This report is from my trip to Cartegena for three days in March. I also spent 4 days in Bogota, but will file that as a separate report.

I chose March because my schedule was too full earlier in the year and a voucher I had to fly anywhere American flies was rapidly approaching its expiration in April.

March and April probably aren't the best months to visit Colombia, or maybe any other Latin American country for that matter. Many of the ladies leave work to be with their families over the religious holiday. I had hoped to arrive earlier than the mass departure assuming that many of them would wait until the last minute, but upon arrival I learned that 2 weeks wasn't enough, many of them had already left to go home.

I used my American Airlines voucher to get a round trip to Bogota. From Bogota I arranged a round-trip to Cartegena from Bogota through Avianca. I got the schedules and rates from www.avianca.com, but phoned the order in because I was making relatively late arrangements. It's important to note that booking online through Avianca should be done well in advance due to security checks the company does for overseas purchases. My ticket was not finalized and issued until a full week after I attempted the purchase, less than a week before the actual flight. The price was an affordable 430,000 COP ($180 USD).

I arranged my stay in advance at Edifico Torre Del Reloj Apts via a short recommendation posted from this site. Securing the reservation wasn't too difficult, but did require a 20% deposit sent via PayPal. The location was great, but the stay wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. I posted comments in the linked topic and will also go into more detail shortly.

With both tickets, my Cartegena lodging, and the first two days of my Bogota lodging secured, I was all set. After a couple stops in the US, my third flight touched down in Bogota. I made my way to the Avianca shuttle to get to the Domestic terminal. The line to get my shuttle transfer was short, but took a long time. I was wise in selecting a Cartegena flight that was a tad later in the day as I probably would have missed the one within an hour of landing in Bogota. The drive on the bus was short after which I spent the next 90 minutes checking out some of the restaurants and shopping stands in the small domestic airport.

The Bogota-Cartegena flight took just over an hour and went smoothly, bringing me into the city in the early evening just as it was getting dark. I was supposed to call the apartment manager upon my arrival in Cartegena, so I made my way to a communications store in the Cartegena airport. That's where the hassles started.

The phone number that was emailed to me was incorrect. I couldn't dial it myself, neither could the incredibly friendly lady at the counter or another local Colombian that walked in. We tried an alternative number that was listed along with the address of the apartment, but those calls went unanswered. After 30 minutes of repeated attempts and the desk clerk calling other people to try to help me find contact information, we finally decided the best I could do would be to just show up. I walked outside to catch a cab who quoted me 10,000 COP ($4.30 USD) to take me to the Old City. This was about $1 more than I was told to pay, but I didn't really care. The ride took a bit longer than I expected, maybe 15 minutes after hitting a little traffic.

The driver wasn't familiar with the apartment itself, so I had him drop me off at address I printed from the web site. This turned out to be address for his office, not the apartment itself. I was in Cartegena, Colombia alone at night in front of an empty office with two full bags, no address for my apartment, and an incorrect phone number for the apartment manager. I made my way to a nearby internet cafe to figure out my next step.

Inside the cafe, I compared the cell number to the office number to discover that the cell number had an additional digit. I speculated that in typing the cell number, he may have inadvertently typed a number twice. There were three sets of repeat numbers, so I eliminated one of the first set and rewrote shortened number and handed it to an employee to call. He made the call on a cell phone and handed it to me. I finally got ahold of the Dirk, the apartment owner/manager. He gave me instructions to get to the apartment from my location a couple blocks away.

Although the rest of the street was relatively busy, the actual front of the apartment looked dangerous and deserted at night. Dirk unlocked the street level door of the building which led to the bottom of a tall, dark winding staircase past an empty reception desk. I'm fortunate to be in relatively good health, the climb would be rough for many people.

The apartment wasn't at the very top, but it was close enough. Dirk unlocked a second door to let us into a tiny lobby with a linen cabinet and two more doors. He finally unlocked the third door, the one to the apartment which was on the left-hand side. He turned on the lights so that we could finally escape the dreary journey up the darkened staircase.

