Medellin Reports

[Steve 9696]

Sorry if dumb question. I wouldn't be in Medellin longer than 7 days, but I have google Fi, any phone issues (other than having it stolen) while down there?

Fi works great in Medellin. And everywhere else! I find I sometimes have to turn my phone off and back on or wait a bit for it to figure out a new country. But then you are good. Prob used in 10+ countries last year. All good. It's amazing.

[LoveItHere69]

Sorry if dumb question. I wouldn't be in Medellin longer than 7 days, but I have google Fi, any phone issues (other than having it stolen) while down there?

My Google FI has been useless this trip. No "Welcome to Colombia" message this trip unlike all my other visits. SIM did not work after 2 weeks. Ordered 2. The second again lasted about 2 weeks. My belief is Google no longer has a deal with the cell phone companies here since we do not register our phones. My third FI SIM I can make calls for 2 weeks now but no WIFI access. PM if you have problems. I will tell you all about Google's idiot help desk!

[Nounce]

... The two taco places have outside tables and now one of the old time restaurants has added some outdoor tables....

I read a news report from H13 N or something like it that more Prevenza restaurants are moving in. It says the one next to WOM is from Provenza but I could be wrong.

[PdSuave]

What happened to your phones was not locking. It was blocking. Colombia requires phones to be registered for reasons of theft control and preventing narcos and guerillas using them with no audit trail. I think you have 30 calendar days to register before the phone gets blocked.

Sorry if dumb question. I wouldn't be in Medellin longer than 7 days, but I have google Fi, any phone issues (other than having it stolen) while down there?

[LoveItHere69]

STD in Centro?

I am sitting on the cement block on the side of the church. Girl motions me to come so I run over like a lost puppy as I always do (I am well trained). She asks me about "no condom". I have been with her 3 times and always with a condom. I do not understand. Her friend says "other girls". I say sometimes. My girl says the dreaded "gonno" word. They both then walk away to stand at the other end of the alley way on the side of the church. I can only interpret this as they heard of someone with gonno. No girl has ever talked about STDs to me before in any city I have been in so I can only assume something is going around. Some of these girls work at Parque Lleras too so if you guys hear of anything please post or send me a message and I will post minus your name / ID.

Centro Barriers.

Far more positives having them than not. I see so many tour guides with some groups as large as 25 people and a lot more tourists in general. The old Premier Plaza is going upper scale with the customers they want to attract. Two new taco restaurants and another steak house place (I think). The two taco places have outside tables and now one of the old time restaurants has added some outdoor tables. Inside the barriers during "police hours" as I like to call it, I do not have to worry about taking my phone out and I see a lot less problems in general. If the barriers go then the vendors return and block a lot of the picture taking of the tourists and bring so much noise with them. I think and hope they are here to stay.

Sushi (serious stuff to discuss).

I love the fake sushi places. Fresh Fish, Hamai, and Colombian Sushi are all the same place. I walked there today for something to do. Their address is a lie. If you do Street View on Google maps they are on the opposite side at the bottom of the small 5 story building. My Sushi & Wok and Gari Food are both the same place also. Same food same receipt. Not that good. The first one is better. So 5 business are actually just 2. Wonder how many more there are.

Violence (comes and goes in spurts).

Afternoon a few days ago. Two black guys fighting. Not sure if 2 locals, 2 foreigners, or 1 of each. Not serious.

Afternoon several days ago. Two street girls mini fight at entrance to ST hotel on side street across from D1. Girl 1 tried walking away into the hotel. Girl 2 grabbed her hair from the back and threw her to the ground by her head. Ouch! And threw some punches. Real punches like a guy would.

9:00 pm tonight. Sitting on the concrete block on the side of the church. Street girl and maybe ex-BF on his motorcycle. Knives out! If he would have connected she would have been blinded or not made it to the hospital if he hit her throat. He was swinging at head level. She cut his seat up. Stabbed his back tire 10 times which I am sure was flat by morning. She flattened the front tire with her 5th stab. Everyone just watched for 10 minutes then started to get them apart. No cops with a police station 1 block away.

Game Over.

Colombians are so friendly my ass. I never saw a tenth of this kind of shit when I was in the Philippines. Going back to Asia. So tired of this shit. This place is all yours. Leaving for the last time in January (if I make it). Did I just hear clapping? OMG! I think I can actually hear some of you guys smiling!

[Kbdb2488]

Looking for an airbnb in Laureles, with AC and a hot tub and guest friendly. Anyone with options please send me a message.

[Gabacho]

Yes, I look forward to the return of the gang boys and the violence and muggings in Botero Plaza.

The gangs, violence, and muggings never left, it's just been pushed outside of the barriers. Coincidencently the majority of the working girls are also outside of the perimeter of the barriers. And in fact it makes the pedestrian walkway (Calle 51) between Cras 52 and 53 much more crowded and prone to muggings.

Even Fernando Botero (RIP) wanted the barriers taken down and voiced his opinion about it before he died. He said his statues were for all of the public, not just for foreign tourists.

Besides the barriers are unconstitutional under Colombian federal law because all plazas, parques, and public places in Colombia are guaranteed by their own constitution to be open to all citizens, even if they are homeless people, informal salespersons, or prostitutes.

[Balboa]

I suggest downloading and using this app called Picap. It's like Uber but on a moto. I've used it several times and not only is it cheaper than a traditional Uber but it also gets you to your destination faster as the motorcycles can split lanes and make it through traffic faster.

