Anyone here have experience traveling through Colombia? I'm trying to get to Peru as cheap as possible, and it appears that I can save almost 300 bucks by traveling through Bogota. May be worth it, maybe not. I really have no idea but was hoping someone here would know. I have a pretty decent threshold for sketchy places, but Colombia...I might be getting in over my head. I will likely be traveling alone. I'm not a big guy, but I'm not tiny either, and I speak enough Spanish to get where I need to go (eventually). Thanks. -Matt
I'm not very familiar with the area, but I would definitely stay out of Bogata. Nothing but bad **** happens there.
colombia There was an article in one of the surfing mags about the Pacific coast of Colombia. Maybe within the past 2 yrs...? I recall that it was sketchy territory for gringos. Kidnappings still happening over on that side of the country. Some hard looks at the boyz who were on that magazine surf trek. Worth reading if you're seriously thinking about the Pacific side. BTW, it helps a lot if you know Spanish. I've been to Cartegena & Medellin, obviously not for surf. I'll add this: Medellin has stunning women. I've been to a lot of places on the planet, but Medellin chicas are simply stunning.
Right-O Right-o, thanks for the help. I'm really just talking about the airport though. Worst case, if I got stuck (flight cancelled, etc.), I guess it could be possible that I'd have to venture out and find a place to sleep, but not much chance of that happening. I'll have to check out that article though, should be a good perspective. Surfers seem to have a higher threshold for shadey experiences across the board. It'd probably be helpful to see that perspective as opposed to all the random people who post stories on the internet of their "adventures" in other parts of the world.
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Hmmmmm I guess the coke is cheap, if you're into that sort of thing HAHAHAHA!! I wish this ad was still there; I didn't notice it before.
Bogota airport is alright. If you are traveling alone, as you said, stay in the airport. Overall it is fairly safe, as long as you don't draw too much attention to yourself. If you are traveling with a board bag, you obviously will be. My advice, if you do decide to go through Bogota, know who is around you at all times....even when you go to the bathroom. People disappear. Most likely nothing like that will happen. Have fun on your SA adventure!
Another alternatitve (since it's closer and maybe cheaper) would be ecuador....from what i gather there is pretty good surf there, their currency is the dollar, and it's beautiful. Nittanysufer...love the name. Here's to hoping bama doesn't embarrass us.