The apartment was impressively large, and decently furnished. It wasn't a four-star hotel, but I figured it would do for the next several days. The view from the balcony was also excellent. Dirk showed me how to operate the air conditioner, lights, and fans and told me to give him a call if I need anything. I thanked Dirk and paid him the balance for the next three days.

After cleaning up to go out, I took a look through my notes to determine where I should go my first night. La Dolce Vita was tempting as one of the most popular spots in Cartegena, but it was also thoroughly covered. Instead I figured I'd try out the up and coming Pleyboy Club (spelled with an "e"). It was still early, so I decided I'd grab a bite to eat first. I was craving Italian, so I found a a nice restaurant recommended by my Lonely Planet guide nearby. It looked close enough to walk, but I wasn't yet familiar with the area so I decided to take a cab. I walked past the clock tower out front to a major intersection where a line of cabs was waiting. A few minutes and 4000 COP later, I was dropped off near Restaurant Enoteca. After a nice pasta meal, I easily found a walking path back to my apartment. They layout of the Old City in Cartegena is relatively simple and I was quickly getting my bearings.

I didn't need anything from my apartment, so I decided to head straight to Pleyboy than slogging back up the long flight of stairs. I walked back out to the main intersection in front the Plaza de los Coches to catch a ride to Pleyboy in the Bosque district.

The ride to Bosque was 10,000 COP ($5 USD) and took longer than I expected. My driver ended up bringing me to Club International instead. I wouldn't have minded checking it out, but I was rather annoyed since he brought me here without asking. I requested that he continue on to Pleyboy, but he was equally insistent that Pleyboy was nearby and that I check the place out first. I wasn't up for much argument my first night in Colombia, so I paid the driver and walked inside to look.

The talent inside International seemed decent from what I could see, but I wasn't really in the mood to stay as the only customer so I soon walked back out past my original driver to ask another driver for a quote to take me to Pleyboy. A tout approached me to tell me the club was only a couple blocks away and that he'd walk me there. The guy was American or used to live in America, I forget his name and story. We walked the two short blocks to round the corner into Pleyboy. I could tell by his interactions with the doorman that we would be expecting some kind of kickback for bringing me.

The interior of Pleyboy was fair, not as nice as I was expecting but better than some of the low-end places I've seen in my travels. There seemed to be a nice selection of ladies, but the activity was dead with only one other customer there. I took a seat and order a Red Bull to pick myself up a bit. There were a couple of ladies in the 8-9 range sitting across the room, but I was constantly distracted by a cute 7 with a disarming smile that was sitting nearby. I couldn't say no when she asked if she could come sit with me.

And so I met Milena, my lovely lady for the evening. According to my notes, I paid 90k COP ($39 USD) to the house and $85 USD for Milena for the rest of the evening. I thought I had paid less, but after reviewing the rates in the Pleyboy topic I guess that is within range for the whole evening. Whatever I paid, I felt it was worth it, Milena provided one of the best encounters I had experienced in a long time.

But I'm jumping ahead, after paying the house we walked outside where the tout was waiting for me. Against my better instincts we went to a cab that tout said he had friends with and made our way back to our hotel. There weren't actually any problems and the taxi didn't overcharge us, but I was uncomfortable on the way home based on past experiences and stories I've heard about touts and taxi drivers.

The ride back was the same rate as the ride there (10k COP) and I gave the tout a 5k tip after he followed us out. He wrote down his name and number with the hope that I'd call him to take up his offer to show me around, but that just went into the trash. Milena and I made our way upstairs where we spent the rest of the wonderful evening together.

Photos: Milena 01 02 03

...to be continued...

Great start Vladimir, I'll be eagerly awaiting to read about your experiences in CTG as you seem to be more thoroughly prepared than most of us. I've always been the lone monger when I visit International (unless I'm w/a buddy), and I notice that the turnover at this place is higher than the norm, even if I go back 2 weeks later they have new gals. Pleyboy usually has some hotties.

