Thread: Cartagena Reports
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12-04-23 07:06 #13807
Posts: 166Christmas prep & questions
Went through the forum, here are some questions I have as a CAR 1st timer coming for Christmas weekend. I'll make a detailed trip report and willing to share any exp I have from North Am and Europe.
Recs on where to stay girl friendly airbnb / hotel that's walking distance to clocktower / clubs and Playa bocagrande? Even worth staying walking distance and just Uber everywhere? Uber separate from picked up girls?
Background: Early 30 syo mixed brown gringo, have passed for Dominican or dark Cuban / Brazilian. Have exp (Miami / ATL, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Montreal, Tijuana, Cancun / Tulum, Bogota). My Spanish is weak, but enough to negotiate prices / service, greetings. I'm going solo.
Goal: To as safely & efficiently, have sex with working girls for my short stay. I should be situated by Fri evening and leave very early Mon morning. I don't plan on doing touristy things, or going too luxury on food until I figure out the girls. I don't care to drink much alcohol while soliciting.
Logistics: Last recs on where to stay in forum came up short.
Gameplan: 1 pm-6 pm range check out Playa HW. 10 pm-1 am scope out clocktower & clubs. I'd like to get 2 or 3 girls a day. I feel like I'll get the gringo tax even tho I pass for LatinX (until I speak). Plain face, but I'm in good shape & dress clean (but also plain, nothing flashy).
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12-04-23 06:17 #13806
Posts: 15925Originally Posted by Adinga [View Original Post]
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12-04-23 03:23 #13805
Posts: 271Don't pay it -- approach next one who catches you attention.
The ballpark for Clock tower sh be 300,000 -320,000.
It is Christmas season so prices will be inflated.
I recommend staying out of the clubs as it is difficult to interview / converse with the girls.
Good luck.
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12-03-23 06:07 #13804
Posts: 2Wow this place is overpriced
My first time here to my shock a lot of the Chicas are asking $100 USD.
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12-01-23 05:17 #13803
Posts: 1316Call 165 Gaula in case of extortion.
https://www.policia.gov.co/
https://www.cartagena.gov.co/denunciascorrupcion
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11-30-23 20:37 #13802
Posts: 3234Originally Posted by WetNose [View Original Post]
I am not saying the poster is wrong but he makes it seem like there is this Colombian versus North American attitude. Cab drivers try to rip off anyone including Colombians. Yeah, if you go to Hollywood beach, you are going to have the toots bug the crap out of you even if you are Colombian, but if you go to Playa CastilloGrande, the toots are nowhere near as obnoxious.
I don't know about the overcharging at a restaurant thing, but I do know that often when I have had a disputed charge, the bank / credit card company will put a stop to it and compensate me. And my gal stares at the bills with an eagle eye to make sure we are not overcharged for anything.
I am sure there are corrupt police in Cartagena, but I have dealt with much more corrupt ones in and around Cancun.
I have not had any issues with Cartagena like what is described and I suspect it is because I hang mostly in Manga and have not been looking for drugs and or sex. If I were looking for women around the clock tower at night, I am sure things would be different.
And yeah, I get the poverty. I get how high rents are and how much of the city is off limits to people who do not have the money, and that creates tension.
Still, he makes it sound like everyone gets mugged or ripped off, and I have not been. I just stay away from the troublesome areas and stay away even more so at night. When I last looked out my window, there were three cruise ships docked in CTG. If things were really as bad as the author says, would the cruise ships still be coming?
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11-30-23 19:50 #13801
Posts: 273From a post on reddit:
Hi there. I'm from Medellin, Colombia, but I travel a lot and I've been thinking about doing a post about Cartagena, as I think many people need to know the reality.
What made me want to do it today was the recent post where a guy talks about his trip through Latin America and how he was robbed in Cartagena.
I would just like you to know that Cartagena is an absolutely spectacular city, I have been to every continent and over 30 countries and I still think Cartagena, in terms of beauty, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I think it is not worth visiting unless you are up for a very rough and perhaps disappointing experience, and here is why:
The basis of Cartagena's problem is that it has the most corrupt politicians in Colombia, there is so much corruption that there are only very rich or extremely poor people in Cartagena. Of course, there are exceptions, but visiting Cartagena you can see the inequality if you go outside the historic center.
