Hola Cucuta

[dennislevy]

I ve been in Medellin for a few days and  had originally planned to go to Pereira, hang out with Andy Lee a bit and date a but....but it didint work out.
 
So I headed back out, flew to Bogota and today, I am in Cucuta the provincial capital of Norte Santander. For the vets, if you guys thought Bucamaranga was a jewel...Cucuta is even better, loaded with good looking to beautiful women in the streets! And I havent see any gringos!!!!!
 
The trip from Bucamaranga to Cucuta can be done with a 14 passenger minvan, or plane. a mini van is advertised at  41,000 pesos...
 
Its a 5 to 7 hour trip and although its only 130 miles, when you think of Colombian road miles...they are NOT US highway miles..
 
from Buca to Cucuta is 2 moutain ranges broken up by a flat stretch heading into Pamplona. Its all two lanes, at best the equivelent of a paved county road...and all S and hairpin curves in the moutains. ALL of it!  If you spend anytime traveling by busses or busettas, dramamine for motion sickness is a MUST have...because Colombian bus drivers drive very fast, take curves too fast, pass on blind curves, etc,, etc.
 
Because of the havy rains and flooding , there were road crews out working to build up washouts and there were frequent stops...so 7 hours.   
 
I found a hotel on Calle 11 norte in the heart of the downtown, 9 rooms, 35,000 pesos a night, but no breakfast,  And for 35,000 you get a one unit bathroom, no separate shower, just a nozzle in the wall, cold water  but its clean.....bed is fine and nice big TV on the wall. What is funny, is that some of the working girls in town hang out right next door in a bar......Ive gotten  a few Venga amors...but I just smile and say gracias pero soy viejito decrepito......Thanks, but Im a broken down old guy!.....its my way of saying No to any any hooker and it saves their face.
 
I alos found a hotel called  Hotel Ciclera, two blocks away quite elegant...price on the wall before dickering is 80,00 for a single, 100,000 for a couple, the equivalent of a small hotel in North Bogota on calle 100 that would go for 260,000 a night.  If I get lucky in Cacuta, I ll shift my bags to that hotel.
 
I had a first date last night with a 42 year old dark trigueña with a 12 year old boy, just a beautiful woman.  She s an independent insurance agent, she had lived and worked in Bogota for a number of years and it showed. very smart......friendly, warm, cariñosa but she was prevenida...and I cant blame any Colombian woman for that atttiude. 
 
When we had communicated on Cupid, I had told her that in three dates, we should be able to know if there was chemistry....and she had agreed.  I found out in one.....the dinner from last night....She was VERY easy on my eyes, easy on my wallet...but the attraction was mainly on my part.    We left  it that we would talk today...and I had decided to let her call me.......if she wanted to.
 
She called me this morniing and invted me to lunch at Ventura Plaza CC..she is going to buy me lunch, I accepted, lunch is in a half hour.... It s not common for a Colombian woman to invite a guy out on a second date, thats an understatement!!!!!   There are usually only three reasons for a woman to do it.
 
1.  she s really interested in me. I would love it but I don t think so!
2, She is announcing that she is an independent woman
3. she doesnt see any potential and she s done with me.
 
I m betting it is both 2 and 3...
 
Stay tuned!
 
Have a good day gents!
 
       

[AndyLee]

Good report Dennis, through your trip reports I've come to vicariously enjoy your travels around this country and the lovely women you meet. i am sorry i wasn't in Pereira to meet up with you, I'm in the process of traveling myself and will be back in Armenia with Jacqueline for the weekend then next week back in Valle Del Cauca. I found a beautiful, modern 4 bedroom 3 bath house on a quiet dead end street in a nice neighborhood for 380,000. Things are a little more expensive over that way.
Enjoy your lunch with latina 1 on date 2. I sort of disagree with you betting she is a number 2&3. If she called you and invited you to lunch, her treat, i think that's more a sign she really wants to get to know you rather than be not interested in you. If she was not interested I don't think she would have called you for a 2nd date....just a thought anyway. I hope it works out for you and I know you will enjoy your time in Cucutá. Have you thought about buzzing over to Caracas while you are that close?
take care
andy lee

[Micky]

Don't be negative!! and make a few extra $$ while there with some Venezuelan contraband.
 

Micky

[dennislevy]

Andy and Micky et al.
 
Don t forget......... ive been at this A while!!!!
 
jejejeje!
 
I was spot on in my analysis, the lunch was for purposes 2 and 3!
But what a classy move!
 
She took me to an El Corral and then to a Juan Valdez, both in Ventura Plaza Mall...and we talked even more honestly. She is VERY cautious  not into quick starting relationships...said she had two realtionships....in the 10 years after her divorce...one for 6 years and one for a year...... she confirned what I knew at the first date...but........... the gut reason....she wasn t physcially attracted to me ......we had great conversations, laughed, kidded, she s smart, funny everything I like......but for her...there was no mojo!   Cant argue with that!
 
She offered to introduce me to her friend a 50 year old dentist.....divorced, grown up kid....I asked aobut her friend s personality....and she said fuerte, muy, muy fuerte. 
 
The inspoken English transation for that is....she s a bitch on wheels.
 
But I smiled and said...gracias.....but I think we would both be wasting our time.
 
NEXT!  siguente!
   

[AndyLee]

good call DL....I guess i'm still on the optimistic side of naivete where I think they all love me and can't get enough of me....jjajajajajjajaja....if I wasn't already committed I'd ask you for her phone number:)).....that is, the 42 that wants more mojo, not the 50yo bitch on wheels.,.....hahaha

[dennislevy]

I m getting ready to leave Cucuta tomorrow.

