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Is this true?

BARRANQUILLA COLOMBIA WAS NOT MY CUP OF TEA, OR COFFEE OR EVEN A TEPID DIET COKE. I AM 54 YEARS OLD AND DO NOT NEED TO TOLERATE THIS STUFF.

THIS INDUSTRIAL CITY IS HUGE, DIRTY AND FULL OF BEGGARS. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. PLUS, IT IS VERY HOT AND HUMID. AND THERE IS LOTS OF THEFT OF OPPORTUNITY. HOLD ONTO EVERYTHING. I SPENT ALMOST TWO WEEKS BUMPING AROUND AND WENT TO CARTAGENA AND SANTA MARTA - BOTH ALSO HOT, HUMID AND LOTS OF SQUALOR OUTSIDE THE TOURISTY PLACES. AND TO BE HONEST, I DID NOT FEEL AT ALL COMFORTABLE OR SAFE. FOR EXAMPLE TWO ITALIAN TOURISTS WERE MURDERED BY ROBBERS IN CARTAGENA RECENTLY.

I MEAN I SAW SOME RATS AS BIG AS DOGS IN THE STREETS. THERE WAS LOTS OF TRASH. MY HOTEL ROOM HAD COCKROACHES IN IT. THE TAXIS TRIED TO RIP ME OFF. THE FOOD CHOICES WERE LIMITED. I GOT AN INTESTINAL BUG. THE COST WAS HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED. I WAS DISAPPOINTED.

EVEN MORE DISAPPOINTING TO ME WAS THE FACT THAT THE WOMEN, SUPPOSEDLY COLOMBIA'S FINEST, WERE NOT ALL THAT GREAT. I SAW A FEW SPECCY LATINAS, BUT ON BALANCE THE GIRLS WERE SHORT, SQUAT, HEAVY AND TOO DARK FOR MY TASTES. THEY DID NOT SEEM TOO FRIENDLY EITHER.

ONE GUY I MET HANGING OUT IN A CLUB WAS FROM GERMANY AND HE TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE MUCH BETTER AREAS IN THE INTERIOR OF COLOMBIA, PARTICULARLY MEDELLIN AND MANIZALES. I HAD NEVER EVEN HEARD OF MANIZALES AND MEDELLIN HAS A SINSTER DARK FAME. BUT I HOPPED A PLANE UP TO MANIZALES THROUGH BOGOTA. HEY, AM I GLAD I DID, BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL, NO BEGGARS TO SPEAK OF. AND SECOND, THE VARIETY OF LOVELY WOMEN WAS GREAT AND I ENDED UP HAVING A NICE TIME THERE WITH A FEW LOVELY LADIES WHO I FOUND THROUGH A LOCAL MANIZALES DATING AND MARRIAGE AGENCY. I STAYED IN A GREAT APARTMENT (APARTHOTEL) CLOSE TO EVERYTHING AND NEVER LOOKED OVER MY SHOULDER . I WALKED AROUND DAY AND NIGHT, I ALWAYS FELT SAFE.

MY NEXT TRIP TO COLOMBIA WILL BE PURE MANIZALES, MAYBE A SIDE TRIP TO MEDELLIN. BETTER CLIMATE, PRETTIER WOMEN, SAFER AND CLEANER BY FAR. WHY WALLOW IN A PIG STY WHEN YOU CAN BASK IN A LAZYBOY
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Am I going to the wrong place? Is BAQ really that dangerous and run down? It acutally has beggars? Should I cancel my trip there and go to Manizales instead? Which has the better women? Help fron Texas.

By wolfttz on Jun 3, 2008, 03:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

morphus says on Jun 3, 2008, 04:13:

Yes, there are beggars everywhere in Colombia. I vote you stay home.

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huskie says on Jun 3, 2008, 05:21:

Bu all means, go to Manizalez or Medellin, the coast is not that nice, maybe Santa Marta but surely not Barranquilla
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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jaramillo says on Jun 3, 2008, 05:24:

My feelings exactly, wolftz. I could not have described Bquilla more accurately, and that is why I went once and got out asap. Except for the time I had to stop at the airport with my wife. I have nice memories of the open fetid open air latrines (don't call them bathrooms).

As a paisa I love Manizales (it is as Antioqueño as Medellin).

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larryrn says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:01:

Dude, Colombia is a country - just like the US. There is good and bad everywhere. I can take you to places in Miami where people are begging in the street too.

As with anything in life you have to accept things as a whole. I run into people begging when I go into the small towns, or yesterday i ran into people begging in Santa Domingo here in Medellin (yes, here in Medellin).

Larry

--- Larry Snyder - http://www.rn.org - Your Source for Online Nursing Education!

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Titofijo says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:04:

What a whiner. Did you expect young hot girls to be falling over your old 54 body . Pull your head in! You gotta love these old guys that come down here expecting it. Thats why there are prostitutes here -- just waiting to love you old geezers. Pay up suckers

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morphus says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:09:

Marriage agencies? Girls? It seems like these guys all have the same agenda.

