Lovely discussion. Just wanted to say a buddy and I flew his small plane down to Baja a year and a half ago. We were staying in mostly out of the way places, and it was odd at times, getting gas, not great with the Spanish, etc. But, I felt pretty safe.
Lar, Im half colombian(my mother is from Medellin). Its a beautiful city but too dangerous for Americans or other out of towners. The FARC rebels have a sizable presence around the nearby mountain areas. I know this because a close family friend of ours is an Army General there in Medellin. They(the FARC rebels) have lookouts around the city looking for easy marks to kidnap for ransom. The 2 biggest forms of business for them is 1- narcotics trafficking 2- kidnapping. And they love kidnapping ppl they think have money( Americans !) Back in Dec of 2005 my mom's brother was kidnapped and my mother thru an intermediary payed almost $10K to free him. I love that city but unless you have private security(bodyguards) Id say...pass on Medellin. Bogota is a better city for you ..or Cali. Cali has some of the most beautiful women in all of Colombia...think blond/green eyes! I know..Ive been there....and my present girlfriend is from there... Just giving you an honest real world opinion....
To the original poster - it is not my intent to hijack your thread but this feedback is very helpful and valuable to me. Thanks for understanding. Hi Joemiami, I am sorry to hear about your uncle, Joe. I hope he was returned with out damage. Real world opinion... thanks very much man, this is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. I have family here in the states who are totally against me going but have absolutely no idea of what is going on there. Just fearfulness. I appreciate your real world insight and will expand my search elsewhere. Too bad though. The positives seemed just awesome. Still, when looking for feedback one has to accept it when valid contraindications are weighty enough. Your post qualifies for sure. Peace and gtty, Lar
I traded a little last week while from San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, central Mexico. Was there staying with friends for a week or so for Mexican Independence day. San Miguel is known for its colonial architecture and being a great place to retire, which means an older crowd. That being said, housing there is expensive. Not difficult to find a house over $1,000,000 USD in this town, and even empty lots in the right neighborhood fetch 200k. The town is fairly expat friendly, and many of the expats are well off. Many Texans who were in the oil business. I even met a retired Goldman trader while at the 400 year old cantina there. This also means they bring a degree of snobbery at pretentiousness to the place, and get quite dressed up at the expat shin digs. The town itself is very picturesque with amazing spanish architecture. High speed internet is available, latency was 180ms from my friends house to servers in NYC. Power went out 15 minutes after cash close once, which could have been a problem. Friends said this happens once every 1-3 months. Nearest airport is 1.5 hours drive away in Leon/Bahio.
My wife's best friend owns a home south of Rosarito. Its in a small enclave of Americans. Armed guards screen whoever comes in. She has had this house for around 15 years and has it fixed up pretty nice. Her daughter is 16 and is best friends with my step daughter, also 16. I don't like my step daughter going down there because I don't trust the place. However, nothing has ever happened to these kids and my wife's best friends swears its safer then in some parts of San Deigo. I would consider moving down there in about 10 years if it remains as cheap as it is now. I would stay out of Tiajuana of course and have no dealings with cops. My understanding is collecting bribes is still the main reason Mexican cops have contact with Americans. There are some excellent doctors and dentists down there. You just have to find out who they are and they are expensive, less then in America but still more then you would expect to have to pay. My wife's friend even has DSL now. If you move there make it a priority to get to know a reputable lawyer, doctor, dentist and try to make friends with some of the police. The best protection down there is who you know because sooner or later you will need some authority figure to help you out of a jam. John
This thread is bringing back memories of Tijuana. Talk about getting treated like shit.. I used to go over there to drink when I was underage in the US. The moment you appeared to be running out of money they would run you out of the bar. I recall some guy that was holding me off the ground by my shirt and I was negotiating with him to leave me enough for gas to get back to LA.. he let me keep a few bucks actually.. stepping off the curb was asking for some bastard that hated Americans to step on the gas and try to hit you... the cops wanted nothing out of you except some spending money and if you went to jail you would pay a bribe and then they would move your paperwork to the next desk and you would pay another bribe, it could go to 4 or 5 desks before they let you out and made you promise to be good, like you went to TJ to be good.... it was a seriously fucked up place, only "bulletproof" teenagers went there, especially after dark..
Growing up in OC, had several wild underage drinking times in TJ and come back. Not as extreme as yours, but a few of my buddies did. Do you remember this scam........pro sits down next to orders drink and then bar demands you pay $20 USD or higher? My buddy, I wasn't there for this one, told them to go f*ck themselves, because he wasn't even chatting with the pro. The security guard came over and tried to put him in a choke hold, little did he know my friend was all state wrestler. Flipped the guy took his baton and beat him a few times with it. My friend ran down Revolution street trying to get to the border with police chasing in car, ran in front of other teenagers to cross through the pedestrian turn style and didn't return to TJ for about 6 months. Just classic stories of youth.
I lived and traded from Cozumel for a year and it was excellent. Good internet high speed connection and reliable. i rented a 2 bedroom condo on the beach for $700/month-- although that was 3 years ago. One thing that was expensive was electricity, after running the a/c and computers and tv. around 300/mo. Unfortuantely for me during the first month, I wasn't aware that they don't send electric bills and that u had to know to go down to the electric office to find out ur bill and then pay on the spot. My electricty was turned off on a friday, luckily i wasn't trading-- out diving-- and by the time i got back the electric office was closed. What i didn't realize was that my water pump was also electric dependant so i didn't have water that weekend either. oh well. i used the shower by the pool and didn't miss a beat. Cozumel was also awesome in that it was a good mixture of old world mexican and modern amenities. Also, it is carribean island living with a mexican feel. Because it is an island that caters mostly to scuba divers and is a major cruise ship port, it is very safe. They have a naval base on the island which acts as a de facto police force when needed. My fiancee and a local woman for out walking one day when they encountered a "flasher". When the other woman called the police to report the incident, 15 guys from the naval base showed up in 10 minutes and scoured the area looking for the offender. Otherwise, lots of americans around and most locals speak some sort of english. i ws actually diasappointed I didn't pick up more spanish because most people spoke to me in english. Beaches were beautiful and quiet, nice golf course, and of course world class scuba and fishing. I bought an old VW convertible for $2500, which i sold back to them for $2000 when i left the island a year later and life was great. Chicks are hot and friendly, plenty of American tourists, great shopping, (caters to cruise ship people), good food and drinks. Once you're there for a while and people start to recognize you as a local, they'll hook you up with local deals and give you stuff much cheaper than the other gringos just on vacation. Always kept a 500 peso note in my wallet for the police in case I was driving late at night after partying, and never had to use it. The only thing I regret is not buying a place when I was there. I've been back 3 times since I lived there and kicked myself for not even buying a timeshare! Ha! a timeshare! Anyway, thats my story
I drove both coasts of Mexico ALL the way and never have been treated like a little bitch. You were a mark and they took advantage of you. Do not blame MX for being a sucker.
You do not chat with prostitutes or buy them drinks, you FUCK 'em. No wonder some of you guys get taken for a ride south of the border. What's next playing chess with hookers to see who is more intelligent?