Managua

I think Jackson gives its senior members some wide discretion when it comes to conversations like these. Afterall, painting a picture of a city or country for those who have never visited is an important part of the decision process of where to go and what to expect when you arrive.

No, this conversation may not be specifically naked girl talk, but then again its just as important a part of planning your trip.

(besides its always fun to listen to Noguera's acerbic, sarcastic ramblings about corrupt government officials and misappropriated government largess) :D

cheers.........

I tip my hat for the compliment, Ford. Have I ever told you about the video of ex-President Aleman with a goat? I'll tell you over a beer next time at Casa Lorena.

There are a lot of people in Villa Libertad/Venezuela and yes she was a working girl, she worked for the Ministry of Health when I knew her, and she still does. So that counts as working, right?

Another card to a girl working in the BAC building got there as fast, addressed just to the girl, her company, BAC buidling, C. Masaya. Didn't even need landmarks for that one when it is a landmark in its own right.

Both cases it was regular mail and service was quite good. I have to think the mailman gets to know who lives where in the barrios.

In Plaza Familiar strip mall on Carretera Masaya, a new night club has opened.

At the Galeria shopping centre , still in Carretera Masaya, there is a cinema place, and La Colonia grocery store where one can find a deli, a lunch area, and even Haagen Daz ice cream.

I should mention, though I have no interest in Santo Domingo Imperial hotel, that all these above places are not far from the hotel to walk.

Hi, guys, I know it is the site for Managua but this story is worth its value even if it is in Leon.
Get to Leon, from the city center where the Cathedral is located. Get a taxi and for 25 cordobas ask him to cruise the El By-Pass from Vicky bar to On the Run convenience store to look for a chica on the highway because El By pass is a highway.
SWs are very willing to bed you for an hour for 100 cordobas. Once you find one to your taste, take her to La Colmena for 70 cordobas for 2 hours , it is a hotel for quickies with sex videos and clean enough to spend one hour or two.
all considered : for 170 cordobas you will have a SW for one hour and a bed.
Enjoy !

Ok, I've decided on Managua over Leon or Granada and need some help picking a nice hotel, close to the action, for $50-75 per night. Any Thoughts?

Thanks

Mn Student

For pity's sake read the GD posts already. You might have to go past the first two. Read a year's worth then ask questions. One THIS page and the one prior are hotel discussions, prices pros and cons , why don't you try those?

Not to sound mean but it is tiring repeating current and perfectly good info. So read up then post questions. I am there 6-8 times a year, back in March.

This is the latest installation in my ongoing series of reports on my 30-day mongering tour of Central America. I am visiting 7 countries and will be mongering, or attempting to monger, in all of them and to post a report on each. In each case I will have read the respective country forum thoroughly. For anyone interested, I have already posted reports on Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. I am a veteran Rio monger but am spending this year looking for a possible alternative mongering spot in Latin America, due to the fact that the exchange rate has made Rio very expensive, and the fact that it is overrun with gringos who have managed to spoil a very good thing. I also want to stress the fact that these posts are not for veteran mongers in these countries, but for those, like me, who have never been there until now and would like some first impressions about what these countries are like. So, with this introductory verbiage out of the way, herewith my impressions of Managua.

Managua is a totally fucked up, disorganized, almost surrealistic city. I knew this before I arrived, both from this thread and from guidebooks, but experiencing it first hand is something else. I have been to places, Kathmandu in Nepal for example, where there are no street numbers; this is not unusual in Asia. But I have never, ever been to a city where the streets don't even have names! Unbelievable! The closest you can come to an address is to start with a reference point, often a traffic circle called a rotunda, and then to give directions from there. For example, I stayed at the Hotel Casa Real, a girl friendly hotel frequently mentioned on this thread. The directions to Hotel Casa Real are as follows: from Rotunda Ruben Dario, 2 blocks west, then 2 blocks south, then 1/2 block east. How they deliver mail, I don't know; maybe they don't.

But don't worry, it gets worse. I said in a recent post that the cabbies in Guatemala City were the worst I had ever seen. This was before I came to Managua. I believe that what happened in Managua was that they emptied out an institution for the mentally retarded and gave them all jobs as cab drivers. I knew about how to give directions, but I assumed the cabbies would at least know where the beginning reference points were. No such luck. The first cab I took was to go to a restaurant whose beginning reference point was Rotunda Ruben Dario. Well, the cabbie had never heard of Rotunda Ruben Dario, when even I, who had been there only one night, knew where it was. But we eventually got there. But the second cabbie, who I wanted to take me from the Metrocentro to the Hotel Casa Real, made the first one look like Albert Einstein. This moron didn't even know what 'west' was. I gave him the specific directions about six times, and still he didn't understand. He kept asking me, 'arriba? arriba?' Fortunately he picked up an older female passenger who understood my directions and told him where to go. If you plan to spend any time in Managua, it may help you to know, as someone at the Casa Real explained to me, that north is 'al lago,' south is 'sur' or 'a las montanas,' east is 'arriba' and west is 'abajo;' this is because of where the sun rises and sets.