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el flaco says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:15:

A curse on all users of the caps lock button.

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jinksmiester says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:17:

Ive been to all those places you talk about including the ones you don,t like such as barranquilla..santa marta..etc and met beautiful ladys in all of them and had a great time.
Of course to be sure i did encounter on occation people begging for money (everywhere).as larryn says good and bad everywhere.I enjoyed cartagena,s sights/tours and history and had blast at barranquilla,s carnaval and santa marta has a great beach.Did you just go to colombia to chase woman or did you go to exsperience colombia as a whole and take it in.

A man is not old until regret takes the place of dreams

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bickerss says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:25:

He obviously did not go to Discoteca Seven or Frogleggs if he didnt see hot women!!!!!!

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jaramillo says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:28:

Don't ask elmo to comment on the delights of bquilla. We know his line, LOL. He thinks all barranquileras are sexy. The problem is he also thinks a green eyed burrita is sexy too.

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morphus says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:32:

Anyway, its better to deal with the beggars. If you go to Medellin theres a good chance you might get roofied or have a gun put to your head.

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morphus says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:35:

Carrying a gun in Colombia is like carrying a pocket knife in the US.

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webmanco says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:42:

Elmo and robi66 would only get mad if people start badmounthing burras. :-)

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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nine inch nails says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:51:

What up with the 2 Italians being murdahed??

get down, get down. are you afraid of the boogie monster?

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:56:

"Dude, Colombia is a country - just like the US. There is good and bad everywhere. I can take you to places in Miami where people are begging in the street too.
As with anything in life you have to accept things as a whole. I run into people begging when I go into the small towns, or yesterday i ran into people begging in Santa Domingo here in Medellin (yes, here in Medellin)."

I agree with Larryrn 1000%.
In Medellin and even in Bogota there are also places that are very ugly and filthy.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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webmanco says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:58:

wolfttz, yes you are going to the wrong place, get a ticket to WonderLand, and send me a postcard.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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morphus says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:00:

Paridise Island in the Bahamas is nice:

7878iuuip

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Timba says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:15:

If you had looked at a map, Barranquilla is on the Carribean coast, which means it is hot and humid all the time.

I have not been in BAQ, but have heard that it was a dirty industrial town, though everytime I am in Miami airport, all the hot Colombianas are flying to BAQ

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darkangel305 says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:22:

Nice pic !!!!!!
wish i was there

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nueva york bombero says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:26:

BAQ is the cheapest place to fly to on the coast
Except for flying Spirit to Cartagena.... Good luck with that!

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:31:

Pretty Houses in Barranquilla

Here's the other side of Barranquilla. ;>)

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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nueva york bombero says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:35:

What's the cost ($US) on average for a house in this part of town?

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:37:

Gastronomía Barranquillera

Here's the other side of Barranquilla

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:41:

"What's the cost ($US) on average for a house in this part of town?"
Nueva york bombero, that's a question for a 'Barranquillero' because I do not know.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:44:

En Barranquilla me Quedo. Joe Arroyo

Now I leave this post with a high note!

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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nueva york bombero says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:44:

How much for one of those plates of food?
Damn! I'm hungry now......thanks

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Saltador says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:47:

It looks like what happened here is that wolfttz cut and pasted a report from the archives and is wondering how accurate it is. The two italians being murdered in cartagena is old news, that was a couple years ago now and is the only "tourists being murdered story" we have heard in relation to cartagena. Granted, two people losing their lives is two too many, but in relation to the number of tourists in cartagena over the last 5 years it is minimal.
I hate to rip on the original writer, but he had a false image of colombia to start with. And I would say the only reason he had better luck with the ladies in manizales is because he went to a marriage agency where it's like shooting fish in a barrell.
Don't come to colombia if you can't tolerate cockroaches, rats, and beggars. And don't come to the coast of colombia if hot and humid weather upsets you.
Paradise Island is much nicer, I've been there. Of course, it costs 10 times as much, there is no nightlife, and your chance of hooking up with a beautiful woman are ZERO. But, you gotta have priorities in life....

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Monpirri says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:54:

Photobucket
And lots of pretty girls in Barranquilla.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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curramberochris says on Jun 3, 2008, 08:17:

Well I have said this many times on this site......The big BQ isn´t to everyone´s liking. Compared to other places in Colombia it is a bit of a dump but I enjoy living here.It is after all just a big pueblo.
You have to get used to people trying to shit on you any opportunity you give them but that is the same in all of Colombia.

It is hot and humid and dirty but it is improving. Due to all of the above, there aren´t many foreigners which suits me just fine. I can´t do more than a weekend in Cartagena!

I really love the people too, some of them are assholes but in general they are friendly and up for anything.

Find the´place that best suits you.................

