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The Colombia Master Thread - joacocanal - 07-30-2016

Quote: (07-30-2016 06:03 PM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

Quote: (07-30-2016 03:53 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

Quote: (07-26-2016 04:37 AM)BrewDog Wrote:  

I like the city of Medellin. It's a really fun place and I recommend it to anyone wanting to spend a vacation partying and meeting people and hanging out. As a city, Medellin kicks nasty Bogota's ass any day. Bogota is a piece of complete shit. Medellin is modern and mostly safe, clean - just a nice, cool city. But, if my unwiped asshole were a city, it would be a better city than Bogota.

I never understood this. what is so different between both cities, aside transport system and weather? I see both cities as more or less equal, both having upscale areas, liveable middle class residential areas, favelas, run down areas at the centre, etc.

Bogota is dirty and looks a shit hole in 90% of the places. Walking down the street in Candelaria or Centro you will be harassed by countless amounts of homeless people, choking on smog and stepping over garbage. That being said, it didn't bother me that much.

Now some people have said that since they have been working on cleaning up Centro that it has pushed a lot of the undesirables into nicer areas that they used to keep them out of.

but the Centro is not "90% of the places". it's like that because a lot of people abandoned it, and only the poor/homeless remained. a lot of people from the city try to avoid it. Even your typical southern "working class" barrio isn't as run down, dirty, full of homeless people. There is a sense of community, a certain order. Centro is like it is because some streets belong to nobody.

And some areas of Medellin's centro are the same.

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The Colombia Master Thread - churros - 07-30-2016

I dare say Medellin's centro is worse that Bogota's, albeit smaller. I wonder how that transpired. Really unusual that the centre of town is decimated like that. It's like a different world.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 07-30-2016

Quote: (07-30-2016 03:53 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

Quote: (07-26-2016 04:37 AM)BrewDog Wrote:  

I like the city of Medellin. It's a really fun place and I recommend it to anyone wanting to spend a vacation partying and meeting people and hanging out. As a city, Medellin kicks nasty Bogota's ass any day. Bogota is a piece of complete shit. Medellin is modern and mostly safe, clean - just a nice, cool city. But, if my unwiped asshole were a city, it would be a better city than Bogota.

I never understood this. what is so different between both cities, aside transport system and weather? I see both cities as more or less equal, both having upscale areas, liveable middle class residential areas, favelas, run down areas at the centre, etc.

I guess we've been to different parts of both cities. The Medellin and Bogota I saw were completely different places.

Medellin has dirty parts, I've seen them. Bogota has clean parts, I've seen them. But on the whole, Bogota is a dirty, trashy city compared to Medellin. Besides the crime and the graffiti, you can just walk around Bogota and see the trash everywhere. They just throw trash into the road in Bogota. There's trash EVERYWHERE in Bogota. It's a nasty, trashy, smelly city. And it's the only place in the world where I've ever been robbed.

If you like Bogota, then by all means, love it. Everyone has their own personal paradise, and I'm not one to turn you away from yours. But I don't like Bogota, and you can keep it all to yourself. There's nothing in Bogota worth seeing that is also worth dying for. Colombia is a huge country with lots of great stuff to see. Why go to a dangerous cesspool like Bogota when you can see everything else?

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The Colombia Master Thread - joacocanal - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-30-2016 09:29 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

Quote: (07-30-2016 03:53 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

Quote: (07-26-2016 04:37 AM)BrewDog Wrote:  

I like the city of Medellin. It's a really fun place and I recommend it to anyone wanting to spend a vacation partying and meeting people and hanging out. As a city, Medellin kicks nasty Bogota's ass any day. Bogota is a piece of complete shit. Medellin is modern and mostly safe, clean - just a nice, cool city. But, if my unwiped asshole were a city, it would be a better city than Bogota.

I never understood this. what is so different between both cities, aside transport system and weather? I see both cities as more or less equal, both having upscale areas, liveable middle class residential areas, favelas, run down areas at the centre, etc.

I guess we've been to different parts of both cities. The Medellin and Bogota I saw were completely different places.

Medellin has dirty parts, I've seen them. Bogota has clean parts, I've seen them. But on the whole, Bogota is a dirty, trashy city compared to Medellin. Besides the crime and the graffiti, you can just walk around Bogota and see the trash everywhere. They just throw trash into the road in Bogota. There's trash EVERYWHERE in Bogota. It's a nasty, trashy, smelly city. And it's the only place in the world where I've ever been robbed.

