Even as our small, turboprop plane approached Medellin (MDE) airport from CTG, what struck me instantly was how “other-worldly” MDE presented itself. I could never imagine that MDE airport and the drive to the city would be such a Shangri-La type of experience, especially considering it was located smack dab in the middle of what is purportedly one of the most dangerous areas of the world. The airport was on top of a beautiful mountain, you first notice the rolling green hills, the mountains capped by white clouds and, what other reporters have noted, the “pristine” natural beauty of everything. As we disembarked from the plane, my first sensation was how cool and not humid the climate was and how equally clean the air was, which was all the more noticeable since we were arriving from a few fun-filled days in one of the hottest and most humid places I’ve been to – CTG (more on CTG later). We picked up our bags, quickly cleared customs, and wisked away in a clean taxi towards MDE about 45 minutes away, continually amazed at the pristine scenery unfolding around us -- reminiscent of a great mountain chalet resort in the Alps or the American and Canadian Rockies.



THE CAST OF ADVENTURERS

After exploring CTG and CALI extensively for over a year now, I finally managed to pry myself away from all the lovelies in CTG and CALI to give MDE its due respects. Well, actually, I took along my long-time galfriend Julieth with me on this trip (more on her later for those curious) to hedge my bets.

Photos: Julieth 01 02

Juliet is actually from Prereia, 3 hours from MDE, and was keen on visiting her family. Initially, the plan was for me to accompany her to visit the family, but of course, I chickened out at the last minute – paralyzing fear of commitments you know.

I paid about $70 bucks for my one-way ticket on Avianca and Julieth’s roundtrip ticket was about $160.00 roundtrip, both with 2 weeks advance notice. I understand that last minute tickets can go for double those amounts so book early. The flight was on a teeny turbojet and it took a little over an hour to get to MDE.

Once again, I was with my trusted wingman, Smitopher --although we both tend to refer each other as the other’s “wingman”, depending on who is doing the writing and I’m doing the writing here. But semantics is of little importance because whether I’m Batman or he’s Robin in this dynamic mongering duo, the important thing is that we tend to get along famously and have very similar tastes. This was not to change on this trip. In fact, I’ll get to this later, but we never did really fight over the prettiest gals we encountered, in fact, we were lucky that when either I or he tired of a gal, the other would be happy to play musical girlie chair with the other.

The allure of MDE for me was that always, prior to my visit, some of the most beautiful girls I’ve come across were from that city – the ones I ran into in CTG, Costa Rica and Cali. Moreover, countless adventurers before spoke well of the beauties and the city here. Well, I wasn’t disappointed, there truly were some breathtaking women in MDE that we ran across, and perhaps, a congregation of beauties like few places I’ve come across in my travels. But more on this later.

MDE THE CITY AND LODGING

The curvy roads from the airport --- lined with cute cafes, grazing cattle and pine trees-- eventually led down to a large valley where MDE was situated, surrounded by large mountain ranges, and parts of the city snaking up the lower slopes. The City eventually revealed itself as a large and cosmopolitan metropolis and the neighborhood of Poblado, where we would call home, was very clean and modern, and reminded me of a hip area of L.A. or NYC. It became clear Poblado was where the rich and affluent lived and played.

LODGING & SURROUNDINGS

Upon the recommendation of Wallstreet, we booked two single rooms at the TORRE POBLADO APARTA SUITES, see www.torrepoblado.com (Tel 268 0244). The place exceeded our expectations and my eternal gratitude for Wallstreet for recommending this place. Didn’t take any pics of the Aparta Suites but you’ll see lots of pics later of it with the gals, in fact, here is the front of the Aparta and the inside of the Aparta Suites.

Photos: Julieth 03 04

The building and rooms were spacious, clean and well-furnished. The service was exceptional at all times and the location was hard to beat – 2 blocks from the famed Parque Llera area with all its way cool restaurants and cafes, one block from an internet café (although the hotel had computers), and a block from a main road with a well stocked and trendy market and good café’s and restaurants. The trendy market was called “Pomona” and the selection there was incredible – Julieth and I spent quite a bit of time there buying up lots of imported caviar for $7, fresh baked bread, sandwiches, a variety of pastas and salads, etc. Several banks were on the main road. Our rooms had daily maid service, free breakfast if we could wake up, and air conditioning, but honestly, it didn’t work as well as I hoped. All in all, the exchange of valuable info on this site worked well.

