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As a long time fan of Phare Ponleu Selpak non-profit school and their social business extension Phare Circus, please allow me to respond to PeterRS. Phare Ponleu Selpak is a local, grass-roots non-profit association founded by guys who were refugees during the Khmer Rouge. In the refugee camp, an art teacher from France used drawing as therapy. After the war, they opened the school together to use art therapy to heal the community. Art therapy is still at the core of the association, but it has grown to provide other arts related experiences, education and opportunities. The students come from unimaginably difficult social and economic backgrounds: abject poverty, subsistence farming, broken homes, etc in an impoverished country still recovering from near genocide. They discover and develop talent at the school, and some go on to careers at Phare Circus that didn't even exist in the country before. The world-class entertainment organizations you mention certainly set the global standard for circus arts, but the comparison with Phare is apples to Rolex. Chinese circuses are enormous productions with equally enormous budgets. Performers are recruited from all over the country. Cirque du Soleil is equally big-budget and recruits top circus performers from around the globe, including one from Phare who was in the production "Volta" before the pandemic closed them down. Phare performances are nothing like those you mention in terms of technical perfection and budget, but Phare performers bring something not seen anywhere else. They share their own life experiences in the performances. They create the stories themselves drawing from recent Cambodian history and modern Cambodian society. It's from their hearts because it's their life. The big top is intimate and the artists are within arms length. You make eye contact and see them sweat. They might even end up on your lap. It's an experience unlike any other. It's even more moving when you consider where they came from and what they have accomplished. Many had never left the rice field or their small village. They may have never had money to buy land or build a home. Now they shine on stage and earn a good living, literally transforming their lives. If you have 30 minutes to learn more, Al Jazeera did a documentary called "Cambodia: Circus of Hope". It's perhaps the best 30-minute sharing of the Phare story and it's impact on lives.

Thanks for sharing those pics. I'm definitely now going to be researching Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars. I've attached some pics from my Vientiane trip. I'll try and take some more interesting pics in future as hope to contribute more to this forum.

No recommendations for Thai cuisine? i recall PIC Kitchen from many years ago, in a soi off the northern part of Second Road. Much more expensive than the usual but beautifully served traditional food- much of it unusual to me- in two salas. Reminiscent of The Good Earth in Chiang Mai , that some of you may know. But better food, I think. When I was last in Jomtien (one year ago almost to the day), there was a sign near Theppasit announcing a re-opening nearby. I hope to keep my promise to take P there one day.....if it does indeed open, something that must be questionable in present circumstances.

My all time favourite is Cafe Des Amis, pricey but well worth it for special occasions, plus my partner loves it and he really looks good when he scrubs up for the visit. I rate Au Bon Coin, it has the feel of a French country restaurant. I always say I will leave room to enjoy the cheese at the end of the meal but I have never succeeded. Suggestions I really want to try. When we were in Jomtien at Christmas we drove out to have lunch only to be told on arrival it was booked out for a private party. I have had a couple of good dinners at Patricks. I had steak both times so I can't comment on other dishes. For a cheaper dinner we enjoy Robin Hood on second road and also rate Yupins in the Jomtien Complex

I receive my second shot at the end of the month. I cant wait to finally visit my favorite restaurants again.

Sorry to tell you that Akvavit shut down many months ago and shows no sign of reopening (Jomtien beach road, yes?). My two favourites are Natan's, opposite Jomtien Complex, on the road down to the beach, and Au Bon Coin. My favourite Italian was Carpaccio, opposite Natan's, but sadly that closed a couple of months ago.

Thanks ResponsibleTourism for bringing out some issues I was not aware of. Please be assured I was not comparing Phrae to Cirque du Soleil or the famous Chinese Acrobatic troupes. As I pointed out, such a comparison would be "horribly unfair". After all, a Cirque show in Las Vegas usually takes three years during conception, evolution, rehearsal and construction of special theatres. I will certainly watch the Al Jazeira programme. I do think, however, that given everything you say all performing artists from whatever background have somewhere deep inside them a desire for a form of perfection. It is perfectly possibly to maintain the core values of the company and the acts/scenes based on their personal experiences when at the same time bringing in a little more experience in terms of, for example, lighting. You don't need lots of light units. Just a little more creativity which enhances the performers. After all, this is precisely how the Chinese acrobatic companies developed over time. From small touring groups on minuscule budgets with a minimum of presentation, they looked at what others were doing in other parts of the world and gradually developed a whole new set of skills. Phrae is clearly ambitious. Hence the desire to be in the Guiness book of Records. So why not have a much longer term goal that embraces training, local culture, history, individual stories and skills, and quality of presentation? Just my thoughts. I remember when I was in Siem Reap, I was taken to a silk factory where girls from dirt poor families were trained in all the skills of silk making from cultivating mulberry leaves to weaving the finished products. They could have produced an average quality of silk and no doubt the public would have purchased it at local markets. But the foreigner who had set up the factory believed these girls deserved better and higher wages. He was determined that they have an environment where they could develop their skills to the point where the silk produced compared to the best almost anywhere in Asia. It was wonderful quality and I bought quite a lot.

