firecat69

Great Report!!! Glad you had such a great time and treated the boys so well . I'm sure they can't wait for your return as I can't wait for your next trip and report!

No doubt in my mind Ratchadamri. 1 stop to Siam and anywhere you want to go on Sukhumvit. 2 stops to MBK. 1 stop to Saladaeng , short walk down Silom and over to Soi Twiligt. Love the Skytrain but prefer to keep the number of stops to a minimum. This would be the area for me.

Some truth to what you say but using Google allows you a wide range of looks for apartments with no need to use Airbnb which is pretty useless in Thailand compared to other parts of the world. Last thing I want to do after 26 or more hours of travel is to be lugging my baggage around looking for a place to stay. Still think for BT , View Talay 6 is hard to beat if you want something better then a hotel room. 150 meter walk to Beach Rd and 10 baht bus ride to BT. Return just a few steps to Pattaya 2 and 10 baht bus ride to 50 meters from your door. Nice big pool, laundries , stores and restaurants all in the building and the biggest shopping mall with movies , restaurants etc. 3 minutes walk away. Hard to beat.

That is a good deal especially for Asia where Golds tend to be treated rather well. Generally not worth much in the USA except for slow WiFi. Certain places in Europe get treated well also , others not so much.

No matter what country you are in if you bought your house , then by the time you retire you actually own it and your biggest expense disappears. In addition if you are Gay and have no kids you had to pay for , there should have been opportunities to save more then someone who had to send his kids to college.

Some photos from wine country. Hard to find a better place to visit if you are a wine lover . The wine tasting is extensive and low cost as is most South African Wine. It is a very big industry here. And then the ride back to the Coast. Only a few hours round trip! Sorry images are in revers order. Damn Computers.

For Pattaya www.honeyscoffeehouse.com Nice Studios in View Talay 6 next to Central Festival Easy back and forth from BT

I should qualify my remarks. There are plenty of boys on the apps if you are middle age to younger. I am not. I have seen many hot boys as bartenders and waiters etc. My gaydar tells me they are of our persuasion. After years of paiying for it especially in Thailand, I don't think they would be interested in me. But then I have taken the easy course of paying for so long I may miss opportunities or not?

A real Good Guy. RIP

That is about it for my posts from South Africa. Might get a few more from some small seacoast towns where we hope to the whales migrating to have their babies. Still have 2 weeks left. Bottom line if you love to travel, then put South Africa on your to do list. Especially what is known as the Western Cape which includes Cape Town but so much more. You need to rent a car. Don't listen to any stories about it not being safe , they just plain don't know what they are talking about. The roads are very good and for the most part are respectful drivers. The more time you spend the better because there is such unbelievable scenery and then of course the Game Drives. For USA citizens like myself the current exchange is very favorable so most things are less then even Thailand and much less then any of Western Europe countries, Australia or New Zealand. Unfortunately very little action on the Gay Apps. Can't have everything!

Most of these photos are taken from less then 30 ft away . Surprisingly the Giraffes and Zebras are hardest to get close to. The Lions are easy. The cheetahs are very difficult to track and we were lucky to find them but when you do they act quite relaxed even though we were less then 10 ft away. The Leopard has always been the hardest to find and we were just about done with the drive and the guide saw him in the headlight . Can't use flash , but the did not run from the light and that is the last photo.

A few at a time from Game Drives:

On the way to a Safari. Probably no posts for at least a couple of days because I understand the WiFi is weaned intermittent.

Perfect day of sun and just driving around photos. Around every corner is another postcard!

You might send a message to PaulSF on this board . He rents from Airbnb not far from Soi Twilight. I know it has a nice pool, not sure about gym.

And thus are most countries that attract millions of tourists every year: Last time I checked drunks had nothing to do with people blown up by a bomb in BKK at a spot I have walked by hundreds of times. Or the same spots where many were murdered by riots. The point is that you can be killed almost anywhere as a tourist and yet very few tourists are ever killed in countries with stable governments.

So sorry Anonone. Relationships of any kind are hard and when they fall apart, things seem bleak. Hopefully it won't be so long that you are once again hoping to find that life long relationship and this time it does last forever. Just remember you can't win if you are not in the game. Hope to see you soon!!

Went into Cape Town for a few hours. Staying out on the Coast and mostly driving around but Cape Town has some interesting architecture and Fun Restaurants and a very nice out door Market. So just a few photos to give you the flavor of Downtown.

Vinapu I assume you cancelled your next trip to Thailand after reading articles like this? http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/video-shows-british-family-attacked-thailand-38728151 Of course you did not!!

With you I never know if you are being facetious?? The murders in Chicago are 95% gang related and in areas a tourist would never venture. Thus anyone who did not visit Chicago because of crime statistics would be missing one of the great cities of the USA. There as in most parts of the world I would be more worried about getting blown up by Islamist Extremists or have my plane blown up. Not interested in living in a cave so just follow certain precautions and figure the odds are with you anywhere you travel.

Bringing cash is a function of the length of visit. Certainly for a week or less, I would bring cash if I knew the Hotel I was staying in had a safe etc. Opening a bank account for a frequent visitor continues to be simple I believe. Just have to realize that one branch of the same bank may say unable and the one around the corner will open it. Also at least when I withdraw from my bank out of province the charge is only 20 baht so certainly not worth worrying about.

Started out today with some light rain but sun came out around noon and decided to drive around a few of the fishing villages. The colored little houses were used 100 years ago for bathers to change and they have been re- painted to the original colors . The train line runs right along the sea , so I guess the railroads bought up land before waterfront was considered so valuable even in smaller fishing villages . Along the way got 1 shot of a whale playing with his tail up. Unfortunately he did not cooperate and breech completely out of the water. The seals climb right up the steps and come right up to you in these fishing villages where they are used to getting fish from the boats. Surfing is big in this area and cute surfer boys are everywhere.

Little Map to show you some of the coastline we are driving around and then just a few photos to give you an idea of another great photo opportunity around every bend. The Lighthouse is at the Cape of Good Hope and the restaurant is just a few steps below the lighthouse with great views.

Little Map to show you some of the coastline we are driving around and then just a few photos to give you an idea of another great photo opportunity around every bend. The Lighthouse is at the Cape of Good Hope and the restaurant is just a few steps below the lighthouse with great views.

Some scenes driving yesterday along the sea and a photo I forgot to post from Table Mountain that some may like. (hehe)