so i just booked a really great deal to go to kingston jamaica and was wondering on any tips from you guys...i will be there in late march... if anyone will be there pm and let me know...maybe we could meet up...
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Kingston has a well deserved reputation for being a very dangerous town. Are you getting out of there and heading elsewhere or is that where you are staying?
Posts: 1112 | Location: Hailey, ID. USA | Registered: 18 February 2002
well too late now...i am booked and ready to fly....it was a really cheap flight and i have never been....i had plan on staying in kingston and perhaps go for a hike in the blue mountains but not for days on end...unless i take the bus or something and drive to neighboring towns...i have never really been interested in going the opportunity came up and i took it...it can't be be worse than haiti and i go there all the time and my purse got stolen yesterday while i was getting gas so i am sure it won't be too bad...(i pray)
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Wow. You are, for lack of a better word, in trouble (okay, two words) ... I am 6'1", 205, have been to almost 70 countries and the problems I had with the locals, from knives in my side to entering my hotel room trying to sell me drugs, were legendary. Took a bus rude to Negril from Montego Bay and had two drivers get in a fistfight over who saw me first -- for $1, one of them popped the other in the mouth with an overhand right busting his nose wide open ... then, in Negril I had a guy come up to me at the bar, tell me to buy him a drink -- when I said no, he said if I was not with him, I was against him and to watch my back that night ... I alughed him off, but you better believe I was watching my back the rest of the night ...
Oh, yeah, Jamaica is a real wonderland when you go and mix with the locals. Oh, one more fun story. Two girls I know from CA hooked up with two guys there for a week and stayed with them. At the end of the week, the guys would not let the girls go to the airport until they paid their "bill" for staying in the apartment -- as if sex every day wasn't enough of a payment, I guess ...
Read Michael Crichton's Travels ... it will give you another idea of the friendliness of the country ... and please do not be insane enough to go hiking on your own or with another girlfriend ... pretty please ...
Have a good time ... I will say a prayer for you.
AaA
Posts: 146 | Location: New Orleans | Registered: 15 February 2006
thanks for the insight....i would never go hiking anywhere by myself...and i will be careful...but i must say the only times things like that happened to me was when i was home in the usa.
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Chica, there's a reason the flight was so cheap! Me thinks you haven't laid your eyes on the Lonely Planet Jamaica guidebook yet.
Jamaica is the only country out of the 21 I've been to where I would not return willingly. (But I wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place. The Costa Ricans were having a national strike...whatever.)
Seriously though, I won't try to scare you into not going, but you definitely have to sit down, educate yourself a little further and devise a plan of attack. Kingston's not the type of place where you just hop on a bus or in a taxi for destination unknown. And you certainly don't want to walk around (even with someone) if you do not know where you are going. Obviously the tourist areas are safer than the downtown, inner-city ones.
There aren't a plethora of accommodation options either. It sounds to me like you're not staying at an AI, which means that you should start getting an idea of where you want to stay.
The good news is that you probably won't be murdered. And if anything bad were to happen it would probably be a mugging and you said you just had that happen.
no i have not laid eyes on the lonely planet jamaica and i will when i have a chance....thanks for your concerns and advice...guys...but i will let everyone know how my experience was when i get back...from jamaica....
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Couldn't get out of Kingston fast enough. We were constantly harrassed, occasionally threatened, and always felt uncomfortable or in danger. To put it in perspective, I felt safer walking around what's called the "Theive's Market" in Mexico City than I did walking the streets of Kingston. It's a shithole. Sorry. I'm sure there's probably a way to have a good time there, but I'd definitely go in with a plan.
Posts: 4928 | Location: Michoacán | Registered: 27 May 2004
I saw this same sale online you are talking about. So of course I did all my research. Thought it looked crappy myself, but figured there was at least one or two areas to quickly hang out in, and that's all. Stay in a hotel like the Hilton or something or other. Then I looked into other area's and found there used to be a train that went to a tourist city, but that ceased in 1992
For a day or afternoon, exactly how crappy is it to stay in one of the tourist or business district area's?? I've been bothered in just about every North American city I've been too. Got hassled by some weridos who were hellbent into trying to give me drugs while in a restroom in Atlantic City. Compared to those, how much higher and worse is it?