The Aparta Suites is very chica friendly (although they charge extra if the gal stays overnight), you sometimes heard traffic from your windows when they were open, but certainly not too annoying. A few blocks away there was a great Argentinian restaurant called “CHE” that served up some of the most tender steaks and had an excellent Chilean wine collection. Around the Parque Llera area are several chic’ and popular drinking/eatery type places full of the young, beautiful and spoiled variety.

A few minutes above the Aparta Suites was one of the most beautiful malls I’ve been to called Tesoro Mall. Simply incredible how modern, clean and beautiful the mall was and the views from that area.



The shops and food court can give any mall in the U.S. a run for the money. In fact, they had great places at the food court for meat lovers, and everything was so cheap. One of my favorite places was in the food court, a BBQ place, that served up a healthy heaping of some incredible BBQ ribs and salad, for less than USD $10.00.



TAXI DRIVERS

As Wallstreet noted, the group of taxi drivers we came across were all professional and appeared honest, except one character that gesticulated wildly and spit when talking – all the time while driving. The taxis are all metered, spacious and incredibly cheap, unlike in CTG where there are no meters and you’re at the mercy of the drivers.

One thing about the taxi drivers was that very few of them you hailed down actually knew all the good places for mongering. For instance, I tried hailing down 4 drivers to get to Loutron and none of them knew about it, even when I presented an address. This is where experience came in, I then went to a Parque Poblado (park) where I earlier saw some “earthy” drivers loitering, and yes, they knew about the great mongering haunts. The parquet is about 2 blocks down the hill (across the main street) from the Aparta Suites. One driver who knew is way around and was very “amable” was a guy named John Henao Cell # 315 429-4510. Unfortunately, John doesn’t speak English but rapid-fire machine gun like Spanish. He also hooked us up with some non-pro students (discussed later) and was a barrel of laughs for me.

CASINO & OTHER ACTIVITIES

True to form, Julieth and I found some good casinos with lots of slots and table games. I liked the RIO and Medellin casinos the best as they had some awe-inspiring waitresses and dealers there.

Anyway, some more info on matters more important to the monger.

El Tersora is a pretty mall in a great setting, but IMO the stores and food court are quite lame (in comparison to say Unicentro or Chipe Chape)... just not much selection. For example, I think Leños y Carbón is much better than the parilla at El Tesoro. Of course, you'll get some real hotties at El Tesoro (and it's a lot prettier).

Good tip on Che, I'll have to check it out.

There a great chain of juice places (a la sucos places in Rio) called La Jugosa - I'll have post it's address in the general discussion thread.

Merl...your gf is so hot it makes me want to want to drop everything and fly to Colombia right now!!!

Does she have a cousing that remotely looks like her?

If you ever need a wingman I will sign up for it. Cannot wait for the rest of the report!

FLhobbyer, I also think Lenos & Carbon is one of the best places for steaks, and it's too bad I didn't run into any of these franchises outside of Cali. But the Parilla at the Tesoro mall had good food IMO, albeit not as good as L&C. Their salad bar was well-stocked with dozens of items and a 1/2 dozen different dressings. As you probably know, many of the restaurants in and near Poblado that I tried were actually very good.

CONCARNE: It'll be great to hookup with you someday, I'm fairly certain you'll get blown away by Colombia as I have and that you'll be spending quite a bit of time there. As a realist, I know Julieth is in the "business", unless some smuck takes her off the market, which I've kindly refused to do. I'll have to post some details about her later. Let me know before you go to CTG, perhaps you can "take care" of her for a few days for me....unless I'm there at the same time as you monopolizing her
:-)

(Message edited by merlin on June 02, 2005)

Damn Merl, now I gotta return to MDE not only for the beautiful Paisas, but to stock up on some caviar too! Damn (grin)!

Really, how good is them fish egg's, and what country are they imported from? And did you find any Melba toast to accompany them? Yummy.

Also up at Tesoro, there's a nice little rest. that fries up a delicious snapper(pargo) fish meal. And what about desert from the two different ice cream stands.

Wow Merlin, Julieth is smokin'. Definitely worth the hassle!
Nice report so far. Keep up the good work!

Val, appreciate the kudos, gotta pay you back for your great reports sometimes.

