Medellin Reports

[QUOTE=ILikeButts;2762426]...When I first came on this forum I asked the question of whether you mitigate your risk of drugging in MDE by agreeing to a price up front rather than trying to do vanilla dating (ie, supposed non-pros). I was told I was naive and lacked street smarts for thinking this way. But in the two years since I have heard lots of reports of druggings and not one of them involved a payment, always guys trying to vanilla date and get laid without paying. I stick to my belief. Agree to a price ahead of time and you lower your risk dramatically. Also, stay off tinder and if you want to vanilla date meet girls IRL, not online. Just my two bits.[/QUOTE]I somehow agree with you. My wingman was drugged in Cartagena, even though we were sharing an apartment in Laguito. I was tired and went to bed around midnight, leaving the two of them in the living room. My bedroom was not locked, so I was lucky that she did not come to my room. My buddy was fine the next day, in the pm.

I found out later that my wingman bargained hard with his girl, getting her to agree to a TLN for a very cheap price. I suspected there was some revenge motive in her plan.

[QUOTE=Mtndew704;2762646]Never been drugged, thank God.[/QUOTE]A good friend of mine got drugged in Medellin by a street woman, took his wallet, CC, Cel phone. His life just stopped without CC and celphone and took him forever to recieive new CC from EU. He brought her to the apartment late in the evening, opened beer and boom all of sudden he was knocked out until next afternoon. And slowly slowly he regained and realized that he got robbed and drugged.

[QUOTE=ShinyCrazy;2762671] I can't imagine traveling in a strange city without the guidance of Google maps, however, so I assume all visitors carry a phone, but I'll try to bring a crappy one. How else do you find your way around and use Uber? Or do you use a paper map like in ancient times? If you don't use Uber, do you use a white taxi and have the casa call for one when you are ready to head back to your hotel? Or just pound pavement?[/QUOTE]It might all seem a little daunting to start, but its not that bad. When I first started in MDE, I would choose a couple of casas close together (a second one for just in case I didn't fancy anyhting in the first one). So I just got a taxi to the door of the first, and the seond one would only be a couple of blocks away. After you do it a few times, the pieces of the Centro jigsaw slowly fit togther better. The good news is that almost none of the casas are in really dangerous areas, and they are closed during witchhing hour anyway. So you should be fine, even if you get lost and have to follow your Google maps. Taxis are everywhere in MDE. Amd sure if they all went down the same street at the same time, an acorn would drop from a tree in Australia.

[QUOTE=ShinyCrazy;2762582]I'm planning to follow your recommendations.

Given the Paul Nguyen situation, here's the rest of my newbie safety plan:

4. Go to New Life during the day.

5. Get back to the Mansion before dark and partake of girls from the Mansion bar in the evening.

6. Avoid the bar / party / street girl scene.

What about finding photoprepagos girls and getting outcall to the Mansion, if I don't find anything I like at the Mansion bar?

Are girls likely to drug you and steal from you at the Mansion? Do both buildings ID the girls at the door for your protection?

Thanks for your suggestions.[/QUOTE]Paul's story being picked up by Newsweek and local channels in LOS Angeles County where he is from. It involved a Tinder date apparently and it is a tragic story. It is just another reminder that guys have to be very careful in Medellin. Medellin is just a little bit more dangerous than other mongering cities in other countries. Before I visited Medellin, I read so many reports about druggings and robberies in Medellin so I was very alert to that fact. What happened to Paul and a fellow board member in the same time period recently is something that newbies should be very careful about.

At the same time, I would say that you don't need to just stick with casas and the Mansion. If you stay in a hotel that checks ID, and you do your due diligence on Facebook, that can work and be safe too. On my two weeks to Medellin, I used Facebook exclusively and so far everything has been fine and I have been very content.

In denial present company not excluded.

Making excuses why not to fuel the addiction by doing this or that, he did this or that wrong so it won't happen to me. LOL.