If you like Bogota, then by all means, love it. Everyone has their own personal paradise, and I'm not one to turn you away from yours. But I don't like Bogota, and you can keep it all to yourself. There's nothing in Bogota worth seeing that is also worth dying for. Colombia is a huge country with lots of great stuff to see. Why go to a dangerous cesspool like Bogota when you can see everything else?

"trash everywhere"? definitely not, excepting some shitholes in the "centro extendido" and a few other areas. Moreover, a lot of residential/commercial areas of the city are fairly clean/tidy. After all, Bogota still has a much bigger economy and wealth than any other city in the country including Medellin; it's still the economic, cultural, political and even industrial centre of the country.

I'm not from Bogota neither I live there, and I don't love the city. There are many places of the city I hate with passion. I got stressed visiting the city because I come from a little town. It's not about that. Bogota is what it is, a very heterogeneous city, full of contradictions.

btw, for many years Medellin was a way more violent city than Bogota. Medellin's homicide rate was 3-5 times that of Bogota during most of the 90s and 2000s. It still has a higher homicide rate and big problems with "bacrim" that Bogota never truly has.

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The Colombia Master Thread - scotian - 07-31-2016

I think Brewdog is a little too harsh on Bogota, I'm not a huge fan of the city either and typically only stay there for a few days before moving on but there's no denying that Bogota has things to offer that no other city in Colombia does. Just off the top of my head:

Concerts: Lots of bands come to Bogota and don't go to other cities, then there's quite a few festivals like Rock El Parque.

International Cuisine: I don't think anywhere else in Colombia can compare to Zona G

Educated population: Sometimes referred to as the Athens of South America, there are a lot of unis here and many of the people, especially in the north have degrees, speak English and are well traveled.

Ethnic melting pot: Because of its status as the capital and large economy, Bogota attracts people from all over the country and if you want to hang out with Costenos, Calenos, Paisas, etc, you'll have no problem find their restuarants, bars, clubs or even entire barrios in Bogota.

Strip clubs: Sante Fe, nuff said.

Ok that's enough sticking up for Bogota, as I mentioned, I'm not a big fan but always have a good time there since I have several friends living in the city and I usually fly in and out of there. I would just rather be in a smaller city with less traffic, cleaner air, cheaper prices and warmer weather.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 10:27 AM)joacocanal Wrote:  

"trash everywhere"? definitely not, excepting some shitholes in the "centro extendido" and a few other areas.

I visited many parts of Bogota. The central part with the museums and such was pretty clean. My chica took me the Gringo section Candelaria, and we had some beers and walked around. After a couple of hours she said, "So, how do you like the gringo part of Bogota?" I said it looks trashy like the rest of it, except there are gringo hippies with foul hair begging for money. BTW, she's from Manizales originally, so I wasn't disparaging her hometown. She agreed with me. She's worked for Banco Pichincha in Bogota for ten years and she fucking hates Bogota.

But you'll notice in Bogota, they don't have dumpsters for trash. This means they have to set all their trash bags out in a pile on trash night. Then the street dogs get into the bags and strew it all over.

When I was in Medellin, all the expats and Paisas kept telling me, "Don't go to Bogota, man. It's a huge, dirty city." And I didn't listen. And I should have.

There's way too many people for the infrastructure. Medellin has that cool metro train that takes you across town. And that ski-lift thingie - they call it a Teleferica or something. In Bogota, you have to cram yourself into the buses during the afternoons. It's friggin retarded how packed they are. Another Gringo told me he had been to Beijing and the buses weren't as crowded as Bogota.

But you have valid arguments, you and Scotian. There are lots of concerts in Bogota. The Stones played while I was there. I wanted to go until I looked at ticket prices. It was going to cost $800 US for me and my date to see the Stones, so I said eff that shit.

And it wasn't all bad, mind you. In my opinion, the girls in Bogota are way better than the Paisas.

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The Colombia Master Thread - Sidney Crosby - 07-31-2016

BrewDog it seemed like they sometimes didn't even use garbage bags, there were just piles of garbage everywhere. No wonder there are so many rats running around the size of small dogs.