SF4: Too bad we just missed each other, the caviar wasn't the topshelf, pinkish Russian Sturgeon variety, but it was lumpfish roe imported from Sweden. Just as good IMO and a steal for the prices they were charging. They actually did have Melba toast and some fine Italian crackers. Interestingly, when we ran out of the nicer crackers, Julieth had this great idea of having the caviar (we had so much of it) with Pringles :-) Actually quite good, but I can see all you bluebloods shivering at such a thought.

(Message edited by merlin on June 02, 2005)

Merlin

I hate you...

Julliet was pulling out all the stops tryin to ensnare Merl. He be heap strong MONGERMAN.

J put on a few strip teases for my benifit and they hurt... bad...

While Mr Wiz was fine with it (bless his heart), it was always at a damn inconvenient time. Either the Wiz was not to be gone long enuf or My love was due to arrive at any moment. And I really love my love.

I posted a bit about her on Merls and my previous trip. I love her. If I was not such a pig, I would marry her. sigh...
her 23, me 45
her have kid, me have vasectomy
her beautiful, me... well...

She has an incredible body, the sex is mind blowing and she makes me feel wonderful. And thats the secondary parts why I like her.

Merl... you bastard

Smitty, no worries, Batman here knows about Juliet's tendencies and Robin's desires. That's one of the issues we constantly bicker about, she's so unsure of herself that she craves the attention from other guys by dressing up and flirting so much, even with me hanging there with her. Always thought hanging with a bombshell 24/7 would be the bomb, but it's more of a pain in the ass. That's probably one of the reasons she's more of a highly ranked GFE than a true girlfriend.

I did tell Juliet we come as a "package deal" and I'd much rather an upstanding citizen such as yourself take care of her rather than some of the other slop she's told me about.

Juliet has one fine turdcutter there Merlin.

"Juliet - FUCK YEAH" (stolen from Team America)

Dude, she SO needs a montage...

E

Hey - am I also an upstanding citizen... or slop...? (and should I REALLY be asking that question...?)

E

Damn, i should've taken the offer to join you guys.

anyways....wow, that was a quick write up! THanks for that and the pics. I haven't really preped for my upcoming trip yet...as a part of me wants to discover things on my own..,.THen again, this is colombia. Not the place to wander aimlessly about.

Merl,

You know, I was actually worried all this week about whether you were going to like Medellin, especially since you know CTG inside out and those two cities might as well be different countries.

But it looks like you had a great time. And the funny thing is you got girls from places I don't even go to. My girls in Medellin come from the street or the strip clubs - you were a Casa and Massage Parlour guy. Which to me means Medellin really does have a big scene and very diverse -

Throw in the semi-pros and the escort services and you can keep pretty busy over there.

And I never get tired of the drive in from the airport. After a trip or two I recommend renting a car and doing a little driving up in the mountains - the scenary is incredible and the roadside stand are as good as they are cheap.

Excellent report as always!

"They actually did have Melba toast and some fine Italian crackers. Interestingly, when we ran out of the nicer crackers, Julieth had this great idea of having the caviar (we had so much of it) with Pringles :-) Actually quite good, but I can see all you bluebloods shivering at such a thought."


I bet you didn't even use a mother of pearl spoon to serve with either.

May I suggest you visit this website before you do something really distasteful: www.emilypost.com

Soc, I will welcome a debriefing session w/you about Colombia. Based on what I know about you, I'll bet you'll come away another Colombiaphile.

Epi: Of course you're an upstanding citizen, except in bed and on barhops :-)

WS: LOL, is Emilypost.com also in Spanish? Juliet loves to call me her "campesino" (farmboy) for my obvious lack of social etiquette. Next thing you know we'll be having caviar through straws. :-)

Perhaps I'll do a short summary later, but I actually liked MDE, based on the little that I saw of it. It's definitely a "return trip" type of place. Believe it or not, I didn't have time to get out to any of the clubs such as Fas Dos, Isla, San Diego; I kept getting sidetracked. So I do agree that there is a lot more in terms of p4p activities to explore in MDE. The city obviously has a lot more going for it than CTG in terms of things to do, restuarants, shopping, etc.

Merlin

"Next thing you know we'll be having caviar through straws."

Cola or cocaine style?

WS

"May I suggest you visit this website before you do something really distasteful: www.emilypost.com"

So... what's Emily got to say about "tossing salad", six-packing ladies and ATMs...?