From all the restaurants I've been to in Pattaya, Poseidon is the best and I've returned several times each trip. Their special evenings, like the gourmet and the 16-dishes dinner, were always fully booked. During my last trip, I even stayed in the Poseidon Residenceabove the restaurant. But I prefer Agate hotel. Chef Bart is from The Netherlands and has a mix of European and Asian kitchen. Delicious!

I hope you will also consider visiting Luang Prabang the old royal capital. It is a fascinating small city that is now a Unesco World Heritage site.

Life in Asutralia is mostly back to normal, with the exception of no intl' travel. Bars are open, and large gatherings and events are starting again. Mardi Gras in Sydney this weekend went ahead, but in a more limited format and a little less of a party vibe. We had a few outbreaks in 2020 where we went into lockdown with travel restricted between states/regions, people mostly followed the rules, and with quarantine for inbound travelers we managed to avoid widespread issues that a lot of other countries had. Our issue is now that countries supplying the vaccine are withholding our supply because we are not in as dire a need, kind of understandable but still a bit frustrating to be penalized for doing things right.

Gogo bar will continue to exist but currently, the one that focused on getting the crowd to come to the bar are the one that will survive. Tourists especially still want the gogobar experience, having fun in the bars, showing off they had money, having multiple boys surrounding them. I for one prefer to go to bars perhaps with friends or forum members instead of scrolling through profiles in grindr etc. I did that back home where we dont have access to gogobars and where i have more time to through the whole process of chatting and arranging a meet. For long term visitor and expats as well as those who are spending wisely, apps are definitely more attractive offers, although your continued success might be fueled by bar closure and lack of customers in bars too. And covid seems to also increase the amount of guys entering the scene as well. Though its undeniable that apps popularity does impact gay bars survival in many places around the world and have been replacing the dating/hook up scene at gay bars pretty well.

The beggars Moroccans could feed us well with their sperm. And no one would be offended.

I love the bars because I like looking. I can find guys on the Apps but it is not as enjoyable for me as a night walking around and looking at GoGo boys. I guess this goes way back to NYC and Montreal and my love for strippers. It has been something I enjoyed for decades. That said, I do think the sex can be just as good with either group. I see the GoGo Bars as slowly fading but don't think they will be gone in the next few years. I think there is still a big market for it in Bangkok and Thailand in general.

I go to porto alegre for a weekend usually every trip! i really like the city and particularly the Moinhos de Vento area! just today i got a message from 4 guys who room together who all work at Mezziniu sauna(which just got notified today they have to close by municipal decree for 30 days due to covid)who were expecting me to come March 19th but i had to postpone cut to april!

In a word “GO!”. you won’t regret it! i have been twice since late october and going again in March! after seeing the demise of the places in NYC(The Gaieity, Cats, Stellas) Los Angeles(Numbers) Miami (the Boardwalk, Johnnys, i realize nothing last forever so enjoy it while you can! personally i think the same thing will happen to saunas in Brazil...it already has started with Lagoa in SP, when the land/location becomes too valuable to not demolish and build Condos! it is what happened to Splash bar in NYC and the entire block that Lagoa was in in SP! instead of complaint about what was, everyone should be happy what still is(not you personally slvkguy, you just give me a chance to point out some things on the sauna scene!) the cost is the lowest it has ever been, the guys are more then willing! i don’t have to go to the saunas as i know enough guys to have many over each night if i wanted to buy i want to support the saunas as that is where i initially met these guys and developed the contacts! the obviously watch the instagram, FB and Whatsapp postings as i got a flood of messages when i posted i was going to be in Brazil in March, from guys i don’t stay in weekly contact with! i always stay in ipanema it is only 5 minutes and 2 stops on the metro from copacabana from Pointe at Siqeira Campos exit. Ipanema is a little more upscale then Copa, but either convienent to restaurants, atm’s, grocery stores etc

Love the stories I’m living vicariously thru you

Doesn’t work for me. In April I’ll be 3 months out already. What’s the sense of getting vaccinated and testing negative then having to quarantine. I’m over it. Brazil is starting to look good.

São Paulo is likely to impose this week a brand new Phase, Purple, stricter than the current Red, rather than dialling back to Phase Orange. The country’s rolling average case fatality has bumped up about 50% over the past few weeks, also 50% higher than any previous pandemic peak there, accelerating astronomically per capita over the past few days. They cannot build field hospitals with cots fast enough and many infected are dying while waiting for urgent care. These measures suggest many cases will be housed to await death while acute care intervention systems simply collapse. Typically, whatever the rolling CoV prevalence, new recoveries keep pace with new case incidence as the trajectory of new cases increases gradually. Over the past few days, however, the average ratio is 1-to-1.5 ... that metric value is extremely disturbing, as it suggests about 50% more resources needed, stat, to maintain the previous average mortality rate.

I am in Cairo now. There are plenty of guys asking for money on Grindr. None of them is really to Brazilian standard in terms of appearance, so I haven't tried any. Plus, I am a coward, not sure about the law, culture and safety. I guess I am just gonna be a good sexless tourist.