Also, I haven't finished checking it, but there may be flights to the other parts of Jamaica like Montego Bay daily, so that could be an option for you. Local planes probably.
------------------------------ Everywhere's nice if you are just passing through or you have money, it's a different story to live there.
Posts: 97 | Location: Currently West of Tampa, Florida close to the hurricane infested waters. | Registered: 21 February 2006
Once you have completed your trip please let us know how it went. I have a very simmilar opinion as the above anti-Jamiaca posts. I have been to my fair share of countries (35+) not to mention living in the th V.I.s for awhile and Jamiaca is really the only place I have no desire to return to. But, I am a firm believer that every traveler can have an entirely different experiece as the next so let us know how you did there. For your benifit, I hope all goes great! I know when I went there I had wanted to see the island for a long time; but the truth is even with its natural beauty... it is the people that make the place.... good luck and let us know all about your experience!!!!! Hopefully we will hear a new and posative perspective
Posts: 56 | Location: Orange County, CA. | Registered: 17 February 2006
I liked Jamaica, but then I never went into Kingston. I went to the island alone, I stayed in a dirty $40/night hotel in Montego Bay, I wandered the city, and I never had any major problems.
The locals CAN be rude and pushy--dispel any preconceptions about "the friendly island folk." For example, people will come up and tell you a shitty joke or story and then demand a tip for their "street performance". Everyone will offer you something; as I am not your mother, I'm not going to tell you to "just say no"--just be as smart or smarter about things than you would be at home. Jamaica is kind of like dealing with strange dogs... don't let them smell the fear and you should be ok.
If you stick to package tours and touristy roads and just be smart, you can do a lot of fun, safe stuff for 20 to 60 dollars US per day.
----- "You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count." -- Winnie the Pooh
Posts: 33 | Location: Marquette, Michigan, USA | Registered: 27 December 2005
well folks i am back! kingston was G R E A T! i had loads of fun i went to concerts,clubs,strip clubs and the country, on each day i dreaded going back home more and more...the main thing is don't ask "anybody" for directions the bus drivers were VERY HELPFUL..keep direction questions to people that work for the government (bus drivers) i had NO offers to buy any ganja or ganja juice..i caught the bus or a taxi to go pretty much everywhere....THE BUS WAS VERY EASY TO CONFIGURE....if any questions pm me or something....b/c i plan on going back to kingston soon w/some friends...so i may learn more about the city and the rest of the country as time goes on....
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Just want to give a shout out as well for the great time I had in Jamaica, I didn't go to Kingston but I did go to Treasure Beach and Negril, the latter not being my fav because of spring break! I have seen alot of negativity towards Jamaica, so much that I was almost regretting I had chosen to go there after I got my ticket! I had a great time as well. I took route taxis and stayed far away from the resorts. (except for the two days in Negril) Unlike Gaia, I was offered Ganja often and in great quantities! I can really say nothing was better than drinking a Red Stripe dancing on the beach to Reggee as the sun melts into the sea, oh no I didn't try the mushroom tea
Are you sure you went to Jamaica? Maybe you went to the Caymans by accident ... just checking ... as you are officially the 1st person to not get offered drugs while staying in Jamaica ...
I guess you might look like a policewoman
AaA
Posts: 146 | Location: New Orleans | Registered: 15 February 2006
from kingston i went to mandeville,port antonio,yallahs, st thomas all taken by route taxis...for maybe 10$ US ROUNDTRIP for each trip at the most...I DID MEET A FEW JAMAICANS THAT DON'T EVEN SMOKE...and allen i don't look nothing close to threatening...jamiaca gets a really bad rep the people are awesome. and i plan on going sometime this summer
Posts: 114 | Location: florida | Registered: 13 May 2005
Interesting. Sounds like a very different place than where I visited, though that was at least five/six years ago. Maybe they figured out that harrassing/threatening tourists wasn't the best way to promote tourism. Glad you had a good time.
Posts: 4928 | Location: Michoacán | Registered: 27 May 2004
