Idiots guide to Medellin..fr one idiot helping another! :-)

This is my observation fr spending 3 1/2 weeks in Medellin for the fereia and colombia moda.. It's really tailor toward people who never visit medellin but are thinking of going. I made it condense, but if anyone has questions feel free to ask. I'm NOT an expert on MEDELLIN, i DONT live there(other posters do so that will know more).

Safety

Medellin is FAIRLY(PRETTY) SAFE for the average foreign tourist as long as he/she doesn't do anything stupid or ignore local advice. Ask locals taxi drivers, friends, hotel clerks, etc., regarding safety, ESPECIALLY some areas a night. Example, it's not recommend to walk around el centro at night, it's NOT recommend to be drunk and wander around. Basic travel precuation applies, example, when i need to take money out, i go to ATM/bank in on taxi and leave with another. I used citibank(security guard inside the bank) next to centro commercial san diego, so i would go there take money out(day or night) then walk to the casino or the mall before calling a cab. I had a money belt AND wallet(which had only 40-60K) that i would happily hand over to and thieves if asked. At night, in iffy areas i would hail a cab. I've walked around at night alot, espeically with another amigo or amiga, if i'm with a local, i just follow them.

Accomadations

You can find ALL sort of hotel/accomadation depending on your travel profile and budget. I am a mid price traveller, dont want hostal, but dont want 120k/night places either. I recommend staying near a metro station, but dont stay in certain part of town(el centro for example is crappy area and at night can be a little iffy). I prefer Estadio, Sur America, Floresta, envigado, and a few other areas. Mainly because they are close to metro station. If you are willing to use taxis more, than try laureles, belen, and many other nice areas that you can find good hotel/apartment that is economical. You can also stay near carrera 70(near estadio), has lots of hotels but can be noisy at night and earlier morning. I found at 50 to 70k a night gets you a very decent hotel(nice room, hot water, security, good area) but you wont get AC for that price. Plus if you stay a week or more, you can negociate a better rate, especially if there's no fereia or convention in town that week. If you're a serious budget traveller you can stay at several hostals in Medellin, the cost ranges from 5 - 12 USD/day, plus it's a chance to meet other travellers. I stayed at hotel that were 94k/night(with ac) to 30k/night, loud, no ac and several in between. In finally settle for 50k/night, nice, clean, hot water, no ac.. Generally you wont need ac in Medellin, but watch out for street noise, because even in nice places i would get woken up at 7am, then would fall back to sleep. It carerra 70 hotels, be prepare to be wokend up around 5AM.

Langauge

Spanish of course, hopefully you're spanish is at least have tourist spanish level or more. Otherwise, you'll miss out on many opp't to meet friends and interact with people. dont be afraid to use your bad spanish, everyone is patience with you. I recommend always carry notepad, pen, and dictionary.

Food

COL food is on average a little bland, especially compare to diverse food choices in a lg US city. You really have to watch what you eat, or else you'll end up eating lots of meat with little vegetables. by my last couple of weeks, i had to make consicious effort to search out places that had salad, becaues i was eating lots of carne, cerdo, and pollo but little salad, and it was getting indigestion. I love eating food in the street or in those little hole in the wall restaurants, but again it's all meat/pollo. I would eat empanas and pastal pollo like there was no tomorrow. I also LOVED the juices(partial to banana, mangos, and guayabana, they're great, healthy at dirt cheap. I didn't like the hot dog(perro), it's a small dog and huge bun, then they but crap on it. Hamburger(gousa) is a little better. Cost of food is dirt cheap, i get breakfast for about $5k peso, lunch for about 6-9k, and dinner for 10-20k, all prices incl drinks. If you eat on the street vendors than it can be even cheaper. Didn't get any stomach problem from bad food.

By caslug on Aug 23, 2005, 15:45 in Friendly Talkzone.

caslug says on Aug 23, 2005, 15:46:

cont.. Transportation

Again this depend on your traveller profile(got money or budget traveller). If money is not an issue then use taxi, safe & convient. If you spanish is so-so, you can use the metro very easily by yourself. I didnt use the bus because my spanish is not sufficent to go by myself. At night i usually hail a cab. I prefer to grab a cab that is waiting in front of a business rather than on the street. BTW, Cabs are fairly safe, theives dont target cabs very often.(see other story for why thievs dont target cabs). Also, Medellin is fairly small city compare to a NA city. So when a amiga tells you she lives 1 hr bus ride fr her house to your hotel, it's only a 20-30 min taxi ride and about 20km(very short distance by NA standard). I've never paid more than 8k for at taxi ride from pt a to pt b, even when i was ridding for 30 or 40 mins, because of traffic. Most rides will cost your 3 to 6k.