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ietk says on Jun 3, 2008, 10:20:

A house in that part of Barranquilla will be around 500.000 to 700.000 dollars the average size of one of those houses is about 8000 square feet, for more info on prices check here
http://www.casarriendos.com/index_eng.cfm?idioma=eng

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sloopskipper says on Jun 3, 2008, 12:34:

Am I going to the wrong place? Is BAQ really that dangerous and run down? It acutally has beggars? Should I cancel my trip there and go to Manizales instead? Which has the better women? Help fron Texas.

By wolfttz on Jun 3, 2008, 03:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

Where did you get that rubbish? I can't find it here on PBH.

I was preparing a scathing response until I realized that you did not write the piece with the broken caps lock key.

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sloopskipper says on Jun 3, 2008, 12:39:

Saltador says on Jun 3, 2008, 07:47: flag

"It looks like what happened here is that wolfttz cut and pasted a report from the archives and is wondering how accurate it is. The two italians being murdered in cartagena is old news, that was a couple years ago now and is the only "tourists being murdered story" we have heard in relation to cartagena. Granted, two people losing their lives is two too many, but in relation to the number of tourists in cartagena over the last 5 years it is minimal.
I hate to rip on the original writer, but he had a false image of colombia to start with. And I would say the only reason he had better luck with the ladies in manizales is because he went to a marriage agency where it's like shooting fish in a barrell.
Don't come to colombia if you can't tolerate cockroaches, rats, and beggars. And don't come to the coast of colombia if hot and humid weather upsets you.
...."

You probably wouldn't go to Texas, either, or a lot of other places. ;o)

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micoface says on Jun 3, 2008, 15:16:

My opinions on the post...

Going to a whole other country purely for the women = desperate
Going to a carribean coastal city and expecting something other than hot and humid = ignorant
Using ALL CAPS in an entire post = irritating

My personal experience...
Barranquilla kinda reminded me a little of the Washington DC area where I live.
The climate was very similar to summer in DC, very hot and very humid.

Yes there are beggars everywhere, although none bothered me, probably because there are more in DC and I have become invisible to their "vagabond spidey senses".

Yes, some areas are cleaner than others, but name one city where that doesn't apply.
There are some absolutely beautiful areas in BQ also, and very cheap in comparison to the US.

The majority of the women do have dark complexions, but some of us like that "healthy look".
Speaking of healthy, yes, the women have "shape", some of us like that also.
The people are WAY nicer than in DC and I never felt in danger at all.

The food is delicious!

They love music and love to dance...

'Quilla was in my blood after my first day there.
Feels like home to me, but I can understand how it's not for everybody.
Maybe you should research your destination before traveling and ask yourself if your intentions for your visit are justifiable...

Just my 2 cents.

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lampltr says on Jun 3, 2008, 15:35:

I too was thinking of Elmo immediately (When I began to read this article...hoping he would get word about this posting jeje, guess most of us are on the right track.

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pedro says on Jun 3, 2008, 17:59:

Article came from here: http://www.expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1827

Yes, it's pretty much true. Not sure where the guy stayed in Baq. If he stayed in Centro, I can understand it. Centro is a freaking dump. The north zone is a little better but many parts are still a bit ghetto.

Having said that, I doubt this guy will ever have a great time in Colombia, given the attitude of that post.

que nota!

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sloopskipper says on Jun 4, 2008, 05:34:

It seems that the original poster of that article is not too bright, and a bit pitiful if he has to travel a couple thousand miles to find a woman.

I wonder what those women he found so unattractive thought of him? Maybe part of his complaints. He also complained about areas outside the tourist areas. Wonder what he was seeking there?

But he said that he rather bask in a Lazy-Boy, so what more can be said.

I know a couple people in Barranquilla and I'm planning to spend a day there, on the way to Santa Marta:

http://www.hotelmajesticcolombia.com/default.htm

Doesn't quite look like the slum he referred to ;o)

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strata2woman says on Jun 4, 2008, 14:21:

Oh Barranquilla! I agree with curramberochris, Barranquilla is not for everyone. If anyone is coming to quilla thinking that we are a tourist paradise, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. You should just pass us by. We barranquilleros, like it this way. Stop at Cortissoz if you must, but please keep going to other places in Colombia..

- "con sombrero vueltiao y abarcas de tres puntá"

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Lisa Zee says on Jun 4, 2008, 14:38:

How hot are you WOLF? let`s see your picture?.

Monpi: you are showing your true colors!. LOL. ( te estas desmascarando)

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wolfttz says on Jun 4, 2008, 15:33:

I am so hot Ms Zee that I don't have to post a picture of myself. HA HA!

wolfttz

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lampltr says on Jun 4, 2008, 18:17:

Hey Sloop, that hotel is just too nice for you...there should be a better suited one in a Strat 1 barrio somewhere there in the city, I will ask Elmo for you jeje

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sloopskipper says on Jun 5, 2008, 07:52:

Actually is is a bit she-she for me, appears maybe just a little too elegant. LOL

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