Colombia General
Images are sometimes not shown due to bandwidth/network limitations. Refreshing the page usually helps.
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
Hi /trv/,
One of my travel dreams is to go to Colombia, but I really do fear guerrilla, and I don't know if it is safe to get around the country by road within the main cities (Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena, etc.).
Also, hints, tips, must-see, etc. from Colombia
>>1111637
You'll be fine.
I spent about a month in Colombia, from mid-September to mid-August of 2015. I went there without any real knowledge or expectations of the country and ended up loving it. In fact, I'm very eager to see more of Latin America, a region which has never been on my travel radar.
Colombia isn't the safest place you could visit. However, the risk you run of getting kidnapped by rebels or shot dead in the streets is minuscule. The biggest threat to safety you'll face in cities like Bogota and Medellin is mugging, on top of more common and petty crimes like pickpocketing and theft.
I didn't have any problems in Colombia but met several travelers and expats who had been mugged but left unharmed.
I was blown away by the natural beauty of the Colombian landscape, from the mountains to the jungles and seaside. The culture there is very vibrant and accommodating. Even though they receive a lot of tourists to Cartagena and other coastal cities, foreigners are still rare enough that it's very easy to make friends with locals.
FYI, the rebels are concentrated in very remote areas. You can do some research, but FARC and paramilitaries shouldn't be an issue when transiting to or from any of the cities you listed. There's also a budget airline called Viva Colombia which is incredibly cheap - you can usually find flights between cities for $10-$50.
Don't worry, as long as you don't go to very far away from the tourism places. Don't do stupid things and try to hide your expensive things when you are in a very crowded place. If we talk about getting kidnapped I'm almost sure nothing will happen to you because here the people don't give a fuck if you are foreign or not, they just care about money so don't show it and that's all! PD: days ago some crazy motherfuckers killed a CIA agent, US taken them to a us court, They got their ass kicked. Since then nobody wants to bother foreign people because nobody wants to spend life in jail!
I am also planning a visit to Columbia and I have an expensive travel bicycle that I want to take. If I lock it up, will people see it and take a wrench to it and disassemble all the parts they can get? It's not obviously top of the line, but I definitely have over $1500 in this bike.
Colombian here, pic related is the map for guerrilla group influence zones.
This doesn't mean that by passing through you'll get inmediately kidnapped/killed, but beware of them, specially if your bus passes through some hot zone.
Personally, i don't like the big cities you've mentioned aside from Cartagena. Reasons?
>Bogota
Transportation is a nightmare (read up about transmilenio). Violent crime has toned down considerably, but common delinquency and robbers have grown exponentially these years, 15 to 20% of people in Bogota get robbed each year, so that's a 1/5 probability.
>Medellin
It's considerably more attractive than Bogotá, but also considerably more violent. Together with cali it has the one of the highest homicide rates in the country, there are lots of bacrim (criminal gangs) activity, lots of "barras bravas" (hooligans)
>Cali
Same reasons medellin has.
Cartagena on the other side is very beautiful indeed, i haven't ever been there so i can't give you real advice, but from what i hear it's a really great place together with Santa Marta.
>>1111637
>hints, tips, must-see, etc
You need common sense and awareness of your surroundings because this is not the safest place, try to stick with a group, don't go to empty zones with low illumination, etc.
If you go by bus be usually ready for wild rides, in small cities like the one i live (Ibagué, you can see it in OP's map) in you're good because you can sit, but in Bogota for example you'll most likely have to ride a cramped bus driven by a redneck that doesn't give a fuck.
As for the must see, there are 4 places i really love:
1. Santa Marta, la sierra nevada has a breathtaking natural scenery, the páramos are comfy as fuck, also there are precolumbian historic places like ciudad perdida if you're interested.
2. The amazonic zone: Hanging out with natives, going by launch through the amazon river, no guerrilla presence, and the possibility to visit Brazil too (From what i've heard there's some cheap prostitution going on, like people offering you their daughter's virginity for a couple of bucks, scary shit but suit yourself)
3. Boyacá: Long extensions of beautiful nature, cool and comfy climate, very friendly people, great food and hotels/hostels. Even natives love to go.
4. Caño cristales: It's by far the most unique place here if you love nature, we call it "river of the 7 colors" because it has some algae or shit that gives it many colors. It's considered the most beautiful river in the world
NARCOS
Compared to the horrible times of narcoterrorism and daddy Escobar (70s-90s) we're definitely better.