Touristy stuff

During the day, i recommend the following:

Plaza de Botero(el centro, metro station parque berrio), great place to start your vacation in Medellin, the city is world renown for the Botero's work. RIght next to it is the Museu de anituquea(sp), excellent place to checkout. Then you can take a short taxi ride to parque de luz(you can walk there if you know the direction), it's next to the main library(bibloteca), next you can walk across the main road to the exposition area(EPM building) where there's the museu de interactivo(it's close till nov), but there's a nice plaza area to sit and people watch. You can do all this in one day because they are very close to one another.

Botanica Garden(jardin i think), lots of flowers and such, great place to take a date(hopefully she comes alone!), very romantic place, especially the little pond area.

Zootological(zoo), if you have a amiga with little kids, this is the place to take them. They'll love it! Kinda of cool place to hang out actually, i went twice. Funny thing, Singer(the sewing maching company) is a corporate sponsor for the zoo, so they hand a sewing maching exhibit IN A ZOO! What this has to do with animals is beyond me. The company had sales people passing product flyers to zoo guest, ja,ja.. hey, anything that helps finance this place is cool with me.

Publicto paisa, cool place, esp if you arrive around 3 pm and stay till evening, wonderful view of medellin. It's basically a "old town" that has exhibits of how medellin looked 100's of years ago. Lots of tourist shops and restaurants, so it's cool place to checkout then eat dinner. good place to take an friend.

There's different places that are just outside the city, like El Penol(i didnt get a chance) and others. PLUS you can do lots of extreme sport around medellin, skydiving, paragliding, rock climbing, etc.,

Party Scene

Carerra 70(70 street), starts at the estadio metro station and goes till Unicentro. Mostly latin music bars and discotech. If you like salsa, merrengue, valleneto, etc., you'll like this area. They dont play much house, techno, hip/hop, spanish rock as much. It's cheap and lively esp on weekend nights. Lots of local, regular folks..

Obelisko(sp?) is near estadio also, but it's not for dancing it's just where you go for drink or grab a quick bite. lots of people on the weekend nights. It's good for meeting up and grabbign that first beer before heading out dancing. Lots of local, regular folks..

Parque Llarlles(sp?) is in Poblado(req taxi), GOOD EYE CANDY! Fair amount of silicon. Lots of bars and a few discotech(repblubic and blue, to name a few) you'll find more techno, trance, etc., in this area. Crowd here is more pretty but SEEM more pretensious(i could be wrong, but usually silicon = superficial)

Parque Poblado, in poblado, but i never go a chance to go partying. I did wait for taxi there at 3am and saw lots of people waiting for taxi too. I did meet a nice, cute, amiga there, so parque poblado been good to me! LOL!

Calle 33, near unicentro and Belen/laureles, you'll need a taxi to get there. Like Carerra 70, but little younger crowd, gots some really cool bar. The crowd is fairly good. Meet 2 amigas there so cant complain.

Itagui..Mangos, go once(preferable with a SPECIAL Amiga, that you want to impress), it's like any typical "cool" club you'll find in your city(assuming you live in a big city). VERY CROWDED on WEEKEND, VERY EXP(by local standard), LOTS of EYE CANDY. The music is OK, lots of house, techno, some hip/hop, but the go-go dancers are fun to watch. BUT its get old, because it's so crowded that it's becomes a chore to dance or walk to the bathroom.

Las Palmas, a road that leads up to the mountains that has lots of clubs and restaurants. I went to couple of disco there and they're fun, would defenitely do it again. It's a bout a 5k taxi ride fr san diego mall.

Universal, same street(autopisa) as Mangos, very near mangos. good joint, not expensive(10k cover incl one beer), Not as crowded so i liked it better. Your dates will be JUST as impress here as Mangos.

Sabeneta, didn't go..

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caslug says on Aug 23, 2005, 15:49:

cont.. People

People in Medellin are extremely friendly and helpful, i had many wonderful interaction with diverse group of locals i've encounter on the streets, in stores, on metro, etc.

The women are good looking, just like any COL city. Granted there seems to be more young attractive women than men in Medellin. So the numbers are in your favor. BUT that leads to a second problem, many times you invite one you get two! So if you have another guy then it's great, otherwise it's could crimp your style.

The CULTURE

Some stuff takes a while to accept and understand, like people going home early(by 11pm) fr a weeknight date to constantly having to entertain two girls by yourself(not as fun as you would think). Female tourist will NOT have this problem. OH..If you decide to ask a local out, be prepare to wait 1 hr to 2 hrs or have(small number) NOT SHOW UP. Also, you're amigas/amigos WORK on saturday(half day), so many times friday night is NOT a party for them.

