Most of my time was spent living in a crackhouse apartment on calle 87A con The area is home to Extasis, Copacabana, and Casanova nightclubs, just to name a few. This area is not even mentioned in travel guides. Most books recommend that you concentrate your time in El Centro, where it is supposedly the cheaper and more comfortable region for foreign travellers. Let me say that this is not the case at all. The center is bullshit. It is scummy and dirty and congested with traffic and pollution.
The real action is closer to the so-called high-priced northern barrios of Bogota. After making your way from immigration at El Dorado International Airport to the taxis and buses waiting outside, take a moment to ask yourself what you really want from your Colombian experience.
If your desire is to live in a bunkhouse shared with 20 other foreigners too scared and intimidated to walk across the street after dark, go to El Centro and enjoy the customized tour described in travel brochures. If, on the other hand, you want the real Colombia; follow me amigo, let me take you there. Tell your cab driver to take you to El Chapinero. It will take you about 25 minutes from the airport. There you can find a cool room with a double bed, hot shower and bath, writing desk, 24hr room service, and easy bus, taxi, or walking to the action.
Expect on paying between Pesos for a room as mentioned above. Flirt with the desk clerk too, that always helps. Next, drop your bags off and get yourself fed at any of the many fast-food outlets that dot the streets. Next, grab a cab and ask him to take you to 85 con From there walk a block and a half north and then turn right when you see the neon lights. The lights come on at around 6 pm. I say go to Extasis first. Just go straight in and order a beer pesos.
Watch a show and enjoy the girls. The girls look for anything over a grand, 50 bucks. The ugly ones will go for less, of course. My advice though is to do two or three beers in Extasis and then make your way across the street to Copacabanas. A one-gram bag is sold to the bars down there at only pesos per bag less than a dollar. You will most likely be charged anywhere from for a baggy. Now, at this point, tell them firmly that you were in some other bar last night and only paid or so, and then they will adjust their price and give you something resembling that.