E

EPI: LOL, cocaine style of course! That'll really rattle them there bluebloods :-) Gotta let it all hang out on these trips since in my "real" life, I'm forced to wear a monkey suit every day and must go to those damned snooty restaurants where coats and ties are mandatory.

Small turboprop, eh? Going in style. Did you kick the tires before takeoff?

Beautiful novia, Merlin!

BTW, is there a standard template for who is the wingman and who is the fuselage/wing? Seems to me that the inexperienced guy (i.e., me in most recent cases, thanks sf4dfish, Walkingdude, Epi, & others) needs the wingman to "protect/cover/advise" him.

An experienced wingman helps his buddy out with timely advice. He packs wisdom and common sense, not necessarily knowledge of a particular destination.

I've noted many of my friends struggling with environments and/or situations that interfered with a good time. When someone needs (and more importantly WANTS) advice, a few words of encouragement and a gentle nudge is all that's required.

E

Hehe Hunterman, I actually thought of you and your experience in FLA when I had to get on that damned small plane. What kept me sane when the cold sweat materialized is the old saying "keep your eyes on the prize". Seemed like everytime we took off, Smitty asked "U OK Merl?" I think I'm over it now, just a bit jittery on takeoff, but have learned to meditate about all the pussy at the next landing :-)

I've had the pleasure of having many a great wingman during my trips from this site and others, and EPI captured the essence of it all. Used to monger solo for years, but realized having a good wingman is invaluable: watch each other's back, the daily debriefings, and the constant "is this really happening". I should also add that some wingmen have a tendency to shoot at "friendlies" and not all are ideal to travel and spend 24/7 with.

Secret for successful traveling with buddies.

STAY THE FUCK OUT OF EACH OTHERS WAY.

If Merl needs some time without me, no skin off my nose. I do not need company when I'm romancing my love of the moment. Now VIP's style parties are one thing, hanging 24/7 with some dude is not my idea of fun.

Merl and I just seem to know how not to step on each other dicks, we do not cock block, we do not hold the stupid notion of "You can't fuck her cause she is mine" and we are respectful of each other and the chicas.

I have no illusions about the nature of my relationship with my "J", if Merl did do the wild thing with her, I would ignore it as she has to work, Merl would have no problems with me and his "J" but I would respect him by not waving it in his face.

BTW, I aint Robin...

"BTW, I aint Robin..."

Agreed - I don't think the tights are a good look for ya.

E

(Message edited by epimetheus on June 03, 2005)

For your info, the midsize turboprop plane is a Foker50, and is operated with a crew of two pilots and two flight attendants.

Hunterman mi amigo, where are you winging off to next? Me of course, will be winging off to Brasil again next week!

A Fokker 50? I got stuck on one of those twice a month for a whole year. Every month from the Glasgow Scotland office to my office in Duerne (Antwerp) Belgium. Man they are loud, and a bumpy ride. Fortunately they are for short haul only!

Fokker 50

Hey Merl,

I had been away for a while and seems like you are having way too much fun. Great info on Medellin and I guess it is going to be my next destination south of the border. "J" is looking great as always and I guess you must be hooked on to her as if I am not mistaken this must be your 3rd or 4th time with her. Does she still work out of the casa or just LDV?

Can't wait to read the next chapter. Keep up the good work.

JKarp

Jkarp! Good to hear from you again. You're definitely being missed around here, but I bet you must still be awfully busy with work. You're gonna love MDE a lot.

Geesh, now that you mention it, I've been hanging with her for the past six trips. She's still the total sweetie that we both know and a lot more outgoing and independnet. Every so often, she asks about my "amigo de Norte California" once in awhile -- wonder who that is? :-). She now works part-time at LDV except when I'm there:-) Trying to teach her how to "fish" by suggesting computer classes, she seems to have an interest in it. I'll keep you posted. We're gonna make another trip to either MDE or Santa Marta soon, heard the latter has some great beaches but bring your own gal type of thing.

anyone planning any trips tp medillin in the fall let me know.

Finally have my passport this week and I have been taking spanish for two years.
Plan to hit medillin this fall.
anyone know best airline to get there from phoenix?
thanks

Try Continental Airlines to Houston then COPA to MDE, via Panama.

You could save a little money and time by going AA via Miami but, I would not want to take that route untill after the hurricane storm season is over unless you like bumpy and cancled flights.

RG.