[samson66]

Originally Posted by 7sins

Long story short, my girlfriend and I were in Cartagena, out for dinner and drinks on a Wed night. We were in a nice part of town and took a cab home around 1AM. On our way to the hotel, which was nearby and a nice hotel (Santa Clara Sofitel Legend) there was a police checkpoint with two Colombian police officers. They pulled both of us out of the cab to pat us down for drugs. After finding nothing on us, they told us either we give them all of our cash or they will take us to jail. Corruption is rampant.

The night prior was a bit more scary. We were leaving a bar on a crowded street, sat into the taxi, as I am closing the door someone immediately jumps in, pulls a gun to my head and says "you are being robbed, give me all your cash", then took off with whatever cash I had.

Really ruined a beautiful city and a great scuba diving trip. As someone else mentioned, the only really way to get around safe is with other locals which we did in Bogota. I've been to Mexico City many times, it is one of our favorite cities for food and never had any issues, mostly in Polanco. We just celebrated day of the dead there, wore my Santos and never felt uncomfortable. I've also traveled to 35+ countries and spent many years abroad, I have never felt as unsafe traveling like I do now in foreign cities - or even my own city of LA. Sadly, very scary times.

Wow! When you said you were robbed at a police checkpoint that was sort of what I was thinking. Didn't realize they were so obvious about it though. Thought that sort of thing is done off the beaten path, not right there at a checkpoint. Sheesh!

The other one is even more frightening. You have convinced this gringo to NEVER travel to Columbia, I can promise you that.