Staying home is the solution to not being shot drugged or robbed in Colombia. Any takers? Ha ha.

repeat post deleted

[QUOTE=ShinyCrazy;2762671]That is in my plan although I figured that I would try the casas like New Life or Zandalay rather than street meat. One notch more expensive, but one notch safer, I assume. Regardless, I won't be bringing my Rolex and laptop and home stereo and gold bars walking around Centro. I can't imagine traveling in a strange city without the guidance of Google maps, however, so I assume all visitors carry a phone, but I'll try to bring a crappy one. How else do you find your way around and use Uber? Or do you use a paper map like in ancient times? If you don't use Uber, do you use a white taxi and have the casa call for one when you are ready to head back to your hotel? Or just pound pavement?[/QUOTE]This is a good place for this.

Almost everyone carries a phone. Many bring a cheap phone to use. Keep the phone in a front pants pocket. If you need to look at the phone, step into a building or stop and put your back against the wall. Before pulling out your phone look both ways to see if anyone is watching you. Have Google Maps open with your destination marked. That way you only need a few seconds to get your bearings.

The street signs aren't on poles at the corners. They are mounted on the buildings at the corner. Street addresses are a measure of distance, in meters from the lower number cross street. For example, New Life's address is Calle 56 #43-39. It's on Calle 56,39 meters west of Carrera 43. Since it's an odd number it's on the south side. To make it easier, you go through the blue door and up the stairs, through a second security gate.

You'll only find white taxis at the airport. The taxis in Medellin are yellow. When you exit New Life turn left. Walk 2 blocks to Avenida Oriental. You can't miss it, it's the biggest street in the area. Cross Oriental and turn left. Walk 3 blocks (busy street, lots of people) and turn right on Avenida Maracaibo. That will take you to the Metro tracks. Turn left and you'll see Plaza Botero. You can find a taxi there, or walk to the Parque Berrio Metro station.

Is there any place in medellin, preferably el poblado area, grocery store that has American bacon like Oscar Meyer brand? Also American hot dogs, lunch meats, and steaks? Thanks for the help. Sick of Colombian tocineta. To me, not even close to American bacon.

You guys are making me feel older than I am. I don't think I'm the only one on here who has done most of his travel to new places before the advent of GPS. I guess there may be a few people here who never had a paper map in their cars but I'm not going to pretend to one of them.

[QUOTE=JustTK;2762694]It might all seem a little daunting to start, but its not that bad. When I first started in MDE, I would choose a couple of casas close together (a second one for just in case I didn't fancy anyhting in the first one). So I just got a taxi to the door of the first, and the seond one would only be a couple of blocks away. After you do it a few times, the pieces of the Centro jigsaw slowly fit togther better. The good news is that almost none of the casas are in really dangerous areas, and they are closed during witchhing hour anyway. So you should be fine, even if you get lost and have to follow your Google maps. Taxis are everywhere in MDE. Amd sure if they all went down the same street at the same time, an acorn would drop from a tree in Australia.[/QUOTE]

I sympathize with your friend and other victims. This particular case makes me worry about a narrative I see growing on mainstream gringo forums focused on Medellin. The conventional wisdom is becoming the idea that Tinder is the source of the drugging and robbery and if you don't use Tinder you will be OK. Most of us know better than this but people like the 27 year old guy from California aren't as experienced. They could read something like that and get into a bad situation because of it.

[QUOTE=HappyShiva;2762689]A good friend of mine got drugged in Medellin by a street woman, took his wallet, CC, Cel phone. His life just stopped without CC and celphone and took him forever to recieive new CC from EU. He brought her to the apartment late in the evening, opened beer and boom all of sudden he was knocked out until next afternoon. And slowly slowly he regained and realized that he got robbed and drugged.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Lefeu;2762678]I somehow agree with you. My wingman was drugged in Cartagena, even though we were sharing an apartment in Laguito. I was tired and went to bed around midnight, leaving the two of them in the living room. My bedroom was not locked, so I was lucky that she did not come to my room. My buddy was fine the next day, in the pm.

