The food here kinda sucks, probably like 1/10th as good as Mexico. I do like some of their soups though, mondongo, ajiaco, and sancocho. Usually I end up doing a lot of menu del día places, which is mostly chicken, carne de res, rice, and beans.

If all you care about is hookers & blow, than perhaps that's true, but if you take into considerations other factors (food, weather, safety), probably not so much.

I haven't been to either country, but based upon what I've read, I'm guessing Portugal > Columbia.

It kinda depends. Pot is so cheap here it's an absolute joke. My friend bought ~12 grams for $6. But we had to taxi into the hood and I'm sure she has the best hookup possible. Blow I'm sure is equally as cheap. A high quality hooker here is ~$50-60 for the first hour but then you can easily negotiate seeing her long-term for barely much more than that or in some cases (like mine) free. I didn't partake in Portugal, but I think Spain is similar and it was 125 euros for an hour with a girl in a brothel there. In the casas in Medellin, you could probably find some pretty attractive girls for ~$12 for very short time (15 minutes).

So if hookers and blow is a massive part of your budget, then you'll probably be spending ~30% as much in Medellin as Portugal. Weather is better in Medellin (for me it's basically perfect), but food sucks and safety is so so. I did like Portugal a lot, and would say that overall it's better by a decent margin, not factoring in cost of living.

I love Europe so I'd probably choose almost any country in western Europe to live if I could stay visa free, but I like Mexico more than almost any non-Euro place I've been to and I could see Colombia being a great spot for the hookers and blow crowd. Medellin had a pretty thriving poker community a few years back, but I think it's dead now.

Been researching a bit about Eje Cafetero and it actually looks pretty awesome. I've budgeted 8 days but kinda wish I could double that. Spent way too much time in Bogotá, should've done 4 days instead of 3 weeks.

After that I'll do about 2 weeks in Cartagena/Santa Marta/Tayrona and then head off to Perú for 3-4 weeks.

I don't think it was the Dramamine. I'm guessing you actually had Creeping (probably spelling that incorrectly). It's weed laced with some sort of synthetics.

I think Dramamine does have scopoline (or something chemically similar in it) so maybe yes / maybe no. If it was weed laced w/ synthetics, why didn't hooker girlfriend feel the effects, too (unless she was in on it), plus presumably he would have felt the effects again the next time he smoked more from that same bag of weed.

Did not know traveled Portugal; how long ago??

I want to go somewhere for the month of February, Spain or Portugal are on the short-list, though I haven't checked into weather conditions there during that time of year (don't want to be traveling anywhere during cold or rainy season).

Cost def. comes into play for me, I like to travel places where I can get by fairly well (not baller-style, but not having to sleep in hostels, eat at cheap restaurants, etc) on about $50-60/day including lodging. How would you compare cost of traveling in Portugal (and Spain if you've been there recently as well) to Mexico?

Seems unlikely it was a setup b/c it was in a town 2 hours away and she had to ask around to find out where to buy. She also smoked the same blunt as me and was completely unaffected and we smoked the same stuff again the next day and were unaffected. She also didn't steal anything or look around while I was tripping. I checked online a couple days after it happened about weed + dramamine and most people reported the same type of reaction that I had and said it can be dangerous.

I was in Portugal in January '17. Visited Porto, Lisbon, and Sintra. I lived in Lyon, France for 1.5 years so I did a ton of traveling within France and also hit about a dozen other countries in Europe. I visited Spain too around that same timeframe, but only Barcelona and Valencia. I'd like to go back soon to Spain b/c I had very little Spanish back then and now I can manage fairly well.

We have basically the same budget. I use AirBNB 95% of the time and will mostly go places where I can rent for $30-40/night.

In Porto I spent $37/night (after fees) for a decent place, well located. In Lisbon, my place was $43/night and nice, but a lot smaller, still well located.

The nicer cities in Mexico aren't really much cheaper tbh, if you want a nice place in a super safe area. You'll probably spend about the same as Porto. Of course you could go way cheaper, but you'd be in a sketchier area.

The big difference is food/drink prices. In Mexico, you could eat a breakfast and late lunch for $3-5 a pop and a lot of the times they will be delicious. In Portugal, even going to McDonald's you're spending like $9 and for a solid meal probably $12-20. In Mexico, you can get some incredible meals for like $10 too. Tons of places will have beers for like $2 in Mexico and it's double that in Portugal IIRC.

So I would say that Portugal and the non-big cities in Spain are a bit more expensive than Mexico, but not too much, maybe 20% more.

FWIW there are lots of places in Portugal that serve a 'prato/menu do dia' for about €5-10 during lunch time, they normally even include a soup and desert (and a lot of times also bread, olives, a drink and coffee).Except for craft beer, a beer shouldn't run you more than €3 and in a lot of places <€2.

Portugal is cheap for Western European standards but I would still take Mexico over Portugal when it comes to value for money on eating out.

