Medellin Reports

Hi all, I'm a new member who will be visiting Colombia in October. Firstly, thank you all for your contributions. This thread is so insightful. I've read the last 200 pages and really appreciate the information provided. I will provide a full report of my trip, during and after.

I'm staying at Hotel M from the 3rd of October until the 6th and then again from the 10th of October until the 14th. I will be going to Cartagena in the interim. If any of you are around during that period, I definitely owe you a drink so feel free to contact me.

I joined seeking but generally found the prices quoted really high, and often in usd. I've got some numbers, and in the spirit of giving back: contact me.

I'm going to use the high end strip clubs and PL bars (gustos) to get numbers for daytime action, if the price is right. I'll also visit Centro in the daytime, with my head down, no watch in sight and dressed simply!

Regarding Centro and specifically the advice given not to visit at night, how does this work with the strip clubs? For example Barra E which doesn't open until later? Playmates opens at 2 pm but I was wondering, with reference to Barra E and the other Centro strip clubs, do you just Uber straight there and when done, straight back, like door to door? Ideally I want to sample Barra E but if the common consensus is to avoid them so be it, due the opening times being in the evening.

I enjoy the strip club vibe, where there is value. I'll go to Luna lunera too, as that is open 24/7 but ideally I'd like to find clubs that are open from midday onwards, to kill some daylight time. Any advice would be welcome.

I'm not particularly partial to casas, though I will spend one afternoon checking out a couple of them.

Again, should anyone be around at the same time, let's plan an excursion or two!

[QUOTE=Explorer8939;2946987]To clarify, "2 mil" = 2,000.50 cents US.[/QUOTE]How do you get that? 2 mil is 2000 pesos which is a bit less than 50 cents US.

[QUOTE=Zeos1;2947104]How do you get that? 2 mil is 2000 pesos which is a bit less than 50 cents US.[/QUOTE]Ok. 48 cents if you insist on spiltting hairs.

[QUOTE=Zeos1;2947104]How do you get that? 2 mil is 2000 pesos which is a bit less than 50 cents US.[/QUOTE]Correct.

2 mil = 2,000 pesos.

= 50 cents US.

[QUOTE=Nounce;2946966]Think smart, you should fill out the Check-mig instead of BioMig.[/QUOTE]Learn. The Biomig system simplifies entry and exit from a country by allowing foreign nationals to register their Iris into a system. Its a generic way of referring to the Colombian CheckMig.

Great first step by staying in Hotel M for the first visit. Honestly, for a short trip like this, I will not bank on Seeking or F / be unless you have somebody referring you or you have seen the girl personally before because many girls there are either going to be scammers or time wasters. So for a short trip this like, I would stick with bar next to your hotel, well established casas or Lleras park (bring the girl back to your hotel). Enjoy and be safe!

[QUOTE=TrickTruck;2947089]Hi all, I'm a new member who will be visiting Colombia in October. Firstly, thank you all for your contributions. This thread is so insightful. I've read the last 200 pages and really appreciate the information provided. I will provide a full report of my trip, during and after.

I'm staying at Hotel M from the 3rd of October until the 6th and then again from the 10th of October until the 14th. I will be going to Cartagena in the interim. If any of you are around during that period, I definitely owe you a drink so feel free to contact me.

I joined seeking but generally found the prices quoted really high, and often in usd. I've got some numbers, and in the spirit of giving back: contact me.

I'm going to use the high end strip clubs and PL bars (gustos) to get numbers for daytime action, if the price is right. I'll also visit Centro in the daytime, with my head down, no watch in sight and dressed simply!

Regarding Centro and specifically the advice given not to visit at night, how does this work with the strip clubs? For example Barra E which doesn't open until later? Playmates opens at 2 pm but I was wondering, with reference to Barra E and the other Centro strip clubs, do you just Uber straight there and when done, straight back, like door to door? Ideally I want to sample Barra E but if the common consensus is to avoid them so be it, due the opening times being in the evening.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Turgid;2947241]Learn. The Biomig system simplifies entry and exit from a country by allowing foreign nationals to register their Iris into a system. Its a generic way of referring to the Colombian CheckMig.[/QUOTE]I am not sure what you are saying. According the official website, they are not the same. If you read the instruction on Biomig, you pass thru a scanner during entry and one question it will ask is Check-mig. Biomig is available to foreigners on departure at certain airports, and no registration is required when leaving. That is my experience. It may not be available to for entry by foreigners yet.

