General Info

[QUOTE=HoleRanger]Greetings all, I plan to visit Medellin on my next romp. On the Colombian Embassy site, it states a visa is not required for USA citizens to visit as a tourist. Could any of the membership confirm this,I've read just the opposite on other sites and hope the Embassy site info is up to date.

Thanks in advance.

Enjoy![/QUOTE]
You will get a minimum of 30 days upon entry with a US passport. Many times they will stamp you for 60 days. You can get 30-day renewals at the local DAS office. You can stay a maximum of 180 days in a year without a formal VISA.

Thanks for the quick response and information gents. Medellin is on the radar for my next trip. Time to start planning and tracking airfare.

Enjoy:)

[QUOTE=VanDammage]Any idea what is the average salary for Colombians?

I will be travelling there soon.[/QUOTE]

In Bogota it's about 1.2 million a month, in other places lower, sometimes MUCH lower. In many smaller localities the minimum salary of 410k or whatever it is now probably IS the average.

[QUOTE=VanDammage]Any idea what is the average salary for Colombians?

I will be travelling there soon.[/QUOTE]My Guy's in cali make abouth 800,000.00 Cp a month, Plus benefits.

The minimun are about 600,000.00 a month plus benefits.

In other areas like, Cartago, Armenia, Pereira.

For Bogota, Medellin,Cartagena and Barranquilla my guess is a lot more the minimun.

My two cents.

Kukulkan

[QUOTE=Bango Cheito]In Bogota it's about 1.2 million a month, in other places lower, sometimes MUCH lower. In many smaller localities the minimum salary of 410k or whatever it is now probably IS the average.[/QUOTE]
While I have no hard evidence, I believe that Bogota is not much higher than the country as a whole. Yes, there are more jobs in BOG. But those jobs are distributed among 7.5 million people.

Cartagena is more expensive than BOG. If the average salary was 1.2 million in BOG, even the lazy Costenos would find a way to get to BOG. I would guess that the average in CTG is around 500K. Average, of course, doesn't tell the story. Over 75% of the people in CTG live in estrata 1. That 75% doesn't come close to 500K. And the minimum wage law is enforced about as well as the traffic laws. A girlfriend of mine worked at an ice cream stand, full time, for 100K per month. And she got no tips.

That goes to what I was saying about tourism on another forum exactly with you. Cartagena is a tourist city and look how fucked up its economy is. Lots of tourism RUINS a city for the locals.

No, Bogota is definitely NOT like that. Some people make below the minimum but it's not that common anymore. And only 10% of the population lives in estrato 1. The majority live in 2 and 3. And that's why there are 7.5 million people there .... the whole rest of the country flocks there. There are more paisas there anywhere else aside from Medellin and more costeños there than in any one city on the coast!!

I think the average is somewhere between 1 and 1.2 million. Most shit jobs that aren't skilled pay between the minimum and 600k or so, up from that are a whole slew of the first tier of skilled jobs paying 1-1.2 million, then you have the professional classes who generally earn between 2-3 million. I'm not sure what the precise median salary would be (mean salary would be a meaningless measure) but it's definitely nowhere near 500k, gotta be somewhere slightly over a million.

Has anyone ventured into the north Santander region - to the city of Cucuta? I'm curious about this border town. Are there any contemporary threads dealing with the difficulty of getting there and more importantly, getting out alive.

CC

[QUOTE=Chicochulo]Has anyone ventured into the north Santander region - to the city of Cucuta? I'm curious about this border town. Are there any contemporary threads dealing with the difficulty of getting there and more importantly, getting out alive.

CC[/QUOT
Was there about over a year ago to visit the hometown of a Colombiana I met in Cartagena. It is extremely hot, boring, and for whatever reason, felt unsafe. I cut my trip short by a few days, and got the hell out of there. Have fun:)

hi all, a colombian working girl in st maarten told me she was worried because her flight home has been cancelled. the girls normally fly st maarten to curacao on dae, then aeropostal through caracas to bogota or medellin. that is what her ticket is set up for. but aeropostal has cancelled the caracas flights to colombia (and other south american cities outside venezuela).

I called aeropostal office in miami for her and found that they are trying to rebook their customers on other airlines. i even have the name and extension of the lady in charge of the project.

what I could use is some information on what other airlines would be available for the curacao to colombia segment. I know about avianca, because some of the girls fly home on it. are there any other airlines?

thanks, zing

[QUOTE=Zing23]hi all, a colombian working girl in st maarten told me she was worried because her flight home has been cancelled. the girls normally fly st maarten to curacao on dae, then aeropostal through caracas to bogota or medellin. that is what her ticket is set up for. but aeropostal has cancelled the caracas flights to colombia (and other south american cities outside venezuela).

