Caracas

[Turgid]

Yes, hotels that were good 1 or 2 years ago are still good. They are really not the ones that are suffering from our current crisis.

Yes, if you have money you can eat well.

Yes. Any moderately decent hotel will have at least a couple of taxi drivers that work with them, and it would be very wise to become friends with those guys. Just don't take any taxi cab you may find in the streets.

You would be surprised, most hotels (even 5 star hotels) have become very tolerant out of necessity and won't mind you bringing female company. A year ago I helped around a forum member that was staying in one of the Marriots in Caracas. I asked the concierge directly on the matter, and his response was that as long as there were no disturbances, you could bring whoever you wanted to your room.

Yes, everybody will be more than happy to take dollars as payment. But expect the girls to charge a bit of an extra than if you were paying in Bolivares.

Not easy at all, unfortunately. Cash has once again become incredibly scarce, and even if the person changing the $$$ has availibility of physical Bolivares Soberanos, he will ask for a "penalty" on the exanchge rate. Which of course negates the advantage of paying in bolivares. As previously discussed, there are ways to obtain a local bank account which can be used to recieve transfers, but I only recommend that if you plan to stay for a while, or to return in the future. There is also the option of the legal currency exchange, as nowadays the legal rate is just a bit lower than the black market rate.

With that said, I must add that you should only visit our country if you are feeling *really* adventurous and have a good idea of what to do, what you will find here, and what *could* happen in the near future. A brief look at recent news concerning our country should make it evident what's going on, so please have that in mind. Any questions you may have, please send me PM.

Thanks very much for your response and thank you BKKguru. What I will do is monitor the situation and if I get a sense that things have improved I will head there. Venezuela is definitely on my 'to do' list.

[MaraCucho]

I have just spent 2 months in Colombia and my most enjoyable sessions there were with Venezuelanas. I thought I'd visit the source so to speak. I am reading that the country is in ruins. However, I am going to ask myself a few questions before visiting. They are: Can I stay in a decent hotel? Can I eat reasonably good food in a decent restaurant? Can I get a taxi to and from places of interest (ahem)? Can I call an escort service and have a girl come to my room? Will my consorts accept US dollars? If Venezuelan currency is more appropriate, how easy is it to change to the local currency? After I have satisfied myself with acceptable answers I'm heading there.

Yes, hotels that were good 1 or 2 years ago are still good. They are really not the ones that are suffering from our current crisis.

Yes, if you have money you can eat well.

Yes. Any moderately decent hotel will have at least a couple of taxi drivers that work with them, and it would be very wise to become friends with those guys. Just don't take any taxi cab you may find in the streets.

You would be surprised, most hotels (even 5 star hotels) have become very tolerant out of necessity and won't mind you bringing female company. A year ago I helped around a forum member that was staying in one of the Marriots in Caracas. I asked the concierge directly on the matter, and his response was that as long as there were no disturbances, you could bring whoever you wanted to your room.

Yes, everybody will be more than happy to take dollars as payment. But expect the girls to charge a bit of an extra than if you were paying in Bolivares.

Not easy at all, unfortunately. Cash has once again become incredibly scarce, and even if the person changing the $$$ has availibility of physical Bolivares Soberanos, he will ask for a "penalty" on the exanchge rate. Which of course negates the advantage of paying in bolivares. As previously discussed, there are ways to obtain a local bank account which can be used to recieve transfers, but I only recommend that if you plan to stay for a while, or to return in the future. There is also the option of the legal currency exchange, as nowadays the legal rate is just a bit lower than the black market rate.

With that said, I must add that you should only visit our country if you are feeling *really* adventurous and have a good idea of what to do, what you will find here, and what *could* happen in the near future. A brief look at recent news concerning our country should make it evident what's going on, so please have that in mind. Any questions you may have, please send me PM.

[BKKguru]

I have just spent 2 months in Colombia and my most enjoyable sessions there were with Venezuelanas. I thought I'd visit the source so to speak. I am reading that the country is in ruins. However, I am going to ask myself a few questions before visiting. They are: Can I stay in a decent hotel? Can I eat reasonably good food in a decent restaurant? Can I get a taxi to and from places of interest (ahem)? Can I call an escort service and have a girl come to my room? Will my consorts accept US dollars? If Venezuelan currency is more appropriate, how easy is it to change to the local currency? After I have satisfied myself with acceptable answers I'm heading there.

I do not have answers to most of your questions. However, I know the following:

(1) My post dated February 23rd (in this forum) stated: "Venezuela has reached a climax. You will see a change in the next 90 days or less."
65 more days to go - Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock....

(2) As of March 14, the remaining US diplomats have left Venezuela. The US Embassy in Caracas has been "locked" and the Diplomats took the US flag with them.

(3) Some parts of Caracas are still experiencing intermittent power outages. The duration of these blackouts varies. Outside Caracas, the blackouts are more widespread.

(4) The girls who could leave Venezuela are in Colombia, Peru, Panama, Northern Brazil and the Caribbean.

Safety first. I hope you make the right decision.

~BKKguru.

[Turgid]

I have just spent 2 months in Colombia and my most enjoyable sessions there were with Venezuelanas. I thought I'd visit the source so to speak. I am reading that the country is in ruins. However, I am going to ask myself a few questions before visiting. They are: Can I stay in a decent hotel? Can I eat reasonably good food in a decent restaurant? Can I get a taxi to and from places of interest (ahem)? Can I call an escort service and have a girl come to my room? Will my consorts accept US dollars? If Venezuelan currency is more appropriate, how easy is it to change to the local currency? After I have satisfied myself with acceptable answers I'm heading there.

[MaraCucho]

After all is said & done how much USD for 30 minutes or 1 HR session with a chica? Rough estimation as of now March 2019.