A lot of the guys with juice stands just dump their fruit into a large pile on the sidewalk and then the garbage men have to use snow shovels to scoop it all up on garbage day.

Even if there were more public garbage cans most people probably wouldn't use them, when I was sitting waiting in a Western Union most people would just toss the paper on the floor instead of putting it in the recycling/garbage literally two steps away.

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The Colombia Master Thread - Bycicleguy - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 04:55 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

I visited many parts of Bogota. The central part with the museums and such was pretty clean. My chica took me the Gringo section Candelaria, and we had some beers and walked around. After a couple of hours she said, "So, how do you like the gringo part of Bogota?" I said it looks trashy like the rest of it, except there are gringo hippies with foul hair begging for money. BTW, she's from Manizales originally, so I wasn't disparaging her hometown. She agreed with me. She's worked for Banco Pichincha in Bogota for ten years and she fucking hates Bogota.

But you'll notice in Bogota, they don't have dumpsters for trash. This means they have to set all their trash bags out in a pile on trash night. Then the street dogs get into the bags and strew it all over.

When I was in Medellin, all the expats and Paisas kept telling me, "Don't go to Bogota, man. It's a huge, dirty city." And I didn't listen. And I should have.

There's way too many people for the infrastructure. Medellin has that cool metro train that takes you across town. And that ski-lift thingie - they call it a Teleferica or something. In Bogota, you have to cram yourself into the buses during the afternoons. It's friggin retarded how packed they are. Another Gringo told me he had been to Beijing and the buses weren't as crowded as Bogota.

But you have valid arguments, you and Scotian. There are lots of concerts in Bogota. The Stones played while I was there. I wanted to go until I looked at ticket prices. It was going to cost $800 US for me and my date to see the Stones, so I said eff that shit.

And it wasn't all bad, mind you. In my opinion, the girls in Bogota are way better than the Paisas.

I have been in Manizales, I don't think it is an interesting city either, it has a small part that looks like a developed city and the rest of it looks like a small town, but the people are friendly and the air is cleaner, also there is a lot of students.

I was in Bogota for some time, I don't think the city is as bad in regards of trash, I guess it depends where do you live, the "gringo part" is the trashiest, full of homeless and drug addict people, move to a residential area in the north and tell me with straight face it is the same.






It's the same case in most of latin america, the middle class people don't live in downtown.

That being said I agree the city is fucking dangerous, and the public transport is a complete mess. I don't think I would ever consider to relocate there permanently, but I want to practice my spanish and have some friends there.

I didn't go out at night a lot when I was there, I went out a couple of times and was not impressed, a lot of mixed groups and not really a lot of big places, I was doing just fine with daygame and social circle (house parties). I see that even when you are putting down medellin in terms of women, you are saying it is more fun in general. How different is nightlife in both cities?

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The Colombia Master Thread - joacocanal - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 07:06 PM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

BrewDog it seemed like they sometimes didn't even use garbage bags, there were just piles of garbage everywhere. No wonder there are so many rats running around the size of small dogs.

A lot of the guys with juice stands just dump their fruit into a large pile on the sidewalk and then the garbage men have to use snow shovels to scoop it all up on garbage day.

I doubt it, trash trucks won't pick the trash if it isn't packed. Also, the trash truck is supposed to pick up the trash at a certain day in every hood, and you only take out the thrash that day. Garbage men don't carry shovels to do their work. And, anyway, it's the same in Medellin, we don't use these big trash containers. This happened a couple of years ago in Medellin, they even had to rent trucks from Bogota to solve the crisis:

Quote:Quote:

Even if there were more public garbage cans most people probably wouldn't use them, when I was sitting waiting in a Western Union most people would just toss the paper on the floor instead of putting it in the recycling/garbage literally two steps away.

I have never seen that in any place. Most people would toss it in the bin. Of course, I never went to the Bronx street or these kind of places.

Quote: (07-31-2016 04:55 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

When I was in Medellin, all the expats and Paisas kept telling me, "Don't go to Bogota, man. It's a huge, dirty city."

and yet Bogota has hundreds of thousands of Paisas living there... there's a lot of stupid regionalism in the country.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 07-31-2016

If you want to see trash, go see Bogota. There's fucking garbage everywhere.

