msclelovr

It is sad news, but Brazil has had a high level of violent crime for many years. It's a timely reminder to visitors from relatively safe Western democracies to stay alert when travelling in Latin America and many other countries and to take local advice on what areas are safe/unsafe. I feel it's especially important to take local advice when you visit a city repeatedly. Once you are familiar with a place and have some sense of its culture, it's easy to forget that areas change between annual or six-monthly visits and the incidence of crime may have increased.

I went 5 years ago and stayed on the Argentine side. At that time, the Sheraton was the only place you could stay that was within the National Park. Doing this obviated the need to travel into and out of the park by bus or taxi. The rooms were comfortable and the food was pretty good. The Sheraton also has a nice outside pool. The falls are indeed spectacular, but you can see them and have long walks in the National Park on an overnight trip. Be warned, however, that there are times when the flow of water over the falls is reduced to a trickle. This happened last 2 years ago so do check before you book and travel. I did not visit the Brazilian side nor the Paraguayan side, where I'm informed they sell guns etc openly.

I allow that people will have opinions different to mine, but I would never knowingly support a business that has anti-gay policies. There is enough anti-gay prejudice in the world already, without my inadvertently fuelling it. In the same way, I would not hire or give money to a 'straight' or 'bisexual' guy working in a gay environment. I simply prefer to give my money and support to gay-friendly places and gay workers.

Wow, Tom, I am astonished that you travel WITHOUT medical insurance. I urge you (and anyone else who travels overseas) to get insured pronto. As a European, I'm accustomed to having such insurance. It not only is widely recommended here but also routinely offered by airlines as part of the travel arrangements. For many years I have had an annual policy that covers me worldwide, for any number of trips upto 60 days duration each. The cost is about US$200 yearly but it provides coverage in the US, for instance, upto US$18 million in medical expenses. Over the years, I've claimed 3x. Here are the details of one claim. Some years ago, I was stricken with meningitis while travelling in southern Africa. Luckily, I have a great physician at home who diagnosed me over the phone (!) and I phoned the insurance company to arrange care instantly. Within an hour of that call, I had blood-work done; within 4 hours, an MRI scan done; and within 7 hours, I was admitted to the leading private hospital in Cape Town. After a week's recovery, the viral meningitis returned and I was hospitalised for a further week. On being released, the hospital consultant insisted I not return home until after a convalescence of 10 days, with daily gentle exercise and a high-fat diet. The insurance company put me in a 5* hotel and paid for everything. I reckon that my medical bills alone amounted to about US$15,000 and the hotel/convalescence costs to about US$6,000. In addition, the insurance covered the costs of the hotel-room and hire-car while I was hospitalised; this was about US$4-5,000. Less than one week after I returned home, I received a cheque from the insurance company for about US$28,000 (ie about US$2000 MORE than I had claimed). I phoned them immediately to put this right, but they pointed out that the policy included a benefit of a daily cash sum for being hospitalised and having my holiday interrupted! And the following year, my insurance premium was unchanged. You can understand why, despite being a cynic, I enthusiastically offered to write my insurance company a testimonial letter. And I always insist that friends with whom I travel have insurance.

Respectfully I disagree with Parisrio2000. That local forum is very good at alerting clients to escorts who are scammers or worse (in one case of a guy still advertising, a robber at knifepoint). I agree that the 'published' escort scene is not great in Argentina, but I have met handsome, muscled young men who worked below the radar and they were not expensive. In one case, I saw a very handsome man in the street and started talking to him; we ended up having a fun-time in a hotel and all it cost me was a drink afterwards. It developed into a brief romance on my next visit to Buenos Aires, and it was only then that I learned that the young man was a well-known local 'heart-throb'.

Welcome back, and with nice photos too! Which hotel will you be staying at when you go back to Porto Alegre?

"I'm assuming he's gay." Expat, I know he's gay.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gay+escorts+denmark

Did you encounter any problems taking a cute guy back to your hotel?

Thank you for the info and clarification.

"Still, Rio feels much cheaper than it did on my last visit." Please would you tell me where you're staying on this trip, and how you found the hotel or apartment, as I'm planning a trip in a couple of months.

Nice, but I prefer their first sex scene together, where Charlie Hunnam gasps with ecstasy as he is rimmed. Quite a 'first' for British television at 9pm.

I think it was about 5 years ago (in 2007/2008) that he was 'outed' by a gay gossip-blog. At that time, there were numerous reports with photos that he was dating Luke Macfarlane.

Eh? Rafa is 5th on your list. if he's not your type, why did you ask about him?

Rafa http://www.rentboy.c...aspx?lid=387226 has been mentioned here before. I know he was recommended here, and I think by episevila but don't hold me to that. He seems to travel between Madrid and Barcelona.

Sorry to have annoyed you, Lucky. It was not the case that I "could not be bothered". Rather I was simply unaware of the Politics forum, and I had never looked at it until after posting, ihpguy alerted me to its existence. I feel it was worthwhile making my point in this more widely read forum - the seizure of electronic devices - as I had thought this was only a threat at US borders. Though I am fairly knowledgeable about UK laws, I did not know of the risk of seizure at the UK's borders. To answer hitoallusa, UK law requires a person detained at the airport to disclose all passwords and security codes. Failure to co-operate is a criminal offence. All material may be downloaded by the authorities, but the hardware must be returned within 7 days of seizure. This should be a concern to all travellers, and is not simply a political matter.

I've not used it, but a good friend has and had good experiences. Certainly, most of the guys advertising there may also be found on Gaydar. My own experience of the various sites is that the rates quoted on Gaydar are the cheapest whereas the same guys ask significantly more on Rentboy.

I regret I don't look at the Politics forum. The seizure of all the Brazilian's electronic devices surprised me, and what I wanted to point out to others here. This story was the leading item on BBC News today, with politicians expressing concern at the detention of the Brazilian under anti-terrorism legislation. One has asserted that no questions about terrorism were asked of the Brazilian. The UK has a system where a senior, independent lawyer reviews the workings of this legislation. On TV, he said that he found the application of this legislation to detain the Brazilian highly concerning and he would investigate it fully.

Nice. What's his gayromeo profile name, please?

Interesting to read how the Brazilian partner of the Guardian journalist, who exposed the mass surveillance programmes of the US government and interviewed Edward Snowden, was detained as he passed through London's Heathrow Airport. The UK government has, of course, been an eager collaborator for decades in this mass surveillance. Perhaps the story also serves as a timely reminder to us all that our electronic devices and storage media may be seized at the border for the authorities to inspect for an extended period. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10251337/Partner-of-Glenn-Greenwald-held-under-Terrorism-Act.html

Delightful. Good for you, ihpguy. If one wants the best, one always has to pay (one way or another,).

Not at all. He's a good-looking man, but there are a lot of good-looking men in Brazil so I wonder about his skills in the bedroom.

Nice. But you forgot the most important detail: how skilled in bed and how ready to please is this 4th brother?

"Klein will continue his merry way and will most likely look upon the former "love interest" as a pleasant chapter, among many." I agree. The only regret CK may have is his folly in throwing a party to introduce the boy to all his friends.

The things you find online, Expat. I bet the watchers at GCHQ and the NSA compete to review your internet history ;-)