Medellin Reports

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]Someone else may give you better info, but here is what I know:

1. Your apartment in Poblado is far away from Centro, and is relatively safe.

2. You do need to visit Centro during the day. I suggest you take a taxi to Carrera 43 & calle 54. That should put you in centro. Then you can take a walk around. You can also open google map and look up the address. It will give you an idea where Centro is.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
Start your visit from Museo de Antioquia, preferably in early afternoon or morning. It's really worth visiting. With the museum in Bogota, this is the second place where most paintings and sculptures of Botero are displayed. Undoubtedly, the most important place to visit in Medellin.

The square in front of Museo de Antioquia is very nice, with many bronze statues of Botero. He gifted them to the city. You can stroll around and see lots of humanity there, normal people mostly of very popular classes. Be always very careful to not show you may have money etc. Avoid using Google Maps on your expensive phone. Better use your sense of orientation and walk around in circles or look at street numbers.

It is right in the center of Centro. You have lots of street girls and bars around that. Make a circle around.
To see people, shops, street food, from Museo entrance walk straight and you see the metro. Avoid walking to the left on your first visit, but walk to right.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]It means downtown. Typically in any city in Colombia "El Centro" will mean downtown.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]For discussion in this forum, el centro is an area of about ten square blocks around Parque Bolivar. That will encompass almost all the casas, strip clubs and street walker areas in downtown.

As for safety for first timers, it is easier to tell you the areas to be in at night. In and around Parque Lleras in Poblado is probably the safest area at night because of the number of people and a police presence. Laureles-Estadio is also relative safe anytime. Other than those two areas, don't be walking around alone at night.

I have stayed in apartments very close to where you will be staying, and walked that area at night without any problem. I suggest you visit downtown by walking down calle 10 from your apartment to the Poblado metro station. Take the metro towards Niquia and get off at Parque Berrio. When you exit the metro and walk down the steps, if you walk under the metro you will be going towards the street walker areas and the Conejitas strip club. Do not walk more than three or four blocks from the metro in that direction. If you walk in the other direction (not under the metro), you will be going toward the casas and other strip clubs.

Suggestion: In this forum, stroll down to "Map of Casas of Centro in Medellin" and follow the directions in one of the messages from World Travel 69 to request permission to view the map. Make notes of the places you want to visit in the downtown area.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone.[/QUOTE]El centro just means downtown. I guess it has been negatively hyped so much that people that have not been are starting to picture it as a war zone. LOL. In what other cities around the world are people advising others to stay away from downtown? It sounds ridiculous.

You will not be camping in a hot zone. In fact, it's pretty much ice cold in terms of major crime. Nowhere is completely safe so do stay alert, especially at night.

As for Centro, it's best to avoid it at night until you are more familiar. The advice I often give about the daytime is that there is safety in numbers. You are much less likely to have problems when you are in a populated spot. Once you veer off into a lonely area is when the problems become more frequent. Finally, be aware of what kind of population is surrounding you in Centro. There are side streets in areas like Prado that are full of people but they are people you are best to avoid. The difference will be obvious.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2269230] In what other cities around the world are people advising others to stay away from downtown? It sounds ridiculous.[/QUOTE]Dallas. There is nothing to do and see there at daytime, and at night it is more lonely than Downtown London in "28 Days After".

Joking apart, I appreciate your comments and notes most of the times, but I don't understand why you insist in minimizing risks. You must understand that among readers of this forum there are also fat asses, for who the most thrilling place they visited in their life was Disneyland in Florida. If you minimize risks in that way, some of them may decide to give a try and disembark to downtown Bogota or Medellin with flip flops, I-pad in the left hand, Gatorade bottle in the right. We must be responsible and present objectively risks with the good things.

[QUOTE=Kavin76;2269038]I have read it 200+ times to "avoid el centro" or "don't go to el centro at night", but where in the city is "el centro" located? I know it is spanish for the "the center", but I still have not seen anyone give a geographical description of it here, or can I find it online. Is it 40 blocks north to south / east to west? What street areas border "el centro' region?. How big is it? Etc, etc. It would be helpful to first time visitors. I booked my apartment in El Poblado area (Carrera 43 a & calle 10), so I hope I I am not camping in the middle of a hot zone. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]Very roughly, El Centro is between Calle 37 and Calle 60, east of Autopista Norte to about Carrera 39. That's a larger area than most gringos are talking about when they warn about El Centro, but if you're going to completely avoid El Centro, you'll want to avoid the whole area I mentioned.

El Poblado isn't in El Centro. Otherwise it would be called El Centro.

Of course there are plenty of other places in Medellin they should be telling you to avoid as well.

