Quote: (11-13-2013 05:05 AM)RioJoe Wrote:
Hi,
So I'm finally gonna check out Colombia for the first time from the 15th to 26th of December this year. Plan to spend the first 4 days in Bogota then the last bit in Cartagena. I've spent alot of time on and off all over Brazil the last 5 years so thought this would be a good change of pace especially considering the inflation in Brazil and decline in the girly scene (quite a rapid change from 2008).
Having spent so much time in South America I have a good idea of what me and my pal are in for but figured still to ask some advice of those who have been.
I assume the same things apply there as in Brazil that hotels are generally not guest friendly, etc.. and apartments are the way to go? Any recommendations in both cities on the ideal areas to stay and clubs/bars to hit up? My budget is pretty flexible.
All comments welcome.
There's a chance I may be in Bogota at that time so keep me posted, four days isn't a lot of time if you plan on hooking up with some local women, its not impossible but it will be a challenge. You can still have a good time in Bogota over four days, I recommend staying in the north of the city (Chapinero and north of there), PM if you want info on the furnished apartment I stay in, they have plenty of units that rent for $50/night.
As for partying, its probably best to stay in the north, its more expensive than other areas such as La Candelaria, Premier Mayo, Sante Fe, etc but its much safer. Places to check out would be
Zone T, Zona Rosa (same area), Parque 93, those are the higher end areas where you'll be paying a bit less than North American prices but a lot more than other areas in Bogota, this is where the upper class people hang out and its very safe.
Then there's
Chapinero, its a mixed neighborhood (students, upper middle class, big LGBT community) and is relatively safe but definitely has a grimey feel to it, there's lots of bars in this area and I usually hit up the bars on calle 51 and 7 (septima) on Friday evenings, its packed from about 5-10 there, then I move on. Another place that's near Chapinero is called
las Galerias, I never went there but I've heard good things about it and I may hit that area up this weekend.
To the south of Chapinero is where all the riff raff is and where Bogota gets a bit dodgy, or in some cases, very dodgy. A lot of foreigners stay down in
la Candelaria, its the historic area and a great place to hang out during the day and see some of the tourist attractions such as the Gold Museum and the Botero Museum (both of which I highly recommend checking out). This is where all of the hostels and cheap apartments are, which attracts the back packer crowd, there's a cool little area down there thats basically an open space surrounded by shops, pubs and small restos where people hang out and smoke dope, its cool but overall I wouldn't recommend hanging out in that area at night, there's quite a few drug addicts around and the women aren't that attractive, its mostly hippies.
Then you have
Sante Fe, which is the red light district, its a few square blocks packed with strip clubs, tranny street whores, crack heads, glue sniffing adolescent hookers and other assorted riff raff. If you're gonna go there, I wouldn't go alone and I don't recommend walking around, take a taxi directly to a strip club (Paisas is good) and go inside. Its safe inside and beer is cheap (about $2.50) and you can buy blow from the waiters and openly consume it and you can also bang the strippers on stage in front of everyone and receive a free bottle of booze for doing so. There's always tons of whores in there and you can bang them upstairs for around $30.
Another party area with a bunch of clubs and bars is called Premier Mayo, I've never been and basically everyone tells me not to go because because its very dangerous and not a place for a gringo, but I"m probably gonna check it out to see what all the fuss is about, probably not a good idea for a Bogota first timer.
Also, for anyone is Bogota, I wrote about the New Era barber shop that I used to hang out at on calle 55 and 13, it closed but opened up down the street, its now on the corner of 57 and 13 and is still run by a bunch of deported Colombian guys from NYC who obviously all speak English. If you're in Bogota and want some guys to hang out with and take you to places like Santa Fe, just go in there, get a hair cut and they'll take you out for a price of a few beers, money well spent, they can also hook you up with weed.
As for Cartagena, I didn't like it so much, I can write more about it later.