I am going into all this detail to provide the context for mongering. After going through all this, I think you might understand why I didn't want to go to a 'house,' because the cabbie might not find it, and it might take me all night to get home. The yellow pages list some clubs and massage parlors which are obvious mongering sites, but I didn't want to take a chance. So, I decided that my best recourse would be an outcall service. I looked in the newspaper Nuevo Diario, but all the numbers appeared to be pagers. I've had trouble with pagers before, so I decided to look in the yellow pages again under 'masajistas.'

I hit paydirt with a service called Masajes Bellamaris, cellular numbers 8844755 and 8830105; I picked this one because they indicated they came to 'domicilios.' I asked if they came to hotels; 'claro que si!' It would cost me US$55 for an hour. I know that this is higher than prices I have seen elsewhere on this thread, but I assumed this was the gringo rate. So I agreed. They sent a girl named Jonaira. She was 24, only about a 6 in looks but with great attitude and first rate sexual skills: DFK, DATY, BBBJ, CFS. She gave me her personal phone number and asked me to call her. Since I was there for only 3 days and was going to spend a full day traveling to Leon, I didn't call her back, so this was my only mongering experience in Managua.

If I had to sum up Managua, it would have to be is a special category: not worth the trouble. It's easy to get laid there, but unless you are sufficiently intrepid to risk spending the entire evening getting a half-witted cabbie to get you to the place and another one to get you home, you're going to need an outcall service, which as always is hit or miss. But I had a good experience with Masajes Bellamaris, so I can give them a recommendation. The woman on the phone assured me that all their chicas are 'bonitas,' but of course she would. Nicaragua is definitely worth a visit, and I'm sorry now that I didn't plan more time there, but be prepared for the hassles. BTW, Hotel Casa Real is just one step above a dump, that is, minimally adequate, but it is very girl friendly. Hope this helps.

Lorenzo

Well Lorenzo you found one taxi driver who can't find Casa Real or know where rotonda RD is. They all do since it is the one at Metrocentro. Nobody uses anything but south from actual compass directions as they have been using arriba, bajo and al lago forever so one should know that before going vs. expect poor taxistas to switch to east and west. (Moon's or Footprint guides will tell you this)

$55 is the same as C$950, which is 300+ % of the going rate. If you had read my posts Bellamary's is a clip joint with tourist price (was $50 now $55 apparently) . Girls on the C. Masaya some quite good ( two of whom jumped into the car with me last trip at the Texaco offering rather cute bodies and samples of ass and breast) are only C$200 or all night for C$500.

There are at least 6 reasonable casas that if called would tell a taxista their directions, you can go there and have fun for an hour for C$250 to C$300, vs. $950. Since as Ford knows it is a safe and relatively unspoiled destination your post does me good anyway. The fewer the better.

The prices, descriptions and lack of safety of alternatives like Honduras and Salvador certainly don't offer alternatives that make any more sense.

I got to make a comment here. Now, you can pick on San Pedro Sula but watch it when you criticize Managua! (lol) :D

I admit there is a chaotic vibe to MGA but if you take a step back it all sort of makes sense and yes, I know, they don't have names on the streets. ;)

Lorenzo, the only explanation that I can think of is "is it possible that you're just not spending enough time in these places?" For example a place like San Jose Costa Rica is perfectly made for a long weekend, maybe 4 nights or so. Everything is centralized, easily accessible and convenient. To tell you the truth I've always gotten bored there after about 4 days, but SAP and MGA are towns that you just can't "hit and run".

You need to spend the time to develop things down there - with girls, with drivers and with the scene. It takes time, its not a "trampled through" tourist spot. Or at least not yet. Just a thought.

Grand Pollo - I'm packing tonight for my 11th trip to the DR and 4th to the capital. Figured I'd let you know since from the "other board" I know you're quite the south coast/BC expert. :)
SDQ- now there's a town that has been ruined and overpriced by sandal and black sock wearing, Spanish impaired, uninformed Gringos!! :(

cheers.............

Grand Pollo,

If you will read my post a little more carefully you'll see that I had two taxi drivers who didn't know where Rotunda Ruben Dario was, but my main beef was with the one who didn't know which way west was. There is absolutely no excuse for this, since directions are something that we learn in the first grade. So stop making excuses for these incompetents, since this is only likely to reinforce their remaining so. And you're right about Honduras but totally wrong about El Salvador; so far I think it's the bset mongering spot in Central America from a cost-benefit basis. I suggest you read my recent reports in the San Salvador thread.

Ford,

You're right that I didn't spend enough time in Managua, but I only have 30 days for 7 countries. But I didn't think I was especially critical of Managua, and I can see how one could develop an affection for it. I just don't think it's a good place to go to monger, which was my whole point in writing this series of reports, which was to give a fresh perspective from someone who has never been to any of these countries before to others who have never been there. If for other reasons than mongering one ends up staying in Managua for some length of time, then I'm sure that places to monger can be found. But tourists like me just aren't likely to fall into that category.

