Medellin Reports

I probley have more colombian friends than any one.
I have been told by them that the drug trade has never been bigger, its just more under the radar now.

A.G.


[QUOTE=Ratman1]When I say this isn't disney world, no one has ever been robbed at gun point disney world that I know of, and you do not need to have your guard up 24/7 like you do down here. I like to go a lot of places that my colombian pals avoid for safety reasons, but I NEVER get drunk when I go to these places and always watch my 6. Several USA papers have published articles in the last month about how the cocaine days and drug lords are a thing of the past in Medellin. Well that's a crock of shit, just want the people that do come here to be aware that you need to be careful here. A few days ago yahoo had listed Medellin as a great, safe, and inexpensive place to retire, the article was fairly accurate but I think it was a stretch as far as the safety part. Florida is full of crack heads and thieves but I definitely feel a lot safer in fla than Medellin.

Rm[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Ratman1]I see douche bag gringos dressed like that everyday in Parque Lleras. They are fucking clueless as to how fucking ridiculous they look. The locals laugh at them. Medellin will be like Costa Rica in a few more years. It's such a shame ...[/QUOTE]

Oh boy, please don't get me going.

Hey Medellin is a great place, the secret's out though, it's been out for a while actually.

I do miss the days before maps of el central casas, Loutron at 220K pesos, gringos with fanny packs, etc, etc.
Things change, however, and that's just the way it is.

Guys will keep coming cause the chicas are hot and cheap, though it does amaze me that guys are paying $400 USD for a few hours or so with a hot barrio chica.

Medellin is a fun place, I still dig it, and welcome to all, but I'm exploring other pastures for settling down.

Take care amigo ...

[QUOTE=Ratman1]Schwmm, I live here and don't ned help finding girls, therefore I am never on the board. I joined the site when I decided to move out of Costa Rica and a lot of my cr friends returned after colombian vacations telling this was the place to go. A friend of mine came down on vacation a few days ago and I hit the boards for a copy of the most recent casa map for him. Read through some post and thought I would give my. 02. Now do things add up for you?[/QUOTE]

Sure dude. It all adds up.

You're the bomb.

But in your initial posts you sure as hell came off as some crack fueled spammer.

Just my 02 cents.

Good Luck.

[QUOTE=Ratman1]BTW Schwmm,

I'm also a member of another site but never posted there either, because I was living in cr and to busy partying to spend time posting. Kinda like now that I'm living in Medellin I never spend time on ISG because I'm partying my balls off all the time. I can see how if you live in the states and have lots of free time, you might enjoy spending hours on the board planning your next trip or keeping tabs on your western union novia. LOL things starting to add up for ya now? Cierto! Oops have to go as it's prime time at La mayorista. Suerte[/QUOTE]

Wow, I kinda like this guy! Geez and I though I was the #1 Obnoxious, Realist, Cynical Bastard on this board! je je lol!

p.s. CUBANUT, how the F did you get demoted to "regular member" again? ja ja lol

[QUOTE=Ratman1]You could just stick you head in a hole like an ostrich. You might have noticed I do not have a business to promote here in Medellin. As some folks on the board do. I call them as I see them, and do not sugar coat things. Feel free to come on down and enjoy Medellin but you really do need to watch your 6 down here. I have a lot of colombian friends and they all tell me it is getting more dangerous, my gringo friends that have lived here for many years tell me the same thing. If I say had a business that relied on gringos coming here to make money I too would want to play down the crime and violence, but like I said I live here to have fun and have no tourist related businesses to promote! The gringos that live here we meet for lunch everyday at cafe juan valdez in parque lleras at 11:45 then go have lunch together. A lot of the guys in the group have lived here for years and have tons of knowledge about Medellin. Several of the guys are x military and have worked with the colombian government combating FARC and the drug gangs. Feel free to join us, the guys can hook you up with any service you might need as far a doctors, dentists, lawyers, visa help, plus they are a lot of fun to hang out with. They helped me a lot when I decided to move here, I was introduced to an honest lawyer which is hard to come by in Central and South America. LOL[/QUOTE]

Ratman1 -On Dec 15-27 is my fourth trip to Colombia but my first to Medellin. First off I am not at all heavy into P4P (use to be 10 years ago) so my day consists of a lot of walking the city (daytime), museums, sitting at a cafe for hours reading a book and writing, these kinds of things.

Spent the month of May in Bogota and wore nice jeans and a clean shirt with no writing or god forbid flowers on it, jejeje - my question:

In Medellin I plan on dressing up a notch or two, nice dark slacks, long sleeve dressy shirt w/collar, does this help me blend in or stand out? BTW I got one SMALL problem with me that I can not do anything about, I am a 6'-7" (201 cm), so I even stand out here in SoCal.