This is thanks to the ex-mayor Daniel Quintero and his leftist regime. He put up the barriers back in February around Plaza Botero and I believe in El Poblado like in March or April. He was overstepping his boundaries; a corrupt liberal politician who is currently under investigation for spending public funds (caja menor) on restaurants and hotels and other frivolous expenses all over the country from Bogota to Santa Marta. He even resigned early and didn't finish his term. In January Fico Gutierrez will be taking over and he is expected to take down the barriers and return some normalcy to Medellin. But until the end of December there is still one of Quinteros corrupt cronies filling in as substitute mayor so I don't expect the barriers to come down until after the change of power takes place.

-Gabacho.

Yes, I look forward to the return of the gang boys and the violence and muggings in Botero Plaza.

[KilledSoul]

Curious is anyone has stayed at hostels and bring girls back? Assuming you get a private room. Has anyone had any issues? Thoughts?

How do the people stay there react, considering my experience with hostels tend to be busier with people around.

Thanks.

Usually guests and mangements of hostels look down on mongering. Better get a short time hotel and avoid the trouble.

[Huacho]

Curious is anyone has stayed at hostels and bring girls back? Assuming you get a private room. Has anyone had any issues? Thoughts?

How do the people stay there react, considering my experience with hostels tend to be busier with people around.

Thanks.

Very few hostels allow guests of any variety.

[Marxh]

Curious is anyone has stayed at hostels and bring girls back? Assuming you get a private room. Has anyone had any issues? Thoughts?

How do the people stay there react, considering my experience with hostels tend to be busier with people around.

Thanks.

[Gabacho]

Next day in the early afternoon I took a cab to El Centro. Big mistake. The cab ride, I mean. Traffic was unreal and the driver picked the wrong streets.

I suggest downloading and using this app called Picap. It's like Uber but on a moto. I've used it several times and not only is it cheaper than a traditional Uber but it also gets you to your destination faster as the motorcycles can split lanes and make it through traffic faster.

Just a note: Strange to see cops everywhere. Never seen it like this before. Both in Poblado and El Centro. With gates set up to direct your entrance / exit along certain streets. So many offers to sell me drugs, one right in front of a policeman. Absurd. I am heading to BOG tomorrow. Hope all you guys who eat turkey today get yourselves properly stuffed. I'll be doing the stuffing tonight, if you know what I mean.

This is thanks to the ex-mayor Daniel Quintero and his leftist regime. He put up the barriers back in February around Plaza Botero and I believe in El Poblado like in March or April. He was overstepping his boundaries; a corrupt liberal politician who is currently under investigation for spending public funds (caja menor) on restaurants and hotels and other frivolous expenses all over the country from Bogota to Santa Marta. He even resigned early and didn't finish his term. In January Fico Gutierrez will be taking over and he is expected to take down the barriers and return some normalcy to Medellin. But until the end of December there is still one of Quinteros corrupt cronies filling in as substitute mayor so I don't expect the barriers to come down until after the change of power takes place.

-Gabacho.

[LoveItHere69]

Try warm milk. I can't believe you are asking if it's ok to bring drugs to Colombia.

I sure hope he remembers to bring his own girl too.

[Knowledge]

What happened to your phones was not locking. It was blocking. Colombia requires phones to be registered for reasons of theft control and preventing narcos and guerillas using them with no audit trail. I think you have 30 calendar days to register before the phone gets blocked.

Twice I have had phones I brought with me from Canada, which were fully unlocked, become locked to all carriers in Colombia. First time I went there, had a dual SIM unlocked phone, got a Colombian SIM and number and it worked fine for the 25 days or so I was there. But just before I left there was a text message saying something about needing to have it registered. I ignored it because I was leaving and going back home. The next time I went there it was totally locked, and to get it unlocked I had to go back to the carrier I had been using that last trip, and they had to do some digging and finally got it unblocked.

The second time I brought a different new unlocked phone as a burner phone. Bought a SIM at a dealer store and they provided a number, etc. And said no need to do anything more. I used it for a while then got the same message. I went to a Claro company store and they said that the number was not mine, it was probably the dealerships number, and that I could not do anything about it. So I threw away that SIM, bought another at the Claro store, and they register it properly when you buy it.

[Knowledge]

You are 100% correct. I was referring to flagship phones of the iphone 15/ Galaxy S23 ultra variety.

You don't need $1500 usd to buy an unlocked phone outright. China makes really good quality phones from companies like Huawei and Xiaomi that are very affordable unlocked outright and have decent specs that are nearly the same as more expensive top their phones.

For example my current phone is a Xiaomi Redmi Note 12's which I picked up for $200 usd brand new in the box carrier unlocked. It has as 6.43 inch amoled screen with 90 hz refresh rate, 8 gb of ram (expandable to 12 gb by using part of the storage space as ram) 256 gb of storage, dual sim card and microSD (up to 1 tb) all on the same sim card tray, 5000 mah battery that lasts me all day long, and a 108 megapixel camera and a Mediatek Helio G96 8 core chipset at 2.05 Ghz and a 33 w usb-see fast charger that gets me from 0 to 100 in a little over an hour.

All that for $200 usd and that was several months ago when it first came out, it looks like it can be found for $180 usd now.

And my old phone before this one I had a Huawei P30 which I also picked up for much less than $1500 usd, and it was an absolutely great phone that I had for over 3 years. Before Trump started the tech war against Huawei they were making great phones that rivaled Apple and Samsung and for a fraction of the cost.