LOCAL RESOURCES

There's are several poster on the board that live in Medellin, Spigmace, COlombiaborad, and paisa29 to name few. If you have question, they have answers, just ask nicely..

CONCLUSION

Medellin is a wonderful city, filled with wonderful people, i plan to return in the coming months. BUT as a party city, it's DEFINTELY NOT! I'll post all my fotos links i coming post.. Also, any of you guys that want to know about the women situation, pls PM me so not to offend anyone..

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carter says on Aug 23, 2005, 16:12:

I agree more or less thankyou very much for this post Caslug, I think sharing our experiences of the areas we visit will help those who plan to come in the future.

Im a bit unsure of the comment about Medellin not being a party city. hey its no Bogota but Ive never had a sober night without party there except for a Sunday night after 6 days of trying to kill myself

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morphus says on Aug 23, 2005, 16:20:

no Sabeneta? theres a nice church there and an outdoor market. i like it for those hole in the wall restaurants. you can get a medium sized steak meal for 3k. its a nice place to take a walk and enjoy the weather. i like sitting in the sidewalk cafes and having a beer. theres a row of bars that go for a couple of blocks. one is called "Kennedy Bar". named after JFK? its hard to believe he's still popular there after so many years.

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caslug says on Aug 23, 2005, 16:38:

when i say.. medellin is not a party city, i'm comparing it to NYC, LA, SF, Miami, Tokyo, etc, But compare to BOG or other COL city then i would say it rates higher.

I wanted to check out sabeneta, but just never got around to it. it seems far away from the other areas, by taxi. It's good know that i's a sounds like a cool place to hang. I'll check it out next time.

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spigrimace says on Aug 23, 2005, 17:26:

Indigestion and idiots Well I hope you didn´t get indigestion at my restaurant! And you are not qualified to talk for idiots because you weren´t one! Come back and visit us soon!

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tomtom33 says on Aug 23, 2005, 17:45:

Party Colombian cities I would rate Cartagena ahead of Medellin. The vacationers party every day. It seems that a good percentage of Costeños do as well. I have not detected much of a work ethic in Cartagena.

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morphus says on Aug 23, 2005, 18:03:

you can get to Sabeneta by Metro. just take the metro to Itagui which is the last stop. from there its about a 10 or 15 minute walk. you can also catch a bus right by Parque Poblado that goes straight to Sabeneta. the bus runs along Avenido Poblado every 15 minutes or so.

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caslug says on Aug 23, 2005, 18:10:

Thanks for the info.. on sabeneta I didnt realize it was that easy! i'll do it next time i'm in town.

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caslug says on Aug 23, 2005, 18:50:

all my fotos in one easy to find place.. Plus i update several of series with new fotos(parque del cafe and Colombia moda)

Cali & Pereia
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/3760&.src=ph&.tok=ph3ingDBgLU0Vysk

Riding the bus
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/707f&.src=ph&.tok=phtblgDBUd6falIq

First week Festivals and Metro Cable
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/a521&.src=ph&.tok=phFhfgDBNucpzsq1

Main Flower Parade
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/506d&.src=ph&.tok=phohfgDBQNiLoF_D

Jardin Botanic Garden(natural wonders of MEdellin)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/3cf1&.src=ph&.tok=phEifgDBN6Epjyrw

Pueblito Paisa and Santa Domingo(old town Medellin)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/b149&.src=ph&.tok=phfifgDBiJDP5xSx

Parque del Cafe
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/415d&.src=ph&.tok=ph0ifgDBS.1oapVl

Colombia Moda(girls girls girls)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/binh_hoang/album?.dir=/c503&.src=ph&.tok=phZjfgDB0JL.JtE0

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DayTripper says on Aug 24, 2005, 00:31:

Thank you. More reports on Cali, Bogota, Pereira Caslug,
Thanks for your idiot guide on Medelin. Very informative.
As a first time, new traveller to Colombia would be looking forward on more such reports on Cali, Bogota, Pereira. Anyone?

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2retirensa says on Aug 24, 2005, 05:23:

I love it! Thank you Caslug! Right at my level of understanding! Sounds like you had a great time!!
Maureen

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ithacandy says on Aug 27, 2005, 21:07:

pm caslug, great post! How do I pm you for more info about Medellin?

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caslug says on Aug 28, 2005, 09:45:

Glad you guys like my intrepid reporting.. Ithacandy, to PM you simplying login, goto my username(caslug) and click it, then you'll be given a choice of sending private message..Feel free to PM w/ any questions..

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ithacandy says on Aug 30, 2005, 18:15:

ok, done

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