Precisely because of this inequality, there are so many people trying to make you buy something from them, every three seconds (I swear, this is not an exaggeration), they will have sellers trying to sell anything; sometimes aggressively.
What you will not realize unless it is too late, is that many people in Cartagena have created extremely sophisticated strategies to make you pay a lot more than what things cost, especially if you look like a foreigner.
And I'm not talking about a bottle of water costing them $5 when it should cost $1, I'm talking about, almost every day in the Colombian news, we see several foreigners being offered shrimp on the beach, or a massage at a spa center, or a dinner at a restaurant that looks legit, and then their bill goes up to over USD $1500 for some reason the vendors claim. And because there is so much corruption, almost all the police can be bought, which means that these vendors already know the cops and promise them a cut of the money, so the police will be against you.
I teach Spanish as a foreign language, and all of my students have come back incredibly disappointed from their trip to Cartagena. It is still amazing to me how it remains such a popular destination. Just yesterday, my student from Canada came back from Cartagena and told me that the first night he was walking back to his hotel and two policemen (yes, two policemen) robbed him.
Again, I do think that Cartagena is, architecturally, the most beautiful city in Colombia, but the experience is so terrible that it doesn't end up being what anyone expects. I'm sure there are many exceptions and that it is possible to have an amazing time in Cartagena, but if you are planning a trip to this city, please be aware of the things I say.
Cartagena pre-COVID was a much better place to visit. The lockdowns had a dire effect on the people. I wish more people would realize this, but the the majority of Cartageneros earn less than 50 k pesos for an honest day's work. In the barrios east of Armenia, there is truly abject poverty.
Without tourists coming in during lockdowns and with an influx of Venezuelan migrants, the city declined even further. City leadership has been poor as services have declined in quality.
While all this happened, as the lockdowns ended, instagram blew the city up. So while the poor have become even worse off, the city is now receiving an increased amount of tourists that would normally go to Cancun or Punta Cana. Now the gringo pricing is driven way up, and the public beaches in Cartagena proper, which were never a good place to go, have become unbearable.
I live in Manga. A sit down restaurant was just robbed a few blocks from the police center earlier this year. Pie de la Popa is across the bridge and has seen a lot of robberies lately. The police presence is even stronger downtown, and at night, they don't allow motos in, which makes it even safer.
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11-18-23 07:21 #13800
Posts: 56Originally Posted by TusiMan [View Original Post]
And I honestly didn't even think about tipping the doorman.
Even with this data point ID be nervous of booking an airbnb that "doesn't allow sex tourism" because I could potentially risk my whole vacation.
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11-17-23 01:52 #13799
Posts: 3281Originally Posted by Nypher [View Original Post]
Most of the world robbery happens by being beaten up. Killing is not common but Colombia is different. I felt quite safe in Cartagena even walking at el centro at night. It is better to keep to major thoroughfare where there lots of people walking. I found Uber us quite safe and fairly inexpensive.
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11-16-23 06:58 #13798
Posts: 2Originally Posted by PerkinWarbeck [View Original Post]
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11-15-23 20:15 #13797
Posts: 68New Years in Cartagena?
Does anyone has an opinion on spending New Years Eve in Cartagena? For the maximum impact does it make sense to just wonder around and have random good time with people (I understand the security concerns but I'm relatively experienced traveler) or try to book the place like El Beluarte and just go there?
How does it compare to the New Years eve at Rio's Copacabana beach which I think is something that one must do once in a lifetime?
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11-04-23 21:11 #13796
Posts: 16Boat Rental
Greetings everyone and thank you to the many contributions. I have shared a few myself. I'm heading to CTG in a couple weeks and was wondering if anyone had any info on boat rental recommendations. I don't feel like getting haggled or jerked when we get to the dock. Thanks in advance.
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11-04-23 20:26 #13795
Posts: 2513Originally Posted by Gabacho [View Original Post]
The only reason I see to bring 1000 USD cash to Colombia is if they are black money that one does not want to deposit in a bank account. In that case, ok, take that money to Colombia and spend it for fun.
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11-01-23 16:14 #13794
Posts: 1233Originally Posted by JohnGault [View Original Post]
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11-01-23 15:12 #13793
Posts: 1360Not dollars.
Originally Posted by Minilabs2020 [View Original Post]