Caracas

[QUOTE=Wraith43;2116142]Thank you for the great report. I'm always happy to hear more about Venezuela. When you talked about the visa process, you mentioned a name of someone to visit in Venezuela was needed. How did you over come that? Also what was your experience exchanging money, debit card or cash? It's also good that you had reliable people on the ground. As soon as my membership upgrade goes through I will be building my contacts as well.

Thank you once again for the info.[/QUOTE]Colombia is not a paradise by no stretch of the imagination. Like Venezuela, it is fraught with dangers. You also have to keep your guard up. I have visited Medellin at least 10 times and Venezuela once. A friend had his phone taken from his hands while making a call in Poblado by two guys on a motorbike. When he tried to intervene, a gun was pointed at him. Another tourist had a gun pointed at him, and a watch and chain was stolen. At nighttime, I always have a taxi waiting for me at the club. I never stand on the side the road and try to flag down a taxi. The major problem with travel to Vzla is the money issue. Bell boys will change your money, but for a 50% discount. So, if the rate is 100,000 bolivares to the dollar, they will give you 50,000 bolivares to the dollar. Out side of the big cities, the countryside of Venezuela is safe and people are very friendly. The same can not be said about Colombia where paramilitaries roam in the countryside. Today, the UN has reported that cocaine production is at an all time high in Colombia, greater than before the drug eradication efforts with Plan Colombia. Colombia has the most displaced people in the world, even more than the Sudan. Leave Poblado and you come face to face with the real Colombia. The one major advantage that Colombia has is ease of use of ATM with visa / MasterCard. VZLA needs to let its currency float to determine its true value.

There is the case of an american locked up in prison in Vzla. This guy was living in the barrio with his fiance, and was found with a grenade and an automatic machine gun. No country is going to tolerate that.

The debit card issue in VZLA can be overcome, but not with one visit. One will have to make several visits and establish connections with an attorney or accountant to get one set up for you. Once set up, its game on! Everything is so ridiculously inexpensive. If you plan to go to Vzla, you may make contacts with guys on this board who have established contacts in Vzla. Some charge for the service. Overall, as I said before, Vzla is dangerous but no more dangerous than Colombia.

[QUOTE=Korpu;2118511]Colombia is not a paradise by no stretch of the imagination. Like Venezuela, it is fraught with dangers. You also have to keep your guard up. I have visited Medellin at least 10 times and Venezuela once. A friend had his phone taken from his hands while making a call in Poblado by two guys on a motorbike. When he tried to intervene, a gun was pointed at him. Another tourist had a gun pointed at him, and a watch and chain was stolen. At nighttime, I always have a taxi waiting for me at the club. I never stand on the side the road and try to flag down a taxi. The major problem with travel to Vzla is the money issue. Bell boys will change your money, but for a 50% discount. So, if the rate is 100,000 bolivares to the dollar, they will give you 50,000 bolivares to the dollar. Out side of the big cities, the countryside of Venezuela is safe and people are very friendly. The same can not be said about Colombia where paramilitaries roam in the countryside. Today, the UN has reported that cocaine production is at an all time high in Colombia, greater than before the drug eradication efforts with Plan Colombia. Colombia has the most displaced people in the world, even more than the Sudan. Leave Poblado and you come face to face with the real Colombia. The one major advantage that Colombia has is ease of use of ATM with visa / MasterCard. VZLA needs to let its currency float to determine its true value.

There is the case of an american locked up in prison in Vzla. This guy was living in the barrio with his fiance, and was found with a grenade and an automatic machine gun. No country is going to tolerate that.

The debit card issue in VZLA can be overcome, but not with one visit. One will have to make several visits and establish connections with an attorney or accountant to get one set up for you. Once set up, its game on! Everything is so ridiculously inexpensive. If you plan to go to Vzla, you may make contacts with guys on this board who have established contacts in Vzla. Some charge for the service. Overall, as I said before, Vzla is dangerous but no more dangerous than Colombia.[/QUOTE]Venezuelans are currently FLOODING INTO Colombia BY THE THOUSANDS. What does that tell you? Go to any red light district in Colombia and you will find mostly Venezuelan women working there charging cheaper prices than the local Colombianas.

