OT: best place for a lone traveller in latin america

PLB · Post by **PLB** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:39 pm

Hello all. I am ready to go on a spontaneous trip for some sun and relaxation. any recommendations for latin america?

what i need are (in order of most important to least)
cheap to fly there
good for relaxation (beaches, jungles, etc)
good nightlife (tech house, electro, minimal music)

I'm planning for this trip to be one to two weeks in length

phillip

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:02 am

Costa Rica.....so I've heard in the general type sense.

You might come back a fan of death metal after spending any decent length of time in central and south america.

Atomikat · Post by **Atomikat** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:17 am

I'd recommend Colombia(South America)...despite all the bad things you've heard about it,( it's all BS**) it's a nice place to go. If you like beaches, can go to Cartagena,Tolú,Coveñas,Islas del Rosario...You can,also, go to Medellín and find a lot of places where to enjoy the nightlife...the Zona Rosa (rose zone) at "El Poblado" has plenty of bars,lounges,disco's,restaurants,liquor stores,etc...the most beautiful girls in the country,The Metro,Live shows,all kinds of music (salsa,rock,electronic,chill out,hip hop,etc)

, nice people,good food,best coffee in the world,thousands of flowers,did I tell you about the girls? hmmm...

just don't go to the jungle (near Venezuela,Brasil and Perú) the bad people is there

.
I'll be there from January 11th to the 27th.
Regards...

PLB · Post by **PLB** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:51 am

thanks for the recommendations

i still haven't decided, it's going to be tough...

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:16 pm

Not sure if its a possibility for you but i spent 3 weeks a Cuba this summer with my family. Amazing people. We rented a car and just had our guide book, and we were able to stay at amazing hotels at for instance a huge lake. I could sit in the top-floor roof bar and watch over the mountains.

Also the hotels at the Caribbean sea sometimes had several bars and such.

For the music? I don't know. Didn't spend that much time in Havana so didn't find any tech/electro bars but the local culture is great

And the weather was great too..

But its definently not cheap to get there from Denmark at least, but its one of the best places i visited ever- But if you are going alone, I don't know.

AND CUBA HAS THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD BTW

Really. Its amazing. And the cigars.. And the Rum... AND the girls at cuba

We mostly stayed at hotels that the local population also could visit but they were absolutely not lacking in terms of quality (of course we didn't go for the cheap ones..), and we also staid at a 5 star one but that was mostly for tourists but still relaxing.

Just my few cents. Cuba is like heaven

But if you're american just give it up

And don't worry, they won't give you the visum in your passport but on a side note so the americans can't know you've been to cuba (otherwise they might not let you in).. Those americans.. Fuck sake. The only ones supporting their shit on cuba is fucking Uzbekistan.. UZBEKISTAN. That shows how much USA is worth in reality

I don't blame the people there though, as i've talked to quite a few americans who also find their government a pain in the a**

edit: not to forget the girls.. again

deckme(N)tal · Post by **deckme(N)tal** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:22 pm

thefool wrote:
AND CUBA HAS THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD BTW
Really. Its amazing. And the cigars.. And the Rum... AND the girls at cuba

Come on Boys...everybody knows where the best coffee is...Italy is the place!

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:26 pm

deckme(N)tal wrote:
thefool wrote:
AND CUBA HAS THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD BTW
Really. Its amazing. And the cigars.. And the Rum... AND the girls at cuba

Come on Boys...everybody knows where the best coffee is...Italy is the place!

Italy is fine, but Cuba beats it according to me (and of course i have been traveling both places

)

the espresso powder i brought back from cuba nearly explodes with a mix of power and creamyness. Amazing

But that said I also have some really great italian coffee (i grind the beans myself usually).

I don't know. But the cuban girls still beats the italians

(since there is a quite big set of different types. All spanish, spanish african etc. )

ekg · Post by **ekg** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:29 pm

I'm currently staying here in San Pedro Guatemala, on the shores of Lake Atitlan, surrounded by volcanoes! This place has a little of everything: interesting Mayan culture, trekking, great food, very inexpensive accomdations... my $12 room has an amazing lake-view, hot water, housekeeping service, steady electricity (110v), and i brought my laptop and a good amount of gear so i can work in peace and quiet. other rooms are as little as $4 a night, but its been easy to justify my luxurious expenditure, 'cause there's even a mysterious WIFI signal coming from somewhere, so i can still be in touch with back home... so I just extended my return date.... again. If you're coming from the US, very cheap airfare can be had with Spirit Airlines. I paid $180 roundtrip from Los Angeles on a sale fare... including tax! However, be careful 'cause Spirit has the worst customer service i've ever experienced, and they don't give you ANYthing during your flight. even water must be purchased with a credit card (they don't take cash). And the worst part, they lost my check-in luggage! I got my bag back 3 weeks later, missing some misc electronics totalling about $350 in value (good thing for insurance). But all this aside, its still been very much worth it, and this is a place i'd definitely return to. Haven't seen much else of the country other than the Mayan ruin site of Tikal (awesome). As for any "scene" here, there are a couple of clubs in town that play electronic music, including drum n bass all night on New Year's. every couple of weeks there's an outdoor party thrown somewhere along the shores of the lake... usually heavy on the psytrance however (but fortunately the last one i went to had a nice mix). If you like psytrance, you'll love this place (and a lot of other "traveler" destinations... I don't understand the phenomena, and its fucking boring to hear the same shit everywhere you go, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico... I call it "sigh-trance"... but anyway....). If you like other electronica, then you need a little more patience... but its out there. Hope this info helps... Adios from my home away from home...
Greg

