Medellin Reports

As I expected, I think a 3.5 day trip just isn't enough. LOL. I've not been to half the places I want to go. That said, some good experiences. The highlight from yesterday was an unexpected and odd TLN. I went to Lleras again after a bit of tourist sightseeing. It was relatively quiet about 9 PM. Returned at 11 and still fairly quiet, due to a light rain, I assume. Walked to Gusto, which was packed. The door man, who I tipped $5 mil the day before picked me out of the crowd and saved me probably 20 minute wait time. Gustos was fun. Connected with a girl and her amiga. We had fun, agreed to a 3 hour date. I declined, and then immediately regretted her offer for a 3 some with her friend. Then, she wanted one more drink. And one more drink. And one more drink. Just ticked me off so I bailed. Walked outside, thinking of going to La Isla. I walked right by 2 chicas trying to get my attention. I'd say a 7 (from MDE) and a 7. 5 from Venezuela. It was one of those feelings that you knew if you give a little on looks, it was going to be a good session. So after walking by them, I turned around and they giggled. They knew they had me. We negotiate 2 hours back at my room. Took a taxi to avoid the drizzle and wearing myself out walking that hill for the 10th time that day. Came back and had a fantastic session. After an odd goodbye, 5 minutes after they leave, the MDE chica sends me a message on WhatsApp and said she wants to hang out tomorrow. OK. Maybe. Then ultimately, she says she wants to come back and stay the night. I'm thinking OK, here it comes. She said she doesn't want more money. She comes back, we go at it again. Then we go eat. This is about 4 AM. We run into her mother, who sells chiclets and cigarettes at Calle 10. That was just an odd experience. LOL We come back to the room for round 3. We sleep and I wake up to round 4. At this point, I enjoyed her company but I just needed a break so sent her away. She's finally stopped the messaging. She wanted to sightsee with me. And accompany me to the airport. No thanks. Nice girl. Typical rough life story. I did give her a bit of extra money without her asking.

Trying to determine how to enjoy my last hours. With an afternoon flight on Sunday, I hope for one more party.

[QUOTE=ElBacano;2426596]Yes gents, some beers at Gustos are 30 k. Be careful which girl you get it from. Must be a kickback. Just get a colombiano or something. About 8 k. Stay away from corona or american which they have to import. I don't think its a ripoff. But premium beer in Colombia is hard to come by.[/QUOTE]I bought a Heineken at Gusto and it was 30 k, a little later in the same night I walked across Lleras Park to the liquor / beer store and bought a Heineken out of the cooler and it costs 8 k. Gusto and the store most likely pay the same price to the distributor. The overhead in a bar obviously explains some of the markup of the price but it doesn't completely explain the price difference between a Colombiano and a Heineken. Whats more is I bought a Stella Artois at the same store I bought that Heineken and paid the same 8 k price, but one can pop into an Exito supermarket and buy a six-pack of Stella Artois for 23,500 k so the single beer out of the cooler at the liquor store costs about $2. 35, buy the six-pack at Exito and you pay around pay around $1. 20 apiece. A single Becks costs. Exito sells a 12 oz can of Becks for about $. 82. We can assume that Exito is buying at a larger bulk rate than either Gusto or the liquor store.

The bottom line is at Gusto you pay for the ambiance of an upscale night club and being surrounded by $200 a night hookers in a land where $120 will get you a comparable hooker all night on Facebook and $1. 20 can buy you a Heineken at Exito.

I don't enjoy Corona. To me it lacks flavor and body. I think it's popular in the Americas for the same reason the Rolling Rock brand is. The Americas taste preference for beer leans toward the watery (Budweiser, Coors Light, etc.) It's not a bad thing, it's just very different than most of the rest of the world. I notice a can of Baltika beer from the Baltic States region. I really like that brand, and not just because it reminds me of some good times in Belarus. LOL!