Yes you can engage in activities in Venezuela at ridiculously low prices, but jeez is it really worth it? Is Colombia not cheap enough for you? Seriously I believe that there are MORE Venezolanas selling pussy in Colombia than there are in Venezuela, which in a way is sad for them but it's AWESOME for mongers. Not only is Colombia inundated with beautiful Venezuelan working girls, they're pushing the going rates down because Colombian pesos are extremely valuable compared to Venezuelan money.

And if you like rumba / party Colombia is 10 times better than Caracas. In Colombia they party all night in every barrio. In Caracas outside of a couple of districts, the streets are dead silent after dark.

Yes I know I sound negative, but with that being said I personally love Venezuela. Nobody loves Venezuela more than me. I had a blast there, but it was NOT easy and I can't honestly recommend Venezuela to other gringos. I never personally got robbed there, but friends of mine did and in broad daylight.

Positives- The people / chica watching in Caracas is superlative. Just walking the streets, riding the metro, going to a shopping mall WOW you will see gorgeous women everywhere. And although Venezuela is supposedly "poor" it does NOT stop them from dressing very nice and looking great when out in public. Although rumba / nightlife isn't nearly as easy to find compared to Colombia, when you do find it it is pretty freaking great. Venezuelans LOVE to drink and party the night away.

Another thing that kind of sucks is that in March the cops shut down most of the spas in Caracas, for some stupid reason. Now there are only maybe 2 or 3 spas in the city whereas there used to be 10 or more.

As for the case of Joshua Holt he was a mormon missionary who was in Venezuela to file for a marriage visa for his wife who he met online. There are witnesses stating that the police PLANTED the guns in the apartment in order to file charges on him. Do you really believe that a mormon guy who is in Vzla to meet up with his wife is going to be stockpiling rifles and grenades? And the courts are not giving him due process. They continue to postpone his court date and trial keeping him locked up indefinitely and THEY DO NOT EVEN ALLOW THE US EMBASSY OFFICIALS ACCESS TO VISIT HIM! I don't know about you but I find that VERY SCARY. The Venezuelan government and police are complete mafia criminals. They do not respect just legal process at all. They lock up anybody they want for any reason they feel like and there is nothing or nobody to stop them.


And regarding Colombia, I know it is not 100% safe but I personally walk anywhere I please and I've never been robbed in the streets of Colombia. I do NOT recommend others to do so but I hang out in shady rough areas of Medellin and Cucuta with no problem. I walk all over el centro Medellin day and night and since I'm too lazy to use uber I never hesitate to jump into any taxi from the street. Your average gringo should NOT do the things I do but from my personal experience I've never been robbed in the street in Colombia.

Read all thoses statistics, economical or whatever comments in the reports section instead of reports (today I did this, found that, etc.) is a pain in the ass. Subjects you are talking about (all those red flags and warnings) are important but they must be kept separated from the reports.

OK Sunday was not such a good day. I did not want to write it here because I'm not very confident in the ability of some people to be patient and understanding with themselves but I will write it anyway: I'm afraid that with stress of the situation the guys from the airport did not gave me the expected amount of money (as Maracucho said you cannot trust them). Looking back at it, I can see that I was so focused on verifying if I was not getting scammed with counterfeit money that I forgot to count.

So after paying the taxi from the airport and another one to visit a bit, I was already out of efectivo.

I've been around sabana grande to find a store which could accept to change me some cash but eventually, while speaking with a moto cab he told me he could get me somewhere to change. (Are you saying that this is risky? Sure it is).

Capitolio is the metro station close to where he took me and soon I had the confirmation that it was a well known place to change. That was actually the problem (not the guy at all) because as soon as I had my feet landed, police municipal appeared asking to everybody to show the cedula. No need to go into details, changing on the black market was illegal the day before and still it is. They took me apart, like 100 meters from the changing guys and my driver, then they started the same than the day before. They were younger than the army guys. They asked what should we do, and again I answered that I accept them to drive me to the police station. I was not showing some ballzy attitude or what, I just answer calmly that well, they are right and I want to go to the police station. After a few minutes of this, they asked how can they help me, I explained myself and they offered me 2.500.000 for 50 dollars (the police guys, yes, nobody else was allowed to speak with me at this time anyway, and there was also a young policewoman who joined a few minutes earlier). I asked them to get me 2.750.000, a few seconds earlier I was being arrested so I was not feeling in the mood of a hard and strong bargain. They told me that, yes, it seems reasonable, and they tried to find me the cash. They called almost all the street, really, I saw them speaking with I don't know how many exchangers one after the other. But they kept telling me that cash is a rare commodity and finally they gave up because none of the exchangers had the needed amount. They gave me my money back and asked my driver to take me back to my place (or to another, actually I don't know).

