Caracas

Hi guys,

I'm on my way to Caracas tomorrow. This will be my 4th country so far out of the 9 that I'm traveling to in the next couple of months. After reading the latest reports about Caracas, I want to know, is there any reason to go to Caracas at all? I was thinking about spending a couple days there before heading to Merida. So if there is anybody living there with up to date knowledge, please give me a heads up. I don't want to stay in such a dangerous city if the reward isn't worth it. If anyone is there that would like to hook up for a beer, please let me know. Also, please check out my latest reports from Costa Rica, Cuba, and Dominican Republic. Thanks for any help in advance.

I was there in early March.
As far as I am concerned I will never go back to Caracas.
I could not wait to get out of there.
Besides the trouble getting into Caracas and finding a place to stay. Everything was full. Try Hotel La Floresta, [email]hotellafloresta@cantv.net[/email], Fax: 58 212 267 7519 Tel: 263 1955.
There is not much to see, except maybe the teleferico. I was told by a travel agent that lives there that she used to go to the musuems in the Capitolio area, but it is too dangerous to go there even in the day time.
If you want to go to Angel Falls the cheapest way to get there in by going to Isla Margarita and then fly from there. It will cost around $240. for a one day round trip. I waited and tried to go from Caracas. They did not have any one day trip. Only overnighter and they wanted about $800. round trip.
If you are going to Merida, I would recommend getting hotel reservations first. We didn't, and all the hotels were full. We only got lucky with the airport travel agent. She found an apartment for us to rent for four days.
WT69

CIRCLE -- I was with World Travel in Venezuela and spent 8 days in Caracas. I can tell you there isn't much to see there. I couldnt even get a budget hotel (stayed at the Hotel Las Mercedes, $100 a nite) in town. And to top it off the sexual venues were really lacking compared to other cities in South America. I pretty much went to the 2 *****houses listed earlier.

Merida was a nice town, very safe, with good weather. I highly recommend the Teleferico to the top of the Andes mountains, and also La Venezuela de Antier, an historical amusement park a little out of town. Also we went to the bullfights (which I enjoyed unlike my friend). We didnt find much in the way of mongering though.

Happy travels

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info. I happend to meet a french couple and a spanish girl when I was trying to find someone to share a taxi into caracas with me. They were not all traveling together, but we all met kind of at about the same time and they all spoke spanish better than I, so I decided to hang out with them. And since they were taking a bus to caracas and then taking the overnight bus directly to merida, I decided to go with the flow and go with them. Besides, all the hotels really are booked up in caracas. Even the budget ones I normally find in my travel books. So I'm in merida now, and I hope to have a nice update coming soon. So thanks, and hasta luego

30 minute trip from the airport to Caracas. There is a bridge out as described but perhaps they finished a temporary one? The road goes next to a collapsed bridge so that is my guess. It does go through some pretty spooky looking parts of town. From first glance, every area here is a spooky part of town.

Ford's timid little mountain creatures (or something like that) would be scared.

A couple of money things...

Tons of black market exchangers right at the airport. 2300 seems the going rate on any amount.

ATM scam: This one is tricky. I saw one and a guy showed me what you can do. Generally on outdoor, easily accessible ones a guy will glue on a card reader. Your card goes through his and into the real one. They scan your card and pin and can then counterfeit it. The trick seems to be to smack the card reader hard on the top. You can tell if there is a seam that bends a little. Real ones are one piece of moulded plastic.

Nothing ground breaking to report. I checked out at couple of strip clubs that are already well reported on here. Everything is as described.

I just needed to add that even though this city is not exactly to my taste there are some unbelievable looking chicas here. The average is probably higher than the average anywhere else I know of. And they are everywhere. If a lot of the mainland is like this, I can understand why some really go for Venezuela. You get more horny at the mall than at a titty bar in many places.

Went back to one of my old haunts, previously reported, Edf Yetauso, spelling not so sure, PH B on Ave Libertador, about 50 mts west of Hotel Crillon on the north side of the avenue. Only one girl available, around forty years old, rate her a five at most, Bs 90K after negotiations. One hour and not so great. Place has gone down as has the rest of this country.
Be safe,
Be there
returning after a six month absence

many people here think that the price for paygirls in venezuela is to high, and I totaly agre with u.

Some people say that it is still ok because it is less than back home (there wrong). The onley fair way to compare is to look at the normal salary in the country bacause salarys and livingcosts always goes hand in hand (exept p4p girls in venezuela)

So I spent lots of time to make this list of salarys and p4p prices for you.

