Just got back from a 5 day trip. My musings,,,, it's a small city that has an airport and close to many cities for day hops.
Pereira is infamous for providing all the whores/prostitutes/prepagos to places like Panama, Cartagena etc etc. Thinking this I thought I would see a tonne of the GRILLA types .. ( pronounced greeja) is a term for a
girl who looks skanky. It's a port city without water/marina. Hence lots of truckers passed by en route to go to other cities via pereira. This started the whoreishness per se. I didn't see all that many grillas. Not until the weekend....
Mid week, lots of university aged girls hanging out in the bars on circunvalar avenue. Groups hanging out, no dancing..... Checked out their Centro, parque bolivar thinking there would be cute girls working in those stores selling fake name brand shirts etc. Medellin had more cuties IMHO. Lots of people walking around, so didn't feel unsafe at all. At night, well.... Not wise to go to Centro.
The clubs and bars on Thursday and Friday were definitely slower than Saturday but went to Simon Dice disco bar on Friday and thought I was back in Toronto. Booths and some bar stools with a large dancing area. Closest resemblance to a disco to North America.
A bar called Yii on circunvalar close to the mall parque arboleda had a mix of ages. There are a bunch of bars all within walking distance. Tables of girls, mixed sets etc.
Saturday night, went to la abadea ( zone rosa in dos quebradas) Taxis will tell you where everything is at if you don't want to go to these places.the place was hopping, places close 4-6 am. Reminded me of menga in Cali,,, except the music was more geared towards crossover and not salsa. Lots of people from circunvalar come after 2-3 am as the bars close there.
Parque arboleda mall.... You will see head turners on the weekend. There is a nice bistro Cafe on the second floor with wifi so a good spot to hangout.
I didn't see any foreigners in the bars I went to. Did I feel unsafe or felt that I got extra attention by the ladies I didn't care to notice. I did my normal routine when running solo. Girls were receptive and friendly. Have been living in Medellin for 2 years straight so my Spanish and Latin dance skills aren't bad. I recommend learning to dance at a minimum merengue. Got me in a mixed group. Reggaeton,,, they don't grind as much as they do in Medellin. Gotta learn to dance as the clubs are loud and you can't hear all that well.
I didn't pipeline, maybe next time as mid week is kinda slow in the malls, streets and bars. Once Saturday comes,,,, you will want to be single.
Lodging--- stay by circunvalar.... Eliminates the need to take a taxi. It gets hot during the day and the taxis have all these extra charges that are clearly listed on the fare sticker on the front windshield. You see the meter and the taxi driver says an additional number. It feels like you are getting taken for a ride (no pun) but just read the sticker and all will add up. Circunvalar is safe, even the homeless dudes were not dodgy. Still, keep your wits and you will be alright.
Lots of day trips to salento, parque de cafe, manizales, Armenia all within an hour or so by bus from pereira. Cali is about 3 hours or so. I paid 6000 pesos approx $3 usd. To take a bus from pereira to Armenia. Dirt cheap.bus had no AC but windows opened,,, welcome to how the majority of Colombians live. Weekends, the roads and places to visit get packed, so my advice is to go mid week to avoid the crowds.
For long weekends many go to an area called Cerritos. You can see it from the plane while landing. Lots of fincas (weekend homes) with
pools etc. lots of parties happen here. If you are lucky to have local friends, enjoy the ride!!!!
So, anywhere even in Medellin it's kinda slow on the puentes,,,( long weekends).
To kill boredom on my Thursday night after seeing circunvalar wasn't hopping. I went to a strip bar. First place,,, star??? In Centro. Had booths and a stage where a girl danced. Was kinda slow, and nothing really to see. Then i went to Flores frescas,,, small place no stage, but ended up taking with some pereira not dude who had girls and a bottle of aguardiente to share. So joined him. For those who want to partake,,, it's like 100-150 mil for a 30 minute trip. Shoring,,,, the dudes that work there, a few are gay and after work on Fridays or Saturdays they go out with the dancers to gay bars. Swallow your pride (no pun). If you don't want to bother, invite a girl to go eat at some restaurant on circunvalar for lunch the following day. They aren't all that busy as I got to know a paisa girl working there, she makes on a Friday night about 300 mil. No raw dogging !!!!
unless I have a girl(s) waiting for me, i would go during the week. To party, Friday and Saturday nights are enough.