After paying the guy I was then without not even one bsf.

Jet lag, I went to sleep and somehow I was still confident about the fact that maybe I would get out of this, but surely not by looking for cash.

Yesterday in the morning I managed to get one card from somebody who seems reliable and to change cash. Rate is 85 k on the bank account and 55 k en efectivo.

Yes it is better (the truth is that it is unvaluable, not only better) to have contacts here who can solve this money issue for you in advance, I mean, before your plane lands, still it was not such a bad experience (it was not a pleasant one, for sure) and I have learned a lot about myself in two days.

By the way, I went out yesterday and spent a really relaxing time in El Canagua club.

Dear reader, if you want to give me lessons, or share any kind of bad thoughts, I want to let you know that they are not welcome (like not at all, sincerely). But if bad thoughts are the only things you allow yourself to share, we are on a forum so go ahead, let it out.

I just want to suggest you to instead post a report, it will be very apreciated.

[QUOTE=LeDarth;2118757]Rate is 85 k on the bank account and 55 k en efectivo.[/QUOTE]It is the correct rate, you got.

I am in Caracas as well and its the going rate. Its correct almost no one has efectivo at least in Caracas.

Bank rate- 15% less than black market rate.

Efectivo- 50% surcharge on bank rate.

Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=LeDarth;2118757]Capitolio is the metro station close to where he took me and soon I had the confirmation that it was a well known place to change.[/QUOTE]I am sorry to say this (I say this as I am the person who restarted this thread in 2013-14 after it was closed since 2003) but even people born and bred in Caracas don't go to Capitolo Metro station to change money. I am not sure who advised you to go there! Its extremely dangerous even for locals!

I am glad you escaped unscathed.

[QUOTE=LeDarth;2118757]

Dear reader, if you want to give me lessons, or share any kind of bad thoughts, I want to let you know that they are not welcome (like not at all, sincerely). But if bad thoughts are the only things you allow yourself to share, we are on a forum so go ahead, let it out.

I just want to suggest you to instead post a report, it will be very apreciated.[/QUOTE]I never posted any "bad thoughts" only the truth about Venezuela. I'm sorry if there is more negative than positive but that is the reality.

Here is some good advice for you. Go to Angelus strip club or Morrison's strip club. There you will be able to use your bank card to fuck hot women. You will not be able to use the bank card to use an escort agency because you would need to pay them with a "transferencia" or cash. You can only use the card with people who have a "punto de venta" to scan the card. Another thing you most definitely should do is find a taxi driver who will take you to "LOS hoteles", they are love hotels where there are girls working at the hotel. There you should be able to use your bank card.

I've already asked several times and nobody has bothered to answer about the love hotels where there are working girls available. MaraCucho you are local Caracas right? What do you know about these hotels? What other strip clubs are good besides Angelus and Morrison's?

Another approach you may want to try is find a semi pro girlfriend who will fuck you and you pay her by taking her to buy groceries or clothes at the store maybe?

Walk down Av Las Acacias by Av Canssanova there are a few bars, hotels, and at least one strip club there. Go into some of the bars there and see what you can find. And please report back.

Excuse me for asking a dumb question but, these bank cards have other peoples names on them?

Why would a restaurant / bar or hotel accept a bank card with someone else's name on it.

How is money put onto the card to take advantage of the black market rate. I am assuming bolivares are deposited into the bank but, if finding cash to exchange is the issue to begin with how does one get the cash to put onto the card? Seems like a catch 22.

Thank you as I am quite curious.

[QUOTE=Mfins;2119054]Excuse me for asking a dumb question but, these bank cards have other peoples names on them?

Why would a restaurant / bar or hotel accept a bank card with someone else's name on it.