The everage salarys is for bricklayer/carpenter in each kountry.

The p4p prises are low mediumprices and 1 hour.

The % is based on the salarys.

The curency is for each country

..........................................................................
country------salary-----p4p------%of salary
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
germany......2,400.........72............=3%
australia......4,095.........160..........=4%
japan..........298,540......13,000.....=4,5%
usa.............3,222.........160.........=5%
uk..............1,629.........150......... =9%
thailand.......7,000.........700.........=10%
philipines......7,000.........700........=10%
venezuela....200,0000....200,000...=100%
------------------------------------------------------

1. If Venezuelan girls charged 3% (same as German) it woud be 6, 000veb. How come the Vnezuelan girls charge 33 times more than German?

2. If American girls charge the same as Venezuelan girls it wod be 3,222 usd.
Would you pay that?

3. A carpenter charge 1,250veb per hour and pay tax on that. A ho charge 200,000veb per hour and no tax.

4. If a skilld worker make the same money in 160 hours as a ho in 1 hour something wrong.

5. If a ho works 1 hour evry 4 day she makes 1 year's salry in 1 month, and 12 years salary in one year.

6. I don't understand why theres any girls in skool or college as a ho they make more money than lawyers and doctors.

7. Yes my friends, this means they are richer than you and me. They can by more things and luxury for their salary in ther country than you can in your country for your salary (unles you're BillGgates:)

8. The escort and clubgirls have to splitt the money but freelancers keap 100% but they all charge about the same eaven the ugly ones.

9. An honest question who is f-cking who?

10. We all know why the prise is to high (owerpaying and tipping) and we all know what to do to keep the price on a normal level -REMEMBER ITS A TEAM EFFORT-

11. If you feel sorry for the girls and want to do somthing for them do somthing that some guys forget, treat them nice. That way they think better of you than if you just hand them shittloads of cach.

12 .If you like to give your money away give it to the poor carpenters.

13 .The salary statistic is taken fromInternational Labour Office <http://www.ilo.org> the p4p prises taken from this and other forums and own experience.

14. The salarys and pices may vary from state/province in the same country but i wont be much differense.

I hope this was helpfull to you.

Please let me know what you think of this.

speedy, i think you are not comparing apples to apples here. for starters, the venezuelan minimum wage is bs 460,000 plus obligatory incidentals like vacation, prestaciones, aguinaldos, etc. which add another 50% so in reality you are looking at around bs. 690,000 or usd 300 and change. second, you are not comparing this minimum wage to other countries minimum, rather the average wage. i don't know about other countries but the us minimum is not usd 3000 per month. third, don't confuse the top rate with the average. as a foreigner in venezuela you probably paid top rate. in other countries you are probably paying more standard market prices. here in venezuela the standard prices range from bs 30,000 at volta to bs 120,000 at massage parlors with around 80,000 - 100,000 being a good average for top flight massage parlors. notice i am not including the houses for working joes in non touristy parts and the interior where going rates of 15,000 to 20,000 bs can still be found. using these latter numbers gives you a ratio of 20:690 or 1:35, more in line with your international benchmarks. but above all, forget the money, enjoy!
be safe,
be there

thank you for corekting me -be there-

You told me exactly what me and my nervs neded to hear.

The salarys I wrote about where not minimum wage.

It was male ewerage bricklayer/carpenter salarys.

I didn't invent this numbers myself it came from ilo-International Labour Office and for venezuela they wrote 171, 550veb per month in year (2000) but I coreted whith more resent informtion from people saying 180, 000 - 240, 000veb.

You say 690, 000 for minimum wage so I gues a bricklayer/carpenter have even higher salary than 690, 000 thats a big change from 6 years ago maby 400%. The usa informtion was to old to be acurate (1997) so I adjsed that whith other info on internet.

Pleas tell me what the real salary wod be in usa

As for the p2p in venezuela I calculated on150usd for girl and 50usd for exit =200usd=429, 000veb for topprange like morrison or angeous (forum info) for lowrange it was newspaper-freelansers 180, 000 - 250, 000veb.

I am an expeiend traweller but I never ben in us or venesuela but I never claimd to know more than ilo or forums wrote.

My reasons for reakting so strong is beacause I am sick and tierd of being overcharged for my collor or nationality, I woud newer do that to tourists in my country.

