TRANSPORTATION:
Getting into the city, I took the bus from MDE airport and found it too be quick and cheap at 6000cop vs 60000-50000cop with an airport taxi with the risk of being held ransom or taken for a million dollar ride. This had actually happened to 2 people that are friends' of friends. Dig around and you’ll discover that this can really happens on occasion.

Taxis: I did not find taxis to be a major safety issue although be aware that there have been reports of taxistas being in cahoots with moto-driving gun weilding crooks. I was actually suspect of one taxista but after chatting with him to give him a low class impression of myself, I believe I defused the matter.

Tip: find a few taxistas that you feel comfortable with and contact them when you need transportation.








CRIME AND SAFETY:
*El centro in MDE is dangerous, without a doubt. I stayed in a hotel in Prado Centro, walking distance from Botero Museum in El Centro.

-The first night I heard small caliber gunshots followed by intense sobbing a few hours later with police called in. I assume there was a murder.

-The following night I witnessed two suspicious characters next door to my apt/hotel. One male was the look out guy while the other was attempting to saw through the steel bars of the gate...note: all the hotel are completely gated in the neighborhood. Despite criminals right outside my hotel, I stepped out of the taxi, gauged their reaction, and decided that I could probably enter my hotel without incident. My taxi driver phoned in the police who later arrested the suspects media hora later.

-Later that night, while I was leaving my hotel with a streetgirl I meet earlier that night, two males on a motocycle drove by and quickly took notice. My street savvy date quickly latched onto me for safety as the motocycle made a u-turn to what I suspect, rob/kidnap/murder us. As a side note: all the gates in the area seem to work the same way. You must unlock to get in and relock when you close the gate. Hence you could lock yourself out temporarily if someone quickly appears to do harm to you. As a precaution, I always keep my keys in the lock on the inside of the steel gate ready at a moments notice to be locked from within. When the two males made a u-turn to return to our location, I had already escorted my date and locked the gate behind us as they made their 2nd pass in dissapointment. Armed robbery by way of two males on a motocycle is common practice in MDE. Legitimate motocyle drives are supposed to have jackets with numbers clearly written on the back but I suspect this can easily be replicated by theses motocycle bandits.

-A word about street justice: when fights break out in el centro, be prepared to have everyone in their mothers rush over there to observe and cheer, including the policia. The police will NOT step in to stop fights in fear of getting stabbed or shot in the crossfire. At the end, one person will walk away while the other will be laying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Best to travel in a group when on foot in el centro after dark. In one night on foot in el centro, I witnessed two separate events:
1)a long protracted fight broke out along Cl 52 and Cr 51d. There were about 75 observers including police that ran 3 blocks only to watch the brawl.

2)witnessed a victim of a stabbing on Carabobo and Cl 54. Freshly stabbed at the right upper chest and high as a kite, the victim was a drug addicted street urchin that seemed to feel no pain as he carelessly roamed the streets with blood spilling down his arm and onto unsuspecting people passing by. No doubt he was probably HEP/HIV+ from his appearance….raggedy clothes, jaundice, emaciated, and filthy.

-Viscious canines: Numerous times, I saw bums and street folks fight for their lives against vicious street dogs. If you see any on the street, avoid them when possible even if it means taking the longer route on foot.

-Streetgirls: see streetgirl section.

-Tips: best to stay in poblado...lol. Seriously, I do plan to stay in poblado on my next visit!

-Preparation: This is a tough one. The best way I can think of to prepare yourself is learn to carry yourself properly in the streets. You'll be prepped if you are able to walk the streets in ZN in TJ without getting solicited or walk along Articulo 123 between constitucion and ninos heroes, and along ninos heroes above coahuila callejon after midnight, and avoid robbery attempts. Even still, MDE is an entirely different can of worms as they are more gun prone vs TJ where petty crime usually involves knives and choke outs.