[QUOTE=MojoBandit;2426640]I bought a Heineken at Gusto and it was 30 k, a little later in the same night I walked across Lleras Park to the liquor / beer store and bought a Heineken out of the cooler and it costs 8 k. Gusto and the store most likely pay the same price to the distributor. The overhead in a bar obviously explains some of the markup of the price but it doesn't completely explain the price difference between a Colombiano and a Heineken. Whats more is I bought a Stella Artois at the same store I bought that Heineken and paid the same 8 k price, but one can pop into an Exito supermarket and buy a six-pack of Stella Artois for 23,500 k so the single beer out of the cooler at the liquor store costs about $2. 35, buy the six-pack at Exito and you pay around pay around $1. 20 apiece. A single Becks costs. Exito sells a 12 oz can of Becks for about $. 82. We can assume that Exito is buying at a larger bulk rate than either Gusto or the liquor store.

The bottom line is at Gusto you pay for the ambiance of an upscale night club and being surrounded by $200 a night hookers in a land where $120 will get you a comparable hooker all night on Facebook and $1. 20 can buy you a Heineken at Exito.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MojoBandit;2426640]

The bottom line is at Gusto you pay for the ambiance of an upscale night club and being surrounded by $200 a night hookers in a land where $120 will get you a comparable hooker all night on Facebook and $1. 20 can buy you a Heineken at Exito.[/QUOTE]I have more fun standing outside of Gustos or just hanging at the park. That place is too loud for my taste. I forgot to mention that the last time I was there I noticed the damn decibel meter posted by the elevator. I saw 98 decibels or something close. Heck at 105 dbs you should be wearing double hearing protection LOL. My ears cannot handle that anymore but to each their own.

[QUOTE=Uthred;2426755]I have more fun standing outside of Gustos or just hanging at the park. That place is too loud for my taste. I forgot to mention that the last time I was there I noticed the damn decibel meter posted by the elevator. I saw 98 decibels or something close. Heck at 105 dbs you should be wearing double hearing protection LOL. My ears cannot handle that anymore but to each their own.[/QUOTE]Whatever you do, don't go to Club Fahrenheit. It's much louder. My ears can't handle it either.

[QUOTE=Knowledge;2426654]I don't enjoy Corona. To me it lacks flavor and body. I think it's popular in the Americas for the same reason the Rolling Rock brand is.[/QUOTE]I don't drink beer at all.

But I do know that any beer that comes in a clear bottle is not a good beer. The bottle needs to be dark to keep the light out. There is a reason lime is always added to Corona. I think that beer was originally the brand for Mexican farmhands.

I'm still trying to assess if I like the place. Nothing terribly new to report that hasn't been documented already. Cover of $10 K. I like the layout, how everything centers around the main stage. Love the seating. I love the no pressure. In fact, at times, it was hard to get a waiter to come to you. I saw two different guys stay there for hours. Never bought a drink and refused every girl coming around for their 60 cent propina. So a very different business model. But, almost every seat was filled. The girls: someone said it before but it has a high floor. There was only one that I thought should not be there. Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And we all have preferences. But I despise enhanced asses. If you are a fan of insanely enhanced asses, some that you can sit a beer on while she walks around, this is your heaven. I saw a few 9's that I crossed off my list because they lost alot of points for their monstrosity. It's a turn off to me, much like a smoker. Again, we all have our preferences. Hell, isn't there a lot of smoking themed porn? I accept I may be the odd ball. Other than those asses, the girls were awesome. Though I will say, if spinners are your thing, they were in the minority.

One other comment. I read that people here don't make it rain on the stage. They didn't. Instead, $2 K bills were flying all over the place in the seats. Most of the time it was in good fun. But there was one dude getting his rocks off, laughing at the girls scrambling on the ground for their 60 cents. It was hard to watch for many reasons. He was making a show of it and mocking them. I had to say something. Though I don't think he understood anything I said. He was Asian and did not speak Spanish either.