And I am not a sheepskate I just don't like to pay 10 times more than I have to. Anyway I am happy to hear the salary was higher and prices lower (thanks be there) by the way have you heard the minimum wage from reliable sourses or many people?

see here:

[url]http://www.mintra.gov.ve/salario/salario_minimo_2006.html[/url]

[quote=speedy gonzales]

i didn't invent this numbers myself it came from ilo-international labour office and for venezuela they wrote 171, 550veb per month in year (2000) but i coreted whith more resent informtion from people saying 180, 000 - 240, 000veb.

...

and i am not a sheepskate i just don't like to pay 10 times more than i have to. anyway i am happy to hear the salary was higher and prices lower (thanks be there) by the way have you heard the minimum wage from reliable sourses or many people?[/quote]

I'll be there for four days. Anyone around that wants to hang out and explore?

I have been to all of the Central and South American cities, and I speak fluent Spanish. Recently spent a week in Caracas, and I address this to anyone who has NOT been there and is trying to decide whether to go. There are, as noted a LOT of gorgeous slim dark girls around, BUT they are not very friendly, don't like to talk to strangers. Even if you speak Spanish and look decent, there are MANY other places you can do better.

Overall sterotype/generalization: Caracas is dirty, crowded, smoggy, not very interesting, not many good restaurants, ful of pushy obnoxious people, and very dangerous. As soon as I left my hotel, sinister people started shadowing me, and EVERY taxi driver, doorman, etc. told me I was risking my life by taking a walk at night, even in a well-lit area.

Now I am sure that someone is going to respond that Caracas is the most wonderful safest city on the planet, etc., but let me tell you my subjective YMMV opinion: SHITHOLE! For the same price I could have gone to Rio or Buenos Aires, etc., where the food, girls, people, traffic, value, beach (Rio, Dominican Republic), nightlife (Rio or Buenos Aires) is MUCH better. Here is my subjective ranking of major destinations, based on friendliness, pricing, value, food, scenery, and "other things to do and see":

Rio 10, Buenos Aires 9, Costa Rica 7, Panama City 7, Dominican Republic (if you like it dark) 6, Medellin/Cali 5, Tijuana 5, Lima 4, Caracas 1,
Let the flames begin! LOL

Hey Rabo Verde, I feel you man..... I know that sometimes our experiences vary greatly from one place to another. The same applies to how those experiences occur to different people in the same places as well.

The main reason why I am responding to your post is because I should be arriving in CCS in less than 3 weeks from today and current/ updated information about the city interests me a lot. I have been through CCS en route to Puerto La Cruz (by land) and by plane (Simon Bolivar Int'l Airport) on my way to Colombia. However, I have not had the opportunity to stay and get to know the city at all :( This time, I am also heading to Puerto La Cruz and Margarita but I would like to spend a couple of days in CCS to do some sightseeing and to delight in the art of what we all brethren of this forum partake in while abroad :)

I agree with your assessments of Rio and Buenos Aires, however, categorizing Medellin and Cali with a 5 - I don't know. IMHO, Medellin deserves a higher rating than Cali because of its cosmopolitan lifestyle and its prettier, more modern women. Second, categorizing Medellin and Cali on a par with Tijuana (5 for all three) is a real disservice. Tijuana, although being my backyard for P4P (and thank God for that) comes by no means close to either Medellin or Cali - in all aspects, that is. The P4P scene in Tijuana is strictly on an assembly line/ mechanical/ non-GFE basis whereas in Medellin/ Cali one definitely finds better options in terms of beauty and experience.

Just my two cents worth with no intentions of starting a flame war here. :)

RABO VERDE ...

Well actually, I have to agree with your assessment of Caracas ... most of it anyway.

I know Caracas pretty well also ... yes, wow, lots of beautiful chicas ... more per square inch than most places on the planet ... but yes, they sure can be a bit stuck up.

I've gotten lucky there meeting chicas that work in the malls ... Sambil or el Recreo ... also some chicas from the massage places I've ended up dating.

DANGEROUS ... definitely! I've had a couple run ins there ... would never walk around at night ... especially alone.

I've been to Caracas many times for work ... and I've had several girlfriends from there and have gone to visit them also ... but ... I wouldn't choose to go there now just for fun and chasing chicas ... especially with the political climate the way it is.
I've actually been turned down by hotel management to stay in their hotel because I'm from the USA ... politics.

HOT chicas ... but I have to agree ... wouldn't be my first choice to visit on vacation.