STREET GIRLS…....Caveat emptor!
-Time: 24 hours a day, best from midday to very late at night.

-Price: 15k to 50k for media hora to a few hours.

-Locations….
Besides El Radual, there are street girls scattered along the intersections of:

-Cundinamarca (Cr 53) and Calle 54: out in the open in packs or along bars

-Cundinamarca and Calle Peru: out in the open in packs or along bars

-Calle Zea (Cl 56) and carabobo

-Calle Peru (Cl 55) and Carabobo

-Calle 54 and Carabobo

-Calle 53 between Cucuta and Carerra 51d

-Carabobo between Colombia and Cl 52: look for doorways to staircases leading to cheap short time hotels. They are stuffed with sgs.

-Carabobo between Cl 53 and Peru or Zea. They will be at the entrances to short time hotels, or just outside the many tabernas, pubs, discos, and strip clubs.

-Cl 54 from Cundinamarca and Cr 51d

-Peru from Cundinamarca and Cr 51d

-Zea from Cundinamarca and Cr 51d

-Around many of the small side streets around Show San Diego and Fase dos

Tips: always interview them prior to picking them up. Some are psychotic with multiple personalities, some carry weapons on them, most are concealing drugs. This is important as there are various police sobriety check points in the city, around San Diego and the intersection of Cr 51d and Peru in particular.

In addition: Keep your valuable safe and out of site. Be wary if they offer a threesome at just above the rate of taking only one. Common to have one servicing you while the other excuses themselve to go to the bathroom and through your bags, etc. I’ve had many successful 3-some but took all the necessary precautions. Upon leaving, many streetgirls voluntarily showed me the inside of their bags/purses.

(Message edited by socrates69 on March 23, 2009)

A word on Mayorista:
The place is relatively safe at all hours. I thought there were a few cute girls there but you could feel the effect of gringo traffic with their attempted price gouging and requests for unwarranted propinas. You can usually get to the real price with a little spanish.

I appreciate your honesty and candor! Good Honest assessments, keep it up!

Wow, Good observations and insights, and glad you made it back safe.

Socrates: This is all really great information and you make me wanna go back. After 14 trips to Medellin in a short time, I grew tired of some of those things you mentioned. But still it is a great city, and so much action the lure is always there in the back of my mind.

Drugs: About a third of the street girls are high on something. Just my estimate. Many of them huff glue in small black plastic bags. They can be seen sitting on the sidewalks around Botero Museum huffing the stuff out in the open and nobody cares. I have had street girls seem normal on the street, only to blow me away when I kissed them in the room...with breath that could light a blow torch. Why would I kiss a street girl...hmmm.....another story.

You visited many more places than me...and found some new locations I would love to go back and try. Nice job.

On my last trip I was disappointed with the selection around my normal hangout along Calle 53. It was like somebody went in and collected all the young cuties, leaving the old and fats ones to fend off the colombianos.

In all my trips there, and I always go to El Centro, I have never been robbed or accosted but I know I came close a few times. I like all your advice here. Being wary of your surroundings at all times helps. Also, I never get drunk there. I want all my wits about me. I have been pushed around by drunk colombianos...and I just walk away. No need to get stabbed or killed and never be heard from or seen again...over something stupid.

I also recommend staying in El Poblado and just going down to El Centro for visits. I think it would be depressing and nutty to be down there the entire time. At least in Poblado you can escape from the craziness and have some normal down time...before you plunge back down the rabbit hole and do it all again.

Just my opinion.

rm

Sounds like a fun vacation, LOL!

It's amazing and downright frightening just how f***ed up the lowest dregs of society are in Colombia. I saw a taste of it in Bogota, witnessed some street justice myself. An expat I befriended who lives in Bogota describes some areas in the south and centro of the city as "night of the living dead" since the druggies are almost literally like zombies.

