Cartagena In 2008

[MDEmonger]

I have been around the world on this little post divorce adventure... In Colombia I have been to Medellin, Cartagena and Barranquilla. There is just no comparison. Barranquilla first off just sucks. It's an awful, decentralized, ugly, industrial, dirty, dangerous city. Medellin certainly has hot women, but the city itself while not dangerous is dumpy, ugly, hard to navigate, no where to walk, etc. I found a few nice casas but they are scattered around and difficult to deal with. Everything has to be by taxi.

Wow...I have been traveling throughout Colombia for over 6 years now, and I lived here for over two years. Never in my time have I heard so much discouraging information about such beautiful areas, so I am sorry that you had such a bad time.

Barranquilla, although offers very little in the way of P4P, is one of the most laid back and fun cities to go if you like local, cultural nightlife. The city is known for it's laid back laziness, so to speak, and this can reflect in the organization and cleanliness. However, the women are BEYOND compare. They are known to offer the most naturally beautiful of women from Colombia, especially morenas, and this is even where Shakira came from! See the way she dances on in the videos? Try going to a club and seeing scores of women doing the same if not crazier and better in every direction! Fucking amazing place to go if not solely for P4P and can put up with the heat, relaxed culture and non-modern city. By the way, Barranquilla is ranked as the #2 safest city in Colombia - especially for tourists.

Medellin...I have to wonder where you were the whole time? Medellin is a super-modernized business hub, ranking just below Bogota, having the conveniences of a modern city without being too big like Bogota. Everywhere you look there are mountains surrounding the long North-to-South valley. It is the safest city in Colombia at the time. Although the architecture is not what you would see in Miami, it offers better views and more modern areas than almost anywhere in Colombia. It has a very organized bus system, a Metro line with two separate lines and 2 additional metrocables, and a super-efficient Taxi system (hard to navigate? did you not have a map, not understand numbered streets or just not know enough Spanish to figure it out?) The city is riddled with parks, and is regularly tearing down old aras and putting in zona-verdes. There are more americanized street and sidewalk setups than I have seen anywhere in Colombia, and besides Bogota they have the best maintained sidewalks in the country (as opposed to Barranquilla where you have to watch every step you make to ensure you don't fall in a hole and disappear). The women, although beautiful, are very fake (lots of surgery) and lost a lot of historical culture with the modernness that the city has developed. "I found a few nice casas but they are scattered around and difficult to deal with. Everything has to be by taxi." Hmmm...hard to deal with? This city is not known for it's level of English, and that is about the only thing I have heard when it comes to being hard to deal with...so maybe a language barrier? As for everything having to be by taxi, WTF, it isn't boystown in Nuevo Laredo!

"The "dangerous" part of Colombia is the jungle area in the southern part of the country. " Ohh....sigh...you just don't know much about this country at all, do you. I'm really happy I'm not relying on your post to go there for the first time. Sorry to be blunt, but the statement is just so sweeping and lacking any good travel advice.

Cartagena is much of what you said, however very touristy with prices that usually run a bit higher. Maybe that is more your thing, but for those who want to take in more culture and diverse opportunities, these other cities you degrade have SOOO many good things to offer. I showed this post to three other people already, and they all said that the explanations of Barranquilla and Medellin sound the exact opposite of what they really are. We are in agreement that (1) you never made it to those cities or (2) your Spanish wasn't good enough to make it as it should be or (3) you don't click with true latin american culture.

At any rate, hopefully future readers will not take into account only your post, as they would be missing so much. In two years I have had 4 mongering friends come to visit. Two of them moved here after the first visit, the other two have come back multiple times and never tire of the fun and excitement!

To each their own...

[MDEmonger]

I ain't giving advice to anyone going there with a woman... That doesn't make any sense...

That's a stupid thing to say. Why wouldn't you help a fellow world traveler that wants to inject his tourism $$$ into the same country you partially enjoy? Who gives a fuck if he's going with a girl. Would you say the same thing to me, and oust me from an opportunity to learn about a place? I travel all the time with my girl, and she's bisexual and likes to be a mongerette!

