Medellin Reports

[JustTK]

One thing about checking cedulas everyone should be aware of. There are fake cedulas out there. Some girls use stolen cedulas

I know its not smthg that will come in to the corrupt Colombia police behaviour, but I am curious what the actual law would be when someone uses a fake cedula. Given that you're a tourist and not familiar with what a real cedula looks like, surely equity would dictate that you could not be found guilty under these circumstances? . Hypothetically.

[JustTK]

I normally just go to whatever closest available to me, a lot of time Bancolombia. What are the best ATM to use for the best conversion rate?

Best ATM to use is Davivienda. They allow 2,000,000 each hit (most machines), no withdrawal fees rfom the Colombian bank. That also saves on fees at your end too. Just decline the conversion bcos no doubt your bank will give you a better rate when they get the transaction posted.

[Beobeo]

I normally just go to whatever closest available to me, a lot of time Bancolombia. What are the best ATM to use for the best conversion rate?

[JjBee62]

You may recall my computer is still broken, and I'm using an old Samsung pre-Galaxy phone to post everything for the past month or so. Then, after the recent internet crash my phone has a glitch whether I type or use voice to text, it's a total PITA to post anything. That is why my posts have sounded so wonky lately and I've mentioned it several times. After having to retype the same sentence retype 5 or 6 times after a while I just have to give up. Plus, sometimes I'm stoned out of my mind but I think that is some of my best work when I read back, jaja.

As a PSA I wanted to get the word out rapidly before anybody else fell prey to Mini Vennie.

At this moment my voice dictation is working pretty good.

There were four cops in my hotel room pointing their guns at me initially while telling me that I would be going away to prison for a long time, for infantile porn in my phone and for having an underage girl in my room, who they dragged back in as part of the act, even though none of it was true. They are using a 19 year old girl for the sting and all the photos in my phone are of adults.

When I was working with webcam models I always needed 3 pictures of the girls' cedulas, only 2 for Vennies (Venezuelan cedula has the birthday on the front). One of each side and 1 of the girl holding the cedula next to her face. All the webcam sites require this for verification.

Whenever I did a photo or video shoot for a girl everything went into a folder with the girl's name along with the cedula photos. I don't normally take a lot of photos of the girls I'm with, but for those who do, you might consider a system like this, not only for organization, but to keep proof of age, if you've ever got police going through your phone and computer.

One thing about checking cedulas everyone should be aware of. There are fake cedulas out there. Some girls use stolen cedulas, while others borrow a cedula from an older sister or cousin. While the cedula may get the girl into your room it's not a failsafe proof of age. If she looks too young, it's best to pass her by.

I've often seen girls on Facebook asking who has a cedula they can borrow. One girl, who wanted to do webcam, but wasn't 18 yet said for 50 k she could get someone to make her a cedula.

Something I always look for with Facebook girls; birthday pictures. Often they will have photos of their birthday with balloons showing their age. I consider that more dependable than a cedula.

[Turgid]

......There were four cops in my hotel room pointing their guns at me initially while telling me that I would be going away to prison for a long time, for infantile porn in my phone and for having an underage girl in my room, who they dragged back in as part of the act, even though none of it was true. They are using a 19 year old girl for the sting and all the photos in my phone are of adults.....

This is the first such case I have read of. If all you have stated on the matter is the case then this is extremely worrying. What happened when you were in the room with the girl? The pictures you shared earlier are not your usual type of photos.

[Iponux]

Bancolombia doesn't treat anyone fairly and has all knids of fees they charge their customers that bank with them not unlike Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the USA. However the majority of Colombians bank with them because their omnipresent within the Country, and do have a good platform for paying people and easily transferring funds between parties with their App.

And when it comes to a favorable exchange rate when using their ATM's, well besides all the gimmicks and stuff they try to pull, they've never ever offered a good exchange rate, albeit there are others that are even worse.

Insiders tip, Scotia is your best bet irrespective of fees charged by your bank for using your card if at all.

I second that, I tried all the ATMs in Cartagena using a chase card,. Scotia was by far the best, but the inly ATM there was unreliable, bancolombia ended up same as if I had cash and went to a street cashier.

Any one tried a Citi card using Citibank ATMs? They should use visa conversion and no fees, but haven't tried yet.