Lorenzo

Ford not as bad as the sheep who pay RD$3000 in Sosua for RD$500 girls.

Lorenzo - in a town where they DON'T USE WEST, don't expect them to use west for directions, it is that simple. using your C$950 baseline (US$55) for Managua renders other comparisons wrong since you paid gringo prices , frankly, total newbie prices after I have painstakingly warned all and sundry against Bellamary's as a rip-off joint.

Are there cute easily accessible girls in Salvador for US$14 for an hour or US$35 all night? No bars, no girl drinks, no arguing with burly bouncers? You can get a beer in a Managua casas for barely more than the Texaco - like US$1.50 and the girls expect nothing.

Overall, I doubt it. And there are no gangs of any import and such which makes Salvador a mighty risky place in comparison.

You are doing a whirlwind tour without learning very much.

[QUOTE=Lorenzo]

Ford,

You're right that I didn't spend enough time in Managua, but I only have 30 days for 7 countries. But I didn't think I was especially critical of Managua, and I can see how one could develop an affection for it. I just don't think it's a good place to go to monger, which was my whole point in writing this series of reports, which was to give a fresh perspective from someone who has never been to any of these countries before to others who have never been there. If for other reasons than mongering one ends up staying in Managua for some length of time, then I'm sure that places to monger can be found. But tourists like me just aren't likely to fall into that category.

Lorenzo[/QUOTE]

O.K. I got you. Anyway, I didn't want to make it sound like I was criticizing your work. You made the effort, you visited the countries and you reported back in a candid, honest way. Can't fault you for that. Good job all around!

I get pm's all the time from guys who ask me for my advice re: a specific country or city and they say "when I go Ford, I promise detailed posts and lots of photos" - they return, they thank me and the board gets zippo, nada! :(

Anybody who takes the time to provide info for this board (good or bad) is a good guy. :)
cheers..........

[QUOTE=Ford]. Anybody who takes the time to provide info for this board (good or bad) is a good guy. :) cheers..........[/QUOTE]
I completely agree with you here. Grand Pollo is probably a good guy too. But I still think he misses my point. I was a newbie in Managua and never claimed to be anything else. My posts, as I think I made quite specific, were intended to be for other newbies to give them an idea of what they might face. And good luck on getting cabbies to find a specific massage parlor or whatever when they can't even find a major rotunda, well known restaurants, and well known hotels. I don't mind paying US$55, which to me is cheap, when I'm just passing through town. I think this may be helpful to a newbie to Managua. And, not to belabor the point, but I don't know where the idea that San Salvador is dangerous comes from. I was there for 4 days and felt perfectly safe.

I read this forum thoroughly before planning this trip, and decided to spend the number of days in each country that I thought it merited based on both mongering and non-mongering activities. My estimates turned out to be pretty accurate. Four days was just about right for ES, 8 days maybe just one too many for Guatemala, 3 days maybe one less than necessary for Nicaragua, but not for mongering reasons. If someone has the time and money, I would encourage you to try to do exactly what I did, visit all 7 CA countries and monger in each of them. I've been having a ball and have no regrets whatever, even about the less than stellar experiences. By the way, this trip is basically a warmup for my next project, which is to visit 10 South American countries (all but the Guianas) on a 60-day airpass in July and August, with of course reports forthcoming. Maybe I'll even squeeze in the Guianas if I have time, but I doubt it. Anyway, happy mongering and a long and happy life to all, regardless of what path you choose. To quote an Irish toast: "may you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous husband."

Lorenzo

I don't miss your point but what is the purpose of this board if you say you read it then go to the one place I quite specifically warned members against, leaving people with the impression, solely because your post is new, that this experience was typical. had you heeded past posts you would not have been taken for $55 in a $12 town. Newbies can at least minimize the risk by using this as a research tool first vs. later.

However you have confirmed that despite losing clients they continue to rip-off non locals by quite a wide gap.

OK - TO NEWBIES AND OTHERS - DON'T GO TO **BELLAMARY'S** (OR **GLORIA'S**) - IT RIPS OFF GRINGOS AND IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TOWN .

AMERICANS: ESPECIALLY WITHOUT GOOD SPANISH AND A SENSE OF HUMOUR - AVOID ***SOL Y LUNA*** AS HE DOESN'T LIKE GRUMPY AMERICANS.

I don't disagree with Ford, that people who post are what we need, good or bad, less wrong vs. right would be more beneficial. On the selfish side, there have been a few newbies gumming the works with behaviour so maybe if your post keeps a few away that is a good thing for the rest of us.

But for members who rely on information about other locales, here is advice from someone who has been there 15 times:

Lorenzo's experience was atypical, the cabbies if you can talk to them in Spanish do know how to get around ( and there is a good English language taxista available on request) , you can phone the casas and they will tell the driver directions, and the price he paid for the service was far too much and if you read my past posts you can see what the prices are and the places to avoid.

Ford - I am going back shortly and with my extra guardaespalda and one firearm with one "guide" we are going to see the Callejon de los Muertes brothel in the centre of Mercado Oriental. Should be interesting