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Girardot and Melgar

Somebody recently asked about these places, but people here mainly talk about Bogota, Medellin and Cali. Since my wife is from Girardot, I'll give my opinion on these places.

Girardot and Melgar are both pretty cool places, but Melgar is more for the partying folks from Bogota on the weekends. As other people have stated, there's not much to do outside of the pools and clubs. Girardot is a bigger place, but outside of hanging around El Centro or 2-3 popular clubs, it's pretty mild.

Both towns would be considered lame by U.S. standards, but that's along with 80% of Colombia. The people of Colombia are what makes being there so great. I love Colombia and the people are, for the most part, fantastic. It's a shame most of them have to live in what would be considered "squalor" conditions in the U.S. I really hope things there eventually improve.

As far as the local girls, they're no different than girls in the States. There's good ones and there's bad ones. Plenty of American girls are gold diggers, use men for money, get pregnant on purpose, turn tricks for college money, and so on. Colombia obviously has some of those, but there are plenty of certified honeys with a good heart. I'll take a good-hearted Colombian girl over a good-hearted American girl simply due to their having so much more passion in life.

I do remember this past August that a girl from Melgar (15 or 16) made the news for a sex video made of her doing a guy in the resort El Penon in Girardot. There are some girls who basically pimp themselves out to both the Colombian and U.S. soldiers from the army base in between Melgar and Girardot (there are quite a few U.S. soldiers on the base supporting search and rescue and supporting the U.S. helicopters the Colombian army uses). Having the base nearby also makes Melgar/Girardot pretty safe.

Another person mentioned that condos dot Girardot, but this is not really true. There are a couple of places througout the town that are considered "condos" and have security, but the only real resort would be El Penon, which I mentioned above. This place is beautiful with golf course, lake, has bonified mansions, even for U.S. standards, and a few rich people live there. The bad thing is most of the residents are mafiosos or corrupt government officials. Honest folks who happen to be rich don't live there. They prefer to live in moderate houses rather than live next to someone who could be mad at you for something and have you whacked.

Outside of the partying, there is one really great place to go that is between Melgar/Girardot. It is Piscilago and is fantastic. It contains a zoo, lake (for which you can take paddle-boats), several swimming pools, a huge water-slide, and lots of places to eat. This would even be considered a good park in the States. It used to actually be free, but now costs 20000 pesos, which could be high for some of the locals. I would imagine the upkeep of the place required the changes of admission. Relatives of people who work there can get in for either 8000 or 10000, can't remember which. It's definitely a place to go with a decent girl you meet in either town.

By DaveS on Jan 9, 2005, 02:50 in Friendly Talkzone.

Gomezman5 says on Jan 9, 2005, 03:29:

Colombia and her other side In a sense what you are describing is analgous to the double life, the dark side, of what you thought was the perfect love. Except when you later learn of that person's dark side, you have to ask yourself, "Should I hang in there and wait it out, or should I just move on?"

Everyone on this forum knows all too well the natural beauty that Colombia exhibit. Colombia has something for everybody. But we also know of it's sickening dark side. We love her for what we see and hate her for what we know but don't want to see but we know exists.

It is my sincere hope that the day will come, that I will be able to travel her terrain from border to border and coast to coast, without having to spend so much time asking or wondering where I can go and where I cannot.

I only hope that I can live to see that day.....

Hang in there Colombia, I will wait it out.---you will be free some day soon!

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kernow62 says on Jan 9, 2005, 05:04:

Nice post DaveS.

For those who know Colombia better than I; how does this itinerary sound?

From Bogotá to Barichara, in Santander; to Villa de Leyva, in Boyacá; to Armenia and the Eje Cafetero, in Quindío; to Melgar, in Tolima, and finally, to Paipa, again in Boyacá.

A friend in Bogotá is making this trip and suggests it is safe for tourists as well as being a nice trip. He is taking 3 weeks to do the trip.

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juanalejo says on Jan 9, 2005, 08:17:

kernow Places you are suggeting are nice, maybe not in that order as it seems you are going more than one through the same area. I would go to Paipa, Villa de Leyva and Barichara in the same tour and then to Melgar and Armenia in the same tour. Paipa and Villa de Leyva a relatively close, Barichara is further north but through the same road. Armenia is past Melgar by a few hours.