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:37 pm

Sounds like a really interesting place

How are the people there?

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:06 pm

Just got back from 3 weeks in Costa Rica. If you want me to sum it up best for you, I REALLY would not have had a problem if my girlfriend hadn't been with me.

If you're going solo, you can not go wrong. For every obese person I see here in America, I saw an insanely gorgeous, toned as fuck surfer chick on the beach in Costa Rica.

Luckily my girlfriend is hot so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

I LOVE COSTA RICA.

ekg · Post by **ekg** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:30 pm

(Lake Atitlan Guatemala) The local people are really friendly and helpful in general, especially if you speak a little Spanish. its a cool mixed community and a lot of Europeans and Americans (north, central and south) make this place a 2nd home... many months a year. Then of course you have the travelers who come through for a few days and continue on their way...
And just like SparklePuff's experience in Costa Rica, i really wouldn't've had any problem if my girlfriend wasn't with me! For my girlfriend and I, this was meant to be a working vacation, and we each brought stuff to do (with that inspiring lake-view). we even got to the point of renting a 2nd room, so she could also have a little "studio" of her own... but hey, traveling is a major test of a relationship. We had 3 weeks here together, and now i've got another month on my own (yeeeeeahhhh)... She was jealous at first, but she knows i got nothing done while she was here with me... so she's letting me do my thing (getting back into LIVE, and i even lugged my Novation Remote SL and PadKontrol).... I wanna play a set at one of these clubs before i leave!

C.S. · Post by **C.S.** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:48 pm

Like sparklepuff said Costa Rica is great if you are going solo, or with some male friends. When I moved here five years ago I brought my girlfriend from the states, and have regretted it ever since. Everyone who comes to Costa Rica stays on either one of the coasts. However, the real nightlife scene is here in San Jose. If gambling (some of the best 1 2 no limit games anywhere, but beware the players are very sharp), girls (great strip clubs where anything goes, and plenty of bars with VERY friendly working girls) and good restaurants is your thing, you should spend at least a couple of nights in the greater San Jose area. The electronic music scene here kinda blows. http://www.vertigocr.com/ is about the only place you'll hear anything remotely close to what you are looking for.

If the music is more important to you, you might want to check out Buenos Aires (a European city in Latin America) or Santiago, Chile. But both are much more modern and less third world... and IMO devoid of the local color that makes Latin America great.

If you can get close to a city they depart from http://www.spiritair.com/ has some of the cheapest fares around. However, the service is horrible.

swett · Post by **swett** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:54 pm

I'm new to this forums and i'm from Costa Rica.

So, Pura Vida.

C.S:
Costa Rica is WAY more than casinos and 'anything goes' strip clubs. Vertigo brings many names but there's many other things going on , for example, the lovely Montezuma House party that i used to host every Thursday in the little pacific ocean town. Tech house all the way.
And there's also thing like this:

http://www.manifestogathering.com/

And you can also get lost in the jungle and enjoy the silence...

PLB · Post by **PLB** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:48 am

i've decided to go on a shorter trip (five days or so) and invest the rest of my time and money in my house. so now i'm thinking more a long the lines of relaxation and good ppl. if there' happens to be a great disco around then it'll be a bonus.
these places all sound like a dream, but i'm having a difficult time trying to find flights from slc that are less than 400 and that don't take long to get there (many i've found take around 19 hours or more with the various stops).

spirit airlines doesn't fly out of salt lake unfortunately. i haven't found any deals to beat what's here http://www.farecompare.com/maps/compare ... arture=SLC

It's looking like cancun might be best for a cheap, short stay. plus it's direct flight from where i am.

any other ideas or ticket tips are much appreciated

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:53 am

Oh darn now i want to go to costa rica or guatemala

Well. Once i finished college ill move to South America. Hope there are some software development companies down there then.
Can't stay here in the safe cold Scandinavia forever.. Feel like i need to get out heh