[Loving the Boys at BANTAI SPA MEN]

Indeed a handsome bunch of guys!

Any idea what the T/B stands for? I would think 'Top / Bottom', but at the other hand, all of them are 'chaay the', real men. Always confusing. 

[Medellín Gay Sauna - 2023 Report]

I am always interested in an update on gay life in Medellin, although I don't normally visit saunas

[Cartagena or Medellín]

In my (limited) experience, the offerings in Cartagena were not to my liking or exorbitant prices were requested.

Another option, if you want to stay in Cartagena, is to import the guys from Barranquilla.
It's only a few hours by bus and the guys from Barranquilla love to visit Cartagena.

One webcam model from B came by for a day & night for a tip of 250 kCOP + 50 kCOP (bus fare). It was worth every peso.
I found several handsome guys on grindr in B who were more than willing to spend some time with me in Cartagena for free. After a few video calls, I selected a cute guy to spend the next few days with me.

I used bluestacks to spoof my location (for the apps) and I prepaid both guys the bus fare (round trip). They both had nequi (a mobile payment solution). You just need to go to a bancolombia corresponsal where you can send cash to their mobile phone number.
I would normally never pay upfront but in this case I can understand these guys wanting to make sure they can get back to their place if I would not show up. In the worst case, I lose 50 kCOP and that didn't happen.

[Love motels Colombia]

regarding the love motels in Avenida Colombia: I was refused access to plenty of them (collins, eva, ..), because they don't have a 'lcense for foreigners', whatever that means. Eventually ended up in 3D suite motel, pricey at 95k COP, but great looking rooms with jacuzzi and hassle free.  

The only other motel I ever used for short time is hotel roma, very LGBT friendly, rooms are simple and a bit noisy at 60kCOP, in centro. 

There's also a cluster of motels on av 33 in Laureles, but didn't try any of them. 

[Cartagena Gay Bars - February 2022]

I certainly agree with macdaddi, at least about the industry, purple & city club. I didn't visit the other clubs yet.

Since this topic is about Cartagena, the city club was thriving on my last visit last year. The airconditioning was in arctic mode. You better dance or freeze to death.  Drug use & sales had moved to the balcony that doubles as the smoking area. A lot of working boys and the 'hiso' of gay Cartagena.  I don't remember the drinking prices, but it was expensive, like everything in Cartagena. 

[ATM's and money exchange in Colombia]

Money: there are plenty of ATMs at the airport. Pick an ATM of BBVA or davidienda bank, they don't charge any fees. Do not accept the money exchange rate, it's always a lot worse than what your bank will charge you.  I would just take some cash with you as backup, but not exchange anything in advance.

Sim card: you can buy a sim card at the airport. In the arrival hall, take the escalators to the 2nd floor. There's a small shop on the corner that sells phone covers and accessories. The provider claro has the best coverage. My claro sim card with 10gb data for 2 weeks was 45k COP. 

Last time, a taxi driver from the airport tried to scam me and asked for 100kCOP for a short ride to Chapinero.  Bogota taxis don't show you the price of the ride, just a number of 'units' and you are supposed to calculate the price yourself.  You can install an app called 'Calculadora de Tarifas' to calculate the cost based on those units (or always use apps like cabilfy / indriver / didi / uber / ..) 

[ATM's and money exchange in Colombia]

@speedoo1 You are right. BBVA waved the fee again. (300k COP max, 900k COP max / day). I also used davidienda (2 million max, but didn't work with my visa debit card) and servibanca (18k fee, 1 or 2 million max, depending on the ATM).

On a side note, Medellin was amazing. Three days of free concerts (altavoz festival 2022 on the parque norte grounds), a great party in industry club and a bunch of gorgeous chicos from the webcam sites and grindr.
Sex, drugs & rock 'n roll. 

 

[ATM's and money exchange in Colombia]

Hi @speedoo1 

That was correct until May this year.. Now BBVA also charges a fee and with their 300k maximum it became the worst ATM..

[ATM's and money exchange in Colombia]

Davidienda is the only bank with ATM's in almost all commercial centers that does not charge a transaction fee.
All other banks, except a few 'rare' banks like pichincha & colpatria) request fees and they can add up. Of course, never accept the conversation rate. 

I only once exchanged cash in Colombia (USD & EUR) in Avenida Chile Shopping Center in Chapinero.  They gave an excellent exchange rate (almost the same as mentioned on google) and never asked for my passport or to fill in any forms.  There are multiple exchange offices in that shopping center.

[HOT BOYS]

Yes, I met many 'models' as they like to call themselves on my trips to Colombia.

It takes a bit of effort, but it's certainly possible, although not all models do 'presenciales' as @Boy69 already mentioned. 

