Medellin and Bogota Colombia Bodyguard
Jan 25, 2022, 4:31 am
#16
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: QF, LM
Posts: 250
Buster, I am assuming this was the trip: Is this a vacation? 17 flights in 2 weeks and 10 hotels (AA F/J, AC J/Y, CM J, LA PY)
Around post 27 or so he gets mugged in a minor way in Medellin.
Around post 27 or so he gets mugged in a minor way in Medellin.
Jan 25, 2022, 4:38 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: QF, LM
Posts: 250
I just skimmed through your trip report which I just found, which I very much enjoyed due to the detailed photos and commentary you shared
But....
You obviously enjoy life in the best restaurants, flashest clubs, etc. If you are going to do that in Colombia then even in the city you need the security that you appear to have only sought for countryside expeditions.
Jan 25, 2022, 5:45 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 122
Wow! I remember reading both these posts -- the bodyguard request and the mugging -- but I never linked the two.
I hate victim-blaming, because you can do everything "right" and still get mugged in Colombia (or any place, for that matter). But this is definitely a place where being discrete is a good idea.
I hate victim-blaming, because you can do everything "right" and still get mugged in Colombia (or any place, for that matter). But this is definitely a place where being discrete is a good idea.
Jan 26, 2022, 5:12 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: QF, LM
Posts: 250
Wow! I remember reading both these posts -- the bodyguard request and the mugging -- but I never linked the two.
I hate victim-blaming, because you can do everything "right" and still get mugged in Colombia (or any place, for that matter). But this is definitely a place where being discrete is a good idea.
I hate victim-blaming, because you can do everything "right" and still get mugged in Colombia (or any place, for that matter). But this is definitely a place where being discrete is a good idea.
Colombia is a beautiful place, but dangerous. I very much get and agree with those that speak well of it, but I am also in agreement with those that say that it is "still" a place that is un-safe. I personally want it to blossom as a country, as a destination. And thus I hate when people speak about "Columbia" and the need for armoured cars.
In my humble opinion, having travelled much of the world, there is perhaps no scenery as beautiful as the mountains of Colombia where coffee is grown amongst plantains and rainfall and happy people. These people are truly unique, beautiful. But they are still, and perhaps forever will be, adjusting or recovering from very bad times. The scenes are like the Garden of Eden. Almost too perfect. But they still have an undercurrent of bad things.
I am not flaming the OP here - they had their agenda and enjoyed. But Colombia is still a place where there are many poor people, some of whom will always no doubt seek redress in finding a rich visiting gringo, and by doing so, improve their hard lives.
As security improves, as without doubt it has, it becomes safer to gently visit. But if you wish to portray huge wealth, which can be portrayed even unwillingly by as simple as walking out of the top restaurants, then you are also making a target for yourself. A foreigner walking towards an expensive hotel late at night.. any scum will know what they have there...
I am six feet seven and as white as any human has been made. In Colombia I scream "yankee" or "DEA" by my form. But when I go out to a nightclub or restaurant I inhabit small places, no michellin-star restaurants. I have enjoyed many many a night out in Medellin getting plastered. I stick to the small and non-spectacular haunts. And thus, in a decade, no problems.
Yes, I have been robbed and worse there, but only in the countryside, where anyone is equally liable to such. That reality is different. Locals suffer the same.
Colombia is a great place to visit. But actually own the idea of being beneath the radar. Don't do the sexy most expensive bars and restaurants. That brings fleas...
Jan 26, 2022, 5:23 am
#20
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 122
ewoo, you are very correct in that you can do everything "right" but still get mugged.
Colombia is a beautiful place, but dangerous. I very much get and agree with those that speak well of it, but I am also in agreement with those that say that it is "still" a place that is un-safe. I personally want it to blossom as a country, as a destination. And thus I hate when people speak about "Columbia" and the need for armoured cars.
In my humble opinion, having travelled much of the world, there is perhaps no scenery as beautiful as the mountains of Colombia where coffee is grown amongst plantains and rainfall and happy people. These people are truly unique, beautiful. But they are still, and perhaps forever will be, adjusting or recovering from very bad times. The scenes are like the Garden of Eden. Almost too perfect. But they still have an undercurrent of bad things.
I am not flaming the OP here - they had their agenda and enjoyed. But Colombia is still a place where there are many poor people, some of whom will always no doubt seek redress in finding a rich visiting gringo, and by doing so, improve their hard lives.
As security improves, as without doubt it has, it becomes safer to gently visit. But if you wish to portray huge wealth, which can be portrayed even unwillingly by as simple as walking out of the top restaurants, then you are also making a target for yourself. A foreigner walking towards an expensive hotel late at night.. any scum will know what they have there...
I am six feet seven and as white as any human has been made. In Colombia I scream "yankee" or "DEA" by my form. But when I go out to a nightclub or restaurant I inhabit small places, no michellin-star restaurants. I have enjoyed many many a night out in Medellin getting plastered. I stick to the small and non-spectacular haunts. And thus, in a decade, no problems.
Yes, I have been robbed and worse there, but only in the countryside, where anyone is equally liable to such. That reality is different. Locals suffer the same.
Colombia is a great place to visit. But actually own the idea of being beneath the radar. Don't do the sexy most expensive bars and restaurants. That brings fleas...
Colombia is a beautiful place, but dangerous. I very much get and agree with those that speak well of it, but I am also in agreement with those that say that it is "still" a place that is un-safe. I personally want it to blossom as a country, as a destination. And thus I hate when people speak about "Columbia" and the need for armoured cars.
In my humble opinion, having travelled much of the world, there is perhaps no scenery as beautiful as the mountains of Colombia where coffee is grown amongst plantains and rainfall and happy people. These people are truly unique, beautiful. But they are still, and perhaps forever will be, adjusting or recovering from very bad times. The scenes are like the Garden of Eden. Almost too perfect. But they still have an undercurrent of bad things.
I am not flaming the OP here - they had their agenda and enjoyed. But Colombia is still a place where there are many poor people, some of whom will always no doubt seek redress in finding a rich visiting gringo, and by doing so, improve their hard lives.
As security improves, as without doubt it has, it becomes safer to gently visit. But if you wish to portray huge wealth, which can be portrayed even unwillingly by as simple as walking out of the top restaurants, then you are also making a target for yourself. A foreigner walking towards an expensive hotel late at night.. any scum will know what they have there...
I am six feet seven and as white as any human has been made. In Colombia I scream "yankee" or "DEA" by my form. But when I go out to a nightclub or restaurant I inhabit small places, no michellin-star restaurants. I have enjoyed many many a night out in Medellin getting plastered. I stick to the small and non-spectacular haunts. And thus, in a decade, no problems.
Yes, I have been robbed and worse there, but only in the countryside, where anyone is equally liable to such. That reality is different. Locals suffer the same.
Colombia is a great place to visit. But actually own the idea of being beneath the radar. Don't do the sexy most expensive bars and restaurants. That brings fleas...
Jan 26, 2022, 5:32 am
#21
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: QF, LM
Posts: 250
A flash nightclub or restaurant in an otherwise complicated city breaks these rules