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I arrived last night after one of the worst flying experiences I ever had. In order to save a few bucks (I will never do this again), I booked a flight to Medellin with two stops, La Guardia and Miami. DCA flight to NY was perfect, packed but perfect. The airport is still under construction but the security check experience is greatly improved. La Guardia was a nice surprised. I think my last time in that airport was about 20 years ago, or even more. It is fully renovated, functional and beautiful. Unfortunately, the flight to Miami was delayed in the last minute, they would keep announcing that it was on time, and adding a few minutes to boarding (originally it was at 1), until finally announcing it was delayed to 4pm. Therefore, I was missing my combination from Miami to MDE, at 5. After 90´on a line with angry passengers, they gave me a seat to leave Miami at 9 and arrive to Colombia at midnight. Amongst the passengers there were two very uneducated and lacking of basic social skills (I mean middle class social skills, they were very representative of poverty culture) parents, traveling with an autistic 5 years boy. This boy sat in the seat in front of me and kick it all flight long, yelling and having rage bursts. I was moved to see these two loving parents, but I think most people hated them. I was annoyed by the boy ruining my movie watching experience during the flight, I must confess. Additionally, La Guardia looks clean and new, but some bug biten me and I have three huge red marks in my milky skin. Damn it. We made it on time to catch my flight from Miami to MDE, specially because we had another 20 minutes delay. Despite the delay, this plain was not packed like the other two, and the travel was comfortable, I was even able to take a nap. We were not the only flight arriving after midnight. The line for Migrations was very long. I noticed that overwhelmingly the travelers were not Colombian, as 80% of us lined up in the section for foreigners. Even some very hot young guys who were inspiring my fantasies during the flight, were not Colombian. Once in front of the Colombian immigrations official, it was easy and quick. There were no yellow cabs available (it was about 1 and I was one of the last visitors in the line), I tried Uber but no drivers were available, so I went with a guy who offered me a ride. He was obviously known by the workers in the airport, and quote me very close to what Uber would charge me (he asked me for 90K, Uber was in the mid 80s), so I felt safe. I wish I would have arrived with daylight. Once we drove out of the never ending tunnel referred before by @macdaddi, the landscapes insinuated through the darkness were obviously beautiful. The driver was adorable, and drove as fast as the crazy taxi cab drivers in Buenos Aires. During the ride, he gave me my first two lessons in local urban culture. Lesson 1, after midnight you can ignore red traffic lights. Lesson 2, Colombians in general but Antioquia and Medellin in particular have a very fun tradition: the “chivas”. These are very basic buses, the one we saw was probably the size of a USA conventional school bus. During the day, these buses are used to transport supplies and produce. During the night, they turn into rolling parties. The one we saw was busting music and was totally dark but full of people. Anything can happen there. My airbnb host was incredible friendly and cool. I was supposed to arrived at 8. He waited for me until almost 2 am, when I walked into his building (by the way, the driver was adorable and I gave him 100K) he was waiting for me with the keys and escorted me to the unit. He lives in the same building. This morning I got up very early. The unit has its own water heater, so I did not suffer the issue many complain about in Medellin. After taking a shower and finishing setting down, I went out for a walk in the neighborhood. I went to a well reviewed café (Café Revolución). That was a kind of mistake. It was well reviewed in Google, but of course all those reviews were in English. The owner is an American and the menu was not very traditional. The food was fine, but this is not the experience I am looking for. Every single customer was speaking in English. The general impression I have from the walk around Laureles is that the foreigner community living here is mostly millennials teleworking or starting their own business, like the café. In my first walk I only saw one woman older than 35, everyone else seem to be ion their 20s and early 30s. Of course, this is just a first impression after a 2 hours walk in one neighborhood. I found a nice little park a few blocks away from my nest, Parque Laureles, with a lot of trees to shelter from the sun. That is the one thing that I am not enjoying so far: it feels hotter than it actually is because of humidity. It is very humid. I am out of shape (I have not gone back to exercising after the lock downs), the walk and the humidity triggered my pig sweat. In many ways the neighborhood reminds me of Palermo in Buenos Aires. Many traditional single houses, a few ones even from Colonial times, being slowly replaced by towers and apartment buildings, with a thriving and diverse bars, cafés, and restaurants scene. I was even cruised in the path around the Stadium at Universidad Bolivariana. I got to the boundries of Laureles, an area I was advised not to explore. It was fine, I did not feel unsafe. It is just some blocks full of street vendors and very humble hard working people. Grindr and Scruff are driving me crazy. I am about to take a shower and a nap before meeting with a 30 years old “montañero” (he does not live in MDE but in a little town in the mountains) I have been chatting with for a few weeks through videoconference. He is 30 but looks 20. This is a for free hook up, but he is porn star looks quality. I have not yet made any arrangements with any professionals. If the montañero does not stay tonight (the last bus to his town leaves at 9), and leaves me with stamina, I may call Fercho. I do want to try the bars scene in El Poblado, I would love to check the local drag queens. I also have Max Avila and Randy Junior in my wish list. Too much (and too many) to do in just one week. And now I am going to take a nap. Ciao!

