jamaica roadblocks

[RudolfTheRed]

what is the deal with these things? i have heard stories of several people having to avoid them when coming out of Orange Hill. are these roadblocks frequent? and how are they avoided? how do you guys deal with them?
you might be sharing some sensitive information here so if you feel a PM is necessary please do so.
any info is welcomed....

 

[Pipedream]

I've been there numerous times and never had a problem. Of course, I don't push my luck and seldom stray from the beaten path. I've been to a few non-tourist areas as well and was always treated well. You just have to be aware of your surroundings.

Here's the latest statement quoted directly from the US State Department, of course they say the same thing about the city here in the US I worked in for over 35 years, and I'm still here to type this reply.

"Gang violence and shootings occur regularly in certain areas of Kingston and Montego Bay. These areas include, but are not limited to Mountain View, Trench Town, Tivoli Gardens, Cassava Piece, and Arnett Gardens in Kingston, and Flankers in Montego Bay. Some neighborhoods are occasionally subject to curfews and police searches. Impromptu demonstrations can occur, during which demonstrators often construct roadblocks or otherwise block the streets. These events usually do not affect tourist areas, but travelers to Kingston should check with local authorities or the U.S. Embassy for current information prior to their trip...... Drivers should make every effort to avoid areas of high crime and civil strife. Roadblocks are sometimes employed by residents as protests intended to draw attention to particular issues and require extreme caution by drivers. The U.S. Embassy advises its staff to exercise caution when traveling in areas described in the sections on Safety and Security and Crime. The Embassy also advises its staff to always keep their windows up and doors locked when driving and to leave enough distance between themselves and the preceding car at intersections to allow a roll forward in case of harassment by pedestrian panhandlers. As a rule, drivers should always avoid contact with large groups of pedestrians."

 

[stasis]

Jamaica is a nightmare, unless you know and trust a family well, and are taken in by them. I will never return.

The Racism, Homophobia (i am straight, but it still impacts one;s vacation), and the constant harassment are horrible. If one travels with a comely female, the problems are tripled.

I choose to travel in places where I will not be attacked for my race, or what my race has done in the last several centuries. I am a coscious person who is a good traveller, and I refuse to have to have my guard up on a vacation 24/7.

Good luck all of you, but the pot is not good enuf to warrant it.

 

[Stinkymutt]

No problem here

No problem here

Ive been to Jamaica a few times and am going again in April. The road blocks are a pain in the ass . But every one I have seen the driver we were with new well before hand that it was coming and we have had to ditch a few spliffs . Dont carry a big ol sack around either , pre roll and carry where it can be quickly accessed while on the road . One bad thing is that the cops are serious about there job and have been very thorough when patting me down and looking in every pack in the vehicle . If there is no woman officer present the men will not search a woman or her "personal" bag. I have no negative comments about any of my trips there , Its a third world country with alot of people in a small area. A person should not expect to be getting off the plane into the lap of luxury . It takes me a few hours of hanging out and chilling out because its a culture shock for sure . After that all is good and Im ready to go out and enjoy .
peace
mutt

 

[RudolfTheRed]

I don't want to land in the lap of luxury and as an America I have no right to degrade someone else lifestyle or culture. god knows my own (American culture) is one of the most intrusive and disgusting cultures of all. i'm sure it takes time getting used to Jamaican culture and that's fine with me.
I think homophobia is wrong and you shouldn't judge people based on sexual preferances, but i am from the southeast and live deep in the country, homophobia in Jamaica can't be anymore rampant than it is here. Homophobia is everywhere. it don't matter where you go.
i'm just trying to figure out how often and aggressively they set up roadblocks and check things. if i want to go up in the hills and find some pot i don't want to get caught on my way back. its even more suspicious being a white guy. thanks for the info stinkymutt pipedream. if anyone else has info please share.

 

[stasis]

Jamaica is unsafe. The pot is mediocre, hit or miss... There is endemic racism, and hatred of anyone who could afford to fly there. Imagine, even if you are a Backpacking traveller, on a budget, the flight you took would feed a family for quite a while.. I am not defending the Crime in JA, as there are many places that I have been to and many that I have not - where even though the people's economic circumstances were not good, I was not made to feel like a piece o' sh*t for even being there. Like it was in JA......

Homophobic, abusive, racist, more Macho than anywhere, JA is not a place I will ever return to.

Even if one does hook up with some Civilized locals (a family, for example) there is always a few bad Eggs watching, with Nada to do all day, excpet plan how to take advantage of the White Person.

Sorry to offend, sincerely, but I worked in Travel for years, and went all over, as well. Not much to report on JA, except Gated Resorts with Barbed Wire and armed guards, and robbery - thuggery - all sorts of hard drugs and prostitution offerred... If one turns down the offer of female company, one is labeled as Non-straight, lol. That is such a no no in JA that it can get you beaten up all by itself, regardless straight or not.

