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I have not seen much info on Costa Rica here, so I wrote up a report about a trip I took several years ago. I checked as I was writing, and most of the info still seems to be relevant (places are still in operation, etc.) Prices may have changed, of course. I have visited Costa Rica twice now, but haven’t been since summer 2012. I am excited to return next month. I found Costa Rica to be beautiful and laid back, and a lot of fun. The country’s infrastructure is very basic, with a clear division between the poor/older areas and the newer upscale areas. All of the gay attractions I visited were in the older areas. I stayed in San Jose and in Manuel Antonio and enjoyed both. San Jose The strip club Pucho’s has a very standard formula: At 10:00 PM, the strippers all come out in G-strings and dance for exactly 10 minutes. Afterward, you get 50 minutes of drag queens who are actually pretty good. At 11:00 PM, the boys return, but this time fully nude…then 50 more minutes of drag queens. At midnight, the dancers return, but this time with erections, and they dance for 10 minutes. Many clients approach the stage and sample the merchandise (sometimes even with their mouths). If at any time you decide you want a “private” with one of the dancers, you pay the bartender, and the dancer takes you behind the scenes. I did not go, but it seemed that they simply took clients into the dressing room, where other strippers and drag queens were located. Any of those strippers is available for a fee, but you may have to pay a fee to the bar if they leave before the midnight show. Pucho’s is popular among locals, but not just for the dancers. They have a restaurant and a patio and a dark room attached. This was not immediately apparent, because the door is kept closed between the two parts…you must go through what looks like a door to the outside, but is really a door into the restaurant, cut through the corner of the restaurant, and then exit again onto the patio. The dark room and patio are packed. Many types of guys. Younger, older, nondescript, handsome…truly all types of guys go there. There is a brothel in San Jose called Oasis Erotic Massage. You enter the place, and the proprietor calls all the working guys to the front, and you get to make your choice. There are different price points, and the proprietor explains in Spanish that everything is included including oral, or penetration if you go with the more expensive option (you also get a nicer room). You basically pay $25 or $40, depending on what you want, and that includes the use of a room for an hour. Despite the very explicit assurances by the guy who runs the place, the guy I went with (a handsome and friendly 19 year old from Honduras), tried to get more money from me for basic services. I wouldn’t say it was a great option, but a few of the guys were at least young/cute/fuckable. The better place I found to look for escorts was on craigslist or on the Spanish language websites that offer erotic services ads, or on Grindr (I apologize, but I can’t recall the specific website that had many ads for escorts and massage). On this next trip, I will also try Planet Romeo. I had a lot of luck simply going to bars and meeting people. Ticos are friendly and approachable, and gay tourists are enough of a novelty to garner some attention just by their presence. Late one night, after exiting Pucho’s and getting into one of the many waiting taxis, the driver asked me if I was looking for a boy, because he knew a place where lots of hustlers hang out--Parque Nacional on Av.1 and Calle 19. He said that any of them would be very happy to do anything I wanted for $20, or they would stay the whole day/night for $40. I had already arranged to meet someone at my hotel for massage and oral ($20), but I took his card and he promised he would take me there the next day. Unfortunately, with the janky cell phone service at that time, I could not reach him the next day, despite trying about 20 times. I got a message each time saying the person you are trying to reach is out of the area or unavailable. I did call a regular taxi and try to drive past the park the next evening, but the driver did not speak English, so rather than explaining what I was doing, I asked him to drive slowly past the park because I was looking for a friend. After one trip around the block, and not seeing any likely candidates, I told him to circle back and I would get out and wait for my friend, and he immediately responded with alarm, “No, no, no. Muy peligroso! (very dangerous)” This was something I encountered several times in San Jose: warnings from the locals to never walk anywhere downtown after dark. Always take a taxi. Even for a trip of one or two blocks. I didn’t spend enough time there to gauge if these warnings were overblown, because I figured it was probably better to be safe than sorry, and I took a taxi everywhere. And one final note on the taxis: three of my taxi drivers let me know very plainly that they would be willing to fuck for a little money, and I got the feeling that several others would have been open to the idea. Manuel Antonio Manuel Antonio has a reputation as a gay destination, but the reasons for that seem to be historical (there used to be a popular nude beach, but it has been shut down because a hotel was built overlooking the beach). There is a gay hotel that I enjoyed very much (Hotel Villa Roca: https://www.villaroca.com/ ), but the area has very little to offer in the way of sex tourism, at least that I could find. It is pretty much a beautiful jungle paradise, with an amazing national forest where I saw sloths, toucans, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and a beautiful but very poisonous golden eyelash viper (oropel). The tour guide I hired through the desk clerk at my hotel turned out to be a fun and friendly gay bear who came onto me, but he wasn’t really my type, so I passed, but I did enjoy his tour very much. There were two guys in the area offering massage, but it was clear that it was legit/therapeutic massage, and the desk clerk acted completely scandalized when I asked if there were any guys who offered “extra” service. He shouted at me, “NO!” and said there was no way any guys in the area would do such a thing. This despite the fact that I was hit up by a few guys on Grindr, so I knew very well that there WERE locals who were willing to provide services for a fee. Most of those guys live in the nearby town of Quepos, so expect to pay for their taxi to your location if you stay at Villa Roca or one of the resorts closer to the national park. There were multiple other clients staying at the property. They have a happy hour each evening at the pool, and that offered a chance to hang out with the other guests, who were mostly from Mexico and Costa Rica, or from other Central and South American countries. I got the vibe that the very handsome bartender would have been available for pay. One last note about Manuel Antonio/Villa Roca: After I returned to San Jose, I happened to see one of the owners of Villa Roca at a bar with an attractive, much younger guy. So, if I were to return to Manuel Antonio, I would be more likely to ask the owners of the property about the availability of rentboys, rather than the officious desk clerk. Or maybe hire someone in San Jose and take them along if you want to be sure of companionship.

