www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Was in CR last week. I rarely go down to the 6th St MP's--For a few bucks more you can go to a decent place in a decent neighborhood. That being said--one morning I walked down there thinking maybe a cheap BJ. Just before walking in the first one a young guy (maybe 17-19) came up saying "my friend what you looking for,I can help". Told him I don't need help. He repeated this after I walked in and out of each place. Then said give me money--I faced him and told him to get the hell away from me. Decided to get out of there, so I headed back up 6th (toward Central). Got maybe 100 yards away when I feel a hand going quickly down my back pocket. I spun around and threw a roundhouse right--missed as he (same guy) ducked and back-peddled. He went into a fighting stance, and I charged him--he turned and ran off. He didn't get anything but just the same--I probably won't go to 6th anymore.....Moral of story--if your going down to 6th--be careful....

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There's a prettier girl every day...

I usually visit Calle Seis on all of my visits, and though I've never had this experience, I can believe it in vivid detail. I have had the cops stop me and tell me to be careful on Calle Seis. It is best visited in tandem, or better, in group.

Don't write the place off based upon one bad experience. It sounds like you can handle yourself, and I doubt the locals will tolerate having a thief hanging around: he will eventually steal from the wrong person and all hell will break loose.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Never liked the vibe in that neighborhood. Sure it has gotten worse.

It is a crack neighborhood. Like all crack neighborhoods enter at your own risk. Calle seis is the bottom of the barrel for San Jose

THAT street cannot be the worse in San Jose. I wander there in the daytime, and there's parts of my own city I won't wander around in. It's a busy business street, lots of hustle and bustle. Easy to get pickpocketed or snatch n run. But I've never gotten the sense of armed thugs surrounding me.

Still, err on the side of caution. Travel in packs.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

I was robbed on 6th street once and never left my car. Lady came up and wanted me to sell her a cig for 100 colones while I was stopped at a red light. I give her the cig and she just walks off

In the day it isn't too bad as there are always police around but the pickpockets are everywhere. When I go into any of those MPs with folks, I tell them keep your hand on your wallet at all times. After dark, stay away from that entire area. I've taken to locking the car doors as I drive through that area at any time.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

Over the years I have been in that area more than a few hundred times. Hell I shop for food in the markets just a block away on calle 8 about once a week and have been doing so for 10 years. Calle 8 is actually a little more dangerous-more people and more with money in their pockets, and fewer police. In that whole area, I have only had (a minor) problem one time. That was on a walking tour several years ago (before the addition of many more police). And the street person actually first approached us a block east of Calle 6 and followed us continually begging for money. I finally told him rather harshly "No nos molesten mas". He suddenly started toward us like he wanted to fight. When a couple of us started after him he took off! No real problem.

Today this area has a very high police presence and, yes, there are still a lot of street people, but they do not bother guys nearly as much as they use to. Pick pockets work the streets all over San Jose just as in any large city in the USA. In fact, according to the police, the highest concentration of reports of pick pocket attempts is within 1 block of the REY and in the Multiplaza in Escazu. Crooks tend to go where the money is and that certainly IS around the REY and the Multiplaza, and is NOT on calle 6! People tend to be afraid of the strange, the ugly, the dirty. People often have a pre-conceived idea of what dangerous areas look like and if it looks dangerous to them, IT IS!!! Truth is anyone can encounter a pick pocket ANYWHERE and there are many places where one is much more likely to do so than calle 6. The only time I had a problem with a pick pocket attempt on the streets here (they got my billfold and camera getting off a bus once) was on Ave 2 right beside the Metropolitan Church!!--a relatively "safe" area??

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

I can't believe guys actually go there to save a couple of bucks. The places are dirty (from what I remember from 2005- first and last time there), cold water (is it running?, i think one place had a huge bottle), and crack heads jonesing on the corners.

Must be quite exciting...

It cannot be defended, Orange. It cannot be explained. It's just ... you want to go there or you do not.

Of course, I know many people back home that say the same thing about Costa Rica. "Why would I want to go there to have sex with nasty, ugly, crackhead women with 50 Babi*s and all kinds of diseases?".

It is. That's it.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Pretty much agree with "Zunbake3" --the neighborhood does seem to give off a bad vibe.......(BD--hope your feeling better..that story was great as well as awful!!!!)

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There's a prettier girl every day...

BB57:

Surprising about pickpockets at the Multiplaza. I go there quite a bit and there seems to be very few people to create a density for pickpocketing, although the food court is usually very crowded and I guess would be more conducive to pickpocketing.

Reminds me of the quote by the famous bank robber Willie Sutton...when a reporter asked him why he robbed banks, he replied "because that's where the money is"

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

funny, guy gives a report about something that actually happened to him.

then gets bombed with, oh its not that bad, its worse here or there or blah, blah, blah.

Phuck sakes he just said, be careful.

a simple thanks for the heads up would have been great I think.

So Tellen thanks for the heads up.

In Costa Rica, if you go looking for trouble, you may find it. What for?

BB57 told me how he got his pocket picked. Getting off a bus and the guy in front of him stopped short. causing BB to bump into him and the guy behind BB to bump into BB. Two man team, second guy picked his pocket. That could have happened anywhere.