[Surfer500]

There were four cops in my hotel room pointing their guns at me initially while telling me that I would be going away to prison for a long time, for infantile porn in my phone and for having an underage girl in my room, who they dragged back in as part of the act, even though none of it was true. They are using a 19 year old girl for the sting and all the photos in my phone are of adults.

I managed to flush all my Tussy after they found it and while the cops were still in the room at the same time. If I do say so myself that took some steel Kahuna's but they were more interested in extorting several million pesos from me than anything else. More to come but hopefully that's enough to convince you to stay away from her.

Hopefully your next post is not going to be from your jail cell. I guess you can't make this stuff up unless your a good fiction writer.

Waiting for the next chapter of your saga.

[Surfer500]

I'm with you man on only using ATMs but I'm familiar with the currency exchanges for my friends that come with cash so I answered the question.

On the topic of ATMs it's weird how different ATMs from the same bank will treat you differently. I only use BancoColombia ATMs out of habit and knowing I've been treated fairly over several years. Like full exchange rate fairly! So I still use them. But some of their machines will not give cash unless you accept an unfair exchange rate. I always decline it of course and they will end the transaction there. Other BancoColombia ATMs will offer a second option of cash withdrawal without the unfair exchange rate. And still other ATMs will just give the fair exchange rate without even asking if you want to be shafted with the unfair exchange rate. And each time I return to Colombia I never know which ATMs will react which way. It's sort of like slot machines jajajaa. What a weird banking system LOL!

Bancolombia doesn't treat anyone fairly and has all knids of fees they charge their customers that bank with them not unlike Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the USA. However the majority of Colombians bank with them because their omnipresent within the Country, and do have a good platform for paying people and easily transferring funds between parties with their App.

And when it comes to a favorable exchange rate when using their ATM's, well besides all the gimmicks and stuff they try to pull, they've never ever offered a good exchange rate, albeit there are others that are even worse.

Insiders tip, Scotia is your best bet irrespective of fees charged by your bank for using your card if at all.

[Beobeo]

And each time I return to Colombia I never know which ATMs will react which way. It's sort of like slot machines jajajaa. What a weird banking system LOL!

I usually cancel the transaction if the ATM does not allow me to decline conversion. A lot of time Bancolombia has 3 ATM in the same room, I just try a different ATM.

[LoveItHere69]

Monday night there were many people out until 10:00 pm. Tuesday night the amount of people were half the night before. About 9:30 I went to the side of the church headed to the bar area behind the church to where there normally is an empanda stand but not tonight. At the corner where the yellow restaurant is I stopped to chat a girl I had been with a few times. Three guys were standing together nearby but as soon as I got there they separated and spaced themselves out around the corner and thus around me and surely looking down the street for police. So I quickly crossed the street. Soon a motorcycle cop turned to go down the walkway leading to the church so I followed him back. Pretty damn positive something was about to happen. Things are changing again in Botero. Be careful. When the police leave you leave.

One my walk back to my hotel I watched a guy pull out a knife on another guy under the metro. Nothing happened but still messes with ones peace of mind. I like how cheap it is here but could never retire here. Can never let your guard down. That sucks! NO peace of mind.

[Lucky Nuts]

I never want to have a lot of cash on me, as in bringing cash from home to exchange when I'm there. So I always just withdraw pesos using my debit card. My bank charges 5 bucks for foreign withdrawals. Normal for Canadian banks, and no matter how you get your money you also are charged for exchanging the money based on the rate they give you. Not a direct charge.

Banks will often say. Oh, we have no fees. But the exchange rate they give you is less than the quoted exchange rates, which are the mid-market rates. In Canada the banks have to disclose what this difference is, and depending on which bank is 2. 5 or 3. 5 percent. In the USA I'm not sure they are required to disclose that so, if not, you could look up the rate you got and compare it by looking up the actual rate for that day (or the day before, some banks use the rate from the previous day).

As for exchanging actual cash, yes, there are exchange places all over, especially in Poblado, with several in Santa Fe mall especially.

I'm with you man on only using ATMs but I'm familiar with the currency exchanges for my friends that come with cash so I answered the question.