OK, good to know. Yah, Portugal struck me as much cheaper than France for food, drink, and lodging. Although in France I used the site/app laFourchette a bunch to get lunches and dinners at pretty nice restuarants for 30-50% off. Had some great meals and tried a lot of new dishes that way for 10-15 euros. Looks like it exists in a lot of places now so it could be an option if you don't want to go to budget places constantly.

Agreed, Mexico is great value. You could budget $35/day for lodging, food, drink and still get a decent studio, good meals, and a couple drinks.

Well, I have spent a year in Colombia and let me assure you it is the bees knees.

How long ago were you there? Assume you speak Spanish??

Besides hot hookers and cheap blow & weed, what else was so great?

Seriously asking, not trying to confront or be a dick.

Only been here a bit under a month, but I think the answer is pretty obvious

-weather is near perfect (for me)
-women are about the hottest in the world
-great cost of living
-cheap drugs/hookers

Depending on your priorities and level of Spanish (I'd say it's pretty important) it can range anywhere from a great location to so so.

Even though women here are gorgeous, I've found dating and hookups (with non pros obv) to be way easier in CDMX. I think they are very wary of gringos here and rightfully so.

Culturally, it's a pretty empty city. There are a handful of touristy things to do, but they can be done in about a month. There are a couple cool daytrips, but not much else. I think if you aren't really into partying and hookers then there are better locations in LatAm. For me I think I'd be a little bored here b/c I'm 34 and don't drink much.

I'm looking forward to reading about your trip to Peru and your thoughts & opinions about it compared to other countries you've traveled. Clearly you really like CDMX, and as long as you're not expecting Lima / Peru to be a comparable or similar to it, I'm guessing you'll enjoy yourself. All told I was in Lima for less than a week (so far from an expert) but I don't think I would enjoy living there.

I'm guessing you'll enjoy the food and appreciate the culture of Peru, and find the people very open & friendly. I doubt you'll be overly impressed by the women, however.

Since you like CDMX so much, I think Buenos Aires would be an interesting city for you to visit.

Yah, doubt I'll like Lima that much, but the other stuff in Peru looks epic. I'll probably spend 4-5 days in Lima then hit up Cuzco for a week+ and spend some time in Arequipe and Lake Titicaca.

Buenos Aires is the #1 city I'd like to visit in the western hemisphere, followed by Rio. I'm a LatAm noob still, but I think CDMX and those 2 would probably be my top 3 big cities when all's said and done.

I'm curious about Peruvian women as well. I think maybe I could be pleasantly surprised, we'll see.

The thing about women is that I use Tinder or other apps/sites to meet 95% of the women I date or hook up with. Mexican women don't have a great rep for looks in Latin America, and walking around CDMX you won't be overly impressed by what you see (except for a few rich areas), but then I fire up Tinder and match with cute girls like crazy, it's by far the best city I've been to for Tinder. I could basically have unlimited dates with 7s and 8s.

It makes me wonder where the hell all these girls come from. I think it comes down to 2 things: 1) Mexican men have a rep for being super machista (even Colombian women say it's noticeably worse than other Latin men) and a lot of girls hate that and will look for a gringo. 2) CDMX is off the radar for most American guys, and if you can speak Spanish as well, then you've got a huge advantage.

The other nice thing about Mexico is that the women I've dated there are not just cute, but also smart, well-traveled, usually have good jobs, solid English, and live in more upscale neighborhoods. They almost all love Mexico and I get the sense they like me for me. Compared to Colombia, a ton of girls are just flat out gold-digging, looking for a ticket to the USA, some don't even hide it. A lot come from crap neighborhoods and culturally there isn't as much in common. So in terms of finding an awesome partner: CDMX >>> Bogotá >>>>>>>>> Medellín

In Medellín, yah there are tons of cute girls walking around, but Tinder here is just average. Bogotá even has the slight edge. Gringos are still seen as exotic in CDMX I guess, but are completely played out in Medellín.

I'm thinking that maybe in Lima, even if Peruvian girls in general aren't so hot, maybe you have a great shot with the top 5%

So in Medellín, maybe 30% of the women are a 7+, but I will have almost no shot with them (unless I lived there and built a social circle, but that's a different argument). In CDMX, maybe 8% of the women are a 7+, but I have a damn good shot with a lot of them. So in that sense, I would rate CDMX higher than Medellín for women. That being said, just walking around el centro during the day or La 70 at night in Medellín, the # of hot women is mind-boggling, and that's worth something too.

I was there in 2017 and 2018. The advantages to Colombia are legion. You can get extremely cheap hotel rooms that are high quality. Excellent food at reasonable prices. Taxis are also very cheap. Modafinil is available otc. Great opportunity to learn Spanish. People are friendly and respectful. Drugs and women are very cheap. Your dollar goes 5 to 10 x further in Colombia than in some first world destination like Portugal.

Mostly agree except the following:

Excellent food - no. Colombian food is usually regarded as bland and tasteless with little variety, which has been my experience. Mexican food (and I'm sure Peruvian) blow it away. Prices are good though.