I am getting just a bit reserved when I read these rob stories. I wish some one could just "Say it aint so".

Thanks, The Tall Man

[QUOTE=The Tall Man]Ratman1 -On Dec 15-27 is my fourth trip to Colombia but my first to Medellin. First off I am not at all heavy into P4P (use to be 10 years ago) so my day consists of a lot of walking the city (daytime), museums, sitting at a cafe for hours reading a book and writing, these kinds of things.

Spent the month of May in Bogota and wore nice jeans and a clean shirt with no writing or god forbid flowers on it, jejeje - my question:

In Medellin I plan on dressing up a notch or two, nice dark slacks, long sleeve dressy shirt w/collar, does this help me blend in or stand out? BTW I got one SMALL problem with me that I can not do anything about, I am a 6'-7" (201 cm), so I even stand out here in SoCal.

I am getting just a bit reserved when I read these rob stories. I wish some one could just "Say it aint so".

Thanks, The Tall Man[/QUOTE]Tall Man,

Some guys get to relaxed and lose their comfort zone(not to say they should be robbed). We get incorporated into the community and relax. Fuck that, always keep your awareness and be unpredictable.

My rules:

(1) Never get totally fucked up that you don't care.

(2) Never tell your personal biz, where your staying, what you do, or where you keep your valuables.

(3) When leaving the club never take the first taxi, cross the street and catch a taxi, or step around the corner wait 30 seconds and see who looks around it. Personally I always take the third cab.

(4) don't let girls fix a drink for you at the crib.

(5) Put all valuables in the safe, passport, cash and credit cards. Only keep out cash for the transaction.

(6) If your in a secured builing tip the guards and let them know its standard to walk the girls out. If she comes out alone something is wrong. I always walk the girl out as a sign everything is cool(plus the girls think its romantic).

(7) Watch the waiters, they will act dumb with your change, ask for your money.

(8) When in Mayorista never sit alone looking like a newbie mark. I always play the wall with the hookers when alone or grab a beer and play the sidelines.

(9) don't force yourself into a fucked up situation hoping it will be okay. Its okay to go home and jack off LMAO.

(10) For me personally if they bring up drugs I'm out.

Follow these guidelines and you will be okay. You are 6'7, you stand out.

[QUOTE=The Tall Man]Ratman1 -On Dec 15-27 is my fourth trip to Colombia but my first to Medellin. First off I am not at all heavy into P4P (use to be 10 years ago) so my day consists of a lot of walking the city (daytime), museums, sitting at a cafe for hours reading a book and writing, these kinds of things.

Spent the month of May in Bogota and wore nice jeans and a clean shirt with no writing or god forbid flowers on it, jejeje - my question:

In Medellin I plan on dressing up a notch or two, nice dark slacks, long sleeve dressy shirt w/collar, does this help me blend in or stand out? BTW I got one SMALL problem with me that I can not do anything about, I am a 6'-7" (201 cm), so I even stand out here in SoCal.

I am getting just a bit reserved when I read these rob stories. I wish some one could just "Say it aint so".

Thanks, The Tall Man[/QUOTE]The women all dress to the 9's when they go out to the nice bars and clubs, the ladies will notice the way you guess without a doubt. Just go out to one of the nice malls, most of the women that walk past you will check you out and take a good look at your shoes. I read every thing ever posted on ISG about Medellin before I moved here and didn't take the dress for success advice to heart. The advice was 100 percent correct. All the colombians I hang out with dress in nice quality oxford shirts or polo shirts on warm days, slacks, belt, nice, shoes. The third day I was here I went shopping at one of the malls and had flip flops on 95 percent of the ladies I walked past check me out top to bottom and seemed to dwell on my flip flops! Haven't worn them in public since. You taking the effort to dress well WILL be appreciated by any woman that isn't a p4p, don't worry about your height, at 6'7" you would scare the hell out of me. I would pick a smaller target to rob. LOL there are lots of colombianos with green and blue eyes so until a gringo opens his mouth to speak they don't know you are not a local. The locals can tell a gringo in a minute if he dresses like he is heading to the beach in shorts and a wife beater t shirt.

Enjoy your trip,

RM

[QUOTE=Schwmmr]Sure dude. It all adds up.

You're the bomb.

But in your initial posts you sure as hell came off as some crack fueled spammer.

Just my 02 cents.

