Medellin Reports

[JjBee62]

If the USA Border Folks ask you about the "women in Colombia" simply tell them you are gay then ask politely if you may proceed.

Right idea, but a better response is "if you think the women are hot, you should see the men."

[JjBee62]

Let me state I respect border agents who are doing an important job trying to keep dangerous people out of our country. And as Frank Burns said, its nice to be nice to the nice. But they are not Walmart greeters, they are looking for someone to bust. The more people they catch, the better for their career. Get an asshole or even worse an asshole having a bad day, they can greatly inconvenience you or worse. Be polite, be direct and move on.

People will rise to meet your expectations. If you expect them to be nice, they're usually nice. If you expect an asshole, you get an asshole.

I did some figuring a few days ago. Over the past 7 years I've crossed into and out of Canada, in a commercial truck nearly 500 times. That's almost 500 interactions with Canada CBP and almost 500 with US CBP. I've probably been sent to secondary inspection about 40 times. 4 times were in Canada, 3 for paperwork not being registered and 1 for a load inspection.

Most of the trips to secondary on the US side were for X-ray. Between midnight and 2 am they do certification and training for the X-ray equipment. If you cross the border at that time, in a truck, you've got about a 75% chance of getting sent to x-ray. Once I realized that, I changed my schedule and almost never got sent to secondary.

My negative experiences with CBP - 6. The first 2 were on my first trip. Got a bit of flack from both sides. Problem was, I was nervous. I didn't know the routine. I didn't know to shut my truck off at the booth. One time I'd been switched to a rental truck at the last minute and the license plate didn't match the paperwork. That time probably would have been OK, except the woman was training another agent.

Of the other 3, 2 were with the same asshole and 1 was with a guy having a bad day.

My airport entries are few. Nothing like you guys whose passports have more stamps than the post office. My first time, I screwed up using the kiosk, and the photo was only the bottom half of my face. Straight to secondary. Had to wait 20 minutes, then they emptied my luggage, 2 suitcases plus a guitar in a flight case. I've learned to travel lighter. When the officer started with the questions he was rather harsh. By the time he finished, he and 2 other agents were hanging out and laughing with me.

So out of about 1,000 face-to-face dealings with CBP, including about 40 additional interactions in secondary inspection, I've had 7 negative experiences and 4 were my fault. And the worst that happened was a few people were briefly rude to me.

I probably shouldn't count the Canadian CBP interactions, because Canadians are always nice and polite. If they caught you smuggling in 500 guns, they'd ask you if you like to hunt while handcuffing you.

Most of the CBP I encounter are just bored. They look at the same stuff, ask the same questions, hundreds of times a day. You think they're looking for someone to bust? Not in my experience. They're looking to get out of there and go home.

At the airport they're dealing with grumpy, cramped travelers. At the border they're dealing with tired, grumpy (and often stinky) truck drivers. All the time looking for someone who won't make eye contact or who seems nervous. Why be that guy? When I walk up, or drive up, I've got a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. I don't start spouting out all the details of my trip, but I do give them a bit of humanity.

On slow nights I've sat at the booth talking with an officer for 5 minutes, about sports, the product I haul, bad drivers or the crazy stuff they see. The next time I see that officer, they're all smiles.

I don't recommend blurting out the number of hookers you saw, or talking about how cheap cocaine is in Colombia. But I do recommend treating it just like all the other interactions you have every week. Unless you're one of the guys who is rude to everyone.

Waitress: "How are you today?" "I'm great. How are you?

Cashier: "How are you today?" "I'm great. How are you?

CBP: "How are you today?" "I'm great. How are you?

I expect every CBP officer to be a nice person doing a job they frequently complain about. I treat every CBP officer like they're a nice person doing a job they probably complain about. In response, almost every one turns out to be a nice person who is just doing their job.

I can't imagine how difficult my life would be if I treated each one like some asshole who's looking for the chance to ruin my day because he's having a bad day.

[Mr Enternational]

For the 1001 time. Use the ATM in MDE. They have them right at the airport and then after that they are all over MDE.

No other method to obtain pesos comes close.

If they make it that complicated to get money, you can imagine how complicated it will be to get a woman.

[Mojo Bandit]

Any tips, advise. I will be in a great location in laureles near la70. Can I find out best way to exchange money. Best taxi app to use at the airport around the town. I exchanged $200 through us bank and lost $30 doing so 580000 pesos. My thought is there must be a better way. Can I get names or address of all the casas in laureles. Also it seems like more foreigners like the hunt in el centro than parque lleras. Can I get feedback.

