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You mean they're not supposed to have a patina?

Yes, when I first went to Rio in 2002, I found out the hard way that Ingles is NOT widely spoken, this highly dampened my trip; I aborted it and returned home. Since then I've been with a friend or have had a guide or guides in each place I've ventured. Almost all of my guides, excepting the one I had in Salvador, have been gay and could speak my language as well. So I could very definitely identify with what you wrote regarding communication or lack of. I'd advise against your renting an auto and driving in Brasil unless you've done something like this previously. It's not the easiest based on observation as well as from what others had relayed to me in terms of transportation in Brasil and Argentina.

Oz, I personally what to thank you for apprising me {us} of your experiences and adventures while you're in the various cities in Brazil. Every time I read your reports and view your wonderful pics, I keep asking myself will I be "doin' it" in July/August 2013. I say this because I'll be in Europe for a month in May and early June, beginning in Berlin and ending in Barcelona. The only thing left to do for this trip is to organize myself as a traveler; the specifics have been fulfilled. Again, muito obrigado and continue to enjoy and remain safe and well! Axiom

I am not going to try to compete with the fabulous travelogue OZ has been giving us on Brazil , because I know I would finish 2nd. But I am going to try to show more photos of the wonderful country of Thailand and I will try to add some photos of the beautiful boys when I can. Having spent as much time in Thailand as I have , many of the boys I see are repeats and photos have been posted in the past but I will do my best. I left from Seattle and flew on ANA for the first time. It only takes a short time to notice the difference in service and especially smiles of a Japanese crew vs. a USA crew. No comparison in the level of service , the quality of food etc as compared to DL or United who I have always flown. Arriving into Tokyo was exciting on this flight since they had 40-50 mph cross winds and many airplanes could not land. On our first pass we got down to about 10 ft above the ground and he realized he couldn't make it and poured on the power and went around. I'm not sure how many people in the airplane realized how close we were to a disaster. I was in the first row of First Class(upgraded) and I am a pilot. I was scared. For a few minutes it looked like we were going to Osaka which of course would have been a mess for me in continuing on to Bangkok. After a few minutes I realized from the terrain that we were actually making another approach to Tokyo which the pilot never said anything about. He made it this time (barely) but believe me he earned his salary for that landing. Naturally everything was backed up so my flight to Bangkok was 2 hours late departing but arrived in Bangkok at 1am I am spending 4 nights in Bangkok before going to Pattaya, well actually 3 1/4 because I didn't get to the Hotel until after 2 am. Same Hotel that I posted photos last time so will not repeat , but a 700 sq foot 1 bedroom for $140 a night . That $140 won't get you much in Brazil or a lot in Europe and of course you can get some very nice rooms in Bangkok for $60-80. I think many people who have not travelled extensively outside the USA and especially to Asia may have a feeling that Thailand is sort of a step up from a 3rd world country. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bangkok is a world Class City with all that you would expect to find in New York, London etc. Sightseeing options are numerous with fabulous Palaces, Temples etc . For those who like shopping , the malls in Bangkok compare favorably to any in the world. Movie theaters where the ticket and popcorn and beverage combined cost 1/2 the price of a ticket in USA . There is really nothing you cannot find in Bangkok and that includes boys of any type for a price that is a joke compared to escorts in the USA. Massage parlors where you can get a great massage and a Happy Ending if you so choose for less then 1/2 the cost of a massage only in USA. I took a few photos of the #1 mall in Bangkok ( Siam Paragon)IMHO. Not sure you can tell the level of this mall but no money has been spared and they have only the Best names in Retail here and the eye candy is also great. I tried to show one of the largest Bookstores in Thailand and around the corner was a Maserati Dealership and of course this is on the 4th floor. The last few photos are of the biggest Food Court I have ever seen and there is just no way these photos can truly show what is available here. You could walk here for an hour and never pass the same place again. Also on this floor is a high end Grocery Store with a lot of Western Foods . The last photo to keep you interested is my desert for the afternoon. This young man is actually better looking then the photo. 2 hours with him for $65. It does not get much better.