Does anyone know of this place? I just found them today and I like a lot of their guys. Any experiences? https://www.facebook.com/Big-Hands-Massage-107619074405402

Of course, I really want to blow it all on in Brazilians Saunas and Thai gogo bars, but I need that damn vaccine! If I thought standing outside a vaccination site and whining like a lost puppy would help, I'd consider it. Wouldn't be much crazier than this last year, would it?

Like TotallyOz I read a lot. So permit me to add two other books that opened my eyes - literally. After my first visit to Istanbul, I became fascinated by the Byzantine Empire and the whole history surrounding that part of the world. The Crusades played a major part. So I started by reading Steven Runciman's early 1950s three-volume history (surprisingly readable!). At school, I was taught that the Crusades were the virtuous Christians attempting to take back its most holy site from the heathen Muslims. And that was about it. In fact, they were a huge blot on the history of Christianity. Many more recent accounts make this clear, including The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf. This finally helped me put all those centuries into a better perspective. On a totally different tack, I am a classical music fan and love much of Wagner. Brigitte Hamann's masterly biography of the evil Winifred Wagner, the 17 year old Welsh girl who became the wife of the 45 year old gay son of Richard Wagner, Siegfried, Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth is utterly fascinating especially from an historical view. No one was a more dedicated Nazi than Winifred. That she was in love with Hitler is certain. That he was in love with her is equally certain. Whether they ever consummated that love remains debatable, but it is likely. Even after the end of the war, Winifred never wavered from her adherence to the Nazi cause. Her family kept her out of the public eye, but in a tv documentary made about her life in the 1970s she renewed her dedication to the cause of National Socialism. Even on camera she seems proud to present herself as "the only Nazi in Germany."

I'm guessing the Stella lovers mean Stella Artois, the Belgian beer. Stella beer without the "Artois" is brewed in Egypt. It's not for the timid, as every bottle is different. I drank it occasionally when I lived in Egypt, but only if there was no other option. The company has been sold since I lived in Egypt, so I don't know if their quality control has improved lately. It has been brewed under the Stella name in Egypt since 1897. The label on the right below is the new version since being sold.

Bogotá is mostly open. Relaxed highest restriction level early Feb yet CoV case incidence declined. Many concert halls and cultural attractions opened this month. There may be some restrictions but I am pretty sure venues can operate to 23:00 if not later. A big tourism trade show is on in a few weeks. Crude daily mortality rate for CoV wrt to population is about 1 in 400,000 Probability of at least one contagious carrier in the city, among any 10 persons, is 6%; 25 persons is 14%. The large scale revival of freedom may eventually yield some degree of resurgence in new case incidence. Vaccination uptake will need to outpace the P1 Amazon variant. Much of the plan is the substandard CoronaVac. Travel now in the short term may be opportune, but Avianca has curtailed many routes. Theatron is still only streaming music so I do not know the lay of the land for bar and club establishments. It needs large volumes to turn a profit and younger people in particular may have taken a hit financially.