Good Luck.[/QUOTE]
Dude I am not the bomb but do enjoy watching people, if you watch the locals you will learn from them. I was fortunate in that right off the bat I met a really popular local businessman and he introduced them to all his friends. Everywhere we go together everybody knows this dude and they all come over to say hello. And I mean everywhere, even an hour or two outside Medellin. It kinda trips me out sometimes. He is well liked and I'm hanging with a kewl crowd that others gravitate too, just luck of the draw I guess.

Didn't mean to come off so heavy but I think when a travel reporter takes a few day trip and does a LITTLE research and writes about how safe Medellin is and that the cocaine days are over and I know otherwise because I live hear and hear first hand accounts of my friends being robbed or drugged. It scares me too, I have changed my mo, I always make sure I'm not being tailed when I leave any part of town that's a little sketchy. Even when I stopped at a red light, one of my pals was robbed at gun point while waiting at a light, motorcycles can cut cars and ride the dotted line and always move to the front at traffic lights. My friend had his wife and child in the car when a motorcycle pulls up next to him, the kid on the back stuck a gun in his face and tore his gold chain off his neck, ran the red light and was gone. You just really need to watch your six. What really made this sink in, was one day I'm out having lunch with one of my ex military pals and he insisted we were seated so he had a view of the street in front of the bar in case anything bad happened he wouldn't be taken by surprise. This dude is a bad ass, so him being wary made me twice as wary of my surroundings ever since.

RM

[QUOTE=Ricker]Oh boy, please don't get me going.

Hey Medellin is a great place, the secret's out though, it's been out for a while actually.

I do miss the days before maps of el central casas, Loutron at 220K pesos, gringos with fanny packs, etc, etc.
Things change, however, and that's just the way it is.

Guys will keep coming cause the chicas are hot and cheap, though it does amaze me that guys are paying $400 USD for a few hours or so with a hot barrio chica.

Medellin is a fun place, I still dig it, and welcome to all, but I'm exploring other pastures for settling down.

Take care amigo ...[/QUOTE]I know! I took a smokin little hottie from la mayorista to my hotel a month of so after I got here, did her for a few hours gave her 100 mil, she said no it's 200 mil, I said "what? Your fuckin loco". She said the last gringo gave her 200 mil, I told her I can't help he was an idiot. Be happy you got the 100. She thought about it for a minute smiled and laughed about with me and I called her a cab.

[QUOTE=The Tall Man]Ratman1 -On Dec 15-27 is my fourth trip to Colombia but my first to Medellin. First off I am not at all heavy into P4P (use to be 10 years ago) so my day consists of a lot of walking the city (daytime), museums, sitting at a cafe for hours reading a book and writing, these kinds of things.

Spent the month of May in Bogota and wore nice jeans and a clean shirt with no writing or god forbid flowers on it, jejeje - my question:

In Medellin I plan on dressing up a notch or two, nice dark slacks, long sleeve dressy shirt w/collar, does this help me blend in or stand out? BTW I got one SMALL problem with me that I can not do anything about, I am a 6'-7" (201 cm), so I even stand out here in SoCal.

I am getting just a bit reserved when I read these rob stories. I wish some one could just "Say it aint so".

Thanks, The Tall Man[/QUOTE]
At close to 7 feet you will stand out in Latin America no matter what you wear. Also 95% of all other Gringos will stand out no matter what they wear. This notion of blending in is fine if it makes you feel secure, but make no mistake the Natives will know you in a heart beat no matter what you wear.
Miami or Colombia, a guy in a loud tee shirt and flipflops will look like a rube. So IMHO A guy should wear what he feels he looks good in. In CTG, BAQ where it is very hot I wear a good pair of shorts and nice sandals. Of course at night I wear long pants. Just the same as if I was in Gringo land.
I think it would make better sense for us Gringos to worry less about what we wear and concentrate more on how we behave. A loudmouth flashing money and disking the locals is much worse than a respectful guy dressed as he sees fit.
John Gault ( vics picks )

[QUOTE=Mr Gogo]Tall Man,

Some guys get to relaxed and lose their comfort zone(not to say they should be robbed). We get incorporated into the community and relax. Fuck that, always keep your awareness and be unpredictable.

My rules:

(1) Never get totally fucked up that you don't care.

(2) Never tell your personal biz, where your staying, what you do, or where you keep your valuables.

(3) When leaving the club never take the first taxi, cross the street and catch a taxi, or step around the corner wait 30 seconds and see who looks around it. Personally I always take the third cab.

(4) don't let girls fix a drink for you at the crib.

