I have to go to Bogota, Columbia tomorrow...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I have to go to Bogota, Columbia tomorrow...

Posted: 5/7/2002 5:14:17 PM EDT

Well, I am new here, so I don't expect too much sympathy.
I have to go to Bogota tomorrow on business. (setting up mfg and logistics for the Medical device co. that I work for)Not really my idea of a vacation if you know what I mean. 3rd world countries suck. Hopefully the rebel fighting won't get near Bogota and I will have a quiet visit with no excitement...
Oh well, at least if I don't come back my wife will still use my guns.
Wish me luck and a safe return (all prayers are kindly accepted...)

Posted: 5/7/2002 5:24:49 PM EDT

[#1]

Godspeed and come back safe.
Remember, if you have internet access, you can still visit AR15.COM.

Posted: 5/7/2002 5:32:49 PM EDT

[#2]

Um how safe it this?

Good luck and be very very very careful.

Posted: 5/7/2002 5:54:50 PM EDT

[#3]

Good luck down there joho............I have spetn time in Venezuela and Costa Rica so I understand how you feel.

Watch your six, pay attention to everything and mind where you go and when.

Leave the white powdery substance alone: I repeat don't touch the white powdery stuff....................just kidding.

Godsspeed.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:05:31 PM EDT

[#4]

Take a lighter.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:23:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Fieldings Travel has some interesting comments about traveling in Colombia.

[url]http://www.comebackalive.com/df/dplaces/colombia/index.htm[/url]

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:27:50 PM EDT

[#6]

Thanks for the well wishes, and yes I will have my laptop, so hopefully I will be able to see what is happening here...
As for how safe it is, a few people from my co. have been down there a few times and all have said that they actually had a good time.
I'm not all that worried, it's just like I said, 3rd world countries (with rebel fighting)are not my idea of nice places to go. Good thing is, I am going with our Int'l sales mgr, who is a native Nicaraguan, so he knows the customs and culture. The other good news is that our sister company down there is run by peopel on the up and up and they take care of all the Americans who visit, so I think I will be ok.
I will watch my 6 and no worries about me going where I'm not supposed to....I'm waaayyy too whitebread for that.
Thanks again for the well wishes.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:34:50 PM EDT

[#7]

Can you pick-up a package from my cousin Carlos? It's a belated Christmas present for my mother. It only weighs a couple kilos...Ummm I mean about a pound.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:35:07 PM EDT

[#8]

Going to pop in the Proof of Life DVD in your remembrance...

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:35:19 PM EDT

[#9]

Wadman,
Thanks for the link, I feel muuuuccchhh better now. Hmmm, maybe dinner in the hotel every night isn't such a bad idea. In fact, sounds like a good idea. Hope my wife doesn't see that link.
One of the things that will run through my mind constantly while I'm there is, I have all this money invested in guns at home, for fun, protection and hunting, and I can't get anywhere near any of them....Arrrgh!!!

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:37:52 PM EDT

[#10]

Thanks pdxshooter.
Will you and the AR-15.com army come to bail me out if I get kidnapped??

Reread the link wadman posted, mental note to self, Stay away from military vehicles, repeat stay away from military vehicles.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:40:43 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Thanks pdxshooter.
Will you and the AR-15.com army come to bail me out if I get kidnapped??

View Quote

Sure, but it's not like we work for free. [;)]

And re: Proof of Life... depends on how hot your wife is.

[}:D]

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:45:39 PM EDT

[#12]

Well pdxshooter she will kick my ass if she finds out I posted this, but she is VERY hot (great motovation to come back fast and alive).
Aerobics instructer and a personal trainer. Blond, 5'6" 115lbs. I'll let your imagination take over there. (not nearly as easy as Meg Ryan though).

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:52:42 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Aerobics instructer and a personal trainer. Blond, 5'6" 115lbs. I'll let your imagination take over there. (not nearly as easy as Meg Ryan though).