One final note. Again, keep in mind that there is no pressure to buy. But their prices on liquor are ridiculously high, in my opinion. And one waiter at the bar was very slow to give back change. After twice thinking I'm leaving him a $30 K tip (that ain't happening), I just kept hounding him so he wanted me to go away.

[QUOTE=Surfer500;2425899]

I know lots of gringos that have had problems in El Centro and in Poblado as well, which are the two places I spend my time in, and the common denominator for them has been they are obvious gringos or foreigners. So what exactly is an obvious gringo or foreigner? Simply put, anyone that does not fit in whether it be the color of their skin, their hair, what their wearing, etc. So to make it simple, if your a foreigner you basically have a big "X" on your back identifying you as a target. If I were a thieve I would most definitely target a foreigner versus a local.

I am fortunate that the majority of the time I can pass as a Colombian looks wise when I keep my mouth shut, and have been told this by several Colombians. So when I am in El Centro I wear jeans, a t-shirt, and have a backpack, a burner phone, a Civica card for riding the Metro, a copy of my ID, and no more than 200 K cash on me. So I am never stressed about losing anything of value when I am down there. There have been other posters on this board who find it hard to believe that a gringo can pass as a Colombian, but there are, and I am not Hispanic. As an example, about three weeks ago I was walking on the backside of the Church along where all the bars are, and a foreigner was walking in front of me about thirty feet away. He got looks from everybody and two Chicas went up to him who were basically pawing him which he almost had to push away. When I walked by, nobody even looked at me. So I feel fortunate that I basically can move about under the radar in Medellin, however when I start speaking, the cat's out of the bag.

So your question was, has my opinion changed regarding safety in Medellin, and the answer is yes. You should never under estimate thieves, some of them are very cunning, and taking precautions to lower your exposure to them, and losing your valuables is to be taken very seriously. There have been lots of posts regarding this, and you cannot ever let your guard down here.[/QUOTE]Concur with most except for tipping and walking with 200 k. Also if one proclaims to be a hood hardened wannabe shot caller personal blog expert from south central, Flint or Hunts point wherever nobody cares -not you- then your immune because all the scams have previously been pulled on you or your associates one time or another plus having eyes in the back of ones head sure helps bits wordup skware bidness yo? LOL.

Centro is no cake walk for newbs this cannot be overly stated however some get lucky and believe its always like that but it only takes once then things go dark.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2426866]I don't drink beer at all.

But I do know that any beer that comes in a clear bottle is not a good beer. The bottle needs to be dark to keep the light out. There is a reason lime is always added to Corona. I think that beer was originally the brand for Mexican farmhands.[/QUOTE]The Mexicans call it urine.

Hi guys,

I'm halfway through a 2 week trip in Columbia and I'm not sure if this is this is the best place in the forum to introduce myself. I will provide some proper intel once I get back home on my desktop computer (this website is awful in mobile format).

Last night I went to "Barre Ejecutiva" and wasn't too impressed. I got there around 10:30 pm and I found the selection to be mediocre. There were a few cute girls but there was only one up to my standards so I bought her a drink. We talked a bit but after 10 min some regulars arrived and she said "sorry these guys have already reserved a time to see me, ill be back in 5 min". I'm not sure why I expected her to be back in 5 min but she never came back so I left slightly grumpy.

I need to make it clear that I have very high standards in women, and I don't mind paying more to see the best of the best. I've walked some of the red light dustricts in Bogota and Pattaya and not seen a single girl I want to bang. I know there are a lot VIP escorts online but their pictures are always a bit deceiving and they're often not worth the premium price. Where can I find the high end girls in Medellin? I hear the Loutron is good but unfortunately its closed on Sundays. I only have 6 days left here please help me make the most of it.

[QUOTE=AboveAverage;2426946]Hi guys,

I'm halfway through a 2 week trip in Columbia and I'm not sure if this is this is the best place in the forum to introduce myself. I will provide some proper intel once I get back home on my desktop computer (this website is awful in mobile format).

