REPORT!!
I took a little trip to Medellin a short while ago! I was also in Bogota not too long ago for about he same amount of time. Here's what I have to say!
Weather
People make a big deal of of the weather and how much better the weather is in one vs. the other. Here is what I feel: Both have nice weather. Taking the city of Toronto as a benchmark - if you prefer slightly cooler Spring days where you have to wear a light sweater, especially in the evening; then Bogota is for you. You can still (most days) go swimming, or wear shorts, even a t-shirt - but you'd be a little chilled. Think 15 - 25°C regularly. Medellin is regularly on the warmer side of that, 20 - 30°C most days. A sweater isn't much of necessity except sometimes at night. In Medellin you could almost always count on being able to wear t-shirt/shorts (don't wear shorts in Latin American countries if you're an adult - to the locals, it gives off the same impression as wearing a backwards baseball cap). Some days I found I was getting a little too hot - a little too sweaty even if I was sitting around doing nothing; but likewise some days I found in Bogota I was feeling the same thing (especially at night) in that I was too chilly. For me both cities have great weather - and I won't give it to one over the other - it's a tie!
Tourism
Both cities have a lot to see & do; I think Bogota has more to see and do in the city itself, while Medellin is a little more green, more parks, more laid back and less rush rush, more things on the peripherals - like little cities that require a day trip, hiking, etc... Bogota has more of a big city feel to it (it is indeed a bigger city). Medellin felt more innovative - more modern, more 'work smarter not harder'. Using the cable-car transport system as a mode of transport - Bogota has no such thing and as far as I know - no plans for it. Medellin felt better organized. Both cities have extensive cycling scenes; Bogota has better bike paths in the city, in a 'use your bike as a method of transport' type of way - but (both cities are mountainous) has less opportunity to do mountain biking. Medellin is the opposite - it has less efficient bike paths in the city - but a terrific mountain biking scene. Lol yes I'm an avid cyclist and I do both mountain and road biking. Medellin definitely felt more touristy. I had a hard time finding a local music scene in Medellin; if I wanted to see live music, what I found was mostly bands playing covers of English songs. This wasn't the case in Bogota. When I was in Bogota they had a big festival where a whole bunch of Latino bands - Colombian & otherwise - came to play. It was a free open air concert.In Bogota a number of times I would just walk by - or into - a place and there would be a band playing latino songs. I didn't get anything like that in Medellin. TRANSPORT was a huge problem in Bogota. Bogota doesn't have a real metro - they have special system of buses that acts like a metro with reserved lanes and special stops - it sucks. It's a terrible 'pretend' metro system and because there's traffic everywhere you can't visit more than 1-2 parts of the city in a day. Medellin has excellent public transport - especially the metrocable system - very efficient and innovative - in itself a tourist attraction. The metro system (it's a real metro system) is clean, safe, and efficient. All things Bogota's transport system isn't. Both cities have good museums, both have interesting architecture, both have their own unique style. In the end - both cities have a lot to do; Bogota has a more genuine feel more aimed at Colombians & Latinos, while Medellin feels more built for tourists. People loved saying the Medellin locals were more friendly & outgoing vs. those from Bogota - I didn't find this the case and in fact I maybe found it the opposite; I think sometimes that people from Medellin were a little more snooty vs those from Bogota - but it's a subjective observation. Medellin is cleaner vs. Bogota - that is objective lol. I wasn't impressed with the food in either city.
I stayed at an airbnb in both places; my hosts in Bogota were more dynamic, outgoing, and lively vs. those in Medellin - so that may have tinged my tastes.
I would live in Medellin - not in Bogota. But I would eagerly recommend Bogota for a visit - perhaps even more so than Medellin!
Safety
I found Medellin safer - but it had a huge touting problem in many of it's central locations - people asking if you wanted women, cocaine, etc... Bogota didn't have that. Yeah - I like hookers - but I didn't go to your central park for that - so stop asking me! On the other hand I found more sketchy, drug addict looking people in Bogota, panhandler types. Both cities are equally safe though if you use your common sense - take taxis late at night, don't get roaring drunk, don't flash your valuables, i.e. don't be stupid. English didn't seem to be very widely spoken - but I can't really comment since I speak fluent Spanish.
The Whores!
One of the first places I visited in Medellin was Parque Lleras. It their party district - dress fancy and see and been seen; not really my thing - but I don't mind from time to time. And it's the central park of Medellin so I wanted to give it a look. I went on Friday evening. I didn't know it but there's lots of street walkers there - as well as pimps, touts for everything from cocaine to chewing gum. The girls were gorgeous! 200 000 - 300 000COP (Colombian pesos - about 90 - 150$CDN) was the going price. I was offered a duo with two smoking hot girls for about 250$CDN. They are gorgeous - but they're still streetwalkers. I took the prettiest one who I saw and asked her how much and I heard trece (or 130 000), plus the cost of a hotel for an hour or so that's just around the corner (there's lots of them). I got into the hotel, paid the receptionist - who asked for the girls ID - and before we got into the room I repeated the price to her - and she said 'no - treinta!' - i.e. I had heard wrong (maybe). So I told her no - 'you said 13' - 'no - 30 - but you can have me for 250'. I didn't have any debit or credit cards on me and all I had was 250. So I turned around to walk out. She took it gracefully and just followed me out. To my surprise the receptionist gave me back the money I'd given him for the room (only because I didn't even get into the room). I suspect I did indeed hear her wrong - 13 is a very low price and 13 & 30 sound very similar in Spanish - just like in English. BUT it is - I would find on subsequent visits to Lleras - common practice for the girls to say one price in the park, and then say a different price once we get into the hotel. I tried 3 different girls from Lleras park, I already described the first one - the second one happened in much the same way - but this time I was sure she tried to upcharge me, and the third one stayed true to her price but the sex was mechanical and booring. So while the girls at Lleras park are really hot - I wouldn't recommend it since, in my experience, they are still street walkers with that attitude.