View Quote

We'll see how easy after you've been locked up on some pig farm in the middle of nowhere for a couple months.

But seriously. Watch your ass. Come back and tell us how it was.

Posted: 5/7/2002 6:55:14 PM EDT

[#14]

In town watch for local druggies to spike your luggage. In country watch for the always exciting Sendero Luminoso. Try to get to Cartagena and stop by the emerald market. Or climb Cristobal up on the north coast. Check six.

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:03:26 PM EDT

[#15]

I've heard kldnapping is quite the business there, though I expect that Columbian women might be very friendly to an american...

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:03:37 PM EDT

[#16]

Thanks guys.
Gotta go finish packing. I will update you if I can, while I'm there. If not, when I get back.
I will heed all the advice given, but I don't know how much traveling through the country-side I want to do.

Aimless, yes I have heard that Columbian women are VERY friendly to Americans (so says my CEO), not something I want to find out though, never know what you're getting into, and I'm happily married [o:)]
Joho

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:06:06 PM EDT

[#17]

After reading what the Come Back Alive link has to say, why in the hell would your company want to build anything down there. I hope the pay reflects the danger your company is putting you into. .

Be safe an get the hell out there as soon as you can, I would tell your boss to go himself.

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:11:59 PM EDT

[#18]

Am-O-Tramp
Pay is ok, but as always, the almighty dollar rules. Labor down there is about $0.60/hr compared to the $14.00/hr I have to pay techs. here. Not happy at all with the way the company is going, and I have stated this verbally so I am currently job hunting (can't afford to quit right now). Supposedly the next partnership being setup is in South Africa. I WILL NOT go there. They can fire me before I go to that god foresaken hole at the end of Africa.

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:21:05 PM EDT

[#19]

Let us know when you get back.

ARH

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:25:18 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
I've heard kldnapping is quite the business there, though I expect that Columbian women might be very friendly to an american...

View Quote

Columbia is kidnap capital of the world. Read this travel advisory from US Department of State.[url]http://travel.state.gov/colombia.html[/url]

Make sure you check in with the US Embassy in Columbia. Let them know you are there and tell
them when you will be leaving that country. If you get kidnapped or whatever, hopefully our government will do whatever it takes to locate you. Also give your travel itineary to people at your workplace. So they know the flight numbers, which hotel you will be staying and how long you will be there.

Just be careful with the drinking water. Water is main cause of sickness during travel. Ask for boiled water or better yet drink bottled mineral water. Ask the waiter not to open the bottle in the kitchen. Have him open it in front of your eyes. Sometimes in developing countries, they'll give you tap water in a mineral water bottle. If its open when he brings it to you, you better be suspicious.

Hope you have a safe trip! Who knows, you might find a gorgeous girl there and never come back to US. If something happens, I'll dispatch AR15.com Special Ops team to rescue you. Hehehe, just kidding.

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:47:37 PM EDT

[#21]

There were 3,531 homicides in Bogota last year. That's the good news. It's down from 4,352-its high in 1993. It still has a murder rate of 61.2 per 100,000 residents. Narco-traffickers and guerrillas have threatened and carried out terrorist attacks against Colombian officials, foreign embassies and other targets. Expect to travel in fear of violent crime, particularly in the south of Bogota. Tourist areas are infested with thieves, pickpockets and opportunists. The richer, northern suburbs of Bogota have experienced a rash of car bombings. If you survive the 7.5-mile ride into Bogota from the airport, be forewarned that crime is prevalent in the vicinity of hotels and airports. Large hotels, travel agencies, corporate headquarters and other institutions that display U.S. corporate IDs are targeted by terrorists for bombing attacks.

View Quote

Does not sound like a very nice place to visit or work for that matter.

medcop

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:58:08 PM EDT

[#22]

Worse thing about Colombia is the water. Stay away from the tap water down there. bring your own bottled water. Their water is like water in mexico. I only drink it with lime though.