Never again will I waste hard-earned travel dollars to have to deal with Heels, Punks, and A**holes, Male and Female, all around.... A Long Way From Home. No Recourse.

So many other - more civilized places to go, where the pot is better, as is the reception one receives....

 

[RudolfTheRed]

Well I don't plan on hanging out in Kingston or something like that, I plan on being in the mostly tourist areas however I would like to find some quantity which might involve going up in the hills.
There are tons of 'dangerous' places in the United States that are unfriendly to outsiders, however in mostly tourist areas the tourist aren't mistreated. A lot of these peoples livelihoods rely on tourism.
I personally am not scared nor do i care. I haven't traveled North America (Mexico, USA, Canada) alone for 10 years and picked up some street skills myself.
Sorry you had a bad time but I have heard of plenty other people have great times. I had a bad time in Portland, Ore. once and hate it. Lots of my friends love Portland, Ore. It just depends on your experience and what you did.
and again, i live in the southeast. homophobia is more rampant here than you might think. anyone who is gay around here thinks twice about coming out sadly. it was even worse when i was in high school
its sad but its everywhere. i wish all places were as friendly as say San Fransisco but they aren't

 

[Bush Dr]

The roadblocks from Orange Hill are to catch tourists returning from the ganja fields there

Rudolf ... PM me

 

[smoketilluchoke]

stasis- the way you say it "if u find some civilised locals" is as if most people are some kind of animals

this my friend is BS

i mean of course if you go into the ghetto & you are white you will stand out like a sore thumb, but i dont see how this is any different to anywhere else

i mean would you walk through compton on your own and expect nothing to happen or no one to notice??

 

[RudolfTheRed]

hey bush dr. i tried to send you a PM but you need 50 posts before you can receive or send private messages and you only got 27 posts.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

I have been to Jamaica......a few years ago and bought poounds of erb' to make bubblehash with bubbleman....

I won't slate the place......but I did have a feeling that Jamaica was not the best place to take a holiday......I could feel an undercurrent of the locals looking at you in a way that felt kinda uncomfortable.....security is a real issue there.....lots of hustlers trying to find an angle to exploit you somehow methinks....

I much prefer S.E.Asia.....where you can find good weed and the people that welcome you genuinely......

 

[Bush Dr]

hey bush dr. i tried to send you a PM but you need 50 posts before you can receive or send private messages and you only got 27 posts.

And I can't send you one until I have 50 either ..... fuck it ... fly post and delete I guess

 

[RudolfTheRed]

when you finally get 50 send me a line..
it aint like im leaving tomorrow or something.

 

[JerseyDutch]

Hey, as an outsider looking to score 'erb anywhere you are a target. Especially if it was the hood - which inherently has more/cheaper 'erb. If you know where the HIGH traffic spots are, it's run like a biz, and you are safe, but to just show up and expect someone to not at least try and test you is askin for problems.

If I were from Chicago, and was going to NYC, I'd prolly think that I'd get some good bud cheap in E.Orange, or Newark. I'd be right, but if I just tried to 'find' it, I'd for damn sure be tested. I could be on any MLK anywhere, but I wouldn't want to be out of my area and let people know I had fund$ for bud$.

If US citizens understood what the US and the world bank have done to Jamaica and it's people, I don't think that most of them would be able to stomach visiting.

 

[jamaican]

I live in Portland Jamaica,grew up down here but was in the states for 10 years but now I moved back and have been here for 8 months.
Few things I can say about previous post.
The road blocks are almost a daily thing on this side,more so I notice since I've been back.There more checking that the vehicle papers are up to date and your license.Of course there looking for ganja or weapons as well.See the big problem were having now is the locals are taking the ganja to Haiti cause its close and trading it for guns and bring the guns back to the island to sell and turn a profit.There has been a major increase in firearms and the gov has gotten very serious about it.Another reason why there taking the ganja trade so serious now.
I run a guest house so I'm very tuned into the crime in the area and its not to bad here.Parts of Kingston and other areas do have there problems but its not island wide.I get a lot of feed back from our guest that travel the island and its mixed,more good by far then bad but it doesn't matter where in the world you are you have to keep your guard up.It is a 3rd world country and people hustle and do what they gotta do to survive.
The gay issue is very serious here,it has gotten people jacked up and killed.Its the biggest no no in Jamaican culture.Listen to any dance hall song and there's threats of violence for it.Jamaican culture is very closed minded when it comes to sexuality,even to suck a girls pussy and let the word get out could cause serious problems if your a local.
The ganja,I can only talk from my area is crap.I have had the orange hill buds and they are great but the road blocks have made it harder to come by,its turned into its all about who you know.Sorry I can't say about other areas just mine,all I know is I'm dieing for my first harvest so I can stop getting local green.Its only costing me US$18 a quarter lb,not bad but I'm trying to introduce new strains to the area instead of the same recycled crap.Sorry for the sales pitch but if you want to donate to the cause you can hit me up at [email protected] because I can't send/receive PMs yet or if you have any questions about Jamaica I might be able to help you out,remember I'm in the tourism business.
I hope this helped answer a few of your questions,like I said if you have more post up or shoot me a email.
Gypsy,I remember when you and bubbleman where on the island and posted up on overgrow.I wasn't here at the time but if you plan to come back hit me up,you can stay at my place for free! Well almost free,just don't forget the bubble bags lol.I got some of your NL/H and WW going now.
Another thing I wanna say that I should have said before.I'm black,my wife is white and so is my step daughter.They live here and have had no problems,my daughter even goes to the local school and loves it more then the states and she's a Minnesota white country girl.
Anyways I need another rum punch,cheers !