On the topic of ATMs it's weird how different ATMs from the same bank will treat you differently. I only use BancoColombia ATMs out of habit and knowing I've been treated fairly over several years. Like full exchange rate fairly! So I still use them. But some of their machines will not give cash unless you accept an unfair exchange rate. I always decline it of course and they will end the transaction there. Other BancoColombia ATMs will offer a second option of cash withdrawal without the unfair exchange rate. And still other ATMs will just give the fair exchange rate without even asking if you want to be shafted with the unfair exchange rate. And each time I return to Colombia I never know which ATMs will react which way. It's sort of like slot machines jajajaa. What a weird banking system LOL!

[MiamiBoy1]

I'm in doubt between the 2 here in Laureles. I have never been there so I cannot judge if one location is better than the other.

1) https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/50138082.

2) https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15704875.

I'm looking for a quiet, comfy place to have guests (they are both guest friendly). I just prefer to stay lower than USD65/ night.

I rented the first one, and it was great! Chicas loved it. Quiet residential neighborhood, great cafe downstairs to have breakfast or lunch.

[Paulie97]

Sting for what? Get caught for what?

You said she was of legal age.

Your post #49309 talks of an under age scam, then you say she's of legal age but running a sting with police.

Sometimes (often, LOL) you make no sense.

That and how did he manage to flush the Tusi down the toilet right in front of the cops, and after they had already found it? And were they successful in their attempt to extort the 7 million? I suppose we will have to wait on the next round of Tusi induced hallucinations in order to find out.

Osteoknot glad you are coming home. Make it a time of reflection and evaluation. Have a safe trip.

[RamDavidson84]

You may recall my computer is still broken, and I'm using an old Samsung pre-Galaxy phone to post everything for the past month or so. Then, after the recent internet crash my phone has a glitch whether I type or use voice to text, it's a total PITA to post anything. That is why my posts have sounded so wonky lately and I've mentioned it several times. After having to retype the same sentence retype 5 or 6 times after a while I just have to give up. Plus, sometimes I'm stoned out of my mind but I think that is some of my best work when I read back, jaja.

As a PSA I wanted to get the word out rapidly before anybody else fell prey to Mini Vennie.

At this moment my voice dictation is working pretty good.

There were four cops in my hotel room pointing their guns at me initially while telling me that I would be going away to prison for a long time, for infantile porn in my phone and for having an underage girl in my room, who they dragged back in as part of the act, even though none of it was true. They are using a 19 year old girl for the sting and all the photos in my phone are of adults.

I managed to flush all my Tussy after they found it and while the cops were still in the room at the same time. If I do say so myself that took some steel Kahuna's but they were more interested in extorting several million pesos from me than anything else. More to come but hopefully that's enough to convince you to stay away from her.

Board owes you a thank you for sharing such a story. Important everyone is aware of all possible dangers in Medellin. My best advice to anyone visiting Latin America for any reason, especially mongering. Keep your act clean / legal, don't carry too much party supplies, and always check IDs. Keep your head down, don't make a scene, and enjoy the ride. Just my two cents. Once again, thanks for the warning Osteo.

[Zeos1]

Well in the gringoland of Poblado they might just be called "Currency Exchange" LOL. If the sign is in spanish it will probably say Cambio. You will find at least a couple each in Sante Fe Mall and Oviedo Mall. And a few more are on calle 10 just east of Poblado Avenue. Yeah there are quite a few around Poblado.

I never want to have a lot of cash on me, as in bringing cash from home to exchange when I'm there. So I always just withdraw pesos using my debit card. My bank charges 5 bucks for foreign withdrawals. Normal for Canadian banks, and no matter how you get your money you also are charged for exchanging the money based on the rate they give you. Not a direct charge.

Banks will often say. Oh, we have no fees. But the exchange rate they give you is less than the quoted exchange rates, which are the mid-market rates. In Canada the banks have to disclose what this difference is, and depending on which bank is 2. 5 or 3. 5 percent. In the USA I'm not sure they are required to disclose that so, if not, you could look up the rate you got and compare it by looking up the actual rate for that day (or the day before, some banks use the rate from the previous day).

As for exchanging actual cash, yes, there are exchange places all over, especially in Poblado, with several in Santa Fe mall especially.