Normally just using your ATM card is the best way to get cash. Sounds like they charged you 15% yo get currency up front. I have seen steep prices like this before. Your bank gets the best exchange rate when you use the ATM in a foreign country, you still pay international exchange fee of a anywhere from $1 -$3 depending on the percentage your bank is charging you and the amount. Colpatria Scotia ATMs (there are also Colpatria and Scotia but it must say Colpatria -Scotia) have been reported as not having ATM fees but these can be harder to find.

To learn more about casas around Medellin you need to study this thread that I am supplying the link to. There is a map and a list. The list is a downloadable PDF file and the map is a custom made Google Map with the link in post #52 in the Medellin Map and List thread. I noticed that the closest Casas to Laureles seem to be along Avenida 33. Thank World Travel 69 for putting in the research and time on these.

http://www.internationalsexguide.nl/...n-Map-and-List

The information on the map is always changing so I would suggest looking at specific places and then researching by plugging the name into the search feature of the Medellin Reports thread, you find this toward the top of the page to the right of in the middle gray bar running across the top the thread. Click where is says "Search Thread" then a search box opens.

[VsebudetNY]

Border folk will respond "How are the men?".

ROFL! Turgid, thank you! You made my day.

[John Gault]

For the 1001 time. Use the ATM in MDE. They have them right at the airport and then after that they are all over MDE.

No other method to obtain pesos comes close.

[John Gault]

Hello,

I have been doing more research on Medellin, and a few girls on the Photoprepagos site caught my attention. A lot of these girls seem to have their own apartments around the city, and are willing to do incall. This feels more convenient for me, since a) I don't have to rent a love motel, and b) I can go to the girl at my own time without having to sit around waiting.

A few posts from a while back mentioned that these incalls are safe, but is it advised to just rent a love motel? Is there a risk of running into anything at the incall location? LOL this is going to be my first time visiting, so just wanted to see what the more experienced mongers think about this.

They are not 100 % safe. There have been times when the girl drugs the victim or a male shows up after you are in place and then he robs you.

For a new man to MDE your best bet to be on the safe side is to go to a casa. I have never heard of any real problems with safety in a casa.

If you are thinking about not have to wait on a Chica then a casa is also a no waiting game.

[LoverBoy1024]

I wouldn't give up on the SW's in Medellin just yet. The reason you think your having worse luck in Medellin with the SW's than in Tijuana is because most of the services in Tijuana are kind of set on a menu with typically includes a base price which includes two positions and their pants or skirt off, and then you have the add ONS, etc. So basically your getting a menu, where as here, it doesn't work that way, and anything goes.

You don't really need any negotiating skills, yet you do need some basic Spanish speaking skills. You can ask the SW's what they want, and after you hear the number, you just tell them what you are willing to pay and what you expect for their services and that they can "take it or leave it". It's that simple, and this is exactly how the Colombians go about it.

And always tell them that you pay afterwards, and make that clear before you go upstairs with them versus after your in the room. I personally don't like the Vennies that much, they seem to have an attitude like they are better than the Colombians and smarter which is a perfect example of what happened to you, however there are some nice ones around.

That's great advice. Thank you so much.

I wrote a much longer continuation of my previous post regarding "scam alert", but I'm not sure it got posted or not so I will just conclude it shortly here.

I paid in advance for a TLN and promised services. However right after renting a room for the night I got a threesome pushed on me from a cousin that needed our help. So while I already paid for GFE for the night, we couldn't do that unless I paid for her cousin (in advance) too. So I told both of them to just go away.

So this is perfect advice from Surfer. Pay after only.

[Zhagolo52]

You can also WU your self the $. I forget what the sweet spot for fees vs $ is.

Any tips, advise. I will be in a great location in laureles near la70. Can I find out best way to exchange money. Best taxi app to use at the airport around the town. I exchanged $200 through us bank and lost $30 doing so 580000 pesos. My thought is there must be a better way. Can I get names or address of all the casas in laureles. Also it seems like more foreigners like the hunt in el centro than parque lleras. Can I get feedback.

.

[Turgid]

If the USA Border Folks ask you about the "women in Colombia" simply tell them you are gay then ask politely if you may proceed.

Border folk will respond "How are the men?".

[PdSuave]

Any tips, advise. I will be in a great location in laureles near la70. Can I find out best way to exchange money. Best taxi app to use at the airport around the town. I exchanged $200 through us bank and lost $30 doing so 580000 pesos. My thought is there must be a better way. Can I get names or address of all the casas in laureles. Also it seems like more foreigners like the hunt in el centro than parque lleras. Can I get feedback.