Photos integrated

Milena asked questions about my plans for the day, but I deftly dodged those bullets with vague answers about having personal things to take care of. She wrote down her number before I walked her downstairs and to a taxi. A bit later that morning the power fails, so I head outside to find a phone to call Dirk. He says an electrician will be my later to fix it.


L: This is the building. My apartment was near the top.
R: A view from atop the stairs, you cannot see the ground floor.


L: The kitchen. The entrance is out of view to the right.
R: Two couches, a dining table, and the small bed to the right.


L: Bathroom was OK, but I don't like this style of shower.
R: At least the view was great, assuming you don't mind heights.

I head out to start my first full day by taking some photos of the apartment and the nearby area. The nearest iCafe turned out to be just a couple doors down on the second floor of a grocery store. In the other direction a few doors down was the disco Tu Candela. I walked through the city noting the locations of restaurants, shops, and other iCafe's. One thing that surprised me was that there were much fewer restaurants than I expected. For lunch I grabbed a slice of pizza and coke at a local pizza parlor. I continued on taking photos of some of the beautiful architecture, a fountain in a park, and of the surrounding walls. The Old City portion of Cartegena is not very large and was easily walkable.

I went to a number of telephone stores but was unable to find a sim card for my tri-band mobile phone. One of the stores eventually suggested I try one of the major stores cell phone outlets in the Bocagrande area. I took a cab there in the late afternoon and started off with a walk down the beach.

I'm not sure if it was the time of the day or the time of the year or a combination of both, but I was surprised by the few number of people on the beach. I was quickly targeted by touts offering up chairs but just continued walking. I spotted some attractive ladies here and there that were just hanging around, but I wasn't dressed for the beach and didn't have too much time to hang around if I was going to find a chip for my phone. A less than attractive lady offered me a massage, but again I declined. She ended up following me for a good distance before finally giving up.

I walked up a couple blocks to a McDonalds for a frosty cone and got directions to a nearby cell shop. The first one I stopped in told me that couldn't sell chips to non-residents. The second store I found couldn't get the chip to work in my phone. After that I just gave up and caught a cab back to the Old City.

Back in the Plaza I used the Internet for a while, then bought some drinks and snacks for the apartment. While I was upstairs the electiricy came on again. It was pretty hot so I tried to turn on the air conditioning, but all I got was room temperature air. After waiting all day for the electricity and only one day left, I didn't bother calling Dirk about it. I whittled away the rest of the early evening before heading out to Casa de Marinero around 9pm. 10,000 COP took me past the Bosque area and over a toll bridge before we reached our destination.

There were other customers there before I arrived and others that showed up later, but activity was muted. Probably both because of it being too early in the evening and the time of year. I spent a decent amount of time just drinking alone and surveying the talent. I smiled at the top of the talent there, a sultry black lady, but she seemed more interested in talking to her friend so I continued to look around. Eventually I invited a less attractive, but very friendly and top-heavy lady over for a drink. While we were getting to know each other, heavily armed military police entered the room. I was concerned they might demand my passport which I was not carrying, but when they got around to me they just looked at me like I was the last person they'd be interested in.

After the police left and we finished our drink, I asked my companion about services offered. I didn't note the exact price for the short-time on-site service, but it was significantly less than my previous all-nighter. I paid the quoted fee at the counter before we walked outside and around to the back to her personal room.

Her room was rather bare and devoid of personality save for the large penciled sketch of a nude man hanging above her bed. I got a picture of it while she was in the bathroom.

The services provided weren't close to Milena's from the previous night, but were more than acceptable for the price and length of time I purchased. After our time was up we headed back into the club where I had them call me a cab.

I discovered other photos of my CdM date posted by Merlin, they are Casa 3-5, #20174-#20176. My own should be posted here shortly.

Photos: Casa de Marinero 04 05 06 07

...to be continued...

