PeterRS

That was a great choice (although I know that there were family reasons). The Mezquita in Cordoba is surely one of the world's great buildings, a large double arched mosque into the middle of which the Christians placed a Cathedral after they kicked the Muslims out of Spain. In the 16th century Spain's King Charles V lamented, "You have destroyed something unique to make something commonplace." Although today it is certainly not comonplace. It is totally unique. The first time I based myself in Madrid for a week, I would go to out of city towns in the mornings like Segovia and Toledo and then spend the rest of the days exploring Madrid. In Toledo it started to rain and so I got a slightly earlier train back to the city. Seeing a cute Chinese guy, I sat across from him. At one point I opened a conversation by saying "I see we have the same Guide Book." Hearing a slight Singapore accent, I added, "I can tell you are probably from Singapore." To which he replied, "I know you come from Hong Kong!" I was floored! It turned out he had been a young civil servant in Singapore, part of a team with which I had held negotiations some years earlier. Since then, he had left the government, grown his hair a bit and was spending a few months travelling around Europe! Amazed at this coincidence, I invited him for dinner, but he said his girlfriend was waiting for him in Madrid. Bummer!

I travel in the opposite direction and prices have definitely risen significantly. In 2019 I got a Qatar business return flight to a UK city for 77,000 baht. It was a special limited time offer and had to be booked a few months in advance. But it was perfect for me. Now it is virtually impossible to get a basic Qatar ticket for under 120,000 - this despite their having 5 daily flights ex BKK including one A380. Whereas prior to Covid the price included seat selection and lounge access, now these are extra costs if you choose the cheapest fare. So that 120,000 becomes closer to 135,000. There was an offer the other week for 12% off if booked within a very short 5-day period period giving validity up to end March. EVA and Finnair have better prices but my destination is not London and having to transit Heathrow with a separately purchased BA ticket can be very expensive if flights are missed due to late arrivals etc. I have a desire to spend a few days in Oman. Reviewers give Oman Air's business class high marks but it is expensive. I may decide to try Emirates new Premium Economy and then change aircraft for economy on the short extension to Muscat. Price has certainly become more of a factor now that my stock of free miles is close to zero.

Yes, the balcony was waiting and a nice chilled bottle of white wine. Very quiet area here - apart from the bloody crows in the morning. But I see you have already gone back to Pattaya. I seriously think you should have taken me up on my suggestion of Moscow. @Moses makes it sound idyllic for gay men. He could also be your guide.

Yes the layouts have clearly changed. Personally I never liked the idea of Hua Hin being in the original list because there had been no posts for something like 18 months. Plus surely the word "Businesses" was a bit strange given that most of the comments were much more general. And there was no heading for other parts of Thailand that readers visit or are considering visiting. I certainly recall being confused about where to post about Chiang Rai and the North, the Dansai Ghost Festival and a great stay at the Marriott in Khaolak with its fabulous beach and nearby James Bond Island. I assume these can now easily be posted in the general Thai forum after the main cities. May also be something to do with the merging of the Thailand and USA sites some times ago. Seems to make more sense now and rather follows the format of the Latin America and Gay Asia forums. Although do those who visit one Latin America site find the word "Businesses" strange in that forum? Maybe makes more sense also to merge the two Latin American forums, or is there a case there for a separate "Businesses" forum? Just my view.

I miss the original Babylon big time, but was never as much a fan of the newer one as I know most readers were. Did you ever go to Chakran in its early years? With its Moroccan theme, it was more along the lines of the original Babylon plus it had a huge jacuzzi and a small swiming pool. And the vast majority of patrons were Thais. It took a while before it was discovered by other Asians and expats. Lying on a lounger by the pool sipping a vodka tonic as I watched the boys in their towels come down the open staircase on the opposite side was both incredibly relaxing and incredibly tempting. In many respects it was similar to having drinks in the bar area at the top of the original Babylon.

With respect i think it is wrong to call the Maldives a "gay hostile" country. I am sure plenty of gays go there, particularly from Asia as there are non-stop flights from several Asian airports. If you are a gay couple and staying in a water villa, I cannot imagine anyone showing any form of anti-gay sentiment. But it is certainly expensive! On the other hand, if you are basically anti-Muslim because of its anti-gay rhetoric, then you deny your chance of visiting many countries. I have been to Petra in Jordan (amazing!), to Marrakesh and Agadir in Morocco, to Doha for several days and for two weeks in one of the most amazing countries with the loveliest peoples (apart from its regime) I ever visited, Iran. Even Istanbul, another totally fabulous city, would be out of bounds now as Turkey under Erdogan has bascially reverted to being a Muslim State (with 99% of the population being Muslim). There are of course thousands of other places to visit and enjoy. I note in another forum that you are on a cruise that will stop in Bali. Indonesia, as you will be aware, is the largest islamic country on the planet. Sure, Bali is an almost unique relic of the Hinduism that spread throughout Asia prior to the founding of Islam and the vast growth of trade between Asia and Middle Eastern Islamic countries. Even so, Bali remains subject to Indonesia's laws which are relatively gay-hostile! And Muslim Java is also on your itinerary!

Before I came to Asia I made two close friendships with work colleagues. Neither knew I was gay then, although probably suspected it. Both were married, one with four children and the other with five. On many visits to the USA after I moved to Hong Kong and they - separately - to the USA, I tried to fit in long week-ends with one or other and their families. Long before then, I had realised that both my friends were bisexual. One, a very senior executive, had even told his future wife about his bisexuality before their marriage and she both understood and accepted it. When working in the US, he would take one afternoon off each week to meet up with and pay an escort. The other would never have dared tell his wife. Yet sometimes he would show me a gay DVD when staying in his US home when his wife was out shopping. How and where he hid his gay porn I have no idea, but with a wife and 4 kids roaming around the house he must have been especially careful. He had never told his wife about being bisexual and I don't think she ever discovered that 'secret'. Both marriages were actually very strong and lasted for decades to the end of their lives.

Than all you need do is what the French actor Gerard Depardieu did on CityJet - piss in the aisle.

If our dear @Olddaddy is bored, I suggest he quickly gets on a flight to Moscow or wherever @Moses lives in Russia. He always has lots to say if you don't mind Putin-speak. And he also reminds us that Moscow is a great place for gay men. That will surely illustrate what boredom really is! LOL But he will need a quickie visa from the Consulate not far off Rama 4. (Just make sure it's one that lets you out as well as in). And don't be tempted to try on a flak jacket in case you find yourself on the front line in Ukraine! That would surely spice up your life and make you realise what a haven Bangkok really is.

In the US, Amazon Prime has agreed to pay a $1 billion civil penalty and provide refunds of $1.5 billion to an estimated 35 million customers who were “harmed by their deceptive Prime enrollment practices,” according to a statement from the Federal Trade Commission. Last year Prime's subscription revenue was $44 billion! https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/25/tech/amazon-ftc-prime-settlement

Wrong analogy here, I suggest. It's perfectly easy from a multitude of videos to see how these monster ships run and what is avaiable for passengers. Just not for me, thanks.

Believe me I have not just looked at the cover. I was lucky to cruise on small vessels like those in the SIlver Wind fleet with no more than 400 passengers. I have seen videos of the monster ships. Just not for me or my partner. The gay cruises on the larger ships seem a bundle of fun and lots more, though. But age has taken its toll and I would now feel very much out of place!

I stayed once on one of the cheaper islands in the Maldives, before the mega hotel chains opened their over-the-water bungalows and private planes from the airport. All island accommodations are very small accommodating generally not more than 40 - 50 guests. First, the Maldives is not cheap. Unless you have a hotel which includes lunch and dinner, be prepared to pay a lot more than in usual tourist resort areas. As importantly for @Olddaddy, as others have pointed out the Maldives is a Muslim country. When I was there, Maldivians were not allowed to work in the hotels and most staff had been recruited from Sri Lanka. This policy has now changed and the ratio of domestic to foreign workers is roughly equal. I would not suggest considering any attempt at sex with workers as this could have serious consequences. On the other hand, it was wonderful to be on a small island where one could walk round it in less than two hours. The snorkelling is utterly amazing with such a fabulous collection of colourful fish. One evening I dined on the beach with the water lapping close to my feet. Since it was almost pitch black, when I looked up at the sky I have never in my life seen so many stars - millions and millions of them. It was magical! Since I went merely to chill for a few days, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. But I have no particular desire to go back unless someone else picks up the tab for a very expensive over-water villa and all meals. LOL Maybe best to be aware that as of August this year, the main tourists are Chinese and Russians who year-to-date made up 28% of all visitors. For the whole of 2024, they made up 40.3%.

I have never joined any of these sites. Since I am rarely on that particular site, it was the sudden appearance of Chinese groups that took me by surprise. I find only one of the guys really attractive. On most of the half dozen or so sites the guys are too young, too skinny, play silly games and are obviously playing to some audience which may just be a sort of mamasan with canned laghter. Since the dialogue both written and spoken is virtually all Chinese, my guess is the tippers must be Chinese big spenders. And they do spend big! Where most western guys/pairs can perhaps hope to get 300-500 tokens maximum per appearance, one guy tips a couple of the Chinese groups 2888 tokens. In less than an hour one pair had gained 5000. Looking up Stripchat I see that the performers get 5 US cents per token. But for two guys in China to get US$250 for appearing semi-naked on camera for the world to see, is a huge payday for just one evening. Totally agree about the guys from Taiwan. Is there a Taiwan site?

La-la land once again!

One irony is that Russia and China came within a whisker of using nukes during a major border dispute in 1969. This had the USA and other countries more than just concerned. And it was one of the unstated reasons for Nixon and Mao (no doubt persuaded by the moderate Premier Chou En-lai) cosying up to each other resulting in the change in US policy over Taiwan and Nixon's historic visit to Beijing in 1971. Putin no doubt thinks that Xi is in his pocket for now. I reckon it's the other way around. Xi is playing Putin because it suits his long term plan. Xi is near pathological about the need for security of his borders. But any form of nuclear war would throw all his planning completely out of kilter. For all his rhetoric, he needs peace, certainly in the short-medium term when he is dealing with massive upheavals at home including a real estate market in a state of virtual collapse (and consequently government revenues very seriously affected) and youth unemployment of well over 20% to the point where the government no longer publishes figures. As @unicorn states, Putin really only has the threat of his nuclear weapons. He will know full well that use of nukes anywhere will see his allies desert him like the proverbial rats from the sinking ship and the end of Russia as a world power. Unless his objective will be to see the end of the world.

The posts at the start of the thread all deal with American brands and products available basically only in the USA. Frankly I don't know of any brands outside the US which donate to anti-gay causes. If I did, I would do my best to avoid them. I try more to avoid businesses with unethical business practices, like coffee distributors who pay the local growers a pittance even when raising consumer prices. And as others have written, any business with lousy service. But this is surely more a personal thing. With one company I worked for, we had to fly Northwest across the Pacific at a time when it was generally called Northworst. No doubt being in business class helped, but I actually liked the airline. For 2 or 3 years business class transpacific entitled passengers to free helicopter trips between JFK and Manhattan's East Side Heliport. I even took it between Hong Kong and Tokyo quite a few times. If not on business I sometimes took Pan Am between these two cities but only because it was the cheapet fare. After one transpacific business return flight, though, I vowed "never again"! Little wonder it sold off its Pacific routes to United a few years later.

I fully understand that sentiment. When I started out on my serious travelling, it was for the most part to see and experience all the places I'd be fortuate to visit. Many now remain in the memory without having to look at all the photos.

Seeing the monsters that now sail the seas with several thousand passengers, almost the last thing I ever want to do is spend time on one.

Bangkok's creaky infrastructure showed itself again yesterday when a huge sinkhole opened up near Vajira Hospital in the Dusit area. Officials blame recent heavy rain and subway construction, but Bangkok is used to both and these rarely result in large sinkholes opening up. It makes one wonder where the next one will occur! Watch the vdo to the end.

Thank you. I have been wonderfully lucky, first to move to Asia at a time when for most travellers it was just a stopover en route to Australia. Then to work for companies which required not only some travel but a lot of it! I could post another 5,000+ photos only from parts of Asia (e.g.many more in the countries covered above plus those omitted like Nepal), and these are only the ones after I got a digital camera in 2001. Sadly my photos of ten visits to Bali, the Taj Mahal and many others taken earlier have all faded. Probably a result of bad storage. I posted only to show @iendo what variety there is within the continent and most available relatively inexpensively with some advance planning. So make some plans and then go and have a blast!

My experience is limited to three and the often inclement weather had not put anyone off - even during the third one around the Caribbean, up the Amazon and then around South America. The main reason, I am certain, is that at that time there was quite a severe recession and couples, mostly elderly, were flocking to cruises because of major discounts. One New York couple told me it was actually cheaper than staying at home. For the 17 days I was on that cruise, couples were paying just £60 per day which included accommodation and all meals (4 or 5 per day). I could not have put up with more than 17 days but they were on for 3 months!

Great plan! As you say there is so much to see and experience in Asia, in terms of different cultures, natural wonders, fabulous food and, of course, nightime entertainment. As many readers know, having been based in Asia for 46 years I have travelled a great deal within the continent and have had some fantastc experiences - day and night! At the risk of boring some, here are some photos of places you might wish to put of your list of places to go, many of which are not generally discussed as major sites. Some, though, like the two Thai Festivals and the Harbin Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival are specific to a time of year and ideally need to be booked a minimum of 3 or 4 months in advance for accommodation near the attractions. And then of course there is the mega-Taipei Gay Pride Parade on the last Saturday of October each year. There are lots of photos spread around this Board. Just check the Search box. 1. Within Thailand Ubon Candle Festival Dansai Ghost Festival 2. Other Countries Vietnam Hanoi Vietnam Hue China Harbin Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival China Yunnan Province Lijiang China Yunnan Province Shangri-La (allegedly the most beautiful Tibetan monastery outside Tibet) China Suzhou China Chengdu Panda Reserve and Jiuzhaigou National Park Japan Spring Sakura Blossoms Japan Nikko (day trip north east of Tokyo - memorial to the Shogun Ieyasu, the first of the Edo period, and his grandson) Bhutan Taipei

Wasn't that what the leaders of Britain and Germany said in 1938? "Peace for Our Time" and all that? And we know one was lying big time!

Some weeks ago I moaned when I described not following Warren Buffet 17 years ago when he purchased a 10% stake in the Chinese battery and occasional car maker BYD. It cost his company $230 million. Slowly Berkshire Hathaway has been selling that stake and as of this week has zero shares. The amount of profit made is 30 times its investment - $7 billion! He walks away with a mega-profit as BYD's capitalisation hits $135 billion and its battery-driven cars outsell Teslas around the world. Another investment for those with mega-funds at their disposal, if they can be found, is a violin. This can bring you loads of profit. Not just any old violin, though. A Stradivarius crafted in the late 17th/early 18th century in workshops in Cremona is arguably the best investment as only roughly 650 remain in existence. All are 'named' instruments, mostly after musicians who have owned and played them. In 1992 the American collector David L. Fulton purchased the "Baron Knoop" Strad for US$2.75 million. In March this year he sold it for $23 million making it the most expensive violin ever sold. Caring for such expensive intruments is a round the clock job. Stradivarius also made other stringed instruments. One of his cellos is owned by the great Yo-Yo Ma. Rushing in a taxi from a rehearsal to a fund-raising lunch at The Peninsula in New York, he forgot that he had left his Strad Cello in the trunk of the taxi. WIthin minutes the hotel concierge was on to the taxi company and musician and instument were quickly united. I'll bet the tip was more than the customary handful of $$! Second on the list will be instruments made by Guarneri del Gesu whose short career coincided with the end of that of Stradivarius. Only 150-200 of his instruments remain in existence and are favoured by some violinists for their fuller, brighter tone. The Vieuxtemps Guarneri, owned by the composer of that name, was sold in 2013 for amost $18 million. Until then the average sale price of a Guarneri had been in the region of $10 million. What makes these instruments rise so dramatically in price? Increasing scarcity for one. Brilliance of their sound another. But it is the farily recent attraction of business corporations to buy one as part of its investment portfolio which it then lends out to a leading violinist of the day. After all, these instruments have to be played. If not they deteriorate, albeit slightly. One, the "Messiah Strad" is owned by by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford but sadly is rarely played. Such rare violins are clearly dependent on market conditions and so are not really liquid investments. The market is driven by desire. But as The Strad Magazine points out in a 2021 article, between 1960 and 2008 such violins had increased in value by 19,400%! Finally, and almost inevitably, another part of the reason for increasing prices lies in the Chinese market. During the Cultural Revolution, orchestras were confined to playing a handful of Chinese works favoured by Mao's wife with pigsties as rehearsal halls. Now there is a huge boom in western classical music and the very rich Chinese businessmen are getting in on the act. Not yet at the very top level but already wealthy collectors and businessmen own several top violins and are regularly seen at valuable instrument auctions. Now why didn't I save harder and now own a million dollar instrument!