Some people seem to take up for the place. I'm not sure why. It's a fucking cesspool and dangerous as fuck. Bogota has interesting things to see like any big city, but nothing worth getting shot in the head for. Go see it. Roll the dice. Get shot in the face. I don't fucking care.

So yeah... Go see Bogota.

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The Colombia Master Thread - joacocanal - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 07:40 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

If you want to see trash, go see Bogota. There's fucking garbage everywhere.

Some people seem to take up for the place. I'm not sure why. It's a fucking cesspool and dangerous as fuck. Bogota has interesting things to see like any big city, but nothing worth getting shot in the head for. Go see it. Roll the dice. Get shot in the face. I don't fucking care.

So yeah... Go see Bogota.

if you are being literal, that's most likely to happen in any other big city of Colombia, not Bogota, which has the lowest homicide rate among the big cities of the country. Bogota is about being mugged/pickpocketed/swindled

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 07:45 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

Bogota is about being mugged/pickpocketed/swindled [/img]

Well, I disagree. Bogota has endless robberies every day. Just because you walked around for 3 days and nothing happened doesn't mean that another gringo didn't get fucked up for being white.

thread-52673...pid1334898

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The Colombia Master Thread - joacocanal - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 07:51 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

Quote: (07-31-2016 07:45 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

Bogota is about being mugged/pickpocketed/swindled [/img]

Well, I disagree. Bogota has endless robberies every day. Just because you walked around for 3 days and nothing happened doesn't mean that another gringo didn't get fucked up for being white.

thread-52673...pid1334898

yes that's what I mean. robberies, pickpocketing, mugging... you have to be very unlucky to get killed in Bogota.

something called my attention from that post:

Quote:Quote:

...The first night I had trouble was in Chapinero. You feel very safe in Chapinero. It's very clean compared to the rest of Bogota with trash in the streets and graffiti tagged everywhere...

wait, wat. Some parts of Chapinero (especially southern Chapinero) is Centro 2.0, totally rundown, full of thrash and travestite hookers. Chapinero (excluding the more upscale/residential areas) is not the place I think of when I talk about clean, tidy Bogota.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 07-31-2016

Quote: (07-31-2016 08:02 PM)joacocanal Wrote:  

wait, wat. Some parts of Chapinero (especially southern Chapinero) is Centro 2.0, totally rundown, full of thrash and travestite hookers. Chapinero (excluding the more upscale/residential areas) is not the place I think of when I talk about clean, tidy Bogota.

I thought Chapinero was the cleanest part of Bogota. I thought I was safe there. And my embassy told me that Chapinero is actually the most dangerous part of Bogota for Americans. Robberies every night.

But hey, it's clean. You may get robbed and dumped out of a cab onto your face with no monetary means to survive in a foreign country, but at least it's clean.

Hell, go see Bogota everyone. You'll love it. It's a real fucking joy. Please, go see Bogota.

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The Colombia Master Thread - KsockZ - 07-31-2016

Spending 18 days in Bogota in November, come closer to the dates I'll see who's around and plan a meet.

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The Colombia Master Thread - chochemonger1 - 08-02-2016

I will have the last word on this one. Anyone who believes Bogota is the best they can do...does not know Colombia well. Though it ain't that bad. But I'm not looking for a mediocre capital. I'm looking for the real deal.

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The Colombia Master Thread - DamienCasanova - 08-02-2016

Medellin > Bogota

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The Colombia Master Thread - stefpdt - 08-02-2016

I haven't been to Colombia, but it sounds like a gem for low cost living. It will be the first destination I visit for 2-3 months of foreign living after my business is cash flowing a bit more.

You guys put me in a predicament though. This thread sounds like Bogota is a dump with hot sluts, and Medellin is nice but with gold diggers.

To Bogota it is.

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The Colombia Master Thread - Sidney Crosby - 08-02-2016

^ I think it's more that some people think some of the 2nd tier cities are better because they still have large student populations, are cheaper, cleaner, safer and often have better weather.

Let's face it, Bogota is cold at night. It can be warm in the day, but I'd never really consider it hot unless it's a really sunny day and you're in the direct sun. Compared to places like Cali where it is in the high 20's or 30's every single day and warm even at night.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 08-02-2016

Quote: (08-02-2016 02:15 PM)stefpdt Wrote:  

You guys put me in a predicament though. This thread sounds like Bogota is a dump with hot sluts, and Medellin is nice but with gold diggers.