Pereira is infamous for providing all the whores/prostitutes/prepagos to places like Panama, Cartagena etc etc. Thinking this I thought I would see a tonne of the GRILLA types .. ( pronounced greeja) is a term for a
girl who looks skanky. It's a port city without water/marina. Hence lots of truckers passed by en route to go to other cities via pereira. This started the whoreishness per se. I didn't see all that many grillas. Not until the weekend....
Mid week, lots of university aged girls hanging out in the bars on circunvalar avenue. Groups hanging out, no dancing..... Checked out their Centro, parque bolivar thinking there would be cute girls working in those stores selling fake name brand shirts etc. Medellin had more cuties IMHO. Lots of people walking around, so didn't feel unsafe at all. At night, well.... Not wise to go to Centro.
The clubs and bars on Thursday and Friday were definitely slower than Saturday but went to Simon Dice disco bar on Friday and thought I was back in Toronto. Booths and some bar stools with a large dancing area. Closest resemblance to a disco to North America.
A bar called Yii on circunvalar close to the mall parque arboleda had a mix of ages. There are a bunch of bars all within walking distance. Tables of girls, mixed sets etc.
Saturday night, went to la abadea ( zone rosa in dos quebradas) Taxis will tell you where everything is at if you don't want to go to these places.the place was hopping, places close 4-6 am. Reminded me of menga in Cali,,, except the music was more geared towards crossover and not salsa. Lots of people from circunvalar come after 2-3 am as the bars close there.
Parque arboleda mall.... You will see head turners on the weekend. There is a nice bistro Cafe on the second floor with wifi so a good spot to hangout.
I didn't see any foreigners in the bars I went to. Did I feel unsafe or felt that I got extra attention by the ladies I didn't care to notice. I did my normal routine when running solo. Girls were receptive and friendly. Have been living in Medellin for 2 years straight so my Spanish and Latin dance skills aren't bad. I recommend learning to dance at a minimum merengue. Got me in a mixed group. Reggaeton,,, they don't grind as much as they do in Medellin. Gotta learn to dance as the clubs are loud and you can't hear all that well.
I didn't pipeline, maybe next time as mid week is kinda slow in the malls, streets and bars. Once Saturday comes,,,, you will want to be single.
Lodging--- stay by circunvalar.... Eliminates the need to take a taxi. It gets hot during the day and the taxis have all these extra charges that are clearly listed on the fare sticker on the front windshield. You see the meter and the taxi driver says an additional number. It feels like you are getting taken for a ride (no pun) but just read the sticker and all will add up. Circunvalar is safe, even the homeless dudes were not dodgy. Still, keep your wits and you will be alright.
Lots of day trips to salento, parque de cafe, manizales, Armenia all within an hour or so by bus from pereira. Cali is about 3 hours or so. I paid 6000 pesos approx $3 usd. To take a bus from pereira to Armenia. Dirt cheap.bus had no AC but windows opened,,, welcome to how the majority of Colombians live. Weekends, the roads and places to visit get packed, so my advice is to go mid week to avoid the crowds.
For long weekends many go to an area called Cerritos. You can see it from the plane while landing. Lots of fincas (weekend homes) with
pools etc. lots of parties happen here. If you are lucky to have local friends, enjoy the ride!!!!
So, anywhere even in Medellin it's kinda slow on the puentes,,,( long weekends).
To kill boredom on my Thursday night after seeing circunvalar wasn't hopping. I went to a strip bar. First place,,, star??? In Centro. Had booths and a stage where a girl danced. Was kinda slow, and nothing really to see. Then i went to Flores frescas,,, small place no stage, but ended up taking with some pereira not dude who had girls and a bottle of aguardiente to share. So joined him. For those who want to partake,,, it's like 100-150 mil for a 30 minute trip. Shoring,,,, the dudes that work there, a few are gay and after work on Fridays or Saturdays they go out with the dancers to gay bars. Swallow your pride (no pun). If you don't want to bother, invite a girl to go eat at some restaurant on circunvalar for lunch the following day. They aren't all that busy as I got to know a paisa girl working there, she makes on a Friday night about 300 mil. No raw dogging !!!!
unless I have a girl(s) waiting for me, i would go during the week. To party, Friday and Saturday nights are enough.