If you're annoyed by paying Poblado prices which I can relate to, or if you just want to avoid the usual "gringo haunts" of Parque Lleras, why not look into a mid-range area like Laureles? I've read some interesting things about that neighborhood on this board, sounds like a decent safe place to stay with good night-life options nearby although my understanding is that there's not much P4P venues or street action in Laureles. Maybe someone here can comment. . .

RM,

Re: drugs. Every single girl except for one had drug hidden on them.

Re: quality. The quality of the daytime selection has gone down significantly at eL Radual. Thus, I did most of my shopping at night and on foot. It gave me a chance to see the real el centro, not just a snap shot in time through the safety of a taxi window. I'm really astonished at how much violence I witnessed....but on the bright side, I also discovered the local bar/disco scene and low-end S.C.s which had some real finds. You gotta go down there and see for yourself!

Another reason for the decline in Sgs on the streets (many are now working in the clubs downtown), is probably due to the "social cleansing" threats. I friend that goes down there often reported that his taxista confirmed 2 girls have already been murdered in connection with this group of terrorists, Ogdis.

[Admin: Photo removed at author's request]

http://colombiareports.com/colombian-news/news/3062-outlaw-group-impose-curfew-on-medellin-neighborhoods.html



Phunluv, I purposely choose to stay down there to explore not to save money. After what I witnessed, I'll probably never stay down there again.

I live not far from Laureles. You won't find much street action, but there are plenty of casas and at least one strip club. And it is a short hop to el Centro by metro, bus or taxi.

La70 between the Estadio metro station and Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana is a great area for regular night life and very few problems. There is a good selection of hotels and restaurants in all price ranges.

Have to share, on one trip, Smitty and I didn't know if these dudes w/big guns that barged into our party were FARC or ParaMilitary or what not, turned out they were friendlies..

Yea, this was after Mister Magician publicly announced to everyone on the beach about our FARC affiliation. Dude, we need to start our own cartel, lets go to CTG, rent a CAR and TELL all the chicas that we are rich.

Lol, great memory you have there, but you seem to still be mad b/c I told all you were only a field Captain while I was the generalisimo of propoganda. Too many Cuba Libres, but the gals seemed to have fun with it.

heya Soc-- interesting read and glad you made it back with all parts in tact.

-dm

dm, I came back leche depleted, but I think I'll make it.

merl, classic photo!

Socrates69,

You and your girlfriend were very lucky.

Although I do know people who have been cycle robbed in Poblado and Envigado, I think it's just a matter of time of when you will get robbed if you stay in the El Centro area. It doesn't matter if you are a Gringo or local either.

El Centro to me is NOT the place to wander around at night. I also feel lucky that I never had any problems when I did my strolls around late night both solo and with a friend or two. I just don't think I would want to keep pushing my luck by continuing to do so.

Besides, the dregs of society are not a pretty sight and many stink to high heaven. They often piss and sometimes shit right there in the street as well.


Cheers,


Cubanut

CN,

I also aware of incidences in poblando and envigado which is why I always go to the atms that are in safe environments and only during the day.

I know I got very lucky in regards to the cycle bandits and I'm glad I took certain precautions that ultimately saved me from getting robbed. I wanted to post my experience so others would be aware and know what to look out for.

As for staying in el centro, I agree, it's too dangerous. I don't plan to stay there again.

cheers, soc

They have recently passed a new law that forbids 2 males on a motorcycle. (M-F is OK but not M-M) This will probably cut down on the moto robberies quite a bit.

I agree with the others though. Stay out of El Centro at night!

Thanks for your reporting on the street action. I was curious if anyone had experience picking girls that hang outside the Premium Plaza shopping mall at night. I remember driving around with Fernando last year and saw some real hotties there. This was around 10pm and by the time my group were returning from Grill San Diego (around 12:30am) , the chicas had all either quit for the evening or were scooped up.

I may be the exception to the rule, or just pushing my luck but I have walked around centro many times till well after midnight and have never been acosted by anyone.