[QUOTE=BlackPage;2269256]Joking apart, I appreciate your comments and notes most of the times, but I don't understand why you insist in minimizing risks. You must understand that among readers of this forum there are also fat asses, for who the most thrilling place they visited in their life was Disneyland in Florida. If you minimize risks in that way, some of them may decide to give a try and disembark to downtown Bogota or Medellin with flip flops, I-pad in the left hand, Gatorade bottle in the right. We must be responsible and present objectively risks with the good things.[/QUOTE]I understand telling people to be careful and not be flashy, but this board has people terrified of even stepping into a place that thousands go to everyday with no harm happening to them. There are risks to everything. If you drive a car you could get into an accident. Hell, you even have to be careful staying home with the home invasions happening these days. In the Bogota thread people are afraid to go to Santa Fe the first time, then they go there and see there is nothing to really be afraid of. Sure there are a few homeless people, and a few drug addicts on the street, but from all these warnings it paints a picture that armed robberies and murders are happening on the corner every hour like it is some kind of Mad Max apocalypse, which is not the case.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2269300]I understand telling people to be careful and not be flashy, but this board has people terrified of even stepping into a place that thousands go to everyday with no harm happening to them. There are risks to everything. If you drive a car you could get into an accident. Hell, you even have to be careful staying home with the home invasions happening these days. In the Bogota thread people are afraid to go to Santa Fe the first time, then they go there and see there is nothing to really be afraid of. Sure there are a few homeless people, and a few drug addicts on the street, but from all these warnings it paints a picture that armed robberies and murders are happening on the corner every hour like it is some kind of Mad Max apocalypse, which is not the case.[/QUOTE]I kindly disagree. There are also many people with their limbs / arms missing walking around. I still don't know how that many people lose their arms / legs and wonder if the cause of their tragedies is similar. If there is a common factor I always see at least one robbery or fight break out when I visit el Centro. I befriended some cops and they were telling my how a Venezuelan hooker robbed an European man for his phone and shanked him with a knife. El Centro is not for everybody and you have to have a high risk tolerance. If you want to visit el Centro go with a Colombian friend who knows the area.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2269300]I understand telling people to be careful and not be flashy, but this board has people terrified of even stepping into a place that thousands go to everyday with no harm happening to them. There are risks to everything. If you drive a car you could get into an accident. Hell, you even have to be careful staying home with the home invasions happening these days. In the Bogota thread people are afraid to go to Santa Fe the first time, then they go there and see there is nothing to really be afraid of. Sure there are a few homeless people, and a few drug addicts on the street, but from all these warnings it paints a picture that armed robberies and murders are happening on the corner every hour like it is some kind of Mad Max apocalypse, which is not the case.[/QUOTE][URL]https://data.colombiareports.com/medellin-crime-security-statistics/[/URL]

It is unlikely that a gringo would get killed while visiting el centro even in flip flops. More likely to get robbed.

But it is worthwhile to understand that el centro is a lot more dangerous than say Poblado.

Just click on the areas of the map (Homicides by district) and it will give you the total number of murders per year. For 2017. I think the number of murders in Poblado was about 6 and for El Centro about 120.

[QUOTE=JjBee62;2268829]I'm not sure I follow your logic. If a girl is making 300 k working 3 hours, and is possibly picking up another 300-500 k per week modeling, why would she be willing to hangout with a stranger, unless he's paying really well?

On the other hand, a girl who is lucky to make 150 k after doing 6 guys over 8 hours in a casa is likely to be thrilled to hang around for 3 or 4 hours and get 200-300 k.

The first girl can afford to go do things with her friends, or go shopping with her family. Unless you're offering to fly her somewhere exotic, you're just offering her the chance to do things she would rather do with someone else. Earning another 300 k for another 3 hours isn't a big priority. I'm not saying she won't, but she already knows how much you paid for 1 hour with her. She's doing the math and coming up with 1 million for 3 hours.

The casa girl, or the Facebook girl, they are more likely to want to hangout. I rarely had a Facebook girl who was in a rush to leave. Most of them, I had to give a nudge to let them know it was time to go.[/QUOTE]JjBee62, you do make a lot of sense. I suppose it would be quite difficult (and expensive) to convince those girls to hang out with you if they don't really need the money to begin with. I just personally have a bit of a mental block about being able to relax with someone that has had 8/10 guys a day for as long as she can remember.

Will have to hit those FB / SA / Tinder girls then! Although in order to do that I'l probably (definitely) have to move out of the mansion and get my own place. Time to grow up I guess!

[QUOTE=Baudelairemod;2269336]JjBee62, you do make a lot of sense. I suppose it would be quite difficult (and expensive) to convince those girls to hang out with you if they don't really need the money to begin with. I just personally have a bit of a mental block about being able to relax with someone that has had 8/10 guys a day for as long as she can remember.

Will have to hit those FB / SA / Tinder girls then! Although in order to do that I'l probably (definitely) have to move out of the mansion and get my own place. Time to grow up I guess![/QUOTE]Why would a chick that charges 150 mill an hour stay with a guy all night for 300 mill and live with a guy for a month for 3000 mill or even 2000 mill?

Plenty of chicks make decisions that do not help their bottom line at all if they actually like spending time with you. Or at the very least don't dislike you.

Don't pay chicas to "hang out" with you. It rarely works. She'll be bored. If she wants to hang out with you that's great. I let them hang out if they want and pay them if I fuck them.

They'll hang out with you if it involves dinners, drinks, shopping whatever usually. Sometimes even just a movie. More importantly, they'll do it if you're someone they don't mind being seen in public with.

The ones who start asking for an hourly rate I don't engage with at all.

[QUOTE=YippieKayay;2269369]Don't pay chicas to "hang out" with you. It rarely works. She'll be bored. If she wants to hang out with you that's great. I let them hang out if they want and pay them if I fuck them.

They'll hang out with you if it involves dinners, drinks, shopping whatever usually. Sometimes even just a movie. More importantly, they'll do it if you're someone they don't mind being seen in public with.

The ones who start asking for an hourly rate I don't engage with at all.[/QUOTE]Sorry I should have specified. By hanging out I meant a situation where they'd come over, we'd have a drink or two and then get down to business. I've done my fair share in the past by taking out to dinner girls but that's not really one for me anymore. Conversations tend to drag and you just find yourself wondering why did you ever thought that was going to be a good idea in the first place??

Basically all I want is just a nice (and obviously hot) girl to spend time with outside the casa and no time constraints. And that I can put in a cab after 90 minutes or so! Don't worry, I'm not looking for a holiday girlfriend.