Guide to Punting in Colombia
Contents
Overview
Colombia is a sovereign state largely situated in the northwest of South America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.[12] Colombia is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, with the capital in Bogotá.
Colombia is a great punting destination!
Challenges
Getting from the airport (Medellin) can take about an hour (it's the other side of a mountain). Most people take a taxi which is slightly quicker than the airport bus. If you take the bus it takes a more scenic route and terminates downtown behind Nutibara Hotel. An alternative bus route takes you to San Diego Mall, which is a bit closer to Poblado so cheaper for a taxi if you're staying there. https://medellinguru.com/get-to-medellin-from-the-airport/
Transport (Medellin) while you are there is relatively simple. Taxis are not too expensive but the (very modern) Metro is useful for getting to tourist locations or navigating in rush hour. It also integrates with the cablecar (Metrocable) transport system. If staying more than a few days it's worth getting a Civica card (a bit like the London Oyster card but much cheaper).
Punting overview
Colombia, and especially Medellin, has every type of punting imaginable, from the highest luxury end to down-and-dirty trashville end and most things in between. It is not however 'laid on a plate' like many Asian countries or even relatively straightforward without research and/or local assistance. (Some punters have round this by using Seeking but that's a whole different story.) Unless you go to the rougher areas, most transactions are honest and without serious worries. The mid-range offers excellent value for money. There are 'arrangers' that will hook you up with a companion for dancing, dining and overnight GFE (some of these have been busted though, so take care).
Cities overview
Medellin
There are three main areas of interest to punters in Medellin and the third, downtown, is split into two distinct sides.
1.Poblado
This is the area where most visitors will stay. It has a vibrant nightlife of modern bars and restaurants, rental apartments, and most of all the famed ‘Mansion’. Mansion is a short taxi ride out of the main Poblado area (centred around Parque Lleras). It is slightly more upmarket and a beautiful place to stay with luxurious rooms, swimming pool, and a few pre-vetted SPs in the on-site nightclub or hanging out at the pool.
The big advantage of Mansion is that it is run by a punter for punters. Although you can bring your own or have the ones on offer for evening punting, the daytime punting scene is sorted out for you (on request) by going with the owner on his morning tour of the better brothels looking for the best shag. This saves an enormous amount of time, hassle, money and footwork for the newcomer to Medellin, even for an experienced punter. These brothels are located in the ‘better half’ of downtown (see below). Some AirBnB apartments have a 'no sex tourism' policy but the word is that it is rarely enforced
Mansion is run on a friendly basis. It tends to be booked out so advance reservations are almost essential.
Times vary with traffic, but Poblado is 30 minutes give or take from downtown by taxi. Or you can use the Metro system to the tube stop of the same name and then a short taxi to either Mansion or the main square. Poblado is generally considered a very safe area.
2.Mayorista Medellin suburb of Itagui. Calle 85 and Carrera 51, Metro Ayura. Best after 10pm. This is an evening punting area where the girls hang out at a strip of bars and cafes with onsite facilities. Prices are negotiable (not expensive) and quality varies. Like Poblado, it is a very safe area even though the poorly-lit short walk from the tube stop can appear daunting on first visit.
Mayorista is a couple of tube stops further out than Poblado, get off at Ayura and follow the road west (90 degrees right from the direction of the train) for about 100 yards. If it's your 1st time make it easy on yourself and tell a taxi driver you want "La Mayorista donde esta las chicas". He'll smile and take you. The SPs are all independent
3a.Downtown East
(Daytime punting only)
The brothels are mostly scattered over part of this area some short distance east of Parque Berrio. They are excellent value and a fraction of U.K. prices. See map here or on the link in the guide to South America. It’s a normal middle to working class area and generally very safe by day. If you get the bus from the airport it terminates here at the back of the Nutibara Hotel. The Nutibara is an ok place to stay if you must stay here, close to the metro and museum and shops. Take care in the immediate vicinity at night. The Gran Hotel is in a slightly more savoury area, a bit closer to the better brothels and the main freeway that connects with Poblado.
Map of some popular Downtown (East) venues:
3b.Downtown West (Daytime for the adventurous) (Nighttime best for the exceedingly adventurous, but some daytime too) From Parque Berrio station (or across the road from Nutibara Hotel) walk across the park with the museum. Behind the museum a block is another street with wholesalers and market stalls to the south (your left) and druggies/glue-sniffers more immediately behind the museum. Skip the druggies and continue left. This area can be great fun by day if you like a trashville scene to find ‘diamonds in the rough’. Bear in mind it can be exceedingly trashy. Murders are not uncommon. It is generally considered safe by day and unsafe at night (this contributor has stayed there without hassle but would warn that you need to be exceedingly streetwise). The SPs are 24h if slightly less visible during the day than by night. Costs are very nominal and at night it has a very vibrant atmosphere. (If you want to go, it is highly recommended that you scout it out thoroughly by day first, including how to find your way out unerringly as taxis avoid it by night. Alternatively, stay at one of the trash hotels adjacent — such as Hotel Conquistadores — so you don’t have far to walk to the Metro.) It is also possible to pick up daytime gems on the (civvie area) Plaza in front of the museum.
Online There are a number of punting forums in Spanish written by Colombians such as https://foroprepagoscolombia.com where you can find ‘prepagos’ (independents).
Bogota, Cartagena and Barranquilla are also popular punting destinations, though without the fame and charm of Medellin.