Learning Spanish - The accent here sucks. Half the people speak ok, but half have thick accents. The paisa accent is not well regarded. You'd be much better off learning Spanish in Bogotá, México, or Perú.

Cost of living - yah it's way better than USA, Australia, London, Switzerland, Euro capitals, but some of the cheaper places in Europe (like Portugal) are not that much more expensive (except for women and drugs).

Yea, there's a reason there's 20x the amount of Mexican restaurants in USA (and other countries) versus Colombian restaurants. Never been to Columbia but I lived in south Florida for many years, had several Columbian employees, was invited over for celebration dinners and ate at quite a few Colombian restaurants, and the food was never anything to rave about.

It's my understanding that the best places to learn accent-free Spanish are Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, (surprisingly) Guatemala, and maybe Argentina. People used to advise against learning Spanish in Mexico because you'd end up w/ a very obvious Mexican-sounding accent, but evidently now that Mexican telenovelas are so popular all over south/central America, having a Mexican accent is fine.

And is that reason they share a border? Colombia food is delicious, you guys have no idea what you are talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t92RzINw96M

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2iiq08

This is is a pointless discussion, it mostly comes down to taste. If you don't like spicy food for example you probably don't like Mexican food. Having said that the Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian (and to lesser extend Brazilian) cuisine are generally regarded as the best in Latin America.

You obviously know very little about Portugal. You may call it first world but it's definitely not up there with the rest of Western Europe. It's better to compare it with Eastern Europe economically. 5 x 10 is a wild exaggeration, you also have to factor in that Colombia has high import taxes on pretty much everything except laptops and Portugal is in the EU.

As for the pros of Colombia,I also would like to add the wide variety in climates and the beautiful nature and landscapes.

Learning Argentinian Spanish is like the worst thing you can do if you are not going to live in Argentina or Uruguay. It's a very distinct accent and on top that they use the voseo. I lived in Paraguay (they also use voseo and have a thick accent, but at least they don't say posho and plasha) for a while and had a Argentinian gf, this influenced my Spanish accent up to a point that a blind Peruvian hotel owner asked me if I was Argentinian. It's nice when you are traveling in Argentina, but in the rest of Latin America they are going to think that you are some wannabe arrogant Porteño.

There is no such thing as accent-free Spanish, some Spanish accents are just clearer and easier to understand (Bogota for example) than others (Chile, cachai?). Again a lot of times this comes down to personal preference. I much prefer the Paisa accent over any Peruvian accent.

Also don't say or write Columbia in Colombia, they don't like that.

This is just a stereotype that is not really true. I am so so on spicy food, can tolerate a bit. My ex-Mexican girlfriend doesn't like spicy food at all. I know quite a few Mexicans that don't like spicy food either. Mexican food is super varied and you can easily find great stuff that isn't spicy. Mexico's also the only country in LatAm with their cuisine listed on UNESCO's cultural heritage list.

Regarding Colombian food, I've met quite a few Colombians who admit that their food is not that great (in Medellín and Bogotá). I've heard it's much better when you get to the coast though. There are only so many bandejas you can eat while in Medellín, there is not much else.

Just check out this thread: In the first 2 pages Mexico and Peru are mentioned a ton. Colombia had a couple mentions...for worst food.

Best/Worst Food in LatAM

If we are talking high-end food, Peru is clearly the best cuisine in Latin America, and arguably one of the best in the world.

But, in all honesty, we should focus more on hooker stories and less on food, since there will be plenty of time for food stories once this kid gets to Peru. On the flip side, he is about to really, really miss Colombian women when he gets a look at the local product in Lima.

On a posiitve note, Peruvian women have a reputation for being pretty aggressive, so he will have less trouble meeting them. Sadly, this is also a negative, as a solid seven in Lima is a 3 in Medellin.

Do you guys think 5 days is sufficient for Lima? Doesn't seem like there's a ton to do and the time would probably be better spent elsewhere in Peru.

Speaking of hookers jsb, I asked the hookergf to come with me to Manizales and she agreed. We arrived late last night then spent today checking out the sites in Manizales. When we got back to the room she jumped on me and we started ****ing nonstop for like 1.5 hours. Every time I wanted to take it out she wouldn't let me and said she wanted to keep going and started doing kegels on my dick so I obliged and kept going.

Tomorrow we're gonna spend the day at some hot springs swimming pool next to some cool looking waterfall (in Santa Rosa de Cabal). I think she's heading back to Medellín in 2 days and I'm gonna continue to see more of el Eje Cafetero.

I was playing it by ear up until now, but I think that caused me to piss away too much time in Bogotá, so I've booked a couple flights to make sure I move along quicker.

So now the schedule is:

1/14 - flight from Pereira to Cartagena
1/24 - Santa Marta to Bogotá
1/26 - Bogotá to Lima
2/21 - Lima back to CDMX

So I've got 10 days in Eje Cafetero, 10 days on the coast and 3.5 weeks in Perú. Pretty sure I'm gonna see Lima, Cusco, Arequipe, and Lake Titicaca while there.