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Thanks for sharing your experience. Many people go there expecting a paradise--but that is one part of Thailand that is not! It is the most un-Thai place in Thailand.

Having been a few times I kind of agree with you. I am curious though what element of it you thought was physically dangerous?

Has anyone been recently? Is it doing well--especially on their busy nights of Friday and Monday? I hear a lot about member's experiences at Pointe and 117 but not much about MR recently. I hope it succeeds--I was a real fan of Meio Mundo and my impression is that this would draw the same type of garatos.

I was at gay pride as well in Mexico City--a huge crowd for the parade route running miles up Ave Reforma and ending in the Zocolo with a music festival right in front of the historic cathedral. The Zona Roza was packed and grindr was super busy with all kinds of paid and free encounters out there. A great time as always for pride weekend there--but not for those who are shy about crowds as they seem to have no capacity limits in clubs!

Mexico is one of the few places I have been where waiters and bartenders generally acknowledge tips with a "Gracias" which seems to be sincere. In the US--leaving a dollar on the bar after buying a beer is rarely even met with eye contact--much less a thank you. I think that many of the waiters in Mexico are working only for tips and nothing else. I have tipped 10 pesos after a beer(50cents) and always received a thank you. Keep in mind in that for example Tijuana working as a cashier at 7/11 10 hours a day for 6 days a week pays under a dollar an hour!

I have had bad luck at times with the banging/construction issue at many apartments and even hotels in Brazil and elsewhere. I likewise like to sleep late on vacation and I think this is a worthwhile thing to inquire on when renting an apartment or booking a hotel. In some cases when I mentioned the construction noise to the apartment host they replied "oh that just started today--sorry."

I think that there is no difference between an apartment and hotel in terms of safety unless you are bringing someone back to your room--which I would probably avoid on your first trip. Many hotels may not allow guests at all once you check in anyway--so have fun in the saunas. On my first trip I found a hotel a better place to stay only because of the fact that there was usually an english speaking person at the reception to give advice about taxi's, attractions, the metro, etc. Once I got the lay of the land after my first trip I started using apartments which I really prefer.

One of the things I find important in Latin America especially is to treat younger guys with a degree of respect--not like they are your property or employee. This goes a long way. As Tomcal said you will of course have to say no often to requests for money but not talking down to the guys makes for a lot in developing a friendship and getting their friends often leading to more fun.

I visit Tijuana often and it is much safer than it's reputation. Certainly it is much better than 10 years ago when the drug cartels had an open war going on and bodies were hanging from the bridges. In general there is less street crime than Rio but the police are still corrupt and best avoided. In addition to Club Extasis there is a strip club on Ave Revolution called Premier where you can have fun with the hot dancers in the back room. You can take a taxi or uber between the two clubs and should be fine. The new pedestrian crossing to San Diego drops you right near Club Extasis but the southbound into Mexico at that entrance closes at 10pm(you can still use the old crossing southbound 24h) and Northbound the new crossing is open 24 hours and usually no line at 2-3 am. A few time a year Club Extasis is taken over by Club Papi for a special event where they have full on sex shows like you won't see many places. Details on the Club Papi website. Have Fun!

If you want to stay right in the heart of gay nightlife stay on Calle Amberes. Several clubs that go all night and a lot of people out on the street--especially on weekends. I have stayed at the boutique hotel Room Mate Valentina --reasonably priced and right in the middle of the action. Never had a problem with guests. There is a small strip club right next door called BB club with mostly very hot guys from Mexico and Colombia. They will do a private dance in a small booth with you for a fee and you can arrange to meet them later if you like(most are open to this). Mexico City is an amazing city with great food, art, architecture and a very open and vibrant gay scene. It is one of my favorite cities to visit. Enjoy!

Yes I was there on a Saturday night. Great fun and I drank the cheap booze included with admission--fortunately no hangover!

I have been to Brazil well over a dozen times and never had a problem. I am definitely one of those people who has told all my friends that the dangers are overblown--don't go looking for trouble and you won't find any and so on. That view changed when I was there sat Carnival this year(which admittedly is a higher crime time of year). Two friends I was traveling with were walking together at 10pm in Ipanema near the General Osario subway station and jumped from behind by two guys who put them into chokeholds and tried to rob them(they had not been drinking at all). They are both strong guys and got away but that changed my view of Rio a bit--especially the "safe areas". What seems to have changed for me is as the OP hinted the locals who used to tell me how safe Rio is are now telling me how dangerous it is. I think they really have a sense that the security situation has gotten worse for the everyday resident. That being said. I will continue to visit Rio and love it. I will always follow common sense precautions and never leave the apartment with more than I can afford to lose--and most of all never resist if anyone tries to rob me.

I think I was at Teatron the same night you were. I recognize the blond twink in one of your photos completely transfixed by the stripper. I love Teatron and Colombia. I was traveling solo so able to enjoy meeting some guys off grindr.