Photos integrated

nice report....thanks for the TR

your casa girl looks cute! similar to paola at manila.

as for pleyboy, many have warned that it's a clip joint...nevertheless, i saw some real cuties there. I"ve heard that st can be negotiated to 100k in house for 30'. never taken from here, but if i did, i'd try for 100k for one hour.

re your apt, it looks nice! right near many clubs...tu candela, giro matto and la tripletera. btw, A friend i hung with mentioned that muggings and pickpocketing occurs at the court yard you show in one of your pics and just outside the wall of the old city during late night hours. soc

Vladimir,
I got the same crap regarding not selling residents a telephone(or chip). Even for residents they require a copy of you ID (cedula or passport) and 2 ID photos. I just got the copy and photos and walked into a place and picked out a phone layed down the cash the copy and the photos and the deal was done.

The toll bridge also takes you over to Bosque, it is just a different route. All of the casas you mentioned are in the same neighborhood and within walking distance if you dare. A word to the wise - I know this neighborhood very well, DO NOT walk it without a local escort. Don't even tempt fate with your trusty wingman because you will both likely be robbed or worse.
Case in point - last week the brother of a friend who lives over there was robbed and subsequently shot in the face - FOR 10000 pesos!! YES, he is DEAD... I hope everyone on this board uses caution in this area.

Interesting report Vladimir. When I visited Pleyboy last year most of the girls looked borderline under aged so I did not hang around for long. Plus I was pretty hooked on someone from CdM.

Thanks for the report.

Vladimir...thank you for the info.

Do you think, or other monger's reading this, that the prices at the casas are representative of what one should expect to pay or would bargaining be doable?

Thanks!

You are probably going to be OK in the Plaza in the photos above (Plaza De Los Coches) where the apt building is situated, the dodgy area at night starts from the clock tower and outside the City wall.

I have advised many tourists over the years about that area, basically the muggers can run into the park opposite or Getsemeni proper which is the neighbourhood the park is situated in, you can see the corner of the park in the last photo with the clock tower in it.

When I am in Ctg, I normally stay in the same apt, I have spent about a year there in the last four years, unfortunetly the infastructure of the Old City is not as well maintened as the Laguito area and there are regular problems with the water, electric & phones, due to difficulty of renewing the cables and pipes in the street and old buildings.

But I prefer the atmosphere of the Old City, so I just accept it, although I would prefer it all to work better as well.

Hunter

While I waited for the cab, I chatted with the guy standing guard outside. The cab showed up about 10 minutes later, so we headed back through Bosque, past the Old City, and into El Laguito to arrive at La Dolce Vita a bit after midnight. There were plenty of cabs waiting outside. I walked past them and through a small courtyard to enter the club.

Within moments I could tell the number of ladies and quality of looks well exceeded the three casas I previously visited put together. Actually LDV had one of the best lineups I had seen in my travels through Central and South America. I walked around noting both the layout and the available ladies. The men's restroom was located to the immediate right after walking in. Past that pathway to the right and straight ahead was the bar. The room opened up to the left with seats and tables before curving around to a dance floor. The dance area continued behind the bar until it ended at a hall leading to the ladies restroom.

One of the hardest things to decide was who to approach as there were so many attractive ladies, so I spent the first hour or so just drinking and checking the place out. I had two goals for the evening, to get at least one number for the next day and to find a date for the evening.

One couple ladies in particular stood out among the rest, but they kept mostly to themselves. The more attractive one could probably be considered a high 9. I considered going for her on looks alone, but after seeing her interact with several guys that approached her it's probably good that I didn't. It appeared that she didn't have much of a personality of possibly that she was really selective on who she would talk to.

At one point I ended up in a conversation with a very pretty young blond named Jenny. Cubanut posted three pictures of her, #22879, #22880, #22883. Resisting the urge to take her at that point was a challenge, but I managed to parlay the situation into a date for the next day. I had her write down her phone number on a notepad I had brought with me and promised to call her tomorrow.