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kernow62 says on Jan 9, 2005, 08:27:

Thanks Juanalejo, I am not sure that is the order he is going, but that is how it appears in an E-mail from him.

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goosekirk says on Jan 9, 2005, 12:03:

Melgar OK, I finally went to Melgar yesterday, and I've definitely got an opinion on this one... and it's basically, I don't get it.

The drive down to Melgar is spectacular and absolutely worth doing. I wish I could have a convertible for the trip, because the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. I know this is a holiday weekend and the traffic was heavy, but one oddity about it was the incredible number of traffic cops and soldiers. I've never seen anything like it... like every fifty feet, for miles, there were young female traffic cops just standing along the road waving cars along. And then there were sections of road patrolled by soldiers, similary spaced, just standing there watching traffic.

I did see one army checkpoint, where they apparently randomly stop buses and pull everyone off to check IDs. I was on a bus once from Villa de Leyva and got stopped at one of these, and the soldiers completely ignored me. Pretty interesting. I've never noticed anyone posting about these stops before, and it's something foreigners might want to be aware of.

Anyway, Melgar itself... geez. We didn't stay overnight, and in fact left around 6:30 or so, so I can't report on the nightlife, which, aside from laying around the pool, appears to be the only reason for going. My girlfriend figured we'd roll into town and just look for a hotel, but we didn't find anything worth taking. We were offered an empty concrete room, where we could sleep on the dirty floor for only 35,000 pesos, but I'd rather just stab somebody in front of a cop and get similar accomodations for free. Although, to be fair, after partaking in Melgar's enchantments for the evening, I might not have minded a dirty concrete floor.

Again, this is just a daytime impression here, but Melgar looks like Mr. Babilla's vomited out a town. I imagine the nightlife is kind of like Mr. Babilla's, except the hookers are a little fatter. If the culture around military bases brings back good memories for you, then you'd probably have a good time here, but it made me want to flee. Badly. It's the first time in Colombia I've been anywhere that I actively disliked. It's the weather of Cartagena with exactly none of the charm, elegance, or character. Might as well be in Alabama, for crying out loud, except that the people in Melgar were cool.

Ugly, hot, dirty, phony... I'll have to go back for a weekend night just to be sure, but based on what I saw, I'm at a loss as to why anyone would actually want to be there. Especially when Villa de Leyva is almost as close, and about a million times better in every way... except, I guess, if you want to go to a big disco and pick up a hooker, in which case I have no clue why you wouldn't just stay in Bogota.

Maybe I'm being too hasty with such an uninformed review... and to be fair, I was in a bad mood and with bad company. Like DaveS says, it's the people that make it cool, and I didn't spend enough time there to really get a good feel. I know I should go back and really get the full experience, but based on one afternoon there, I can't say it's a real priority.

Actually, I'd like to hear some positive stories from Melgar - please, tell me my first impression is lacking, and that there's more to it...

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Dan says on Jan 9, 2005, 13:10:

Melgar is pretty nice during the weekend. But, during the week, it is very much dead. The weekend is the time to go. Especially for a long weekend, but watch out, hotels may be in many places but fill up quick. There are some people that have house's that may be rented out too. Not too bad since you have a nice place to stay and at times you find one with a pool too.

God Bless America!

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Miamigo says on Jan 10, 2005, 06:31:

goosekirk I gather from your post you didn't check out the CAFAM gated community there, which is where most people stay when visiting Melgar. Kualamaná is an excellent resort hotel. You can always go visit the "vomited-up" little town at night if you want.

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Gator says on Jan 10, 2005, 07:19:

These are very accurate posts... except for the usual la mierda del toro from Gomezman5. FYI most of the real parties thak place at the fincas rented by the weekenders.
As for Villa de Lleva it is just not the same atmosphere as the Melgar area. Not a real party-type town but well worth as visit. Best to have your novia with you-I can recommed, with out hesitation, a stay at the Hosteria Del Molino La Mesopotamia, a 450-year sugar mill converted to a hotel. The original mill stream still runs through the hotel's restaurant. The wife's favorite hotel.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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Greg444 says on Jan 10, 2005, 09:23:

Girardot Looks like Girardot maybe the place to go then.

An amiga of mine , from Bogota, is there now, apparently spent all last week there. She went with her amiga.

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Greg444 says on Jan 10, 2005, 09:24:

Its amazing how all these Colombians get so much time off from work and school.

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