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Bogotá data sheet
#1

Bogotá data sheet

Hey all,

So I've been living in Bogotá since September.

I'm a recent college graduate without a ton of money, teaching English down here, so my guide will be less centered towards older dudes with cash.

Getting there
http://www.spiritair.com has the CHEAPEST flights by a mile. They aren't a great airline in terms of service or whatever, and they charge $30 for a checked bag, but still you save alot. I'm talking back-and-forth for $300 if you're not travelling on weekends or holidays.

Girls
There is alot of variety here, but the quintessential rola (bogotá chick) is petite with great big eyes and high cheekbones, and dresses in a sort of upper-class style. Peacoat, leather boots, trendy but not cutting-edge at all.

There are also a fair amount of hipster and hippy chicks around, depending how close you are to Universities.

There are more pure blooded white people here than you might expect, and a fair number of blacks as well. Interesting thing is that there don't seem to be too many people of pure African blood, so you get all sorts of very interesting and attractive mixtures here.

Girls here live with their parents forever, so many have curfews. Obviously not a problem if you're meeting girls late at night, but if you're doing day-game this might be an unexpected surprise.

The average chick isn't stunning, but there certainly are certainly stunners around. The people aren't excessively open and friendly, but neither are they NYC cold. Put in work and you'll have no problem bedding a cutie.

Plastic surgery is WAY more common here than in NYC for instance. You see girls with HUGE asses that don't jiggle, noses that are perfectly pointed, and of course ridiculous ta-tas with regularity. Very frequently they're businesswomen.

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BARRIOS

La Candelaria
La Candelaria is the historical center of Bogotá, and there are a TON of Universities around. If you are into daygame, you are in heaven, because all throughout the day the streets are filled with people getting out of class, taking lunch breaks etc.

The area is a little bit grimy in a very cool way:

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Further, there are a ton of free events. Free concerts, theater, movies etc. all go down here with regularity, nice way to stay busy and meet people.

The bars in this area are NOT classy. They are grimy dives for University students to go get blasted in. You can get a 22oz beer for $2.500 pesos, about $1.50. If a bar charges a cover, it always includes a coupon for a drink.

There are also a ton of parties with great regularity. There are tons of houses that organize parties every weekend with entrance fees ranging from $5,000-$10,000 pesos, about 3-6 bucks, but you have to buy your own drinks inside.

The whole Candelaria area is filled with hostels and tourists, so in a way people are used to foreigners, but then again people who hang out there all the time are the types who dig foreigners. MANY people will just start chatting to you in English, and won't leave you alone cause they wanna practice so much. Also, you can easily bang backpackers, if that's your steez. This is the area where you will find the most hipster/hippy University students.

La Zona T, La 93, The north in general
La Zona T is a closed-off bit of bars shaped like a T, it's in the mid 80's, and is surrounded by a ton of other bars on normal streets. Pretty much leads right into La 93, which is a bunch of bars centered around a park on 93rd street.

The people here are usually wealthier and older. You will find less hippies and hipsters, more expensive clothing and plastic surgery.

Here, you will pay a cover to get into the bumpin bars, and you will pay much more for drinks. Most bars charge 10mil cover (6 bucks) and something like 8-15 mil for a beer (5-8 bucks).

HOWEVER in the north there are some bars that charge no cover and $1.50 for a beer. Of course there are Colombians who can't afford the expensive stuff, but still want to go out in the area for the ambiance. Especially later at night, you'll see lots of people flooding into these bars for $25 bottles of Aguardiente, and at aroudn 2-3, it's not odd to find quite a few girls dancing with other girls, or sitting there bored, begging to be opened.

Near La Zona T is the swankiest mall in Bogotá, el Centro Andino. If you're more into upper-class girls with their usual preocupations, this is where you wanna day game. Plenty of coffee shops or whatever on the top floor to bounce to.

Food
I can't say I'm a restaurant conneseuir, but some places that are definitely better than average:

La Candelaria: (Cheap)
Andante ma non troppo: General Italian food, better than the rest in the area
La Ostería Italiana: Pizza made by a friendly Italian cook with a unique twist, easily superior to the rest
Sabor al Carbón: the only respectable burger I've found here so far.