I continued the hunt for my overnight date, being a bit careful to try to not make it too obvious to Jenny what I was doing. There were lots of available options, including friends of Jenny, but I wanted to be careful not to blatently choose someone else in front of her.

One lady that I wasn't really attractive to, but wasn't ugly either, would always stare at me as I crossed the bar in front of her. She wouldn't really have been that noteworthy, except that later evening a good friend of hers would arrive that would stir a good deal of lust within me. I wasn't sure how to approach the new beauty as I didn't want to be rude to the less attractive friend who had been trying all night to get me to approach her. Fortunately, the sidekick soon realized I was staring at her friend and dragged her over to set us up together. That's how I met the Dazzling Triguena, another current CH Colombia beauty featured in a series of 10 photos starting with #20181. Unfortunately those and my own photos to follow barefly scratch the surface of how delightful she looks in person, but they give a decent idea.

DT and I spent some additional time in LDV getting to know each other as my eyes occasionally darted around to see if the coast was clear of Jenny. Eventually, I didn't see Jenny for awhile, so I invited DT back to my apartment. Since LDV is a freelance disco, there was no need to pay anything like an exit fee. We left the club to one of the waiting cabs outside. To my surprise, it was only 4000 COP ($2 USD) to get back to the Plaza de Los Coches, although it's possible DT played a part in getting that rate. We rode back to the apartment as we kissed in the back of the cab.

After spending the night with DT and given the wonderful experience the previous night with Milena, it was already started to become apparent to me that Colombia would be moving near the top if not becoming the most preferred country for me to visit in Latin America.

Photos: Dazzling Triguena 08 09 10 11 12 13

...to be continued...

vladimir, i believe those are normal rates to the old city from laguito. and, rates to el bosque are around 8k from laguito.

btw, funny how your picks were already picked off by certain CH members. e.g. Many of the girls i thought i 'discovered' were already done by my fellow mongers.

Also, I haven't spent much time in ctg, but it seems like many of the same girls cruise the same scene night after night with turnover being relatively slow as many 'new ones' i've realized are just returnees from various co cities.

I'd guess the freshest ones might be found in the casas, or if you're lucky, the beach. but even theses girls probably have a history of working in their hometown for awhile. case in point, i just saw a photo of this really young looking fob i met at the casas. it was her 2nd night there, however, i recently discovered pics of her working in cali some years ago. go fig.

(Message edited by socrates69 on July 26, 2005)

"Actually LDV had one of the best lineups I had seen in my travels through Central and South America." Oh No, just when I was checking out fares to visit Peru and Guatamala :-) I'd really be curious about how CTG compares w/the other destinations if you have time. It's always the dilemma of a guaranteed good time w/ hot gals vs. the adrenaline rush of investigating a new destination.

IMO, Soc is right about the turnover being more at the casas, many gals there are living and working on a short term basis. If they don't go home after their tour of duy, the casa gals eventually realize they can make more money at LDV freelancing like my friend "J". Neverthless, what's amazing about CTG is that on every trip I meet a handful of new conquests at the various venues and can still rely on some great service regulars.

Photo links added

vladimir - the cab fare is right, but will fluctuate between 3-5K. I always ask before getting in the cab.

I personally know some girls that arrived in CTG to work in casas and later migrated to LDV. Some spent 5+ years frequently visiting LDV until they found someone to finance there livelyhood (I am aware of one who was receiving 1.000.000COP a month from a european guy and still worked LDV) or a Colombian marido (live together boyfriend)

I walked DT downstairs the next morning as she asked about my plans for the evening. I told her I wasn't sure, that maybe I'd see her at LDV.

Later in the morning I checked my email at the internet station while crusing around the Old City taking more photos. I had to call back to the office in the US regarding a new client, so I spent a part of the day on long distance calls. Fortunately, the calls were relatively inexpensive and I was being reimbursed anyways. In between calls I gave Jenny from LDV a ring and arranged to meet her in front of Tu Candela later that afternoon.