Thanks for the photos. Brings back some great memories from 2011. Did you make it to the piscinas naturais? Imbassai? The dune ride to Diogo? The fort? Passing glance of Ivete Sangalo? I'd love to read your impressions. The fort at Praia do Forte, the Castelo de Garcia d'Avila is the first real one built in the western hemisphere by the Portuguese to protect their colony. It has been well-excavated in places and partially restored. Some wealthy and super chic come from Salvador rent it out for weddings/private parties. If you had stayed at one of the many pousadas in the village, you would definitely had found "company" The people in town need a modicum of English to interact with the tourists coming from Europe. Driving south from the airport into Salvador is a bit easier than Rio or Sao Paulo, until you get into the older parts of town. Then..not too fun. But heading north from the airport into the prefeitura known as the Mata de Sao Joao is quite easy. Long stretches of open road.

Saying that if the Catholic church is in any way "progressive" on women's rights, then I am, again, Carmen Miranda. Sorry -- meant to say Dame Edith Evans!

Wow. I would say something catty but I am in a doggy mood right now. Best regards, RA1

Obama was capable of showing empathy for others *not* related to him, and of being convinced through reason. This asshat was anti-gay until his own son made it clear the issue now affected him personally. And even then, he "bravely" waited to address it until he was out of the running for VP...

Yes, Anthony, the blogmaster was one of the men who sponsored the tour which I took in 2005 to Santo Domingo. His blog/website is full of valuable information for the traveling gay man. His updates are supreme!

Obrigado! You tried. Perhaps next time with prior notice, for apparently he's busy and or travels a lot. He failed to answer my query of him which I posted on Facebook a few weeks back when I thought I'd be in Bahia in July/August 2013. My plans are still in abeyance-- more "no" than "yes!"

Today was the day I had set aside for the trip I have planned my entire faction and that is a road trip to the Praia Do Forte and the Tamar Sea Turtle Project. I know most people have no desire to ride 120 KM in a taxi to see some giant turtles but it was a part of my must see list. I was not able to book a professional tour guide this trip as they either didn't get back to me or they were booked. So, I had a nice taxi driver I liked and he said he would take me for 300R. He does not speak English and thus we had zero communication but I thought he was fun and enjoyable. He is required to have a proper shirt and pants to sit in line at the hotel for a taxi ride but today he showed up on swim trunks and shirt and eye glasses. He was ready to party. We left at 8am today and spent the entire day. He did not rush me one time and we stopped at about 7 different beaches along the way. Each one was beautiful in its own way. Some were small fishing villages and others were more organized and larger communities. I felt very safe in each one and very comfortable. I loved watching the locals do their business whether it was fishing, swimming, riding horseback or cooking. It was just a really enjoyable cultural experience. I wish I had listened to IHPGUY and spent a few days out there just on the beaches and doing nothing but soaking in the sun. Had I had his vast knowledge, I would have done the trip differently and most likely would have booked a small hotel on the beach and just enjoyed my time there. The Sea Turtle project was great to see and I really enjoyed it. They save thousands of turtles every year and I had a big smile on my face the entire time I was there. The village the sanctuary was in looks great. Lots of shops, stores and restaurants. We ate at a local little cafe and had a typical Brazilian lunch. We then kept going farther up the beaches. I enjoyed seeing the surfer boys, the families all laying in the ocean and the fishermen. It was a full day today! Summary for Salvador: Like others, I have found Salvador to be a real treat. It has become one of my favorite cities in Brazil. I love the people and the atmosphere and the beaches can't be beat. I liked the Mecure Hotel here. It was clean and great room service and good breakfast. On the street as the hotel were tons of little restaurants. They were not so cheap but they were divine. I found one that has lunch specials for 27R - 32R and I ate there every day for lunch. Getting around is hard if you don't speak the language. Most likely, next time I am here I will get a boy to travel here with me. I need someone from Brazil that can speak both English and Portuguese. It was my plan for Fortaleza but as I was sick, I didn't find anyone. The city is cheap depending on what you do and where you eat. But, the taxis take a while to get from one place to the next. Next time I might get a rental car and do my own driving. The boys here are divine and they have great bodies. Each morning I was up early watching the boys run on the beach, play ball, swim, etc. It is a very active city.