I called aeropostal office in miami for her and found that they are trying to rebook their customers on other airlines. i even have the name and extension of the lady in charge of the project.

what I could use is some information on what other airlines would be available for the curacao to colombia segment. I know about avianca, because some of the girls fly home on it. are there any other airlines?

thanks, zing[/QUOTE]

Try Aires ([url]www.aires.aero[/url]).

[QUOTE=Zing23]hi all, a colombian working girl in st maarten told me she was worried because her flight home has been cancelled. the girls normally fly st maarten to curacao on dae, then aeropostal through caracas to bogota or medellin. that is what her ticket is set up for. but aeropostal has cancelled the caracas flights to colombia (and other south american cities outside venezuela).

I called aeropostal office in miami for her and found that they are trying to rebook their customers on other airlines. i even have the name and extension of the lady in charge of the project.

what I could use is some information on what other airlines would be available for the curacao to colombia segment. I know about avianca, because some of the girls fly home on it. are there any other airlines?

thanks, zing[/QUOTE]

Hey Amigo ... just looked into SABRE.

Looks like Avianca at certain dates has direct flights from CUR to BOG.

Also, as you stated Avianca flies everyday from CCS to BOG, Lan Peru does the same.

From CUR to CCS, try Dutch Antilles Express.

Any more questions about flights, give me a PM ... I can check SABRE system.

Take care.

This has been repeated a few times but Im curious on the updates. Im curious what is the difference between Bogota and Cali as far as people and value goes.

From what Ive browsed, it seems that people in Bogota are not as open and warm as say the people in Cali. Still friendly, but alot more reserved.

Ive talked with a few Colombians recently that live in the states and say that Bogota is more expensive than Cali. Im wondering if that is because maybe they stayed in the Centro or maybe towards the South, and the taxi costs were higher for getting to the key areas of Bogota that are all in the North. Maybe if they stayed in the North where everything was closer it would have been cheaper.

I want to semi retire in Colombia. I was thinking of Cali before but I want a place that is a bit safer and has 'more things to do' and I think Bogota is the place. I love Cali for its people and beautiful girls but as far as safety goes in the long term, I dont think Cali is the best choice.

Im guessing as far as girls goes, since Bogota has a higher population and being the epicenter of business of Colombia, you will probably find more attractive girls than say in Cali or Medellin. Cali 'may' beat Bogota percentage wise, but higher population means more beautiful women.

Hmm.

i talked to aeropostal in miami with a stranded colombiana today. they offered a full refund, in 3 months! she needs to buy another ticket from another airline with her own money. since aeropostal was the cheapest, the new ticket will cost more.

curacao to medellin on avianca is about $360. dae flies curacao to bogota for $150 twice a week, but you still need to get to medellin. aires flies from curacao to cartagena and baranguilla. then you have to get home to medellin from there.

i imagine that most chicas going to work in curacao and st maarten will now go on avianca. if so the extra cost may cut down on the # of working girls on those islands.

thanks for everyone's help.

see you in colombia someday, i hope.

-zing

Hi I'm a 43 year old English guy scheduled to come to Colombia for the first time on 31 July. Plan to stay for about 6 weeks and hoping to meet plenty of great chicas during that time.

My Spanish is very poor so I'm particularly interested in finding English speaking girls. In some other countries such as China, dating sites (in that case Asiafriendfinder) have worked well for me in finding fun girls who spoke English many of whom I was able to seduce.

Is it worth joining a similar site for Colombia (eg Amigos/Colombian cupid), or does one find that the time effort and money put into such research is wasted and alone needs to do is hang out in the piazas etc (I think my biggest difficulty would be lack of Spanish).

If worthwhile which sites are recommended?

My current plan is to spend a few days in Bogata then go to Medellin and end up in Cartegena. Which other places would be worth adding to the itinerary?

Anybody got any good suggestions as to places to stay in Bogata / Medellin? i usually select budget-mid hotels, comfortable, safe location, girl friendly but not paying extra for folded toilet paper etc.

Many thanks for any help/advice

Greg

[QUOTE=Greglondon]Hi I'm a 43 year old English guy scheduled to come to Colombia for the first time on 31 July. Plan to stay for about 6 weeks and hoping to meet plenty of great chicas during that time.[/quote]I have been on colombian cupid for over a month now and I have about 100 girls on my msn ust from Medellin where I'm igoing the 5 agust for 2 weeks. There is about 20% that speak english on cc. My spanish is wery porr but I use babel fish to translate and it works ok. I have anoyher problem about the my European computer charger and phone sharger is it fitts in the Colombian power plugs pleas if some one know smr thing about this?