Jenny showed up to the courtyard as planned, so we made our way upstairs for a nice afternoon date. It was a bit hot without the air conditioning, but the breeze coming in through the balcony doors made it bearable. Jenny wasn't quite up to bar with Milena or DT, but she was still lots of fun and incredibly cute. She had some errands to run before work that evening, so she didn't hang around long afterwards.

Photos: Jenny 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

I relaxed most of the rest of the afternoon, then headed out in the evening for dinner at a LP recommended restaurant called Donde Olano specializing in French and Creole cuising. It was a cozy (small) but delightful place to eat that I enjoyed very much. I headed back to the apartment to plan my evening itinerary

Since I couldn't find anything in my notes about it, I decided to check out a place recommend to me by the taxi driver that had picked me up from CdM. The club was called Venus.

Venus was not very impressive when I visited, though I was pretty sure most of the casas would seem to be a let down after my awe at LDV. The club seemed narrow, like a large hall with tables and chairs on each side and a dance stage at the end. Most of the ladies seemed rather bored but there was one I could have settled for. Instead I just left after a couple drinks, but I had to wait while they called a cab.

It was still relatively early, but I wasn't in much of a mood to cruise the casas so I had the driver take me to LDV. At 10pm it was open but empty, so I walked to burger joint a couple blocks away and snacked on some fries.

LDV was dead until 11-11:30 at least. The lineup didn't seem quite as spectacular as the previous evening, but it was still excellent. Again it was hard to decide who I might want to spend the evening with. DT finally showed up and smiled at me but didn't approach. She had the look, however, as though she was expecting me to approach her. I didn't, and she looked a somewhat concerned at that point.

It may have just been my imagination, but DT seemed to be drinking a lot and trying to get my attention without being too obvious about it. She was invited to drinks with some guys, but I kept feeling like I was being watched.

After getting a good number of drinks in myself, I loosened up and decided to start dancing. This led to a lot of non-verbal flirting with very pretty light-skinned black lady that was also dancing, DT didn't seem too happy about that. After working up a bit of a sweat, we sat down next to each other, but not exactly together, for a drink. We spoke for a while until the dancer excused herself to the bathroom. At this point, DT's friend approached to tell me that DT really wanted to spend the night with me.

The rest of the night was a tad uncomfortable trying to decide who to spend the evening with. Actually I couldn't decide, so I stayed until closing without bringing it up with either of them. I was mostly hanging with the black dancer, but DT was giving me serious stares. I was actually leaning towards the new lady, but couldn't pull the trigger in front of DT. I might have said yes if the dancer propostition me, but she didn't so we just said our goodbyes and she left while many others were also leaving. DT was lingering behind in the club, so I went to talk to her. She seemed really happy that I hadn't left with the other lady. DT was drunk and wanted to dance some more before going back to the apartment, so we agreed to head to Giro Matto.

When DT and I walked outside together, I saw the dancer getting some food at a nearby cart. She spotted us and got what appeared to be a really sad look on her face. I felt bad, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it. DT and I got into a nearby cab and instructed the driver to take us to GM.

I had to pay a cover to enter Giro Matto, I believe it was about 10k COP for me ($5 USD). I think DT got in free, but I'm not sure...didn't write it down.

GM seemed a pretty nice place and popular with a younger crowd. Supposedly freelance talent can be picked up here, and I did recognize some ladies from LDV, but it seemed like there were more couples than available ladies, and I wasn't in a position to really look around or test it out, either.

We both got a drink, danced a bit, and hung out in each other's arms for a while, but we decided to leave soon after that. We walked back to the apartment after that. We were approached by a couple young teenage boys, but DT just shooed them away and they turned out to be harmless. Back at the apartment, we spent a while making it up the stairs. DT collapsed on the bed when we got to the room. I was a bit concerned DT might be too tired or drunk, but that wasn't the case. We had another sensual time together, but somewhat shorter because we were both tired. We quickly fell asleep in each other's arms afterwards.