How is money put onto the card to take advantage of the black market rate. I am assuming bolivares are deposited into the bank but, if finding cash to exchange is the issue to begin with how does one get the cash to put onto the card? Seems like a catch 22.

Thank you as I am quite curious.[/QUOTE]One way is to find someone with a US or Panamanian bank account where you can paypal / zelle transfer them USD and they then transfer Bsf to your Venezuelan account to load your card.

When you use the card at a punto de venta you have to give the the cedula number of the account owner which you should have memerized.

[QUOTE=MaraCucho;2118209]The government blocks their website. The easiest way is to check dolartoday's twitter, which shows the same updated price as in the main site-.[/QUOTE]Download and installation Dolartoday Android application. Its work well.

Hi,

Don't want to post a long report.

Summary of the things I encountered:

- the big club in CC bello campo (I think it is Antonella's) refused to take my card.

- the smaller one accepted, I don't remember the name.

- Dallas refuses to take my card. There are working girls there. I booked from an agency and the girl was ringing at the door 5 minutes after my call. Also, I was having a drink at the bar and the barman offered me some help by bringing 4 or 5 girls.

- Gil-Mar, just in front of Dallas refused to take my card.

- finding the studios from the information we have here has been difficult. Some of them are not easy to find without detailed explanations.

[QUOTE=Jinxx;2119057]One way is to find someone with a US or Panamanian bank account where you can paypal / zelle transfer them USD and they then transfer Bsf to your Venezuelan account to load your card.

When you use the card at a punto de venta you have to give the the cedula number of the account owner which you should have memerized.[/QUOTE]That makes sense. Thank you.

[QUOTE=Jinxx;2119039]
I've already asked several times and nobody has bothered to answer about the love hotels where there are working girls available. MaraCucho you are local Caracas right? What do you know about these hotels? What other strip clubs are good besides Angelus and Morrison's?[/QUOTE]I am from Maracaibo, so my experience un Caracas is a bit limited. The only hotels like that I know are in the "Calle de LOS Hoteles", in Avenida Acacias near Plaza Venezuela. I know there are more near the center of Caracas (near Nuevo Circo and La Hoyada), but I have never been there myself for such purposes. Asking a taxi driver for info on the matter probably would be useful.

About the strip clubs, if you know the Morrison in la Castellana, there are actually quite a few more in the same area.

Kiss Gentlemen's Club is in the old CC Mata de Coco, right next to CC San Ignacio. Pleasure's Girl's Night Club is in CC La Placette in Altamira, in the cross of Transversal 3 with Av. Don Bosco, right across the big Banco Mercantil building. It can be a bit difficult to find because it's semi-hidden in the parking lot of a restaurant, but you can find the location in google maps. Trio's Club is pretty easy to find, it's in the Torre Letonia, right across the street from the Marriot Renaissance hotel. Instead of taking the main entrance, you go down the stairs to the left of the building, and the first door to the left is the club.

Another decent club I found is in a different area, Paradis Gentlemens Club in CC LOS Chaguaramos. Even if the taxi driver doesn't know the place, it's also easy to find because it's located next to the Unversidad Bolivariana.

EDIT: Had to edit all the instances of shortening "Centro Comercial", because if I put a "C" and a period, the forum would change it into "see.", pretty odd.

[QUOTE=MaraCucho;2119506]I am from Maracaibo, so my experience un Caracas is a bit limited. The only hotels like that I know are in the "Calle de LOS Hoteles", in Avenida Acacias near Plaza Venezuela. I know there are more near the center of Caracas (near Nuevo Circo and La Hoyada), but I have never been there myself for such purposes. Asking a taxi driver for info on the matter probably would be useful.[/QUOTE]Also Dallas hotel and other hotels in the same street in Chacao area are love hotels with chicas available at the lobby reception.

[QUOTE=ThePrince1127;2114534]Haitek,

Please remind me, where do you find the licensed (I. E. Safe) taxis at the airport?[/QUOTE]These are the drivers who carry an taxi identification card. But honestly I do not know if they are more safe.

[QUOTE=LeDarth;2118757]

By the way, I went out yesterday and spent a really relaxing time in El Canagua club.
.[/QUOTE]How was el Canagua? Armando, the boss, is a friendly guy. If you are short of bolivares, you can paid the chicas and the room in dollars.