 

[jamaican]

I live in Portland Jamaica,grew up down here but was in the states for 10 years but now I moved back and have been here for 8 months.
Few things I can say about previous post.
The road blocks are almost a daily thing on this side,more so I notice since I've been back.There more checking that the vehicle papers are up to date and your license.Of course there looking for ganja or weapons as well.See the big problem were having now is the locals are taking the ganja to Haiti cause its close and trading it for guns and bring the guns back to the island to sell and turn a profit.There has been a major increase in firearms and the gov has gotten very serious about it.Another reason why there taking the ganja trade so serious now.
I run a guest house so I'm very tuned into the crime in the area and its not to bad here.Parts of Kingston and other areas do have there problems but its not island wide.I get a lot of feed back from our guest that travel the island and its mixed,more good by far then bad but it doesn't matter where in the world you are you have to keep your guard up.It is a 3rd world country and people hustle and do what they gotta do to survive.
The gay issue is very serious here,it has gotten people jacked up and killed.Its the biggest no no in Jamaican culture.Listen to any dance hall song and there's threats of violence for it.Jamaican culture is very closed minded when it comes to sexuality,even to suck a girls pussy and let the word get out could cause serious problems if your a local.
The ganja,I can only talk from my area is crap.I have had the orange hill buds and they are great but the road blocks have made it harder to come by,its turned into its all about who you know.Sorry I can't say about other areas just mine,all I know is I'm dieing for my first harvest so I can stop getting local green.Its only costing me US$18 a quarter lb,not bad but I'm trying to introduce new strains to the area instead of the same recycled crap.Sorry for the sales pitch but if you want to donate to the cause you can hit me up at [email protected] because I can't send/receive PMs yet or if you have any questions about Jamaica I might be able to help you out,remember I'm in the tourism business.
I hope this helped answer a few of your questions,like I said if you have more post up or shoot me a email.
Gypsy,I remember when you and bubbleman where on the island and posted up on overgrow.I wasn't here at the time but if you plan to come back hit me up,you can stay at my place for free! Well almost free,just don't forget the bubble bags lol.I got some of your NL/H and WW going now.
Another thing I wanna say that I should have said before.I'm black,my wife is white and so is my step daughter.They live here and have had no problems,my daughter even goes to the local school and loves it more then the states and she's a Minnesota white country girl.
Anyways I need another rum punch,cheers !

 

[smoketilluchoke]

c'mon now stasis

i know you didnt complain about rasicm

man you from the US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how can you talk LOL

 

[kelt]

Hey, I'm going to spend some days in Jamaica in May and I would like to know how is there with seeds. I want to try my luck by getting as jamaican said "the good" ones from Orange Hill. So is there any problem with having seeds and then going to the States and then home to Europe?

Thanks for the answers.

 

[Payaso]

Jamaica Mon...that WAS the place in the '70s. But sadly like most of the Caribbean it has slid downhill. I wouldn't want to return there,even tho I camped at Strawberry Fields in Montego Bay and had a great time in 1974, that was then, this is now.

Having grown up in the Caribbean islands, spending more than 24 years there, I would highly recommend a trip to California if you want some good weed from the mountains, Mon!

The Virgin Islands were gorgeous, until the hurricanes devastated the place in the '90s. Now it seems to be an overdeveloped cruise ship destination for folks who stopover only during daylight hours.

Now Barbados, there is a lovely island filled with educated folks who love their island deeply.

 

[kelt]

Thanks for all those informations. I've heard that Jamica is not what it used to be back in the 70's but the trip looked good and the price was good so I decided to go. Now I see I should ask/look here first where to go on vacations. So probably next year California will be a place to go.