Last year Obama was against gay marriage. He changed his mind and is now a hero. Portman has a change of heart and nobody wants to believe it, just because he is Republican?

I liked these two surfers from today and their group let me take some photos of them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day ​ ​

I went to the Barra Lighthouse today. It is at the end of the Barra peninsula and housed inside an ancient Portuguese fort, Barra Lighthouse (Farol da Barra). It is a prime spot to view the spectacular sunsets and views across All Saints Bay and to watch the boats go by, sailing boats float and men out on the rocks fishing for food. I climbed to the top of the lighthouse (10R) and saw the museum and took some time for some photos. It was very enjoyable. Inside the lighthouse and youll find a small museum filled with maps, charts and artifacts many of which were recovered from sunken ships transporting the slaves during the colonial period. There were several beach areas nearby and I enjoyed watching the families play in the waves for a bit. But, it was getting a bit rainy and wet so I headed back to hotel for rest. At night, I decided I at least wanted to see a few of the saunas. I also had to go to Citibank before my trip to the Sea Turtle Sanctuary tomorrow. So, I hired a driver for the night and took off. Thermas Olympus | Rua Tuiuti, 183 | 71 329 0060 Olympus is small, quiet, basic, and has astonishingly beautiful boys who give great massages (and other delights). It isn't packed, though, so you can basically have your choice and even negotiate the rate. Tonight when I went, there were only 3 boys there. 2 were extremely hot but the owner wanted me to leave all my clothes in the locker and with only 3 people there, I wanted to keep my wallet and money with me. It was not going to happen, so I left. There was no fee to look around and see the boys. They did make clear this this was not a sauna but a house of prostitution and the boys were working boys and they wanted customers and not lookers. LOL Planetario 11 | Rua José Duarte, 11 | 71 3321 4511 | http://www.planetario11.com.br/ This club, known to locals as simply P11, looks unassuming from the outside but inside is a huge sauna packed with working boys they say if you can't get laid here, you can't get laid anywhere. Stick around for the shows and other entertainment, ranging from drag to strippers to DJs. Tonight was a Saturday night and there were about 35 boys there. 90 percent of them were very dark black boys. A few lighter color guys and 2 twinks. The vast majority of guys had 6 packs and were beautiful. The average age was 22-28. I talked to about 8 boys and none of them spoke English. However, they were all nice and friendly and loved to show me their massive cocks. All said they were not gay. 5 of them said they were both Active and Passive. The two twinky boys were both active and passive. LOL The place is big and it comprises 3 levels with dark rooms, movie rooms, a big theater screen, a bar and several relaxing rooms and one smoking room. There were plenty of customers there. The place is hard to find so before you go print out a map for your driver as most won't find it easily. In fact, when you go anywhere in the city, I suggest you mark the spot on a map to show them. Not one taxi I have seen has GPS and they are not like the Sao Paulo taxis and just roll down the window and ask where something is. They just keep driving and driving and trying to find it. The area where the saunas were is far away from my hotel and not in as nice an area as the tourist area. But, I never felt uncomfortable. However, I did keep the same driver for the night. He drove me to the Citibank and then to a few of the saunas. The cost for the night was 100R.

