also, infrastructure isn't as well develop -- unless you're staying at the Santa Clara, you're going to know you're in a 3rd world country. That's not the case IMHO so much in San Jose, and certainly not in Bangkok. There are lots of touts in Cartagena, and most of the people are poor.

4. I'd put CTG and BKK at about the same level in terms of GFE, definitely much better than San Jose. But my Spanish is reasonably good -- that might make a difference. In terms of stunners, I'd give the edge to San Jose and Bangkok. You will find more 10's in the Blue Marlin in San Jose than anywhere in Cartagena, although the BM chicas are a lot more likely to have an attitude. The hooker bar in Cartagena with the most stunners is La Dolce Vita, IMHO. Some peope would disagree and say Pleboy. Anyway, there are probably 20+ places in Bangkok (e.g., Rainbow 2, Rainbow 4, Rachadapisek massage parlors) that would rank with the La Dolce Vita in terms of the number of stunners.

If you like old Spanish architecture, you'll love Cartagena, there's nothing like the old city. If your Spanish is poor or if you're looking for first world standards, you may be disappointed. If you're just going for the sex, SJO and BKK are better destinations, IMHO.

[BKKoneluv]

I had couple of questions about Cartagena and I was hoping I could get some good feedbacks. I'm 24 years old, some people say I caught on too quick, but what can I say I love beautiful women. I have been to Bangkok couple of times and I finally was fortunate enough to experience DR and BM in Costa Rica this past winter. I was planning a trip to Cartagena, but I was warned by my travel agency that Cartagena could be dangerous and chaotic. Here are some of my questions.

1. I'm a Asian-American with a US passport. I heard US citizens don't need a visa to enter Colombia. Can someone tell me exactly how this works? Is it easy like going into Bangkok or San jose? Do the customs ask you questions if you travel alone from US to Colombia?

2. I was planning a trip by myself. Is it dangerous for me to travel alone?

3. I have met beautiful Colombians in my past trip to SJO. Mongering was quite easy and accessible, but how does Cartagena compare to the atmosphere of Thailand or Costa Rica.

4. BKK was more GFE oriented than sjo. How are the girls in Cartagena? Is greek and cim plentiful?

[Travel Addict]

TRAVEL FROM SAN JOSE TO CARTAGENA OR ISLA SAN ANDRES CHEAP!
If you want to see Costa Rica AND Colombia, here's a tip:
A Tico friend pointed me to
www.destinostv.com
They often, but not always, have super-cheap charter flights and packages to Cartagena & Isla San Andres.
They charter a whle TACA jet a couple of times a week, and sell packages with hotel for much less than the airfare would cost you otherwise. The plane stops each way in Cartagena and Isla San Andres. You do pay airport tax coming and going CR and Colombia about $25 each. They also have some other interesting specials on the website to various destinations. Highly recommended. You have to pay with credit card or bank transfer, and you don't get your ticket til you get to the SJO airport, which made me nervous. But they have a stand right next to the TACA counter on days they do flights and everything went as smooth as butter. They handed me my boarding passes and vouchers. The "all-inclusive" hotel was right on the beach in San Andres, and had once been once, but was really run down (no hot water, phone broken) and the "all-inclusive" meant stale sandwiches and for some reason all you could drink OLD MILWAUKI beer, LOL, but heck it was virtually free. Isla San Andres is a beautiful tropical island which belongs to Colombia, very small, mostly black people who speak some English. No major action there, pretty much BYOG. VERY few gringos, mostly Colombians and Panamanians on vacation. completely safe they search the fuck out of you when you arrive to keep weapons off the island. Check it out.

[Tom 33]

Far as I know neither Mery nor Juan takes credit cards. You pay cash up front. Also, you generally pay the maid directly for service. There is no tax to be paid on the rental.

[SkyJuice]

I'm borrowing my friend's electronic pocket translater..it's pretty handy and easy to use. I think he picked it up at Radio Shack. It even says the words for you in spanish so you can get the correct pronounciation. cool stuff.

Mery is great..she reserved a 2 bed for me but hasnt asked for any deposit yet. I need to confirm with her on this method.

C'mon June 2nd !!!!..I'm ready to hit CTG.

[Nyorker]

Thanx guys. There is an ocean view room on Mery's website for 60 usd/night, I guess, I will take that. She didn't ask me for the credit card info but reserved it, I guess, that's the way it is in Cartegena.

The spanish learning mp3s are killing me.

[Tom 33]

Juan's first language was Catalan, and Mery's was Farsi.

[Zippy]

FYI- Both Juan and Mery speak good English, although neither are native speakers.

[TheShadow2]

Both Mery and Juan are good quality people with good apartments to rent.
Juan speaks good english and I believe Mery speaks some as well.
Torre Centauro is a good building within walking distance to La Dolce Vita, most of Juans rentals are also in "Laguito", which is where you want to be.
Work on your spanish, that will be your biggest obstacle, but hopefully it won't be enough of a problem to keep you from having a good time...