Back then it was an every day thing to see politicians being kidnapped/killed and cars filled with explosives blowing up in front of government buildings. It was the time where narcos literally waged war against the country.
Once Pablito died and the huge and powerful cartels degraded into bacrims (criminal bands) what once seemed like an undeclared civil war now is more along the lines of common delinquency and gang fights.
We still have a very long way to go, but we're definitely better.
Also about guerrilla, FARC is supposed to be under a cease fire because they're in peace dialogs with the government. Being a foreigner, if they did anything to you it could trigger an international incident and risk making it all tumble down.
Beware however of ELN, they are supposed to be in the peace talks too, but they seem to not give a fuck.
I gave you the pic before with the zones of guerrilla influence, but it's just that, influence. The real risk is in places like Putumayo, Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare, and the pacific coast as a whole, because of the extreme poverty and crime.
The places you really have to avoid because they represent real risks to your safety are the ones in this one.
>>1111830
>Biclycle
Man, i wouldn't really advice you to. For once, the only city with a comprehensive bicycle route system is Bogotá, yet, violent robberies are common.
Just a week ago or so there was this famous incident of an american model that had been living in here for around 6 months, she was riding through the cycle route and then some niggers threw her down (while she was in motion, they don't ask you politely to get down or anything) and aside from robbing her, they gave her a nice beating (she needed almost 40 stitches to her face IIRC).
$1500 is a LOT here, i think any robber would cum a little inside his pants if he had the opportunity to make such a killing in one shot.
I would say don't do it, it's not worth it and it's a big risk. I figure you'll have to make do with just busses (a ride goes for like 50 cents), taxis (a really expensive ride in bogotá might go up to $10, but usually they are about $3-4) and transmilenio (bogotá) (same as a bus, 50 cents and you can ride as much as you want as long as you don't leave the station)
Anyways i'll keep this thread in the watcher, so just ask away if you have more questions.
>>1111637
I lived there for over a year and have traveled all over the country, both touristic highlights and the most off the beaten track places you can find (I am a wildlife lover so did a lot of birdwatching in places where "normal" tourists wouldn't go). I am planning on going back there later this year to move there indefinitely. Ask me whatever you want.
>>1111838
Just going to throw out there that, when I went to Colombia and Santa Marta, the tourist consensus was that Santa Marta itself was shit. It's just a good stop-off place for Tayrona and Minca, but doesn't have much to offer in its own respect.
>>1111836
Thank you for the tips, Colombianbro.
I was thinking in doing this route for an approx. month trip. The stop in Bucaramanga is because it would be too exaustive to make Bogota-Barranquilla at once. The same from Medellin in Cartagena-Bogota. The capital is unavoidable, as I would arrive there. But let's suppose I would cut this only to Bogota-Barranquilla-Cartagena and travel by plane. Would it be worth of it or it would be expensive even if I buy the plane tickets in advance - i.e. are there low cost air companies in Colombia like Easyjet or Ryanair?
>>1111885
Oh, just realized Colombians might disagree with me. The impression I got was that Santa Marta is itself a preferred vacation spot for domestic tourists, whereas international tourists tend to not like it as a city.
Bogotà is supposedly the worlds most haunted city, particularly in the Candelaria neighborhood.
If you go to the house in the south west corner of the cross roads between carrera 4 and 10 you will see the house where supposedly a long session of satanic orgies and sacrifices were commited and culminated with summoning Satan himself
>>1111887
Forgot pic. Could this route be made by bus without guerrilla issues?
>>1111911
Not him but I know plenty of people who did that.
As I said in the first post, you can take flights with VivaColombia! if you're very worried. I think Bogota to Medellin ran me about $20 and Medellin to Cartagena was $15.
Where's the best city for the women? Is it easy to pick up Colombian women in general?
>>1111911
I did all of those legs several times without trouble.
>>1111918
Medellin, and as long as you're not completely repulsive or completely unable to talk to women; yes.
Low budget airlines include VivaColombia, Satena and Avianca. Often they are cheaper than bus.
>>1111944
Whoops that second line was supposed to be for the guy who posted the map.
