msclelovr

That is dirt cheap @mvan1 (but then it is in coach). I wonder whether it’s a mistake fare or if it’s perhaps to price-match fares being offered by another airline such as Norwegian? Did you attempt to make a booking? (I ask only as I’ve known very attractive fares in business/first to appear at times but then disappear when it came to the actual booking)

I sense that @floridarob may be a modern version of Edith Wharton with a clear-eyed vision of @Tomcal‘s progress through Mexican society

Yes, the UK. It was mainly in London where I have met a variety of Eastern Europeans over the years. I met the Slovaks online before dating in London. I met one Pole in London and he introduced me to various of his friends when I made trips to Krakow and Warsaw. I met a couple of Hungarians in gay bars in Pest and that’s also where I encountered quite a few Romanians.

I assume that Congratulations are in order @Tomcal Just two small questions: does this mean you will spend much more time there in future? And will you have to file and pay Mexican taxes on income and gains etc?

I feel it may be more nuanced than you suggest. It may also be the influence of the Catholic Church. Discretion is advisable. In many areas, public displays are frowned upon. For example, there are gay-bashings in Polish cities. Social attitudes often lag behind equality policies. Yet I’ve dated several handsome young Slovaks - all of them 21-28, with ripped muscled bodies - who were great kissers, excellent cocksuckers and enthusiastic bottoms.

Let’s review @Jalwa : you don’t know the country; you don’t speak Spanish nor Portuguese; you’re somewhat scared by reports here; but you’re considering taking much poorer strangers to your hotel room. My strong advice is do not take an escort/GP to your room. Play in the saunas where it is safe. If you feel a connection with a guy and you simply must take him back to your hotel, ask the management of the sauna and/or other clients whether he is a ‘good guy’. You are much less likely to have a problem if the GP knows that other people know you are going out with him for the night. At the hotel, assuming you’ve booked a room for 2 people, just register him at Reception. They will check his ID card which will show that he’s of legal age (very important as you don’t want to end up with the Police investigating you if the guy is under-age) Lastly, the reports here about crime are accurate. You should not display any valuables on the street/beach, especially if you are alone. I have a friend who looks Brazilian and speaks fluent Portuguese (tho he’s Italian) and he just returned from 2 weeks in Rio, which he has visited many times before. He is an experienced traveller and he does not exaggerate: even he was surprised at the level of street-crime now, in broad daylight in good areas such as Ipanema; he personally witnessed a robbery or mugging each day in Rio. He also told me an interesting story of how a Brazilian friend of his got robbed by the police - they cloned his credit card while interviewing him in a Police station for several hours as a witness to the robbery of his taxi driver!

This is a serious question. I’m not criticizing what others post in the forums. I imagine that a lot of the threads and the various forums must take up considerable space on the servers. And I have no idea what income the site might generate. I’m simply curious about the running costs - as to how much approximately this site costs to run - and whether this is sustainable by the owners. My interest in this has been piqued by the ‘other site’ where the owner seems very regularly to solicit donations and to complain about the low level of his ‘reserves’.

I’ve stayed at the Sofitel (the old Caesar Park) which IIRC is part of the Mercure group. Overnight guests were permitted but they had to be registered first (There was no extra charge levied as I had booked a superior room for 2 people). I’ve also stayed previously at the Ipanema Plaza which had a similar policy, but I’m unsure whether that hotel is closed for renovations.

Not to quibble @mixer17 but for your sake, I hope additional guests are allowed ONLY if you first register them at reception. Otherwise, you are running a major security risk in bringing unknown guys back to your hotel-room

I’m rather suspicious of your motives @Lucky Are you trying to promote this contest? Or are you seeking to become the prize-giver to the best new-comers?

There was a similar scam about 10-12 years ago in Brazil. Several young handsome and muscled male models showed themselves in their full glory and spurted in excitement. All were captured online. A ransom (to avoid the video being posted online) was asked in some cases. I know 5 of the guys: one guy used the publicity to kickstart his career as a personal trainer; another guy was a male model and continues in that career; two other guys had their careers as male models cut very short; and the fifth guy was embarrassed but now is a successful TV actor.

I was talking about Istanbul/Turkey and not about Brazil. I feel you may be right about working guys and gay sex in an Islamic country. I still believe that prices are negotiable, but that foreigners (with the language barrier, difficulties for working guys entering a smart hotel etc) are likely to be charged more than a regular local client.

FWIW my 2 cents: 1. There’s a big difference between what local clients pay regularly to local guys and what foreign visitors pay for one date with a very good looking local man who is fluent in English. 2. Asking prices are always negotiable.

Wow indeed @pauleiro He looks in need of a full physical examination

Very interesting reports @pauleiro Thank you.

A fit young New Zealander told me (about 6-7 years ago) that every small town in the country has a bath-house or sauna where men go to hook up for gay sex. He said that there’s little publicity but everyone knows it goes on. He added that when in a new and small place, he just asked where the sauna was. I’m not surprised that so many guys in the main cities are commercially-minded. I was there once and had plenty of such offers. New Zealanders tend to be quite matter of fact about having gay sex.

Maybe it’s no longer considered sexy/erotic in Finland. Last year, I saw his designs/illustrations being used on bed-linen, towels, garden chairs etc in a high-end store on one of the main shopping streets in Helsinki. These same products were displayed in 2 large shop-windows and no passers-by seemed perturbed.

That was very much my experience of Chilean society too.

Terrific series of reports @pauleiro Thank you.

I wonder @boiworship if you had to be discreet, or whether you were able to be open, about being gay while you were in Bulgaria? And was there a marked difference in social attitudes towards/acceptance of gays between the capital and the countryside?

You mention speaking “broken Spanish” @MiamiEthan but can you understand websites written in Spanish? If so, a simple search on Google for ‘Lima gay escorts’ refers you to various sites and a search for ‘Lima gay sauna’ brings you the info on 3 bath-houses.

I visited both cities last year. Helsinki was frankly dull while Tallinn has a very attractive, but very small, city centre. Saunas are plentiful and popular but not used for sexual encounters; indeed on weekends in Helsinki, you have to reserve ahead to visit a popular sauna. I’d characterise both cities as having a paucity of available talent, tho there was some eye-candy. I had earlier met online (on Hunq/Planet Romeo) a couple of fit young men in Tallinn who like older men. I also met online a submissive muscled young Finnish guy; he professed his eagerness to meet but in the event he was a no-show. As it happens, I met a good muscle-bottom with a submissive streak in Tallinn; he really enjoyed serving and being topped by an older man - but he’s not an escort.

Ipanema beach. (He mentioned it in his earlier post which included the State Department warnings)

I go there regularly (as I have a place there). The best way I can describe Palma is as a mini-Barcelona. There’s great architecture, wonderful food and shopping, with lovely beaches and countryside. As you’re asking here @rodiem25 I guess you’re interested in meeting local guys. There are lots online and as long as you speak some Spanish, you should have no problems. There is a small sex-sauna (but AFAIK to meet other men, not working guys) and some working guys advertise on Hunq (the commercial part of Planet Romeo) and on Spanish sites.

Presumably the ID also shows their date of birth? And if you’re interested in a young man, it’s great to be certain that he is of legal age. I can’t speak to Rio/Brazil but it was definitely a problem in Buenos Aires/Argentina where under-age guys pretend to be legal in order to meet rich men. It happened to me 2x and only by checking their ID first did I keep things ‘above-board’. I was told by an Argentine lawyer that it was a regular scam at Retiro station bathrooms where families used their attractive teenagers to lure adult men into an encounter. The idea was not to earn some small sum of cash but to blackmail the adult men by threatening to report them to the Police.