...to be continued...

DT gave me her email address in the morning. I smiled and accepted it, even though I knew I wouldn't use it. I walked her downstairs where we said our goodbyes. We gave each other a friendly hug and kiss before she stepped into the cab. She looked back once at the cab as it disappeared in the distance. I had a short fantasy about keeping in touch with her and meeting her again in the future as I made my way back up the stairs to get ready for my flight to Bogota.

I didn't have bring a lot of luggage, I never do, so the packing went quickly and smoothly. A couple hours before my flight I made my way downstairs and left the keys with the day security per Dirk's instructions. He hinted strongly at a tip, so I gave him something in the range of 15-20k, I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it came out to somewhere between $5-$10 USD. I'm not sure what I should have tipped him, if at all, but the money wasn't a big deal and he seemed happy with it.

I didn't arrange a taxi pickup, I just walked to the main intersection with my two bags where a driver quoted me 5k COP ($2.5 USD) for a ride to the domestic terminal. After a short wait, I was soon on the plane to Bogota for my next four days in Colombia.

....to be continued in a separate report...

Comments & Summary

* The apartment was nice, but I doubt I'll stay in the Old City in the future. After experiencing these problems with the apartment, I have a better appreciation for reliable air conditioning and electricity.

* I was happy with the ladies and experiencess in Cartegena and yet feel I barely scratched the service. In my very short trip, I only visited four casas, LDV, and a disco. I didn't get a true look at the beach scene and I visited less than half of the places I had notes for. This was also a slow time of year in terms of selection, yet I still felt it was excellent and could have kept me occupied for weeks without having to repeat ladies.

* Many Colombia regulars will say that the danger factor is exaggerated. I agree, but I also think it's higher than many other places in the Caribbean and Central and South America where I've traveled. I will touch on this more in the Bogota report, but even in Cartegena I felt this way.

* The cell phone problems were a surprise. My accessibility was not that crucial that it turned out to be much of a problem, but other travelers that carry tri-band phones and have family or work obligations where they need to be reached may need to research this issue more thoroughly.

Latin City Preferences
1. Bogota, Colombia
2. Cartegena, Colombia
3. Lima, Peru
4. Guatemala City, Guatemala
5. Buenos Aires, Argentina
6. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
7. Panama City, Panama
8. San Jose, Costa Rica
9. Sosua, Dominican Republic

It's somewhat difficult for me to put these in order, but I think this is accurate for how I currently feel. Part of the problem is that the ordering can vary depending on what I focus on. Price, looks, service, availability, and security are just a few of many factors that all make up the overall rating of a destination. Also, details are clearer and experiences more vivid for destinations I've visited more recently.

Colombia clearly comes out on top for me the beauty of the ladies and generally excellent service. Bogota comes before Cartegena due to the huge scene with all the P4P establishments available. Prices in Colombia are probably better than average for the list of destinations. The only negative seems to be an increased danger factor which may be exaggerated, but which I do think is real.

Lima and Guatemala City didn't have as many stunning ladies as Colobia, IMHO, but both seemed to have more options and establishments where ladies where available than the rest of the list. Both also have workers from other countries which I didn't find in Colombia. Prices in these two cities were higher on average.

Buenos Aires might have been higher if I had been more recently, but thinking back at this time it seemed to me that there were only several really good establishments, mainly Madahos and Black. Although the city was very nice, strictly in terms of P4P I think I prefer the preceding 4.

Santo Domingo and Sosua were better than I expected, but I'm almost certain that the current sitation in the DR would know all DR cities to the bottom of the list. Prices have increased dramatically for Americans, and the massage parlor crackdown in SD eliminated many P4P options.

The Blue Marlin in San Jose is a great place IMHO, but there seem to be many mixed views on it. Besides the BM, only Idem and a couple of massage parlors rank as suitable P4P establishments for the more worldly traveler.