Saw two foreigners here...I bumped into a young German guy twice , about 30, no Spanish....good English and of course German....he was with a woman and her child, I didnt catch a vibe between them...para nada.....he was walking apart from  them on the sidewalk.....he told me that he had come  to Colomba to meet her, but he was also going to Cali to meet one woman......

this was his second trip to Colombia...and to my way of thinking he still had not learnd to be efficient.

The seccnd was an American, saw him at Ventura Mall......my age 58, some bacic Spanish and married to a woman in Cucuta who doesnt speak English.  He introduced me to his wife and stepdaughter  The stepdaughter is 16 years old and smart  and he pays for her education at a prvate bi lingual shchool en Cucuta. She is the translator brween her rmom and step dad...when needed............she speaks very good high school level English.

These are two common situations for foreigners who visit or live in Colombia who dont have any or enough Spanish....Neither is a siutation I ve ever had or would want to have.........

I met one other woman in Cacuta yesterday...we had chatted on cupido in the morning, agreed to meet for coffee at 4 30 PM.............. there was the indispensible chemistry...coffee turned into dinner and we both got lucky......One more night with her and I ll say goodbye to Cucuta....

Very nice city!!!!!!   

[Colgando]

I n getting ready to leave Cucuta tomorrow.

Saw two foreigners here...I bumped into a young German guy twice , about 30, no Spanish....good English and of course German....he was with a woman and her child, I didnt catch a vibe between them...para nada.....he was walking apart form them on the sidewalk.....he told me that he had come  to Colomba to meet her, but he was also going to Cali to meet one woman......

this was his seocnd trip to Colombia...and to my way of thinking he still hadn t learned to be efficient. 

The seccnd was an American, saw him at Ventra Mall......my age 58, some bacic Spanish and married to a woman in Cucuta who doesnt speak English.  He introduced me to his wife and stepdaughter  The stepdaughter is 16 years old and smart  and he pays for her education at a prvate bi lingual shchool en Cucuta. She is the translator brween her rmom and step dad...when needed............sje speaks very good high school level English.

These are two common situations for foreigners who visit or live in Colombia  who dont have any or enough Spanish....Neither is a siutation I ve ever had or would want to have.........

I met one other woman in Cacuta yesterday...we had chatted on cupido in the morning, agreeed to meet for coffee at 4 30 PM.............. there was the indispensible chemistry...coffee turned into dinner and we both got lucky......One more night with her and I ll say goodbye to Cucuta....

Very nice city!!!!!!   

Very interesting with the foreigners you bumped into.

[John W]

Dennis,
 
Only know about Cucuta from one cyber friend there and reading on the internet.  From the one lady I chatted with numerous times, sounded like an industrial city that was not very scenic.  How does the city compare to other Colombian?  Is it somewhat similar to Cali and very different from Medellin or Bucaramanga?

[dennislevy]

Cucta isnt anything like Cali or Bucamaranga, it s much smaller, about a half million people.....it was warn here but about 85 degrees, not stifling.....with one thunder shower.....downtown had six inches of water within half an hour.......and taxis were sloshing  in the streets. 

there are plenty of stores, I noticed a lot of computer and electronics stores.....in the downtown area. There are two nice malls.......Bucamaranga is MUCH pretter and perched on hills and in a  valley......Cucuta is pretty flat.  There isnt much culture here......a fair amount of Internet cafes....there are a few fancy hotels....Th best food I had waS in a restaurant called Londrono, there is a Londrono outlet also in the plazuela de comidas in the Ventura Plaza mall. 

I spotted two more foreigners last night, a Swedish couple, the guy a very dour but polite guy looked absolutely miserable. I chatted with him for 30 seconds while waiitng on line for coffee at Juan Valdez.

This could easily go in the Life on the Lam thread but I ll post it there.  After getting here., I spent about 420 000 pesos for  4 nights, I took  owmen out to eat for a total of 5 meals..  the bargain was lodging 150 000 incluing a lady for 2 nights. I didnt see a lot of responsivemess from Cacuta women on cupido I dont think there is a lot of awareness of gringos here. The two women I met were both outgoing, confident women, 42 and 47....an insurance agent and a family and civil law lawyer., both mothers.....

My reocmmendation is...unless you re a gypsy and like to travel like me.....or you ve got women you want to meet here and have tlaked with them before hand.........

Cucuta no esta vale la pena......

[whitey]

Sounds like Cucuta is just for black market goods and cash between Colombia/Venezuela, and an access point for gringos in Colombia looking to renew their visas by short-hopping across the border?

[dennislevy]

Whitey et al.

Cucuta is a real city, its not like Maicao in La Guajira which is a visual craphole and an economy completely built on frontier contraband.

The stores here in Cucuta are retail estabishments, window displays, lighting...etc. 

Im sure there is a contraband economy.....it just wasnt in my face, as in Maicao....

All in all, Cacuta, is similar to Monteria in Cordoba....but a tad better in variety of restaurants. ...... its not a bad town.. but if I go back, I ll have done more ground work chatting with a woman. A woman would be the only reason I would visit Cacuta again.

have a great day! Are you back in au Canada?

.

[whitey]

Hey Dennis:

Yes, I've been back in Canada for a couple weeks now, enjoying the beautiful spring weather (it's nice not to be sweating constantly), but missing Nazly like crazy.

We had a month together in Barranquilla while she was working, then 3 weeks of vacation together.  We spent 1 week in Santa Marta and camping in Parque Tayrona, then another week in Cartagena and Isla Palma.  Amazing.

Well, back to reality for me ... I'll have to live vicariously through your adventures again for the next few months!

Take care ...