La Macarena: A 15 minute walk from La Candelaria, this trendy residential neighborhood has alot of good options for moderate prices. I've only been to a few, but just walk around for a minute and you'll find many good reasonable restaurants.

Calle 69A is just full of ill restaurants, much more expensive.

Weather

Bogotá is chilly, around 55-60 degrees in the day, about 40-45 at night. Half of the year it rains here. This is not a tropical getaway, bring jackets, hats, scarves etc. The standard uniform in Bogotá is a black leather jacket, jeans and nice shoes. An umbrella should be carried most times.

Transport

Buses: $1,300 pesos
There are a ton of buses that have set routes which you can wave down and take any time, but you better be damned sure you know where it's going.

Transmilenio: $1,600 pesos
More concrete is the Transmilenio system. It's just huge busses that have their own lanes on the highway, but have ''stations'' like a subway. They run on set routes but there are maps in the station. Pretty shitty system, as tehy have to stop at red lights and during rush hour (between 7-10am, between 4-7pm) they are incredibly slow.

Taxis: $3,200 minimum at day, $4,800 min. Sunday/Night/Holidays.

Taxis are everywhere, and usually safe. They should all have a meter which starts on ''25'' and increases as you travel. They should also each have a chart of what each number means in terms of pesos. If they don't have this meter or this chart, don't get in.

Saftey

If you are walking around alone late at night, you may be robbed. If you are speaking English loudly with 1 or 2 other people, you may be robbed.

However, the thieves here aren't crazy, they just want your money. You can probably get away with your wallet and credit card intact, just losing your cash.

The only real problem with saftey is being kidnapped in a taxi. It happened to a friend of mine who didn't really speak Spanish. They took him at gunpoint and made him take all his money out of the ATM. Fortunately the police saw this happening, and arrested the dudes, and actually asked my friend if he wanted to help kick their asses at the police station.

Your Competition

Colombian guys have 3 styles of game I've identified:

Meloso (bullshit): They tell the girl how beautiful she is, how much they love her, how much she means to them, all that sweet shit. Then they cheat on her, tell her all that same shit again, and keep cheating.

Borracho: This style is funny, because it's usually practiced by guys who, when sober, are funny, friendly, interesting and well-dressed; the kinds of guys you would assume would do well. Then they go out, get SMASHED and just try to make out with random girls who are physically trying to push them away.

$$$$$: Some Colombians are rich. That's all they have, and it works.

So basically, being a foreigner gives you a point for being different, but what REALLY makes you stand out is your different style of game. Being coherent at the end of a night and not telling a girl she is the best thing that ever happened to you works wonders.

Of course, because Bogotá girls are used to drunk assholes trying to kiss them after 10 seconds, you can be pretty forward, and you are rewarded for it, just don't be a retard about it.
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#2

Bogotá data sheet

Gahh I just posted on another thread how much I want to visit Colombia and now I read this.... :'(

Anyways, very good data sheet. Very interesting to read, very detailed and informative as well. It's the first time I see something this detailed about a country (I'm new here though), would like to see more detailed guides of other places in South America [Image: biggrin.gif]
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#3

Bogotá data sheet

Nice data sheet! I loved Bogota and I can't wait to go back! I know what you mean about La Candelaria being grimy but in a good way. It was so fun there!
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#4

Bogotá data sheet

What about the nightlife Sonsowey?

How is the middle classed places with good drink prices and covers?

This is what im gonna hit up mostly when i get to bogota, Im not trying to spend a ton of money at the expensive clubs ect.
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#5

Bogotá data sheet

There are bars all over the city that charge $1.50 a beer, $25 for a bottle of Aguardiente, and no cover, but what's really golden is the ones that do that in the midst of all the expensive clubs.

Colombians near La Zona T and La Zona Rosa don't ALL have a ton of money, so later these places become gems, as people who wanted to look fancy realize they have almost no money left, but wanna keep partying. However, these places don't get *good* until 1-2am +/-

That's why you go out with people you've met socially, and start the night just hanging out doing your thing, and if it's late and you've gotten nowhere, you go on the prowl. Going out at 11pm solo will be a disappointment in these areas, so roll with a crew and split off later.
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#6

Bogotá data sheet

big bump for this thread! awesome info Sonsowey
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#7

Bogotá data sheet

Sonso what would you say if you had to compare Bogota and Medellin?
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#8

Bogotá data sheet

What is the best way to daygame in Latin America in general? Should it be direct like opening with a compliment?
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#9

Bogotá data sheet

I aint Sonso, but I'll say Bogota is something like the NYC of Colombia. It's huge and cosmopolitan. People there are more ambitious, they read more, pay more attention to politics and come from all over the country to live there because of the better opportunities. It's also kinda chilly.