Many years back, I think around 2000, I met this guy named Hooboy at my NYC apartment. He ran the Male4malescorts website. He came to my place for a party. I had around 20 plus sexy models from NYC around and he was fascinated at the guys. We became instant friends. I had started building code to make a competing site (the maleescortreview.com) but meeting Hooboy and becoming friends, caused me to stop building the site and become friends. We traveled to Brazil together with my boyfriend at the time and then to Asia. We had a blast. I participated in his message board and was an avid poster. On one trip to Bangkok, Hooboy introduced me to Stef. I fell for him instantly and a few years later, we started gaythailand.com together. Hooboy died in Bangkok. I was with him the night before he died. I was in route to USA when he passed. As soon as I landed, I heard the news from his BF. I jumped back on a plane and headed to Amsterdam to meet the BF and help him with the apartment. Stef met us there as well. The webmaster at Hooboy's website and others wanted to take the site from Hoo's family without compensation. They didn't even want it to go to the BF who he was with for a long time. I offered a 6 figure sum for the purchase of the site to the family. They did not know the value of the site or anything else when this happened. It was a bit of a mess. The family allowed the webmaster to continue to run the site with them receiving all revenue for a while. After this, I started up the Male Escort Review site. I have attached a few screen shots here. This was what was on the site I believe around the early 2000's. GayThailand was sold and I continued to run MaleEscortReview. After several years, I changed the name to Boytoy.com It was a name that I thought would be a better fit and easy to remember while the new owner, Firecat ran the GayThailand site. Firecat and I were friends about as long as Hooboy. We met in Montreal when I was on a trip there. I traveled to Brazil, Thailand and other places with him. He was a good man who was good to me. He ran the site with his BF for years but when they broke up, he needed more help with it and eventually lost interest. He was going to close the site and the forum but I asked for a forward to GayGuides.com Firecat, Hooboy, and I were in Thailand together on multiple occasions. Hooboy and I chatted a lot about the sites and technology. Firecat and I chatted a lot about bars and clubs. Firecat also know Stef from before I even knew him. Yes, it is a small world. MaleEscortReview became Boytoy and that is now GayGuides. GayThailand was once ran by me and then others and now it is GayGuides. Two board merged together who had a long history and similar interests. That is the long, dry tale of two boards.

Like Londoner, I have not been to the bars for a few years as I too am in a relationship. But for many years - several decades in fact! - I was a regular. We all change over time and we all age. So inevitably our preferences also change. Then again, I used to love the bars. I loved seeing the boys on stage, many of whom openly flirted with customers in the hope of an off. I loved it when nudity was allowed in most of the bars, not because I wanted to see the "whole package". It was much more that I found the naked body of a young Thai guy such a turn on. I took a lot of the boys off in those earlier years and only once had what Id term a dud. It so happened he came from Screwboys in the mid-1990s. But you cannot hit the bullseye every time and that one experience apart I had loads of good and sometimes great times. Living in Thailand, personally I have never been a great fan of the apps. The first time I used one I arranged to meet a guy in a coffee shop in a mall. I then learned that Thai time is very much like Bali time - rubber time in effect. My guy had not shown after 30 minutes. I called him. On the way, he said. After 45 minutes I told him I could only wait another 5 minutes. Please stay, I'm on the way. I just gave up. Another experience we all have had, another coffee shop rendezvous had the guy show more or less on time but he was at the very least 10 years older than his pics. Of course, punters have now got wise to such things and find ways round them. When I was still single, I used the apps successfully when overseas. In Thailand it was the bars! I know I am repeating others, but the bar experience was not just for looking at handsome young guys. They were fun. And the boys seemed to be having a lot of fun even if offs were scarce. In the early days all were Thai and presumably some had come from the same village. What has been missing for many years now and certainly on my last visit about 5 years ago was that fun and interaction. Mobile phones are surely partly to blame. All the boys were glued to them. In earlier times, there were no such distractions. Ensuring the customers had a good time was much more important.

I thought Ferchos closed down. I was there last year and it was closed. Did it move or.... ?

No cringeing from me looking at those boys - they are super appealing. The one in the foreground of the second picture has a really nice hairstyle and would have been an off for me.

The Churchill boy was later a model in Private Boy Movie and was I believe one of its stars. Spoon - what don’t you like about their hairstyles ? They are usual for Asian guys 18 to 25. I can’t remember exactly how long ago but I remember visiting and offing during one of my trips, then a couple of months later it suddenly closed. Perhaps it was raided for reasons of underage or drugs ?

A couple of pictures of Euroboys dating back a few years. It was a favourite Sunee Gogo for me. Loved those tie-sided shorts.