Last night I went to "Barre Ejecutiva" and wasn't too impressed. I got there around 10:30 pm and I found the selection to be mediocre. There were a few cute girls but there was only one up to my standards so I bought her a drink. We talked a bit but after 10 min some regulars arrived and she said "sorry these guys have already reserved a time to see me, ill be back in 5 min". I'm not sure why I expected her to be back in 5 min but she never came back so I left slightly grumpy.

I need to make it clear that I have very high standards in women, and I don't mind paying more to see the best of the best. I've walked some of the red light dustricts in Bogota and Pattaya and not seen a single girl I want to bang. I know there are a lot VIP escorts online but their pictures are always a bit deceiving and they're often not worth the premium price. Where can I find the high end girls in Medellin? I hear the Loutron is good but unfortunately its closed on Sundays. I only have 6 days left here please help me make the most of it.[/QUOTE]Have you tried la Isla? Many think they have the hottest women in Medellin, though if you don't like Silicone T&A, you may not like it.

[QUOTE=Dcrist0527;2426867]
One final note. Again, keep in mind that there is no pressure to buy. But their prices on liquor are ridiculously high, in my opinion. And one waiter at the bar was very slow to give back change. After twice thinking I'm leaving him a $30 K tip (that ain't happening), I just kept hounding him so he wanted me to go away.[/QUOTE]

The problems you experienced really are not problems if you get a seat and have a waiter. The waiter can rearrange the seat for you even when the place appears to be full. You can run a tap and pay at the end.

Next time, get the counter by the entrance to break your large bill into 2 K bills. You won't need to wait for change this way.

[QUOTE=Bill;2426903]Concur with most except for tipping and walking with 200 k. Also if one proclaims to be a hood hardened wannabe shot caller personal blog expert from south central, Flint or Hunts point wherever nobody cares -not you- then your immune because all the scams have previously been pulled on you or your associates one time or another plus having eyes in the back of ones head sure helps bits wordup skware bidness yo? LOL.

Centro is no cake walk for newbs this cannot be overly stated however some get lucky and believe its always like that but it only takes once then things go dark.[/QUOTE]I concur with your thoughts, however tipping wasn't mentioned in this post, but another one I posted. What do you think about tipping, at the Hotels I patronize, it has worked wonders for me.

As far as walking with 200 K, well that's what I carry with me, no more. Do you think that's too much money to be carrying around in El Centro? My rationale for that number is it will cover two one and a half hour sessions, food, etc.

There have been other posters on this board who claim they are "bad ass", coming from rough neighborhoods in the States and can handle themselves in El Centro. Well if they are obvious foreigners, they are walking targets, and may physically be able to kick the shit out of somebody, but will have a difficult time if a group of guys takes them on.

This almost happened to a friend of mine who is a "bad ass" and not somebody to be fucked with in a fight. He is an obvious foreigner and a while back he was walking along the Veracruz Church and three Transvesties cornered him and one said let's go to the room. He said I'm not into "cock" or butt fucking and then they ripped his glasses off of him and stomped them on the ground. He told me afterwards that if it had been one guy things wouldn't have progressed like that, in that he would of "attacked" the She-male. So he decided not to try take on three guys and basically walked away.

[QUOTE=AboveAverage;2426946]Hi guys,

I need to make it clear that I have very high standards in women, and I don't mind paying more to see the best of the best. I've walked some of the red light dustricts in Bogota and Pattaya and not seen a single girl I want to bang. I know there are a lot VIP escorts online but their pictures are always a bit deceiving and they're often not worth the premium price. Where can I find the high end girls in Medellin? I hear the Loutron is good but unfortunately its closed on Sundays. I only have 6 days left here please help me make the most of it.[/QUOTE]I understand this is your first post, however it begs the question as to where you have encountered the type of women you consider to be the "best of the best" as Colombia is hard to beat if your into Latina women.

Are there any banks offering safety deposit boxes to tourists?

I'm thinking that a safety deposit box only available during office hours is the perfect solution to the problem of being drugged at night and opening your hotel safe for someone.