A couple more tips:

• Don't go for the 'first page' models, unless you are prepared to pay a lot. They earn more in a couple hours on the sites than they would earn by meeting you. 
• Visit also the lesser known sites like stripchat, bongacams, strreamate, cam4,.. as a general rule of thumb, the less popular their page, the more interested they will be in meeting you for a reasonable price.
• Try to find out their real location first. They are often in another city than what is mentioned in their profile. 
• You will need their whatsapp. Some of the guys will give it for free, some will ask tokens. Only spend tokens if you think that he would be prepared to meet you.
• Moderators of groups of guys can be a blessing or a curse. Some are willing to act as the pimp of their goup and other guys of the studio, others will just try to get more tokens from you and fence off any direct contact with the guys.
• It helps a lot if you can speak and understand basic spanish. 
• If possible, send them a picture that proves that you are in that city (or at least have visited that city in the past). I keep selfies with the "I ❤️ name-of-the-city" boards that you find in every Colombian city for that purpose. 
• Take the indirect approach. Go to the local gay disco and try to get their whatsapp over there. While maybe 15% of the guys in industry club (Medellin) work on webcam, I would guess that around 80% of the guys in pandora (Cucuta) are webcam models.
•  Do always check their ID. Do not assume they are 18+ because they work on those sites. Some are not.

 

[Short term accommodations]

I rented an Ashton-Chula condo in 2018 through airbnb.

Although I enjoyed my stay and had no problems (with joiners or otherwise), there were posters everywhere (in the elevators, lobby,.. ) stating that airbnb was illegal and the tenant and landlord could be fined or even go to prison. That was rather intimidating. My airbnb host at the time just said that if they asked anything, I should tell them that I was his friend staying at his appartment, but still..  

I don't know what the situation is today though (legality of airbnb).

[Flying Business, economy or first class]

I'm thin but tall (1m85 / 6'1), fly +- 180h a year and always book economy.  I simply prefer to spend my money on other things than on luxury during the flight, although I certainly understand why people book business once you have experienced it. 

• I have my routine and try (and mostly manage) to sleep on every flight, even if it's just a short one hour haul.
• I bought custom made earplugs, comfortable and they block all the noise when you try to sleep. 
• I love my noise canceling headphones. I've got the sony mx1000m4 and couldn't miss them on a flight. Lately I often fell asleep with those headphones on and my earplugs still in my bag.
• I always pick a seat at the back of the plane (a bigger chance on an empty seat next to you)  and select an aisle seat in the middle part (only one person can ask you to stand up when he/she needs to go the bathroom).  
• On long haul flights with a 3-4-3 layout, it often narrows to a 3-3-3 layout. My favorite seat (and I do pay extra for seat selection if necessary) is at the left side of the second row of 3 seats in the middle. (see screenshot, the green spot). You can stretch your legs, nobody bumps into you and even that bathroom was closed on my latest flights (people tend to go anyway to the bathoom that they can see).
• As other posters mentioned, always check seatguru. 
• I never watch movies, they keep me awake, but I do use an e-reader (makes me sleepy).
• I used to take a sleeping pill before flying, but that made me dizzy. Now I just drink one whisky at the start of the flight.  
• I use a pillow similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Inflatable-STTARLUK-Airplane-Comfortably-Supports/dp/B093HD2RK7  It's bulky, but comfy and I can even read an e-book in sleeping position. An added advantage is that it seems to refrain people to ask me to stand up if they want to go to the bathroom.
• I do buy a last minute business class upgrade if the price is right. On one of my latest air france flights, I had a business class upgrade on both legs of a 11h flight for less than 400€ in total.
• If the flight is delayed, I always ask for a free lounge voucher (and often get one). If you don't ask, you get nothing.. 

 

[concentration of general tips about visiting medellin]

Great tips.

I'm guilty as charged for slamming taxi doors. The taxi drivers in Medellin hate it. Don't be like me. 

I've visited Colombia (Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Bucaramanga & Cucuta) and worked in Medellin on and off in the last two years.  Here are my 2 cents.

Places to stay: Poblado is the most popular place to stay for tourists, but overpriced, sometimes problems to take guests to your room and you need a taxi for everything. I would stay in Laureles - Estadio. You can easily walk around, it's safe and has plenty of good & cheap restaurants and bars. If you want the local experience, you can stay in San Bernardo, Belen. It feels like a village in the big city. Very cheap, safe, still close to everything but don't expect to hear a word of english or see another tourist. 

Going out: You should visit bar chiquita at least once, just for the decoration (and go to the toilets!).  Industry club is the place to be for young gay guys. There's 'barra libre' every friday. The best way to pick up guys is to go with a small group of friends, it makes it easier to talk to other guys that you fancy. Collect whatsapp numbers (you need whatsapp, they all use it) and meet the next day when they are sober (and you as well).

Things to do with your friend du jour:  they all love parque norte. It's not disneyland, but it's good for a couple hours of old-fashioned fun.  Shopping in centro is also rewarding if you want to buy cheap clothes (the guys love cheap clothes) or designer clothes at a fraction of the price (and quality) of Poblado shopping centers.  Hiking in Parque Arvi is a great pastime. They love it because it's cold (take an extra sweater and don't forget your umbrella). The metrocable ride gives you an amazing view over the city & hills. You will probably be alone with your friend in the cabin, but don't forget that there's a security camera (the guards had a great laugh with my friend recording a tiktok with him twerking). Outside of Medellin: Barbosa  is a colonial pueblo one hour by bus from Medellin, surrounded by hills and waterfalls and off the beaten path. Great for hiking and swimming. You can rent a cheap finca and have a great stay / party with a bunch of friends. On the way back, you can stop at parque de las aguas and have fun on the water slides.