Using sexycaracas.com as a guide, the average rate for a good (but not top tier) escort seems to be between BsS 120 K - 150 K per hour. So, I'd say between $32 and $45.

[WetMan99]

1) It may depend on the place or the girl, but yeah, that's how it usually is. By the way, right now BsS 100 k are like $29-30.

2) What escort site is that? And our national currency right now is the Bolivar Soberano, the symbol is BS. S. BS. F is the old Bolivar Fuerte, which is not in use anymore.

After all is said & done how much USD for 30 minutes or 1 HR session with a chica? Rough estimation as of now March 2019.

[MaraCucho]

The 100.000 Bills of the old BsF are still legal tender. From time to time I see people paying their gas with it. They are of no other use, you would need 2.000 of them to pay a cup of coffee.

I always pay with a BsS 50 bill and leave, because I honestly would feel miserable taking such a minuscule amount of spare change.

[Tequeno]

Just curious when they switched from the Fuerte to the Soberano was there an official way to exchange the old currency to the new at the bank? Also, if someone is still holding the Fuerte right now is it useless?

Thanks.

As there was a massive shortage of cash in the last days of the BsF, it was not much of a problem. Nobody had really big amounts. Those few who had some cash, just spent it. I still have about two pounds of old bills in my drawer. One day I will use it to play Monopoly.

[Tequeno]

Yeah, there was a period of time for both currencies to co-exist so you could do something with your Bolivares Fuertes. If I recall correctly the deadline was in December 2018, so any BS. F left around are indeed useless. I actually have a bunch of BS. F bills, should be a nice souvenir for any traveler, heh!

The 100.000 Bills of the old BsF are still legal tender. From time to time I see people paying their gas with it. They are of no other use, you would need 2.000 of them to pay a cup of coffee.

[MaraCucho]

Just curious when they switched from the Fuerte to the Soberano was there an official way to exchange the old currency to the new at the bank? Also, if someone is still holding the Fuerte right now is it useless?

Thanks.

Yeah, there was a period of time for both currencies to co-exist so you could do something with your Bolivares Fuertes. If I recall correctly the deadline was in December 2018, so any BS. F left around are indeed useless. I actually have a bunch of BS. F bills, should be a nice souvenir for any traveler, heh!

[Mfins]

1) It may depend on the place or the girl, but yeah, that's how it usually is. By the way, right now BsS 100 k are like $29-30.

2) What escort site is that? And our national currency right now is the Bolivar Soberano, the symbol is BS. S. BS. F is the old Bolivar Fuerte, which is not in use anymore.

Just curious when they switched from the Fuerte to the Soberano was there an official way to exchange the old currency to the new at the bank? Also, if someone is still holding the Fuerte right now is it useless?

Thanks.

[MaraCucho]

Quick questions:

1) Is it not true that if you offer US $ to a girl she will up-charge you massively? And I mean factor of >5 massively? I guess it might sound better to her to offer for whatever $100,000 Boliviar than 16 US bucks.

2) Any idea of interpreting prices posted on escort sites? I see things like $1. 800(.000???) or $80.000 for what should be the same service. Huge discrepancy. I think I am not interpreting right. I know how to figure out Colombian prices. It's like either $150,000 where the $ means COP, or $150 where you have to add "000". Nobody ever quotes in actual US $. But in Venezuela BsF I am finding it very difficult to decipher.

Thanks.

1) It may depend on the place or the girl, but yeah, that's how it usually is. By the way, right now BsS 100 k are like $29-30.

2) What escort site is that? And our national currency right now is the Bolivar Soberano, the symbol is BS. S. BS. F is the old Bolivar Fuerte, which is not in use anymore.

[MaraCucho]

When everything is done and Maduro is no more in charge, it will take a quite a few years for this country to recover, it won't happen overnight. I say 3-4 years for things to start getting better, and a full decade ahead to see Venezuela on track once again. And that's if the next people do everything right. I kow it's difficult to understand for an outsider, but this country is in ruins, the damage done to our national infrastructure goes far deeper than what most people (even most Venezuelans) think. There will be a window of opportunity where the prices (for a foreigner's POW, of course) will still be quite affordable but Venezuela won't be in such turmoil anymore.

[Stinky Squid]

So true and I will be the first, listo!

The Tall Man.

And the prices will go up. The cool thing about VE is that it's uncharted territory for most people.

[Stinky Squid]

Back in August 2017 the government decriminalized the use of foreign currency for transactions, and thus nowadays it's possible to openly pay (and ask for payment) in dollars. In fact, I know a few shops that give their prices in dollars, since it is much more stable and they don't have to update the prices daily (or even a few times a day) as they do while dealing in Bolivares. So, yeah, it's perfectly possible to pay for everything in dollars. In some places you probably will need to speak with the management, but most will be more than happy to not touch devaluated bolivares. The drawback is that you have to be carefu on exchange rate involved, as you may find the occasional "vivito" that tries to charge you using the official rate instead of the black market rate. Also, bear in mind that 5 star hotels by law have to charge international prices in Dollars to non-venezuelans.

Quick questions:

1) Is it not true that if you offer US $ to a girl she will up-charge you massively? And I mean factor of >5 massively? I guess it might sound better to her to offer for whatever $100,000 Boliviar than 16 US bucks.

2) Any idea of interpreting prices posted on escort sites? I see things like $1. 800(.000???) or $80.000 for what should be the same service. Huge discrepancy. I think I am not interpreting right. I know how to figure out Colombian prices. It's like either $150,000 where the $ means COP, or $150 where you have to add "000". Nobody ever quotes in actual US $. But in Venezuela BsF I am finding it very difficult to decipher.

Thanks.