So today was a slow day. I started off by going to MBK and for those of you not familiar, it is a large mall with mostly small privately owned shops. Not many big Corporations here except for Fast Food and Banks. The whole 4th floor is nothing but phones and accessories and computers . You can easily get a headache hear . Its like being in A diamond center where everything looks the same after awhile. But a great place to find covers for your mini iPad or your iphone 5 and about any other phone you can imagine. I bought a few Iphone covers as presents and then headed back to my Hotel arriving just before the Thunderstorms.. I tried to find a date on Gayromeo but everyone I wanted was working. Thats the problem in BKK, many of the boys have real jobs and can't just leave to get paid for Sex even though the hourly rate is probably 10-15 times what they are making. This does not happen in Pattaya where most of the boys on GayRomeo are either working at GoGo Bars etc or just working GayRomeo. The Thunderstorms cleared out so I headed out alone to Soi Twilight . Unfortunately my friend from the previous night was at the Hospital where his baby had come down with the Flu. As you can see from Mike's posts this is a bad flu and very dangerous for babies. I planned to stop at the Open Air Bar as you enter Soi Twilight and try to entice the adorable waiter for fun. Unfortunately I was right and he wanted my friend who is 40 years my junior. I understand but he will learn where the money is and I expect the next time in a few months I will become more attractive to him. LOL I just did not feel like 300 baht sodas so I walked down to where Super A is . Super A is what is called a Sleaze Bar and I will leave it to your imagination what that means. They used to be on the 2nd floor but have moved to the first floor. Really has never been my kind of Bar but I have a good friend who always wanted to visit and is a very visible poster here so I would go with him. And I have to admit there were always 1 or 2 diamonds there but they were either of questionable age or were not Thai. So it was an eye candy place for us and of course some groping and kissing etc. I had not been back since they moved downstairs and the place is much smaller now. They had 12 boys and I can honestly say they were the worst group of boys I have ever seen in Thailand. And it is very very dark in this bar so I am afraid to imagine what they would look like under better light. There were definitely no Diamonds in this bunch. That was enough for me and headed back to my Hotel where I figured I would find a boy on GayRomeo. Now there are hundreds of boys on Gayromeo at almost any time of day. I have become quite good at narrowing them down to where I usually get what is in the pictures rather then someone 10 years older or not looking any thing like the photos. I narrowed it down to 2 possibles and made offers only to find out they were both at jobs and did not finish until 2am. One was a receptionist at a Hotel and the other a Bar Back at a late night restaurant. Really sucks because they both spoke pretty good English because of their jobs . That is just too late for an old guy like me. One promised he would come in the morning at 10am but he probably won't wake up. I am ready for Pattaya where I rarely need more then 15 minutes to find a suitable boy at any time of the day and I do mean at any time. To be continued. 1 more night in Bangkok and then on to Pattaya. Sorry no photos, I will do better in Pattaya.

Continuation of Day 1. Continuing on I met an old friend and we went out at night with the first stop Soi 4 . For those of you who don't know this is a gay street but without any GoGo Bars. Restaurants and Bars and it has changed drastically in the last few months. More new restaurants and a Club with live music and even a massage parlor. We were pretyy early so could not sample the live music but I have heard it can be quite good. Always a lot of energy on this street and a perfect way to start the evening. Then it was on to what is known as Soi Twilight where most of the GoGo Bars in Thailand reside. The price of drinks at these places have caused many regular visitors to look for other opportunities but for the first time visitor it is a must. Many bars have 30 or 40 boys and one has over a 100. Numerous bars have live Sex show sand if you have never seen one it can be fun. The surprise this evening was as you enter the Soi on the right there is an outside Bar not Go Go and tonight we got stopped by the most adorable waiter and even better then that a great personality and smile. I have walked by that bar a thousand times and never stopped. Tonight we spent quite some time there and we discovered more boys working there that we knew previously from GoGo Bars. The drinks are very reasonable by Gay Bangkok standards . 60 baht for sodas and drinks and I think 120 baht for Booze and my friend said the drinks were doubles. We probably spent over an hour there and with drinks for the boys and tips for the 2 cutest , I spent 700 baht about $24. The adorable one is on my radar . Unfortunately I think he liked my friend a lot more since he is 40 years younger. But I will be trying. After that we proceeded down to Classic Boys Club where I had read the stable of boys had improved and so worth paying 270 baht or $9 for drinks. We walked in and the show was in full swing with 2 boys walking around in the audience coupled together if you get my drift. They then proceeded to remain coupled on some trapeeze rings . Very educational! LOL After the show about 30 boys came back on stage and there was something for everyone , including Fem boys , Masculine, Straight (maybe) etc. Some very attractive boys. Now it was time to go to sleep since I am seriousy jet lagged. Will be back with more when I have someting interesting. And for those of you who have never been but want to go there is a lot more information. on http://Gaythailand.com