Their backpage scene - it's terrible. They use a website called mileroticos. I used mileroticos successfully once, and the girl was pleasant, 'visiting' from Venezuela. She was a little bigger than in her photo's - but nothing majorly misleading. She was cute & slim. She was educated, and working out of a house with several other women. I suspected trafficking - but that usually happens with uneducated women - which she wasn't. I asked if she would come out with me for a day - on an 'overnight' - and she agreed for a very cheap rate (I also promised I'd bring her to a fancy restaurant or on a little day-trip somewhere nice) - she wouldn't have agreed if she was there through coercion. She did agree and seemed eager to do so - but I never got around to it. She was only one of multiple women I contacted from the site and... mostly I wouldn't get any response, sometimes they would respond me hours later, sometimes days later. Sometimes they would call my whattsapp, sometimes they would call my cell#, sometimes they would text me back with confusing or ridiculous instructions. When they texted me back and they seemed legit I would often ask what part of the city they were in, or what metro station was closest to them - often they didn't know; in which case I suspected the lady was trafficked - in which case I wanted nothing to do with it, also possible was that she was just dumb, or that it was a set-up for a mugging/extortion.
I had an experience in Medellin where I went to a brothel, a place recommended on wikisexguide. I called the place before going, asking if they were open, if I was welcome to pay a visit. It was discreet and hidden right on the border between a nice and a sketchy neighbourhood. The brothel itself, as in the building, was actually nice - with some free drinks, good decor, quiet (instead of loud, thumping music), couches where you could sit, space to speak to the girl alone. I didn't end up going upstairs but Madam told me there were beds up there where I could take a lady of my choosing. Alcoholic drinks cost - but I don't remember the price for anything. One girl immediately came up to me and seemed very aggressive about getting my attention but I wanted to walk around and see my other prospects, in addition to the fact she wasn't very good looking, but she wouldn't leave me alone until I had to almost be impolite about it - like a stripper who won't take a hint. I began speaking with who I thought was the cutest girl there, but after a few minutes I got the impression she was young, suspiciously young. I asked her age and she said explained she was relatively new here and only 17. I think she saw my face drop somewhat - because she told me that if I was interested in younger that her friend over there was 16 - but had been here for some time now. I didn't inquire how much time that was - I politely told her sorry - but I'm not interested in women that young & left. This was in the middle of my Colombia trip and soured the experience for me. I know it's something that happens all over Colombia - and it even happens in Canada - but, obviously, I don't want to be associated with it.
I didn't use any agency while in Medellin. I think I tried - but if I did it just wasn't efficient. I tried to go to one of the hotels that is more or less known as a brothel - it's near the Hard Rock Cafe, in a residential area, near a big shopping mall and a few casino's. It's a well known hotel - brothel actually - but it pretenses as a hotel - and probably anyone one this board who visits Medellin regularly knows of it - but I'm too lazy to look it up. Anyway I tried to get in but they only let you in if you have a reservation, and you can only make a reservation via e-mail - they have no online booking, so I just kinda forgot about it - but maybe I shouldn't have - and when I was at the door - beyond the gates lol where I was speaking to the receptionist - I could see two really beautiful women. So I probably missed out.
The most fun I had was at a strip club! The girls were gorgeous - most of them. There was a little too much silicone for my taste - but many different body types nonetheless! There is a hotel right next door where you pay the exit fee, pay for the room, and have quick sex. But the strip club itself was great! The girls put on a lively show, and (as is usually my trick) I would ask the for the phone numbers so we can arrange a date outside the club. *EVERY* girl I asked gave out her number - I had tried at a similar club in Bogota very unsuccessfully - but it seems the girls at Medellin clubs have more liberty. In Bogota the girls must stay on premises, had their ID's confiscated - it felt very salve-laboury - and I didn't want to be associated. In Medellin the girls actually DANCED, there were other women present in the club (like there were a few groups who it seemed like they were a group of friends who had gone out - guy and girls mixed - normal civilian girls), the club had fort knox like security. My only complaint was they had ugly - tiny bathrooms. But it was a fun club! I finally took a girl back to the hotel room - and she was friendly and very pretty; the whole service was pretty mechanical - like she wanted to finished me off quick so she could get back to her club and bring someone else. The whole thing cost about 200 000COP (hotel, exit fee, lady's pay). Drink's a priced reasonably, and you can buy the girls a drink for a bigger price and they'll sit and flirt with you for a bit. You can also get lap dances but they are VERY expensive - to the point where it's but better to take the girl out back. It's been awhile though & I don't remember the prices exactly.
I don't travel specifically so I can engage in 'the hobby' - but sex is always fun! In that respect I had more fun in Bogota vs. Medellin. Bogota had that organized - if grimy - red light district where you could find anything. I would usually just negotiate a price to take the girl back to my place. The one time in Bogota I used an agency it was very efficient! Same thing with their 'backpage' scene. Safe sex was the norm for both places, with condoms used for blowjobs - but I didn't try to negotiate it. Medellin seemed more expensive in 'the scene' - but otherwise their prices for anything from food to lodging is comparable. I didn't meet any girl there who really did it for me sexually - I had good sex - but it was mechanical.
I'd almost have to say I don't recommend Medellin in the sense of having a good prostitution scene. Almost.
I didn't get into using facebook, nor did I use whatsapp very often to contact girls.
Maybe I was also just unlucky - and like I said - the experience at the brothel kinda soured it for me.
Any questions, comments, etc... feel free to post below or PM me!