>>1111918
>Where's the best city for the women?
woman are more or less the same everywhere in the world
>>1111911
Colombiabro here: Yep, you can do it safely, but the bus rides are too long for my taste (Cali-Bogotá could easily be 12 hours, so do the math with the rest of the distances)
Following that route i'd recommend you to go to Pereira and Armenia instead of doing the direct route of Medellin > Cali, it's a nice.
Pereira is famous for its nightlife and ecotourism, you can visit the Matecaña zoo, Parque temático de flora y fauna (bioparque ukumari).
Armenia has the Parque nacional del café, which is a famous touristic symbol of the whole country. Also, you would be about an hour away of the Parque de los nevados, if you felt like going.
Both of these cities are fairly smaller than the main ones, so with 1-2 days on each you'd be good to go
Another place i deem worthy of visiting is Tunja in your way from Bogotá > Bucaramanga.
In Tunja you can find the "Touristic ring of Hinojosa", there are lots of historical places related to precolumbian era and the independence, some nice architecture and the natural reserve of El Malmo.
And like >>1111944 says, depending on the time and all travelling by air can prove to be useful. A bus ride of about 20+ hours from my city to Cartagena costs $40-50, and a plane ride of 2 hours would cost $60-80.
>>1111918
Colombian women really love the gringo/foreigner cock, so if you like clubbing and stuff you'll probably have more than one interested in you. Your dick would probably implode if you dance reggaeton, because the whole dance is literally rubbing your cock repeatedly all over the ass of your partner.
Best places for picking up women according to popular opinion would be Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla.
>>1111997
Here's the website of the parque del café, you can find english and other bunch of languages in the upper right corner
http://www.parquedelcafe.co/
>>1111997
I actually usually do terribly in clubbing, I do better online and via mutual friends/etc. The last 6 months in Asia this worked out really well and I was rarely alone, but it sounds like I'll need to step it up a bit for Colombia.
>>1111641
>paramilitaries
there are no paramilitary groups in Colombia nowadays.
the rest of your post is correct.
>>1111836
that map is complete shit, guerillas don't even control 5% of the colored area.
>The real risk is in places like Putumayo, Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare, and the pacific coast as a whole
not really, clearly you have never been to these areas. I worked in Putumayo, Villagarzón, and it's normal, you are told to avoid certain areas but that's it. I visited several surrounding areas without any problem.
this map >>1111839 is also misleading, these are the municipalities on which ELN has presence, but they are'nt all over the area of these municipalities, just in certain areas, far away from the populated centers.
>>1111830
1500? it looks much cheaper honestly.
road bikes are fairly common here, this is the most cycling-loving country of the Americas, but, of course, you will need a place to keep it, you just can't leave in a street parking lot, at some point someone will try to take it away with him.
>>1112120
Yeah, it's an s&s coupled frame, most of the expense was in the frame and the bamboo fenders.
It sounds like I'll just have to buy a bicycle out there and then sell/dump it before returning. How much is a touring/road bike and what's the best way to obtain one?
>>1112119
It's a fact that those zones are considerably more dangerous than the rest of the country.
>>1112288
Lol, no shit there's more homicides in those areas, that's where the people are.
>>1112649
Jesus christ dude, that's the homicide RATE. Not the plain number of homicides.
And even if that weren't the case you're very wrong about our population density
I'll bump this thread as I'm going to Colombia later this year.
Hey! Going to Colombia in June. Is parting in Medellin okay during the week? If it's not to popular during the week, I may just head there earlier than expected.
>>1116396
I don't really get your question.
If you are asking if June is a good time to go to medellín then yeah, medellin is good at any time because it has a stable climate through all the year, and most events and stuff are available all year long.
The special occasions to go would be august (feria de las flores) and december (because of the christmas lights and decorations).
>>1116400
Sorry, you're right - I didn't word it very clearly. So, I live in Los Angeles right now - and if I wanted to go and party at a nightclub, M-W would be kind of shitty days to do so. More quiet, less people out. I'm trying to figure out of Medellin is like this as well, because I'd like to definitely go out when I am there. Does that make more sense? Haha
>>1116639
Oh, i get it now.
I say you have good chances to find parties on weekdays because during that time university and school students are in holidays.
Also, from around 15th of june until the feria de las flores in august it's one of the times of the year with the most tourism, so it would be easier to find people both from colombia and other countries looking to have a good time too.