Medellin has a more "Colombian" feel to it.. It would be hard for me to even compare it to any city in the US as I compared Bogota with New York. Its warmer and more beautiful. The local culture is more laid back and more set in its ways.

Many people in Bogota seem to be acutly aware that they are living in a one part of a much larger world.

Many people in Medellin, Cali and la Zona Cafetera tend live in their own world.
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#10

Bogotá data sheet

I just wrote up a Data Sheet of The Best Nightclubs in Bogotá Colombia:

http://www.thegmanifesto.com/2011/03/the...ombia.html

Enjoy amigos.
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#11

Bogotá data sheet

I spent the weekend in Bogota and thought I'd add a bit:

Bars

Escobar Rosas - Read about this place in Bang Colombia and Lonely Planet, but I went there on a Thursday night around 11pm and I was at the right address, but it just looked like a boarded up building with no signs of bar. Lonely Planet still lists it as open, but might want to check before you bother going.

LOV - Read about this in Bang Colombia as well, but the address listed in the book is out of date. It is now at Carrera 15 #97-18. This place had good, friendly girls and approaching to talk was doable up to around 11/11:30. After that, the place is so packed that you can barely move because everyone's using every available inch (not just on the dance floor) to dance in a little friend group and the music is blaring so loud, you can't talk. Also, I made the mistake of ordering a "vodka y tonico" instead of specifying a type of vodka and they charged me COL$20,000 ($11) so I'm assuming they gave me some ridiculously expensive vodka like Goose. Age seemed to be mostly in the sub-25 rage. I met a lot of 18/19 year olds. I didn't run into any gringos.

Treffen - I checked this place out around midnight on a Friday night and it had the feel of a restaurant where everyone got up to dance after their meal. Not conducive to approaching. Skip it.

Armando Records - This place was amazingly conducive to approaching. There are tables on the edges, but for the most part, it's a big open space with people standing and it's very easy to approach. Really friendly crowd. Age seemed a little higher, like late 20's early 30's. I saw a few gringos, which is to be expected for a bar mentioned in Lonely Planet. My only complaint was that it was almost all mixed sets with the hottest girl eventually pointing out which of the guys with her was her boyfriend, but I'm getting the sense that this is par for the course in Colombia. Prime time for this place seemed to be 11pm-1am. Before 11pm it's totally dead and after 1am, it's packed enough that it's a little hard to get around, but not terrible.

English

I was surprised at how well people spoke English here. I usually approach at night in English and in a lot of the cities I've been to in SA (Lima, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Arequipa), the girls either don't know English or aren't comfortable talking in it, but most girls I approached in Bogota could speak English conversationally or even fluently. They even understood slang words I wouldn't expect like "sketchy" or "cougar." It's the first city where I've met people that understood the difference between the English word "bitch" and the Spanish "perra" (literally: "bitch" but they use it as a synonym for slut rather than a cold girl).

Neighborhoods

La Candelaria - If you stay in a hostel, you'll probably end up here. As others have posted earlier, it's sketchy and run down. My first night out in La Candelaria, there was a drug addict literally hopping around outside my cab and another dude casually vomiting on the sidewalk at 11pm. I felt like I was in a scene in Blade Runner. When I got back to my hostel, there was a guy who walked up to my cab and was waiting outside the car door for me to get out. He only left when my cabbie honked enough that my hostel night clerk came out. Fri/Sat nights, there are huge crowds of high school / college aged kids hanging out on the streets and going to bars, but I didn't spend enough time in the night life here to figure out where they were going.

Zona Rosa - The difference between Zona Rosa and La Candelaria is like night and day. Zona Rosa (in particular along Calle 85) is way more modern looking and less sketchy. The good bars I found were here and I found the area a lot more walkable at night.
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