Medellin Women: The Paisa

Now, for the reason we travel to Medellin: The Paisa (pie-sah) Women;

As others before me have posted, Medellin is not for everybody. Even though the US Government lifted it travel warnings for Colombia in May of 2005, this city, infamous as the former home of the notorious Pablo Escobar and the feared Medellin Cartel, is the industrial center of Colombia and yet, still bears a cautious approach.

Medellin is called, "The City of Eternal Spring" because of its pleasant year round climate (an average of 24C). At 1,538 meters above sea level, the city sits in the Aburra Valley surrounded by the mountainous Antioquia terrain. It rains frequently except in January and June, which are considered the dry months, but the showers are usually in the mid afternoons and only last briefly. (still a good idea to bring or buy a travel umbrella). Medellin, is a proud and modern city of almost 2.2 million people, with an area of 362 square kilometers. It is the capital of the Antioquia department and is widely regarded as the industrial center of Colombia and as a clean, well-organized and economically vibrant community. Its people are hard-working and industrious. Major industries include coffee and flower export, textiles, information technology and household appliances. Medellin has more Internet connections than any other Colombian city. It is also the fashion capital of Colombia. Each year the "Feria de Las Flores" (Flower Festival) attracts visitors from all over South America for parades and conventions. The city's fast and efficient "Metro" is the only public transit subway system in Colombia and the "Empresas de Pública de Medellin" is widely viewed as the best public utility operating in the country. In culinary delights, Medellin is said to have created Colombia's ubiquitous "arepa" - a flat bread made from various types of corn. I find it somewhat bland when eaten by itself but when filled with meats, cheeses or eaten with eggs for breakfast, it can be quite tasty (add a little margarine, a little honey and you have a very tasty alternative to toast). Meanwhile, Medellin's historical traditions are evident in Pueblito Viejo in Neitibara, a squared section of town on top of a hill in the middle of the city (look for the microwave towers surrounded by trees) with homes and shops preserved as they were 100 years ago.
Medellin has a cultural focus on education. It is also home of many universities that serve mainly the province of Antioquia. Among the most important are Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad Nacional, Universidad EAFIT, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and Escuela de Ingenieria de Antioquia.

The Medellin Ladies, affectionately called Paisas (pie-sahs), are seen by many as the most beautiful of the Colombian Latinas. A famous Colombian saying goes: "If you want a pretty mistress, go to Cali, but if you want a beautiful wife, go to Medellin."

Upon arrival, you will be impressed with the modern airport, the quick transit through immigrations and customs, rapid baggage retrieval and availability of transportation to your intended destination. Get ready though, for a 45 minute to 1 hour drive through steep, 2 lane mountain roads that twist and turn in every direction imaginable. If you suffer from motion sickness or do not do well on amusement park rides, you might even want to have some Dramamine on hand as the taxis look upon this trek as an adventure and test of their driving skills, passing other cars on curves with minimal visibility of oncoming traffic. There are also frequent slow moving trucks, busses, rock and mud slides, accidents, cars with mechanical problems, bicyclists, horse drawn carts and any number of other encumbrances to slow your trip. (also, remember this for your departure).

Whether you are staying in a hotel, hostel, apartment or the famous Medellin Mansion run by Aussie Greg and Medellin Bob, you will immediately get the impression that Medellin is a very upscale city, especially the Poblado area. The commercial buildings are very modern and most are less than 10 years old, the residential apartments are very upscale, well landscaped and maintained, the streets are immaculate (they literally sweep the curbs and sidewalks daily), there is an abundance of small and large businesses, restaurants, parks, police are everywhere, people are well dressed, there are almost no touts and very few beggars or homeless people to be seen and everyone seems to have a purpose or destination in mind. There are large manufacturing plants that make everything from textiles to appliances, scores of fresh flower processing plants (70% of the US fresh flower imports come from Colombia), well maintained roads, highways and expressways (autopista).

After you get settled in, you may want to see some of the sights and visit some of the places you have read so much about on various travel sites. You basically have three venues to choose from in meeting Paisas:

Casas-The names have been well reported but on the high end, Loutron, to the low end, New Life, they all offer similar services, just at different prices. There is also very little difference in quality of the line up from place to place and most have similar presentation methods; You enter, sit in a comfortable reviewing area, the girls enter one at a time draped in short smocks, open them to reveal bikinis or lingerie, turn, replace their outer , garment, say their name, ask "com permisso" and leave. It is a great idea to have a pen and paper in hand as there will be 6-15 girls per place depending on the day of the week and time of day. Many times, you have to ask for a second showing or a review of a select few before making your decision. Evenings are best for quantity. Quality is a daily toss-up depending on who is having their period, is sick, has a sick child or is occupied when you arrive. Most of the girls will have had some training in massage therapy but do not expect a 5 star, leave you wobbly kneed with aching muscles massages. Take it as an opportunity to relax and get to know your girl.

On the high end, Loutron, you will find a large facility with multiple indoor and outdoor rooms for reviewing or chatting with your selection. Outdoors in the rear of the building, you will find terraced sitting areas, a pool table, an outdoor thatched roof bar and a sauna. Probably, and this is pure assumption on my part, because it is in the upscale Poblado area of Medellin, you will pay almost double of what you will pay in other casas. Yes, the rooms are nicer, larger, well appointed and clean but the lineup of girls is not that much more spectacular than other casas in the city. My 1 hour and 15 minute session cost me $168,000CP which included two beers and a juice for my selected girl. It was billed on the menu as a very special, deep tissue massage with some oriental name. In reality, the only difference was the type of room we got and the time allotted with the girl. The massage was lame to a fault and the sex was mechanical and uninspiring. No kissing, covered BJ and she was up and dressing after one pop. I looked at my watch and quickly informed her we still had 30 minutes left and she was going nowhere until my time was finished! I am sure there are better girls and experiences to be had at Loutrons but for my money, I wasn't about to go back on another exploratory expedition. YMMV!
Other Note: Do not try to go there on the 1st or 15th of the month. Those are pay days and many girls suddenly get a case of bubonic plague, dengue fever, asian bird flu or some other unexpected malady that keeps them from going to work!

Many of the casas share the same ownership including Abydos, Blue Room, Energy, and others. They are all upscale (almost all have large aquariums filled with fish), have very nice, clean facilities and sessions are less than half the cost of Loutrons (average of $60 k for 40-60 minutes) even if you add in the taxi cost of 3-5K.

On the lower end, New Life, Miel y Canelas and similar, you can get a half hour for 30K, 45 minutes for 40K and an hour for 60K. Facilities are clean but not as upscale. One day at New Life, they paraded out a lineup that put Loutrons to shame. One guy took two and the rest of the 4 of us had no problems making a selection of the remaining girls. We even went back the next day and switched around our selections then had a 3k per person, 4 course meal in the restaurant downstairs and next door before heading out to our next venue. Miel y Canelas (means honey and cinnamon) is a slightly different venue in that the girls are all sitting around in street clothes in a large lounge area. You can sit and chat with them, have the manager send them over to be introduced or enjoy a drink or two before making your selection. The prices are right too at $60K per hour. (as of the time of this writing that is about $27)

For photos and videos from our travels, click here.

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