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Medellin Report - October 2005

The City of Eternal Rain

It rained everyday. The mornings were nice and sunny but every afternoon around 2pm, it rained heavy.. it rained again each night I was there. The only good thing about it was it was predictable. I bought 2 umbrellas and a rain jacket..

Accomodations

I think Poblado is the best part of Medellin for tourists to stay. I stayed in Laureles a couple of days but did’nt like it.. The staff in the hotels on La 70 don’t seem to be too friendly and are’nt used to dealing with tourists. I did’nt even get a “buenas dias” in the morning. I received a lot of dirty looks from people too. People in the street were annoying. There were a lot of bums and drunks walking around at night asking for money. The bars were too loud. They are only good if you want to sit somewhere and go deaf. I got the hell out of there and went to Poblado where people are more friendly.

Poblado

Poblado is nice and colorful. The atmosphere is pleasant. When people say that Medellin is a beautiful city, they are really talking about Poblado. The rest of Medellin is dreary . Centro is disgusting with bums sleeping in the streets everywhere.

Shopping

Shopping is a nightmare in Medellin. Sales associates in the stores are very aggressive. Its impossible to browse and look for an item you like without being annoyed. The sales person follows you around and breaks your concentration. These poor salesmanship tactics caused them to lose my business. They were so annoying that I had to walk out of the stores. They will do anything to make a sale. The lowest thing I saw was when I was trying on boots at one store. The boots were too small. They kept bringing the same boot out but marked as a bigger size. The guy would write a bigger size on a sticker and paste it to the same boot in hopes that I would buy it. The boot was a size 42. he kept going until size 47 with the same boot. They must think gringos are retarded.

Food

American food chains like Mcdonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Subway were helpful. I like chicken, rice and beans with avocado but its nice to be able to get a nice burger at Mcdonalds. I was glad to see a Subway at Olviedo mall in Poblado. The sandwiches are almost as good as the subway’s in the United States. The best Pizza is at the restaurants in Parque Lleras.

Parque Lleras

The most friendly people I met in Medellin were at Parque Lleras and Parque Poblado. It’s a pleasant place to hang out and mingle with people. In a way, Parque Lleras reminds me of South Beach, Miami by Ocean drive the way the cars cruise around. I even saw a Hummer circling around Parque Lleras. People did’nt seem too impressed. Even here in New York where there are thousands of hummers, people still point and go “woooo”.

Juanes Concert

I went to the Juanes concert. It was free but they were’nt serving alcohol inside. I started to panic but quickly found a lady selling beer. I bought 6 Pilsons from her. Then I found a guy selling 2 bottles of arguerdiente. I shared it with a few people around me. They were very happy. The music was good but very difficult to see the stage. Getting food was also difficult. It took me an hour to get a slice pf pizza. The rain was very heavy and ruined the concert. There were a lot of pretty young girls at the concert. I had a date but next time there is a big concert, I’m going solo to hit on the young sweet girls.

Excursions

I took trips to a few lovely towns outside of Medellin. La Ceja, Santa Fe and Guatape are very nice to visit.

Colombian Women

I once said Colombian women are no big deal. I take it back. The women are hot as hell. I found myself falling in love over and over. Girls in the street wear sexy clothing and make me very excited. They are the main incentive of my trips there.

By morphus on Nov 1, 2005, 21:13 in Friendly Talkzone.

Hunter says on Nov 2, 2005, 03:29:

Morphus A cleaner trip report, that shouldn't get deleted.

Hunter

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Goodison says on Nov 2, 2005, 04:19:

"its nice to be able to get a NICE BURGER at McDONALDS"....

....a contradiction in terms surely!!

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turbo_scroll says on Nov 2, 2005, 05:51:

CITY OF ETERNAL SPRING WELL MORPHUS SEEMS YOU HAD GOOD TRIP GLAD YOU EXPERIENCED THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF MEDELLIN UNFORTUNATE YOU WENT IN THE RAINY SEASON BUT I CAN TELL YOU YOU IN SUMER THERE IS BEAUTIFUL I RECOMMEND NERXT TIME CHECKING OUT LONELY PLANET WEB SITE AND ALSO THER CONQUSITADORE HOTEL AND APARTA HOTEL EL PALO BOTH PLACES HAVE FRIENDLY PEOPLE WHO SPEAK ENGLISH AND ARE VERY HELPFUL AND ACCOMMODATING. NICE TIME YOU WOULD BE BETTER TO CONTACT FRIENDS THERE THEY WILL LOOK AFTER YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU NOT GET HASSLE LIKE YOU EXPERIENCED IN MOST OF SHOP AND WITH THE UNFORTUANTE SOULS THAT HAVE NOTHING BUT THE CLOTHES THEY WEAR WHEN I LEFT COLOMBIA TO RETURN TO UK I HAVE MISSED IT EVERY SINCE.

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morphus says on Nov 2, 2005, 07:57:

Hunter, i don't know why the Bogota report got deleted. i did'nt think it was too dirty. whats wrong with getting drunk and looking for girls on vacation?

Goodison, i'm a little sarcastic but i think the meat they use at the Mcdonalds in Medellin is better than the meat they use in the U.S.

turbo_scroll, i already know a lot of people in Medellin. it does'nt matter if they speak English or Spanish. my Spanish is pretty good.

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DayTripper says on Nov 2, 2005, 12:15:

Nice report Morphus,
Nice report on Medelin.
Too bad your report on Bogota was delete.
DT

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