Posted: 5/7/2002 7:58:43 PM EDT

[#23]

You couldn't PAY me enough to go to that shithole! Entering a warzone UNARMED exceeds my courage. Wanna e-mail me your personal identity data so I can by a million or two of life insurance on you?

Posted: 5/7/2002 9:07:12 PM EDT

[#24]

Good luck, Be sure to let us know when you return.

Maybe you can buy a nice little .45 or 9mm for your TDY out there? There has GOT to be a few floating around out there.

Posted: 5/9/2002 4:26:27 PM EDT

[#25]

Well, 24hrs in and I'm still alive and not kidnapped (in case there is a pool going...) I'm sitting in my hotel room waiting for my coworker to come get me for dinner.
I don't feel like I'm in danger, but I do not feel safe either Constantly looking over my shoulder when away from my room (and sometimes in my room...).
There is a HUGE Policia presence everywhere I have been. Armed police and military along with bomb sniffing dogs.
Funny thing about Bogota is that it really is extremely clean. I haven't seen one peice of litter since I've been here...
So far so good, I'll keep all interested, posted as much as I can.

Joho

Posted: 5/9/2002 4:38:20 PM EDT

[#26]

Do they keep all the blood stains washed up too?

Posted: 5/10/2002 7:13:43 AM EDT

[#27]

Colombia sounds like a pretty exciting place.

In Colombia, crisis management teams outnumber pipeline teams. Negotiations consultants are hired, not to strike deals on leveraged buyouts and drilling concessions from the government, but to procure the release of hostages. More than 800 people are being held captive in Colombia as this ink dries.

Of all the folks killed here since 1990, more than half of them were innocent bystanders. One pipeline near the Venezuelan border was blown up 229 times during a 260-week period. That's almost as regular as the fireworks every night at DisneyWorld.

View Quote

Since you're there with coworkers, just stick with crowds and you'll be just fine.

Posted: 5/10/2002 7:44:13 AM EDT

[#28]

joho, I'd definately procure a sidearm somewhere while I was down there. Shouldn't be to hard. You see any gunshops anywhere?

Posted: 5/10/2002 7:55:08 AM EDT

[#29]

Gunshops?!?! No no. If Joho really wants to get one, someone from the other company ought to be able to set him up with one.

Posted: 5/10/2002 7:59:17 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Gunshops?!?! No no. If Joho really wants to get one, someone from the other company ought to be able to set him up with one.

View Quote

That country is so corrupt I'm sure he could walk into a local gun shop and wave around some Good Ole American Cash and get a dealer to sell him a nice sidarm out the backdoor with no papers.

Posted: 5/10/2002 8:02:11 AM EDT

[#31]

Are the policia and military carrying long guns? If so, what kind?

Posted: 5/10/2002 8:19:38 AM EDT

[#32]

Bogota's weather should be very nice this time of year. It's cool at that elevation. What do you think of the city so far? I'm interested in going there and my experience is restricted to the coastal area.

Posted: 5/10/2002 9:11:15 AM EDT

[#33]

Take a good look around. That will be America within a couple more decades.

Seriously, if you decide to go out driving in your VW Cabrio and get caught in a traffic jam, the guys rappelling down the hill are *not* there to notify you that you won the Colombian national sweepstakes. It would be okay to run them over with the Cabrio and get the hell out of dodge.

Posted: 5/10/2002 9:27:37 AM EDT

[#34]

I'm not into drugs but I've always wanted to get one good haul out of there for myself and 25 other people to retire on. I'll half the pro....oh, never mind.. Ok 40/60 split...no 30/70....I'll do a 10/90! 1%? [:D] Please!!!!!

Posted: 5/12/2002 5:45:11 PM EDT

[#35]

uh oh joho hasn't posted in few days.

Posted: 5/12/2002 5:58:58 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
uh oh joho hasn't posted in few days.

View Quote

I was thinking the same thing. Come on tell us how things are going joho[B)]

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I have to go to Bogota, Columbia tomorrow...

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