(5) Put all valuables in the safe, passport, cash and credit cards. Only keep out cash for the transaction.

(6) If your in a secured builing tip the guards and let them know its standard to walk the girls out. If she comes out alone something is wrong. I always walk the girl out as a sign everything is cool(plus the girls think its romantic).

(7) Watch the waiters, they will act dumb with your change, ask for your money.

(8) When in Mayorista never sit alone looking like a newbie mark. I always play the wall with the hookers when alone or grab a beer and play the sidelines.

(9) don't force yourself into a fucked up situation hoping it will be okay. Its okay to go home and jack off LMAO.

(10) For me personally if they bring up drugs I'm out.

Follow these guidelines and you will be okay. You are 6'7, you stand out.[/QUOTE]I like the advice about being unpredictable. It is wise when in unfamiliar surroundings.

Something from another post caught my attention. Someone mentioned girls in Parque Lleras used to be impressed by seeing foreigners but now not so much. The same post mentioned a group of foreigners who meet in Parque Lleras EVERY DAY. Anyone else see a link there?

It's all good. My advice to Tall Man is to try to use the internet to help yourself blend in. A quick photo or video search for Medellin (avoid strip clubs and *****house results) will give you a preview of how people dress and the gestures they use. It's a good guideline. At 6'7" you will of course stand out anywhere except an NBA coaching convention but you can probably lessen the effect.

That is exactly what I have been thinking about. No matter what, we stand oud. We better just focuse on being not offensive.

[QUOTE=John Gault]At close to 7 feet you will stand out in Latin America no matter what you wear. Also 95% of all other Gringos will stand out no matter what they wear. This notion of blending in is fine if it makes you feel secure, but make no mistake the Natives will know you in a heart beat no matter what you wear.

Miami or Colombia, a guy in a loud tee shirt and flipflops will look like a rube. So IMHO A guy should wear what he feels he looks good in. In CTG, BAQ where it is very hot I wear a good pair of shorts and nice sandals. Of course at night I wear long pants. Just the same as if I was in Gringo land.

I think it would make better sense for us Gringos to worry less about what we wear and concentrate more on how we behave. A loudmouth flashing money and disking the locals is much worse than a respectful guy dressed as he sees fit.
John Gault ( vics picks )[/QUOTE]

I will be in Medellin next month, and this time I will bring my tablet PC (7" computer). Can I purchase WIFI covering city, so I can check net anywhere in city? Do you know rate and where should I go to purchase the plan?

Thanks a lot.

[QUOTE=Mr Gogo]Tall Man,

Some guys get to relaxed and lose their comfort zone(not to say they should be robbed). We get incorporated into the community and relax. Fuck that, always keep your awareness and be unpredictable.

My rules:

(1) Never get totally fucked up that you don't care.

(2) Never tell your personal biz, where your staying, what you do, or where you keep your valuables.

(3) When leaving the club never take the first taxi, cross the street and catch a taxi, or step around the corner wait 30 seconds and see who looks around it. Personally I always take the third cab.

(4) don't let girls fix a drink for you at the crib.

(5) Put all valuables in the safe, passport, cash and credit cards. Only keep out cash for the transaction.

(6) If your in a secured builing tip the guards and let them know its standard to walk the girls out. If she comes out alone something is wrong. I always walk the girl out as a sign everything is cool(plus the girls think its romantic).

(7) Watch the waiters, they will act dumb with your change, ask for your money.

(8) When in Mayorista never sit alone looking like a newbie mark. I always play the wall with the hookers when alone or grab a beer and play the sidelines.

(9) don't force yourself into a fucked up situation hoping it will be okay. Its okay to go home and jack off LMAO.

(10) For me personally if they bring up drugs I'm out.

Follow these guidelines and you will be okay. You are 6'7, you stand out.[/QUOTE]

Good guidelines.
Bottom line: Don't be stupid

You guys are cool! Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and ideas about staying safe and avoiding trouble.

RM, the flip flop story was good. As it is very difficult to find my 16 shoe size in Colombia :-) let alone anywhere in Sotuh America, yesterday I purchased a great pair of dress shoes at Nordstroms (they carry my size, made in Spain) and will proudly display them, lol.

Mr Gogo, Great summary how to stay safe, mucho gracias!

John Gault, I ditto that about how we act. I have traveled to over 35 different countries and Islands and I make it a priority to always honor and respect the people, their culture, their city and their country. You are right because the locals do notice and they can sense your authenticity. In many countries and cities that I have visited (including Bogota) I have earned true friendships.

Bunas dias!

The TALL Man