I would add to your list of advice--Never, ever , ever have any illegal substances in your possession in Colombia. One night around 10pm while walking around to try to meet up with a grindr date I found myself in the rather upscale portion of the hills above Chapinero (the gay section of Bogota) on a rather deserted(but upscale) street. Later I would discover that I had confused the address and we were supposed to meet in the more downmarket neighborhood down the hill. Anyway on this street suddenly a motorcycle drove by and did a u-turn. There were two police on board. One walked over to me to ask what was up and where was i going. My Spanish is rudimentary at best and I explained I was looking for a friend. He asked to examine the small knapsack that I was carrying and honestly I did not think I could refuse in that situation. When he looked inside and saw a bottle of ID Millennium and several condoms his look went from astonishment to a question mark to maybe faint disgust. He asked if I way gay and I said yes and he said "go, go". I can imagine if I had had any illegal substance(not that I would have) the outcome would have been a bit more costly or uncertain.

Thank you for a great report. I was there a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time. Where did you stay mostly? Hotels or apartments? Did you use short time hotels for your new friends or bring them back to your place? I didn't have any problems but although hotels in Colombia seem to be a bit more guest friendly than Brazil--some can still be very restrictive and that can kill a good time.

Yes i have found those "Boutique Hotels" --especially the gay ones--are not very friendly towards bringing in a new friend and I avoid them on vacation.

I have added a few hot guys from Fortaleza on my instagram. They appear to be straight--but then again they post very soft porn pics of themselves, are only mostly found in the presence of other guys, and have like 20,000 followers. Their live feed are always a bunch of shirtless guys hanging around drinking or playing soccer, etc. Occasional profiles have a $ sign in their screen name. Am I missing something? Are these straight guys really marketing themselves--or are they just really straight guys who are into themselves and showing off their bodies. I know it is popular now in Brazil to create a Youtube channel and get as many followers as possible to perhaps get a little ad revenue. Maybe the same thing is in play here. Since I travel through Fortaleza once or twice a year I struck up a conversation with one who claimed to be straight--but would like to meet up and "likes regalos(gifts). Is this another way to connect with these hot Brazilian guys? It goes without saying that any meeting would be in a public place and with a fair bit of caution.

Most of the guys I saw on Grindr in Colombia and ended up meeting were gay. Any one who has been there know where to meet the straight guys that like to have fun too--like the guys working the saunas in Brazil? Although I didn't try Chaturbate my impression is that most of those guys are would be gay as well.

I am in Colombia now and having a great time. I have met several working guys off Grindr that were super nice and incredibly hot. The guy I met tonight in Medellin was 12/10 if there is such a thing! Super sweet with model looks and body. We went out for a drink after as he wanted to practice his English. It's hard not to fall in love! I had planned to do research on Chaturbate before my trip but ran out of time. So far Grindr has worked fine for me with plenty of offers of free sex as well.

I think it's great that you have done so much research--and this board is a great resource. If I had to give one more piece of advice it would be to prepare to go with the flow on any given day and see where it goes. Rio is an amazing destination both in and out of the saunas. You hate to give up an amazing conversation with a new friend on the beach only to run to the sauna and discover that despite all the best planning it's a dud night. Go enjoy--use your research but be flexible--and of course report back! And I agree with Tomcal--no need to bring your own towels.

5% Lidocaine cream is easily available in the US at major drugstores without a prescription--or on Amazon

Hope you're right! I only mentioned it in the context of what happened in New York after Guilliani took over. Back to the the sauna scene --I only had the chance to visit 202 this recent Carnival-- and it was very good on Wednesday nights--and not too bad on a Thursday either(though that is not usually one of it's busier nights). I have to say 202 seemed cleaner and slightly spiffed up from what I remember. I really like the fact that there was plenty of soap, hot water, and unlimited towels. That would seem to be a given at a sauna but sometimes finding hot water and soap at Meio Mundo and to a lessor extent 117 was a challenge in the past.

Apparently the new mayor of Rio is religiously conservative, anti-carnival(yes I know hard to believe in Rio) and anti-gay. Hopefully he will not try to make any moves on the saunas during his term which recently started.

I am here carnival now and having a great time as always—but I thought this warranted a separate topic. In the last 24 hours I’ve witnessed the following—I was tear gassed at the base of Farme de Amoedo as the police tried to clear the beach street— it was a near riot as the locals were throwing bottles and cans at the police who had riot shields. . I saw two people having their cellphones lifted including that of a very savvy Brazilian friend of mine who was standing right next to me on Farme de Amoedo. I saw numerous fights on the beach with the beach vendors bringing out long sticks to go beat people who they thought were stealing To top it all off my two friends who are staying with me were mugged on the way back from dinner at midnight by the General Osario station in Ipanema. One was placed in a chokehold and the other broke free to assist his friend and use their army self-defense training to escape unharmed with all their belongings intact. I love carnival and it it is are still a lot of fun but coming to Rio at carnival is not for the faint of hearted. You’re definitely not in Kansas anymore… . ps—the saunas are still fun!

I am in Rio now. It’s like the calm before the storm on the streets—but pointe was packed with hot guys and lots of clients!