www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Have to ditto Jsmythe on this. He knows, since I tend to run into him often in these spots . As for the retirement issue, also support the statement it is important to spend time in each location to determine what best suits YOUR agenda. And rent before you buy...

AFter spending a few days in CR two weeks ago...while it was good seeing some old friends and interesting to revisit some of the old haunts...my sideman and I couldnt wait to get back to Panama City. It was worth the extra $100 to change the ticket and leave early. As always...YMMV

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts...

Posted in the International section as well, but just found out Spirit is now fliying to Panama. Direct from FLL. If you buy today, it's $8 each way +tax.

I just landed in PTY and took a quick nap, then walked all around the city. My first-day impression, is that it BLOWS away San Jose. Its a real city with modern.... EVERYTHING... its also safer. I asked the concierge for a walking map and then asked him which areas were safe and which were dangerous. He basically drew a giant circle around downtown and said... This is safe. I'm not going to monger on this trip, but may check out a few "wiggly bars" and other parts of the nightlife.

I just bought a home in Escazu and now I'm scratching my head and asking - why?

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

I'll continue my report... I went to Club Miami last night for a little "ketchy shuby". I concur that the place is great. The women were mostly HOT colombianas with zero attitude. They were all extremely friendly and easy to talk to. The only problem was pricing. It was fixed at $95 per hour or $325 for all night. I swear this morena might have been worth $325 for an hour!!! No... just kidding but maybe for TLN.

I also went to the Grande Casino. It reminded me of the Fiesta Casino in Alajeula, except, there were shit loads of women dancing. I imagine it was a mixed crowd of workers and non-workers. I pinched a very cute girl's ass and was expecting a slap in the face. Instead, she laughed and gave me the guapo, papi rico smile. There were also... what appeared to me to be tons of gays. My gaydar is fairly broken, but it was pretty obvious.

After one night in Panama, I give it a two thumbs up.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

A quick tip, the $95 price at Club Miami includes a $10 commission to the taxi driver who takes you there. You can get around this by asking to go to Niko's cafe in El Dorado, it's then a 1 minute walk to Club Miami. The price will then be $85. If they try to charge you $95 let them know you did not come in a taxi.

Chi wrote:


Well Chi, I know you just convinced Paco to head to Panama on his next trip.

Ill confirm EVERYTHING Jsmythe23 wrote! And add that if you speak spainish and have big-balls, you can get newly arrived Columbians at the dive-brothels accross from the now torn down mercado! If you dont like the on-site rooms, just pass out your hotel address and offer 20$ for a SHORT, and they will happily come by! Also on the very long and heavily female populated ped. mall , it is just SO EASY to find a GF experiance!!! later

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Colorado Dan

Thanks LH, we were wondering if your computer crashed since I hadn't been insulted in a week Ouch, maybe you can sell it to GR.
Thanks for all the info posted on PTY sounds like it would be worth a couple days on the way to MDE. Seems like those of us that loved CR but eventually tire of the trash and filth of SJO really appreciate an upscale, clean city when traveling elsewhere...

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

I am doing a PTY-MDE trip in May.This thread has been very helpful to me.Does anyone know how expensive the Marriot is in Panama City? Thanks.

Marriott is probably about $140-$180 per night.

Panama City is definately a good place for those that want a more upscale experience. Hotels and girls tend to cost more, but it is much more civilized and sophisticated than San Jose. People dress much better, cleaner, safer. It's a great tradeoff for me.

I agree 100%. But there are also many parts of the city where household items, food, clothes, etc. are ridiculously inexpensive as well. My only issue with Panama City is that is really f*cking hot all the time!!!

Well.... I enjoyed the heck out of Panama until an incident last night. I ended up with a chica from Club Miami. We got into a taxi to head back to my hotel. About half way back, a police car pulls us over. He asked me for my passport and tourist card. I told him I only have a copy of my passport. He then told us to get OUT of the car and into his car. There were two policemen.... one in front and one standing outside the car talking into the window. My taxi took off and another pulled up on the other side. While the police was telling me he was going to arrest me unless I could call my hotel and confirm that my paperwork was in my room, the taxi on the other side proceeded to rob us. He told the chica to empty her purse and told me to hand over my wallet. Since I'm in a police car, I told him NO. I will only give him my cash... which was like $25. I asked the police what the Phuck was going on, and he responded by putting a hand on his pistol and waving the hand cuffs in front of my face.

The chica had nothing but some cash in her purse and she handed that over. After the money was gone, the cops let us out and we were left on a dark strip of highway in the middle of the night. Thankfully, a honest taxi driver was still working and took us home.

My guess is the cops were casing out tourists and used the second taxi as a front for robbery. I also thought maybe the chica was involved, but they took her money too. She also seemed quite scared and was calling 911 and the hotel for help. I'm not ruling her out, but weighing the other direction.

My second thought is the first taxi was involved and tipped off the cops, which resulted in robbery.

Either way, I have never had a problem with police in Costa Rica. Beyond getting pulled over for a honest seat belt violation and a small $20 bribe, they have never phucked with me like this.

Tonight is my last night in Panama, as I have a planned flight tomorrow back to CR. The whole incident was soooo unsettling, I don't even want to leave my hotel room tonight. Sheesh... as if I don't have enough safety shit to think about in a town in Latin America. The phucking cops work WITH the taxis to rob gringos. Phuck that shit!!! Who the phuck do I call if I'm in trouble? The police?

Another interesting point, I did call 911 at the end of the incident. The operator politely ask me where I was so she could send the police. I told her that I was in a police car and was getting robbed. She totally understood my Spanish and didn't really know what to say.... sounded very confused and I ended up hanging up on her.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

QUOTE:

"....I did call 911 at the end of the incident. I told her I was in a police car and was getting robbed."

Man..... that sounds a lot worse than even San Jose.

Zebra

The cops pulling you over when you are in a taxi? I thought TJ had some corrupt cops but they never stop taxis.

I have been here in Panama over 2 years...and coming here over 3. This is the first story of this kind I am hearing. I also have to ask...what kind of police car was it? New? I did hear that there were robberies by police impersonators going down. It also sounds very strange that the first taxi didnt stick around expecting his fare. This sounds like a total set up by TWO taxis...and MAYBE a police impersonation. Obviously it is very upsetting...but I dont believe this is the "norm" around here. I personally still believe the police here are less corrupt than my experiences in Costa Rica. And you never know...the girl COULD be in on it. Which in my opinion is another reason I never take these girls out to my hotel. In service is much safer and MUCH cheaper. Especially if you were paying the standard Miami club take out rate of $300+...YIKES.

Sorry this happened to you Chi. I hope you got some license plate numbers at least...or taxi ID numbers that are on all licensed taxis here in Panama. If you got in a pirate taxi or non numbered taxi...you were definitely taking a high risk to begin with.

THis happens in every Latin country I have lived in ...so I wouldnt be quick to say it is MORE common in Panama than elsewhere. YOu were unfortunately at the wrong place, wrong time, with the wrong people...un benownst to you. It reinforces the rules of always watching you backside, dont take all your stuff with you in the street here or anywhere...and shit can happen especially late night or middle of the morning in these countries. Traveling solo adds greatly to those risks. Wish I would have been there with you...because I dont think it would have happened to two people...and I would have people to call.

If there are any details privately you want to send me that would help identify the police...I would be glad on your behalf to at least make a report...both to local authorities...and the US embassy. I'm going there tomorrow anyways. Its in all our better interest to try and track down these people or make noise anyways to the right local people.

Again...sorry this happened to you.

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts...