ISTANBUL 2012

[pauleiro]

I will soon be in Istanbul for a few days. Has anyone gone there ? Any recomendation ? It will be appreciated !

[JKane]

Not Constantinople?

[Lucky]

Pauleiro, your visit may be over by now. I have not heard anyone come back from Istanbul with a bad story. People seem to really like it there, so let us know what you thought.

[maleire]

Quite a number of years when I last visited Istanbul. I really enjoyed Aquarius Sauna, lots of boys available, many muscular ones but nearly all of them are tops.

The street where the sauna is located Istiklal Cad is very cruisy with many good restaurants.

[Guest]

I found the CITY of Istanbul to be very nice but the gay scene was not so good.

Some of the gay clubs listed were closed. I visited one listed as frequented by rentboys. That did indeed have at least 2 of the most gorgeous guys I've ever seen, but they only were interested in another older Turkish guy.

The Aquarius Sauna gets consistently poor reviews for people getting ripped off by the hustlers -not doing what they promised, finishing everything within 15 minutes, harassing customers etc. So I didn't try it. Aquarius

There is also some trade cruising around Taksim park. However, most of these seem to be top only or having a generally untrustworthy appearance. You may find someone nice eventually, but don't count on it.

Also it was difficult to find advice on hotels which are definitely tolerant of guests.

[pauleiro]

Boywise, Istanbul is not the paradise ... but Istanbul is a nice city. Spent a long week end there

Took the bus from airport to Place Taksim where most of the gay clubs and action are. Went to a small pleasant hotel in the area. Since I was looking at a map, many people asked me where I was going, where I was coming from and finally one even took me to the hotel. Turkish people are very friendly.

Istanbul is an amazing city. People are very pleasant. Strange mixture of Europe and Asia, of strong and soft islam. Lots of places to visit, to see, to feel. Loved it !

Hagia Sophia (Holy Sophia) in particular was stunning. Incredible result of a former catholic cathedral which was transformed into a muslim mosque, one of the most difficult problem to solved was to have the mosque looking towards the Mecqua ...

As for gay places, I started by Taksim square and Park since it is a well known pick up place. Around the square and in the park, on the Bosphorus side.

Indeed some hustlers are clearly visible. I was approached by 2. Did not approach any for 2 reasons :

- they were ugly - sorry, but there no different world. Poor face, poor body. Of course no English is spoken. One was more or less ok, but not at all my type. Of course I have no clue of how much they ask.

- there is a large police station in the park and the park and the square are permanently (day and night) patrolled by policemen. There are stories on internet of people having approached a lad there and being arrested by the police, only because they were starting to speak and they were not turkish ... There are also stories of a guys having been followed a cute lad to the bushed in Taksim park and being attacked and robbed, or another story of a man having taken 2 guys back to his hotel to be first fucked then robbed.

Gay activities are really underground is Istanbu, it seems. Many internet sites are not available: it is the case of gayromeo and, even if I had wished, I could not have taken a contact with one or two models who were there. Generally speaking, all turks are presenting themselves as only active, only only top. Only some queenie models seem to admit they can be passive.

Other internet sites which are not available are porn sites, such as Seancody.

Turkish Baths (Hammams)

A policy to fight against cruising places seems to have been implemented since 2007 and most of too openly gay hammams were indeed closed. At the moment, there is not any gay exclusive Turkish hammam in Istanbul. But there are few bath houses the gay men would go very often. The owners and managers of them do not want to be displayed on gay websites and keep sending to the webmasters e-mails for that. Finding a list of these sites is not easy ...

Following the advice from Maleire, and after having read some recent negative comments, I decided not to go to Aquarius.

I managed to find one hammam. Very hard to find. Very old building (hammam opened in 1445). It is called Firuzawa Hamami on Cukur Kuma 6.

I did not know what I was to find inside ...

You enter the place, can rent a room or go to the general lockers, which I did, receive flip flops and a cloth. You undress and you go in the hammam, which is composed of a very hot place, with a large marble plate which is heated at rather high temperature, surrounded by small basins where hot and cold water can flow.. There is another room, a shower room, a "cold" room, and another room with a sauna.

I was offered a massage which I accepted not knowing which type of massage it would be. I explained only that I needed it later. I wished to see what was going on before with other patrons !

Of course, in this hamman, no one really spoke English. However people are very much welcoming you.

When I entered the hot part of the hammam, many people were already lying on the hot marble surface. One was being massaged with a hard on visible under his cloth. The employee soaped him and massage him everywhere, insisting on the crotch and the ass. Then I know which type of massage I wanted.

The employee, at least in this particular case did not go all the way to the happy endind. I wonder if they go. Certainly not in public areas.

No Rentboys in the place, but hot action in the cold room. All people wanking and sucking. Most patrons are between 30 and 50. I was surprised because most of the patrons had rather small dicks, even in full erection. It was well-known in Algeria where the colonizers who preceded the French, were the Turks.

One tried to have me suck his dick, but I rarely suck and never in these places. On the other hand, I had a rather skilled sucker sucking mine while stroking his small tool. Compared to them, I was considered "huge".. I do not have the same sensation in Brazil ...

The massage was hot, as planed.

I left the place completely relaxed. staff was also very friendly when I left and told me to "come back tomorrow", which I did. It was even better.

[pauleiro]

Istanbul Gay Clubs

I went to three clubs, TekYon (Address: Siraselviler Caddesi (street) No 63/1 Beyoglu), Club 17 (Address: Istiklal Cad. Zambak Sokak, No: 17 Taksim) and Ekoo (Address: Tarlabasi Bulvari No: 32 Beyoglu)

Generally speaking, these clubs are rather expensive (one beer or one coke is 10 $ ...). In addition you need to pay for the cloakroom (3$). There is no show for this price and action starts very late. They are opened indeed at 11 pm, but there is no one until at least 12.30 am ! Things start really at 1 am.

After having said that, I must said that I did enjoy 2 of the places above.

Ekoo is a small bar, where a mix a bear, rentboys, queens, travestites gather. Each member of any group seem to know and accept members of other groups. Rather strange afmosphere and place where you can see at the same time a queenie twink dancing in front of a mirror, admiring himself with his ass grabbed by a gay friend and a travestite spealing and laughing with a bear ... Not so bad. Nothing to pick up though ...

The second day, I went to Tek Yon. Tek Yon used to be a very friendly bear bar. Since they moved to a new location in 2009, they are catering to the same wide scope as in the case of Ekoo.

Very nice place, large dance floor, good music. Outside patio for smokers. Very friendly staff, welcoming you, speaking to you as much as possible, very friendly boss explaining the rules, ... I arrived a bit early also but enjoyed the music and the place. Lot of staff for serving the expensive drinks.

Staff is wearing a shirt with a large arrow in the back, with a mention Tek Yon, the arrow clearly in direction of the guy's ass ... Very inviting.

I thought that Tek Yon meant something like Bear Den, but, speaking to one member of the staff, I understood that the meaning was "one way", which he said with an inviting gesture showing his own ass ... Not my type at all. But funny.

I spotted rapidly a rentboy. Very nice. Black curly hair, nice face, great smile, well defined body. Problem : he was with a local punter. Eye contact was not sufficient to make any move and I went back to my hotel boyless.

Finally the last day, I went to Club 17. Very disappointing. Long corridor with a bar. Concrete walls. Some rentboys. No interaction at all. Went to bed earlier than the other days.

In summary, a nice week end, but boywise (for both show and action), better to go to Prague,Budapest in Europe or worldwide to Brazil of course, or even to some US cities eg in Florida.

[lookin]

Thanks, Pauleiro, for your wonderful descriptions of your adventures! I could imagine being there.

At least they have their priorities in the correct order:

. . . or another story of a man having taken 2 guys back to his hotel to be first fucked then robbed.

And congratulations on finding a blow job in this most unusual of places!

[Lucky]

The only time I was robbed by a guy I took home (hotel) he had sex with me first. It was wonderful. He cleaned out my wallet on the way out. (I realize that is technically not a robbery.) Anyway, he had bought me a beer in the club, saved me a taxi fare to the hotel, and gave me superb sex. All for $19!

And yes, thanks, Pauleiro, for the great report.

[Guest EXPAT]

The only time I was robbed by a guy I took home (hotel) he had sex with me first. It was wonderful. He cleaned out my wallet on the way out. (I realize that is technically not a robbery.) Anyway, he had bought me a beer in the club, saved me a taxi fare to the hotel, and gave me superb sex. All for $19!

And yes, thanks, Pauleiro, for the great report.

Lucky, that happened to me once in NYC after I picked up someone at Rounds (blast from the past). I told the manager / owner of Rounds and he was banned from the bar forever as a result.

[young11]

heading to Istanbul soon, any updates? I am a bit concerned about the current government, don't wanna get arrested and come up in international news haha

[Guest PasadenaCA]

heading to Istanbul soon, any updates? I am a bit concerned about the current government, don't wanna get arrested and come up in international news haha

When are you going; I should be there next week.

[axiom2001]

When are you going; I should be there next week.

PLEASE report back here in full detail so that others can use your information and perhaps "your experiences" per se!

[young11]

will be there in Dec, so would appreciate it if you report back

[pauleiro]

For the ones interested by Istanbul. Information dates back to 2012 but things should not have changed that much

[Peter803]

Went to club 17 on a Thursday night. There were 3 rent boys when I left around 12:30. Probably more as night life start really late. A lot of scammer around Takshim square area while I walked around, approaching me asking for lighter for their cigarette then small conversation etc, so I personally don't feel safe to bring anyone home. To me, Istanbul is a nice city for sightseeing, not a destination for boys.