I've been to MDE enough to know they love their holidays and much of the city is shut down. I'm taking another trip, essentially a really long weekend in MDE, but from Oct 11 through 15. Only today did I think to check national holidays. Columbus Day is listed both Saturday and Monday. Columbus Day in the US is kind of a minor major holiday so I'm curious what it's like in Medellin.

I've made the holiday mistake before. For some reason, I have a habit of visiting on election day too, which is even worse.

[QUOTE=Turgid;2937744]When I travel I mind my own business and let their authorities do their job.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2937540]Hotel Boulevar Botero there is a bald short Israeli guy. Third floor left window room been there for 3+ years. Does drugs (no idea what ones), likes young girls, and hangs with the drug dealers that hang in the alleyway on the side of the church. Most of the foreigner "rats" do not like him at all. One guy in particular likes just about everyone BUT that Israeli guy so that says something. I hate the guy too. Pretty sure he is there illegally. If what the girls says is true it will eventually blow up and make ALL foreigners look bad. If I was there I would have a local make a certain "complaint". I know he is in on it one way or another.[/QUOTE]Looks like the authorities did their job. I can tell by the way he dresses, hoodie jacket, walk, water bottle he always has in his hand, blurred out head shot.

[URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUNlhcda30[/URL]

[QUOTE=Dcrist0527;2947275]I've been to MDE enough to know they love their holidays and much of the city is shut down. I'm taking another trip, essentially a really long weekend in MDE, but from Oct 11 through 15. Only today did I think to check national holidays. Columbus Day is listed both Saturday and Monday. Columbus Day in the US is kind of a minor major holiday so I'm curious what it's like in Medellin.

I've made the holiday mistake before. For some reason, I have a habit of visiting on election day too, which is even worse.[/QUOTE]It is a big holiday in the US but it is not a holiday in Colombia although you may see more tourists. Countries don't normal celebrate the day they were conquered.

[QUOTE=LoveItHere69;2947440]Looks like the authorities did their job. I can tell by the way he dresses, hoodie jacket, walk, water bottle he always has in his hand, blurred out head shot.

[URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUNlhcda30[/URL][/QUOTE]Yep, I recognize that guy as well. He was lucky they just deported him and not sent him to Colombian jail.

[URL]https://x.com/Julian_VasquezP/status/1837610633279262828[/URL]

[QUOTE=Giz99;2947481]It is a big holiday in the US but it is not a holiday in Colombia although you may see more tourists. Countries don't normal celebrate the day they were conquered.[/QUOTE]At the risk of being argumentative, it is a holiday in Colombia, called DIA de Colon. And it is designated as a national holiday. My question was really around closures. I did reach out to a few of my favorite establishments and found out they will be closed on the 14th. Poor planning on my part. I'm considering plan b.

[QUOTE=Dcrist0527;2947275]Columbus Day is listed both Saturday and Monday. Columbus Day in the US is kind of a minor major holiday so I'm curious what it's like in Medellin.[/QUOTE]That was a thing started in the 20th century USA by Italian immigrants trying to give themselves some pride. No other country (even Italy and now way less Americans) gives a shit about Columbus.

[QUOTE=Giz99;2947481]It is a big holiday in the US but it is not a holiday in Colombia although you may see more tourists. Countries don't normal celebrate the day they were conquered.[/QUOTE]

This post probably belongs in the "Stupid Shit" thread, but a little historical perspective is due here. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, the country is named after the navigator Cristbal Colón (Chris Colombus) himself. Since early in the 20th century, most Latin American countries have, in fact, had an annual holiday celebrating the discovery of America by Colombus. In Colombia it has been "El día de la Raza y de la Hispanidad" ("Day of the Race and Hispanicity").

It's only with the advent of wokeness (not just in the US) over the past 25 years or so that the holiday has declined in importance, or has been replaced with celebrations of indigenous culture and diversity. In 2021 Colombia's Ministry of Culture changed the name of the holiday to 'El Día de la Diversidad Étnica y Cultural de la Nación Colombiana (meaning "Day of Ethnical and Cultural Diversity of the Colombian nation" A number of US states have done something similar or dropped the holiday altogether. However, you're right that the holiday has always been, and remains, somewhat more celebrated in the US of A, due most likely to its sizable Italian-American population.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2947545]That was a thing started in the 20th century USA by Italian immigrants trying to give themselves some pride. No other country (even Italy and now way less Americans) gives a shit about Columbus.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the political diatribe. Only in the Medellin forum can we take a fairly innocuous question and turn it into something polarizing.

To those that are hyper-sensitive to the politics of the holiday, my apologies. My intent was not to melt snowflakes. But apparently, some in Colombia do give a shit. I've reached out to three businesses in Medellin and they're closed that Monday.