You don't know him, or what he's up to, just provide the info if you have it!

Diablito1...I would love to help you with the info, but unfortunately the "touristy" side of that city keeps me away. If you want non-p4p info on Colombia, and Cartagena, trying searching the forums at www.poorbuthappy.com/colombia or www.colombianblog.com

[escierto]

Regarding MDEmonger's comments about Adamqqq's post. De acuerdo, Senor y mas! I could not have said it better myself.

[tomtom33]

Adamqqq-
If you have the time, I have a few questions.
- How far is it from the airport to the colonial center and how much
- Best places to change money--I prefer to carry cash and only use the ATMs as an emergency
-Things to do( I am flying in my colombiana friend of 3 years from Costa Rica, so I won't be able to enjoy LDV, etc---I know-like bringing sand to the beach)
-Any experience with Isla Tierra Bomba, as the hotel that I am staying at, Tres Banderas, has a sister hotel on the isla
-Best clubs for couples( maybe next trip I'll go solo)

The airport to el Centro is around 10 minutes and will cost around 8000 COP.

It will cost you about 8% more to carry cash as opposed to using ATMs. Most cambios charge similar rates. Banks have long lines.

Tierra Bomba is a dump. I have never seen any hotels there, but there could be one on the other end of the island near the entry to the Bay of Cartagena. That area is very touristy(read a lot of vendedores selling shit and pestering you) because of the old fort there that guarded the entry to the Bay.

Try Tu Candela in el Centro or Mr. Babillas nearby along Avenida Arsenal.

[randylmax]

Can someone please recommend a place to stay near the beach that you can bring chicas back with no problema?
Also, that is safe to leave belongings at?
A name, phone and address would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
max

[tomtom33]

Can someone please recommend a place to stay near the beach that you can bring chicas back with no problema?
Also, that is safe to leave belongings at?
A name, phone and address would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
max

http://www.zepelion.com/apartamentos/english.htm

[pussyhunter]

i visited baranquilla cartegena and santa marta on the same trip and was in colombia for 12 or 13 days....here are some pics of this girl i met in p4p house in cartegena it was not high end place but descent i screwed her in the house for an hour then made a deal with her to screw her the next day for 4 hours for like 60-70 dollars definitely worth it

[pussyhunter]

there are plenty of hot beautiful women in colombia and the place has not been infected with money spending tourists well at least not all of it...the women are very lady like more say than I found in DR and very warm like dominican women not like the cold fishes I encountered in San Jose (not to say that about all ticas just the working women) and you can make the deals with the women you will see a lot of different varieties i personally prefer the medellin look-young, pretty, blond haired, beautiful body, with latina features (yummmmm....) i would like to return and visit cali and medellin....the only regret i had that I didnt srew as much as I wanted on this trip I only had sex with 3 working girls in 13 days whereas in CR i had 20 in 9 days but that was because this time I was living with my friend his wife and her family and they were with me most of the time so I didn't really have a chance to really explore the territory i will surely return

[chilipal]

http://www.zepelion.com/apartamentos/english.htm

Those penthouses look amazing! any ideas about prices? A friend and I are looking to plan a trip to CTG this year, a penthouse seems like the best scenario as we would like to host some "parties"

[tomtom33]

Those penthouses look amazing! any ideas about prices? A friend and I are looking to plan a trip to CTG this year, a penthouse seems like the best scenario as we would like to host some "parties"

They aren't all penthouses, but they are all pretty nice. In low season you are looking at US$50 to 60 per day for one person. Two guys could share an apartment for around $75 to 80 per day. Send Juan an E-mail with your dates. He will tell you what is available and price it.

[chilipal]

They aren't all penthouses, but they are all pretty nice. In low season you are looking at US$50 to 60 per day for one person. Two guys could share an apartment for around $75 to 80 per day. Send Juan an E-mail with your dates. He will tell you what is available and price it.

well, since there will be 2 of us and we are both used to paying $100/night for hotels I would think we could get a penthouse for $200/night and have lots of room to play!