Golden Time in Panama City was excellent when I went, but it may well be the only really nice place overall in PC besides Miami, and being a massage parlor limits the kind of fun you can have there. Other options seem to be severely lacking in selection or exceedingly expensive. More recent reports even have GT not meeting some expectations.

Despite a clear differences in where these rank in relation to one another, I look forward to visiting all of these places again. For me the variety makes revisiting each place more exciting, and it always beats spending time in the US.

For travelers like Merlin that recognize the benefits of variety, I would always say visit some place you haven't been. Even if it doesn't match other destinations in all respects, you will likely find aspects that you enjoy more so and you'll come to appreciate the differences in the rest.

Some travelers worry that they won't have as much fun on a new destination as they have on their current favorite. I believe this is a liability on one's enjoyment and makes them less likely to enjoy the new destination, even if they try not to compare.

That's about it for this report. I will continue with Bogota in a new report and will definitely be reporting more on Colombia in the future.

vladimir
- I have been to CTG 10+ times, I believe that it is as safe as any large American City. Of course we must be smart enough not to wander in the wrong area's. Just like we wouldn't wander into dangerous are's of New York, LA, Miami, etc..
CTG is the primary Colombian tourist location so the Governement takes steps to keep it safe as a tourist destination.

Vladimir, thanks for the report.

One comment on the safety side, om my first trip to Ctg I felt the same thing, but looking back a few trips later, I realise most of it was my imagination, because you are expecting problems, you tend to start feeling there is a potential problem, where none exist, after a few trips you will probably see that for yourself.

As Yoosin says though, you must not wander off into the wrong places, which there are more of in Colombia than most Countries.

Hunter

Wow - rating Bogota #1. I've been reading consistently on another board that of all the big cities in Colombia, Bogota is where you'll most likely get mugged, even in "safe" neighborhoods. I've always wanted to get up there, if for nothing else the climate would really be to my liking.

Yoosin - there are no dangerous neighborhoods in NYC anymore. Even fat white guys like me can walk through Bed-Stuy wearing an expensive suit and a Rolex without any problems. That wasn't possible 10 years ago, but you can go anywhere anytime in NYC now.

Vladimir,

Thank you very much for a very interesting and informative report. I really enjoyed reading it and can't wait to see your Bogota report. Now after seeing your rating of destinations I am evern more curious about Bogota as I did not get to spend too much time in Bogota on my last trip there and I opted out for the escort service instead of going to clubs or casas.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Phd

Vladimir, an excellent summation to a great report. I appreciate all the details and the comparisons. Good to see that Guatamala & Peru still rank fairly high for you, it motivates me even more to check those places out soon. I'll also be looking forward to your Bogota report, another city I'd like to visit. I don't think I've seen a thorough treatment of Bogota yet on any board or as high of a ranking as you gave it.

Of all the Latin American cities I've visited, I tend to agree with the Hombres that believe CTG is one of the safer ones. I've wandered alone at night on deserted beaches and the area near International-Pleyboy or Marino many times without problems. I'm especially vigilent because I've actually had some bad experiences with cops or shady characters in cities like San Jose, Tijuana or Mexico City.

"I paid 90k COP ($39 USD) to the house and $85 USD for Milena for the rest of the evening. I thought I had paid less, but after reviewing the rates in the Pleyboy topic I guess that is within range for the whole evening. Whatever I paid, I felt it was worth it, Milena provided one of the best encounters I had experienced in a long time."

That is $124 for one night. Please don't do this again--it contributes to the raising of prices that makes it impossible for people like me to enjoy our holidays. Keep payments reasonable.



(Message edited by WhiteRhino on October 30, 2005)

WR, it's his money. Overpaying at any casa will not affect street prices. I just paid a Centro SG 30K for ST. The SGs on San Martin in Boca Grande are still very happy with 60K for ST. I think you can still enjoy as much as you want @ 30K. Come to think of it, that SG asked for 30K initially. I probably could have gotten her for 20 if I had asked. Fuck me. Guess I'm overpaying too. Sorry.