Medellin Trip - random thoughts

[Jook]

Just back from a 10 day trip where I got engaged. No trip report, sorry sorry, just some thoughts about the city and my trip, the good, bad and indifferent...

Colorful, literally and figuratively
Beautiful women and malls (dependent variables)
Taxi drivers who don’t drive and talk on the phone. At the same time.
Cheap taxis
Taxis that play the radio at 95 dB
No iPods (exceptin’ yours truly)
Traffic and pollution
Pedestrians be damned
Paisas
Comida typico
Lasagna (??) with chicken, swiss cheese and no tomato sauce. [hey, THEY called it lasagna]
La Mayoria en Sabaneta
Jugo con leche
Jugo con agua
Coca cola, the real thing
Café con o sin leche, either way, it sucks
Corn arepas con queso
Typico comida
Americans – few and far between
The Metro
Santa Fe
Bello
Piedra del Penol
192,000 pesos for laundry at the hotel, hiss
$10 a day for internet at the hotel, hiss hiss
The Hotel Dann Carlton, hmmm
Mountains (everywhere)
The slums of Santo Domingo
Parks (everywhere)
Rain
Sun
Claudia Milena
Claudia Milena’s beautiful children and family
Okay, the above should be numero 1 y 2
Salt
Policia with rifles that say hola and pose for pictures
Private security guards with guns
Speed bumps (aka mini mountains)
Auto repair shops that sell shock absorbers

[Flaco]

Jook:

Couple of questions:

Do they have real high speed internet, or is it 3rd world quality like alot of the other stuff you describe ? Does wifi exists anywhere ? I guess your not going to find a Starbucks to go to log onto the internet from ?


Regarding the pollution: the last time I was there (1992), they were still using leaded gas and the fumes were really noxious is that still the case ?

[Jook]

Originally Posted by Flaco

Jook:

Couple of questions:

Do they have real high speed internet, or is it 3rd world quality like alot of the other stuff you describe ? Does wifi exists anywhere ? I guess your not going to find a Starbucks to go to log onto the internet from ?


Regarding the pollution: the last time I was there (1992), they were still using leaded gas and the fumes were really noxious is that still the case ?

Someone else (Micky!) is better able to answer, but I'll give it a shot. The hotel has wireless and is high speed. Not as fast as my cable connection in NJ, but reasonably fast. As for a Starbucks equivalent, maybe Juan Valdez has wifi. Sorry, no idea about the gas.

[Flaco]

They must be using unleaded, cause if they were not, you would know exactly what I am talking about.

[Tinto]

Flaco,

UNE (formerly EPM) offers six(!) different speeds of cable internet. They are, 100K, 200K, 500K, 600K, 700K, and 1.500K. Naturally, the faster speeds command a greater fee. They also have as an option a wireless modem but I prefer to use my Vonage wireless router that works fine with UNE's regular modem.

There are also numerous places that broadcast a WiFi signal. Many of the malls and places like Parque Lleras offer it. Some offer free access while others are pay as you go. WiFi isn't near as available as it is in the States.

I'm not sure if Colombia's low quality gasoline contains lead but the numerous cars and trucks spew out plenty of pollution. You can see a dramatic difference in the air quality on Sundays and holidays when there is little traffic on the road as compared to Monday-Saturday. cough-cough.

Jook,

Congrats on the engagement!

[Flaco]

Tinto -

Thanks for the info on the internet, This will be something that I will need to inquiere about wherever I decide to rent. Can you do MSN video chats with your vonage wireless ? or is it too slow ?

[Tinto]

Flaco,

I don't use my wireless feature too often but it's fast enough for Messenger video. I have NO problem whatsoever doing video in Messenger or talking in Skype or MSN since I have a fairly fast speed.

You made me curious so I tested my internet speed on SPEEDTEST and found out that my download is 958 kb/s and upload speed of 203 kb/s while connected to the cable and roughly the same on the wireless, 978/195.

[Flaco]

Tinto -
Interesting website, helps me understand why the girls are staring at their computers for so long when we chat. I am spoiled with optimon online just ran the test 13099 for downloading and 1873 for uploading connected on the cable, 13482/1869 on the wireless -- I though the cable was always faster than wireless, but I guess not. I am told that verizons Fios is even faster. Recently purchased a yagi antenna off ebay to use for receiving wifi signals a few miles away, might have to try this down there as well.

[LastLion]

NOT!!!! LL - it IS Micky -

I am at LL's place. He has some work that he wants done and he is way more than kind to help me out.

Please do not say anything bad about MEDELLIN, even if it is true. I LOVE the place and miss it and my family.

Love- Micky

[ph55]

Medellin is safe, great malls, great clubs, beautiful women.