I am starting Star In My Mind. They really went overboard with the skin filter on this one so everyone's face looks green. It's very light though. And the boys are very cute despite the green skin. I'm planning to watch Country Boy 2 soon.

The meeting today--as expected--produced nothing concrete but more nuanced comments. From The Thai Enquirer Entry regulations could be eased by May depending on the outbreak situation after the Songkran holiday period, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Friday. “The meeting agreed in principle, but has yet to approve the proposals,” said Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, the CCSA’s spokesman, noting that many regulations could even be lifted by July. “The prime minister asked to see the effects from Songkran first,” he said. The Ministry of Public Health proposed for the government to replace the mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival with an ATK test in May. The private sector has also been pressuring the government to lift all entry regulations as the government is preparing to declare Covid as endemic by July. Ahead of the CCSA’s meeting on Friday, CCSA advisor Dr Udom Kachintorn, told reporters that the true number of Covid infections in Thailand is closer to 100,000 per day. He added that the number of internal cases is much higher than imported cases, and entry restrictions could be lifted by July. “The number of asymptomatic people is now around 50,000-60,000 per day, and if counting people who are infected but have not been tested with ATK, the total number of infections is now around 100,000 per day,” Dr. Udom said. When asked if he agreed with the proposal to replace the RT-PCR test on arrival with an ATK, Udom remarked that as long as the number of infected arrivals are much less than domestic cases, the entry regulations should be eased in line with international practices. “The RT-PCR test 72 hours before departure was lifted on April 1, and as for the test on arrival, it could be ease and by late June and July, the tests should be lifted to support the economy,” he said. ============================= From Richard Barrow.com The infection rate of all travellers entering Thailand. n November: 0.13% n December: 0.45% n January: 3.73% n February: 2.25% n March: 0.58% April: 0.42% (upward trend) n Test & Go: 0.38% n Sandbox: 0.99% n Quarantine: 1.26%

….. at least a couple of moonlight models are very willing these days and one asked me to promote him. They both are nice and very capable (if you know what i mean). 😉

Thank you LB for such an enriching report. Keep them coming, and enjoy!

At the risk of repeating previous posted info, if you wish to be thorough: Rentmen Hunqz Telechapero Morbototal The latter two are exclusive to Spain and may contain ads absent from the two global sites.

Hi guys, question about uploading the atk 5th day result on the app. i received a notification on my phone to upload it. I pressed the message and it sent to the morchana app. However I can't find any place to upload it and notification list is empty. I understand there's a specific URL for each person but this app and system is so terrible. I feel like I'm in 1992. lol

I hope you have an amazing trip hermano. I am certain you will be charmed by the friendly Paisas, who love to show off their region and culture. You will note that they use many old spanish language traditions -- using the formal Don y Doña when greeting each other, the use of parce-parcero (to excess), and the use of regalar in the sense of "share with me" or "I would like to order..." You will get used to it eventually. Safe travels.

Agreed, the old route though Rio Negro was brutal -- many taxi drivers would not even do the trip after sunset. Fortunately the new tunnel fixes that problem and the trip is smooth as can be. The old Olaya Herrera (EOH) airport in the city still functions as a regional hub and you can get flights from there to just about everywhere else in the country -- except Cartagena! Not sure why, but every time I search, that is not available. Fortunately there are plenty of options to fly to Santa Marta, Cali, Manizales, Pereira, Quibdo, shall I go on? That airport is still very much functioning and a good option for regional flights.

I just wish they would scrap the Thai Pass, to me it's a lame duck and a hacked one at that, presenting the necessary paperwork on arrival or at the departure point would be preferred for me. I wouldn't mind taking a pre departure test of whatever kind they want (even though it's being scrapped in favor of an arrival ATK test), I always take out travel insurance so making sure it covers covid is not a problem. I have things happening here so I am looking at 2023 for the next trip so hopefully things will be better by then and hoping the Thai pass is relegated to history. I am also hoping for a week in Singapore later this year when things here are sorted out.

In Bangkok now and I'm seeing more and more tourist each day. Even Tarntawan I'm seeing more "backpackers" type travelers coming in. Probably because the rates are dirt cheap. when I was coming back from DJ, the massage shops was filled with tourists as well. So that's a good sign. travel now else, in a few Months time, Bangkok will be crowded with tourists! Hahahah

If the Boys in Brown are there to "uphold the good morale of Thailand" then the country is doomed. If it wasn't so sad I would be laughing.

Foodland Patpong