Editorial Note: In April, I took a month off in Medellin. For me, this meant an interesting and diverting month. For you, this means 30 days of posts about my vacation. I’ll try to make them somewhat amusing.
Colombian prices are strange. First of all, this is not a cheap country. The cost of living is lower than the US, but we’re not talking Bolivian price levels, here. (As a rule of thumb, I hear it’s about the same as Argentina.)
Table
Here are some examples (assuming an exchange rate of 2000 pesos to the dollar, and for Medellin):
| Short cab ride | $2.50 |
| Long cab ride (30m) from MDE to Medellin | $35.00 |
| Professionally laundered shirt | $5.00 (!) |
| 350g white bread | $1.25 |
| 500g dried pasta | $2.50 |
| Tiny bottle of bolognese sauce | $2.50 (!) |
| 48 Oreos | $2.50 |
| Pineapple | $0.38/lb |
| 100g Serrano Ham | $7.50 |
| 1L (bad) OJ | $3.00 (!) |
| Block of cheese | $5.00 |
| 6 Babybel cheeses | $10.50 (!) |
| Food court meal | $7.00 |
| Nice restaurant meal | $20.00 |
| Mega-gouge Parque Lleras meal | $45.00 |
Note that I wasn’t trying to economize; I ate where I felt like and shopped where it was convenient. You could probably do better if you wanted to. That said, what strikes me the most is the huge variance in difference from US prices. If you like stuff that’s not popular here, you’ll pay a lot for it. OTOH, if you like steak, you’re in luck.
USB
The one area in which Colombia comes out way ahead of the US is on the prices of USB cables. I’ve always suspected that these things were extortionately priced, and now I have proof.
By the way: gas costs about the same here as it does in California. It would be interesting to know why that is; refinery capacity would be my guess.