I found out later that my wingman bargained hard with his girl, getting her to agree to a TLN for a very cheap price. I suspected there was some revenge motive in her plan.[/QUOTE]I highly doubt it had any relation to his bargaining. If they see you as an easy and lucrative target, they're going to try.

I’ll add that you’re generally at less risk if you come across as a not rich tourist. Though we’re all rich compared to these chicas.

[QUOTE=Knowledge;2762652]I'm pretty sure you could stand on la 10 for several days and not see a single person pass by who has been this sort of victim. The odds are against it but it does happen. For argument's sake let's say the 27 documented cases are a subset of 100 or more that includes unreported or unknown cases. It's still a small percentage of the total number of annual visitors. The pattern you see in the reports are inexperienced guys who did not recognize the warning signs. Let's none of us please be one of those guys.[/QUOTE]The number 27 are the murders. Not the druggings. I personally know 2 or 3 guys that have been drugged in Medellin, and I don't know that many people there in total. So it is pretty common. I read in media there one time that it was one of the leading causes for hospitalization in Colombia, but I don't recall where I saw the article and it was a few years ago. It's not just tourists that get drugged. The material to make the local version is not necessarily pharmaceutical as it can be extracted from leaves from a tree that grows in Colombia. Which makes it doubly dangerous as dosage can be variable even when someone may not be trying to kill you.

[QUOTE=Zeos1;2762739]The number 27 are the murders. Not the druggings. I personally know 2 or 3 guys that have been drugged in Medellin, and I don't know that many people there in total. So it is pretty common. I read in media there one time that it was one of the leading causes for hospitalization in Colombia, but I don't recall where I saw the article and it was a few years ago. It's not just tourists that get drugged. The material to make the local version is not necessarily pharmaceutical as it can be extracted from leaves from a tree that grows in Colombia. Which makes it doubly dangerous as dosage can be variable even when someone may not be trying to kill you.[/QUOTE]I knew a guy who was killed in Medellin. I never found out all circumstances and don't know if he was ever drugged.

Yet I say go to MDE. Just exercise common sense precautions.

Full disclosure. I have never been to the Mansion so I can address it objectively. However inexperienced you may be, staying at the Mansion or being robbed and dying a violent death is not a binary choice. If you do decide to stay there and you find yourself underwhelmed by the staffing, the good news is you have the entire city of Medellin within easy reach. There is lots of helpful safety information on this section of the website. At one time there was a Mansion specific section. I wish you a safe and enjoyable visit.

[QUOTE=ShinyCrazy;2762669]I plan to definitely connect with the other guys at the Mansion, and of course take advantage of the girls at the Mansion. I haven't seen any recent reports of the number and quality of girls at the Mansion bar. Hoping the pickings aren't so slim that I need to cast a wider net. Regardless of the price of the Mansion, for those of us short time visitors, it is much cheaper than ending up dead in a garbage bag in a ditch. I'll pay more for safety.[/QUOTE]

That is a great point you made about the scoping. If you read the gringo media it's easy to assume it's foreigners only. I'm reading so much about this here and elsewhere on the Internet I'm starting to wonder how I managed to stay away from it over the years.

[QUOTE=Zeos1;2762739]The number 27 are the murders. Not the druggings. I personally know 2 or 3 guys that have been drugged in Medellin, and I don't know that many people there in total. So it is pretty common. I read in media there one time that it was one of the leading causes for hospitalization in Colombia, but I don't recall where I saw the article and it was a few years ago. It's not just tourists that get drugged. The material to make the local version is not necessarily pharmaceutical as it can be extracted from leaves from a tree that grows in Colombia. Which makes it doubly dangerous as dosage can be variable even when someone may not be trying to kill you.[/QUOTE]