To Bogota it is.

There's more to life than girls. And I know that's counter to this forum. Everything here has to do with getting hot ass. I get it.

But waking up in a Bogota hospital without anything to my name really fucking sucked. It gave me a bad taste in my mouth about Colombia, and I really love Colombia. But my experiences in Bogota made me question my love for it. I spent a lot of time in Medellin and Bogota, and I just had completely different experiences. It's my own opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own experiences.

I got laid in both cities. I think the Bogota girls are absolutely better than Medellin chicks; better quality, nicer girls. But I spent some sad, tumultuous weeks in Bogota, while Medellin was pretty great.

In the end, bad shit can happen anywhere to anyone. If you're going for the girls, then Bogota is your best choice. If you're going for a good time, Medellin kicks Bogota's ass hands down.

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The Colombia Master Thread - stefpdt - 08-02-2016

I read your story and it's definitely a rough one. I feel like you've probably survived one of the worst things that can ever happen to a traveler, so at least you got that out of the way.

I've been through lots of turmoil as well but it happened in the western world (here in the states where I'm from). While I haven't been drugged and robbed so far, I've been shredded by the Western legal system in more ways than one (now recovered for the most part, thankfully).

I guess what I'm saying is that extreme problems can happen to anyone, anywhere, and take place in many forms. And even with the violence, it seems like Colombian cities can give you a certain sense of freedom, at least from what I can tell (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

I'll be going to Colombia to scale my web business and be in the same central time zone as my clients. That's the priority, but I also want freedom, few expenses, a good time, and obviously some hot ass.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 08-02-2016

Quote: (08-02-2016 06:57 PM)stefpdt Wrote:  

And even with the violence, it seems like Colombian cities can give you a certain sense of freedom, at least from what I can tell (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

The freedom is one of the reasons I do love Colombia. The police may smack you in the head with sticks if you're a dick - I wouldn't chance it - but mostly they just leave you alone. Most Colombian police are compelled to be police (they have obligatory service), and they're just young kids. They can serve in the armed forces or be policemen. And like most kids, they're not going to eff with anyone. They just want to be law abiding citizen. They're very cool usually.

I don't feel as free in the USA as I do in South America. The cops are WAY more tolerant in South America.

Watch this video. The guy has a fucking machete, and no cop has his pistol drawn. They don't even have their hands on their weapons. US police would have shot him. The Colombians are trained by the US police, but they still seem to have their heads about them when dealing with problems. But then you can find other videos of Colombian police smacking about civilians, so I don't know, man. A good rule is to not fuck with anyone's police.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h10upTG6zrg

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The Colombia Master Thread - stefpdt - 08-02-2016

Great to hear that Colombia feels more free than the USA. I can't wait to go. Seriously.

Yeah I respect American cops, but I feel like if I take one misstep outside of a bar I could be arrested in the USA. Going for a run around the neighborhood at night even makes me feel like I have to prove that I'm not a criminal or some shit.

Being safe is definitely a nice luxury, don't get me wrong, but it feels really unnatural to live somewhere that's turning into an extreme nanny state.

And that machete-wielding dude would have lasted 120 seconds tops in the states before cops arrived on-scene to murk him lol.

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The Colombia Master Thread - TejasRojo - 08-02-2016

The machete-wielding dude wouldn't worry about the police here. Somebody would have just shot him.

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The Colombia Master Thread - BrewDog - 08-03-2016

Quote: (08-02-2016 10:10 PM)TejasRojo Wrote:  

The machete-wielding dude wouldn't worry about the police here. Somebody would have just shot him.

And that's why we're more free in South America. In Colombia and Ecuador, you can just get drunk and lay down on a park bench and sleep that shit off. Not in the States. The South American police figure, "He's just sleeping. He's not hurting anything." But in the States you have the temerity to sleep in a public place, so that surely means you must go to jail. Because why let a man sleep on a public park bench?

I saw some real shit go down in front of the police in both Ecuador and Colombia, and the police just didn't care. But on the flip side, if you need the police in South America, they just don't give a shit. Everyone hates the police until you need them, and then it sucks if they don't give a shit. Sometimes it's cool when the police don't care, other times, it's shitty.

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