[SkyJuice]

fellas...i'm officially booked to fly with avianca. i will be in ctg on the evening of june 2nd to june 11th. i will be there with a buddy of mine. although i've been to the dominican republic several times with my 5th grade spanish, i have a feeling that d.r will be pale in comparison to ctg. tom, thanks for the speedy e-mail and valuable info. i look forward to linking up with you when i get in. wapo, if you're around at that time..let me know. you got first rounds on drinks..haha. i know most of you have been real good about responding to us newbies eventho we (newbies) should take the time and look back into the archives for the info. i've been guilty of that many times..just laziness i guess but now that i'm officially heading out to ctg, i have at least 3 weeks to go back into the earlier posts and soak up some of that great info. thanks guys !!!

sky

[Nyorker]

Cachorro,

Thanx for the insight, I will be staying around laguito area and I am brushing up my Spanish, just downloaded 30 hours of Primseler's mp3s, don't know if I will be able to learn all of it. I won't be hiring a guide related services as you suggested. I got a lot of valuable information for this forum and feel pretty confident too.

One more quick question for Cachorro and fellow mates,

Have you tried Mery Salence rental? I m planning to get apt.403 in Torre Centauro in laguito area, is it close to the action? any suggestion?

or

Juan Ventura apt# Cr704?

http://www.venpro.net/fotosapartamentos/index.htm

[Cachorro]

Fellow mates,

If I am not wrong, there aren't any meters in the cabs and I would have to negotiate a rate before getting in a cab. If that is true, then I got 2 problems.

(1) My first solo time to cartegena and I don't speak spanish.

(2) How would I negotiate if I don't know how much is reasonable. (Like going to LDV etc...)

Is there a way other then hiring a guide services? if No, then pls recommend guide services. I have heard horrible stories both of getting ripped off by cabies and guide services. Plz suggest.

Thanks

Definitely don't hire a guide.

The touts on the beach are pretty annoying. Hiring a guide is like inviting the worst kind of tout to tag along with you all day. You can expect him to screw everything up that you want to do.

Any transaction you want to do, he will jump in and try and figure out a way to make you pay more for it, thus guaranteeing himself a commission. Stuff you don't want to do, he will keep recommending over and over again, once again angling for a commission.

Just don't do it.

Yes, taxis are a hassle, only cause they are always trying to fool you one way or another. The good news is you can usually do without them. If you stay in Laguito and Bocagrande you can walk places. Between Centro (old town) and Laguito is a fixed price, 4000 pesos if I remember rightly. Just show him 4k in banknotes before you get in and say "Centro". Done.

I prefer not to take the taxis parked outside of LDV at night, they are more likely to try to jack the price up and generally jerk you around. Wait for a taxi to drive by and hail it.

You should not find it too difficult to monger in LDV by yourself. If you get really stuck try to get another monger to guide you, and you buy the drinks.

My golden rule for negotiating is never ask her a price. Tell her "I want you to stay x hours, and my special requests are A, B, and C. I usually pay 100k, is that OK?". I usually wait until I have some sort of chemistry going with her before I try and close the deal.

I managed to pull a girl out of there each night for that price. If you have to stick to English speaking girls you may have to pay a bit more, but not too much more, I hope.

[TheKnife]

PM, I'll be there with my GF in Colombia during Memrial Day weekend Thurs - Mon. I'm staying at the AFA apartment

Eddie

[Gonzo]

I'll be in CTG starting on the 10th, booked a place via Juan Ventura in a great building in Laquito (i.e. roll out of LDV, end up at apartment). Will be there for two weeks, with a small MDE trip in the middle.

This site, as well as CH, has been invaluable in my research, have compiled a 200 page document on all aspects of CTG and MDE, based on what I read. Though reality is never what you expect, I feel like I'm not going in blind or naive.

So it'd be great to to hook up with any of you who will be there at that time.

[Winner71]

Skyjuice,

The 30-35k/night hotels I was referring to on the backside of Boca Grande have A/C. In fact the A/C works almost too good. You wake up freezing, after your chica has yanked all the sheets over her and off of you. No hot water though. But in CTG who needs hot water?

Just a thought if you are still looking. It's the best alternatice I have found in CTG for being central, with A/C, and not being in a dump. There are actually 2 of them right next to each other by the Olimpica. I know one of them is run by an Argentian family. They aren't 5 star. But heck. You only sleep there. If you want a place where you think you are just going to hang out in the hotel or apartment all day, I recommend one of Mery or Juan's rentals. In fact I'd probably recommend you do that on your first trip anyways as it will seem more "special". But as you get the urge to go back and back and back, as we all do. Lodging is absolutely the #1 thing I try to budget as much as possible.

I'm going to be there with a friend of mine by the 2nd. Wapo..when will you be there?..I will take you up on that first round of drinks. Just provide me on where we can meet and what time exactly..also Tom, you are the man with all the great info for a newbie like myself coming to CTG for the first time...it would be nice to link up with you before you head out to MDE on June 9th. If you want to send me an e-mail directly, it's ccstev@yahoo.com