Nothing more to add.

[Fun Luvr]

Any tips, advise. I will be in a great location in laureles near la70. Can I find out best way to exchange money. Best taxi app to use at the airport around the town. I exchanged $200 through us bank and lost $30 doing so 580000 pesos. My thought is there must be a better way. Can I get names or address of all the casas in laureles. Also it seems like more foreigners like the hunt in el centro than parque lleras. Can I get feedback.

If you are in the situation in which you must exchange money rather than use ATM's, go to the Unicentro shopping center. A place in there named Panacambios had the best rate when I checked last month. The xe.com rate was 3395/$1 and they were giving 3250/$1. DiDi and Beat are the most popular ride-share apps. I think DiDi may have more cars. Cabify is the yellow taxi app. I use the bus from the airport, so I don't know if any of those apps work at the airport. I use Facebook as my source for chicas, thus I don't know much about casas, el centro, or Parque Lleras.

[Knowledge]

To notes for you: (1) ATMs and (2) RTFF.

Any tips, advise. I will be in a great location in laureles near la70. Can I find out best way to exchange money. Best taxi app to use at the airport around the town. I exchanged $200 through us bank and lost $30 doing so 580000 pesos. My thought is there must be a better way. Can I get names or address of all the casas in laureles. Also it seems like more foreigners like the hunt in el centro than parque lleras. Can I get feedback.

[LoverBoy1024]

So off I go looking for trouble and found it. Skinny Vinnie who quoted me 50 k and of course I didn't negotiate down to 30 k like I should have. And when we get to the room she asks for payment up front. Now I should have negotiated all this beforehand but didn't. So I get what is coming to me in spades. I tried the "if you do a great job you get a great tip, not good then no tip. " So she proceeds to ask for another 50 k. Wait, that's not the way this is supposed to go! Anyway that's two for two in Botero Plaza up selling me without Mersey.

I started the day taking a trip on the Metro Cable line. I got some good pictures of the city from the height and also some pictures of the Favelas. On the way back I picked up some beer, nuts and cheese at the Exito store on CL. 48 #46-115, Medellin. On the way back I passed the Botero Plaza and didn't see anyone from the day before.

I was thinking of eating something but also wanted to see if the girl from Yakusa was working this Sunday. So instead I popped a Viagra and took a shower. I made sure to shave closely and ensure that every part of me was clean and ready for our date. But to my disappointment; upon reaching the said establishment I was told that there was only one girl there today and she wasn't the one I was looking for. And as I looked a the guy that was waiting his turn; I just knew the right answer was to say "thank you very much. I will come back on Monday."

Immediately after exiting Yakusa I got a text from Skinny Vinnie. I almost decided to put her off, but I had this crazy idea in my head that I could turn a money first clock watcher into a GFE. I looked at that idea and turned it around in my head. On the one point I was very nice to her the day before. I could play up that store of good will and maybe turn it into a nice encounter. So she is texting me devils and lovey stuff and says she is hungry for me. "OK", I said. "Where do we meet?

The biggest cons are possible on people who con. My con? I was thinking about how I could get something that doesn't belong to me. Kind of like the FBers who are trolling FaceBook looking for naive young girls who they hope are going to give them more than they have a right to. They want GFE without paying for the commitment of a family or even the commitment of a boyfriend. That was my con. My con was the gasoline that made her con burn. But when you are feeling the flames it is like sacrificing a pawn in Chess. The pawn has a purpose. It is an acceptable price.

So we agreed to meet at the place where we met the day before. The street near the museum that some have named little Caracas. She asked that we don't go to the short time hotel we went to last time, but go to her hotel room. I thought "that sounds kind of girlfriend." And said "yes that sounds good". We walk quickly up the street; she almost runs.

She asks to buy some beer for the room. The room price was 20 k pesos. I gave her money and something additional to buy some beer. We walked up the stairs to her room. Of course I thought that could be the price to add me for the night. The room was as expected. It was a mess.

As I sat on the bed I noticed that there were crumbs of marijuana on the bed. Empty beer bottles on the dresser. Clothing popped out of drawers and cubbyholes. And I identified a pipe.

Part One of a multiparty post.

[PussyRiot]

If the USA Border Folks ask you about the "women in Colombia" simply tell them you are gay then ask politely if you may proceed.

Hahaha. Too funny.