vinapu

it could be although I haste to say that as long as I remember boys always were complaining " no customers ". And yet, given a chance to make some buck extra, for example by converting ST to LT may times, cheerfully declined : " I need to to with my friends to DJ station" or similar excuse

Huge influx of sex tourists created demand for currency, it's why remain strong

and still they were and still are members here who never set foot in Pattaya as well as those who have only contact with Bangkok by way of landing in Swampy and departing from there.

as consolation price I need to say that I still consider Moonlight my favorite bar, warts and all

muchas gracias tambien !

very good deal for what is on offer in my opinion

and still you did not off him for all I know ?

No, that was likely in times when they had convertible peso in circulation. I don't recall it either from my first visit. In Havana you pay in local currency everywhere, only exceptions where hard currency was required were SIM card in the airport ( 7$ for 7 days , card only ), admission to Capitol, (20$, cash only) , day tour to Vinales ( 72 $ , card only) and both tourist busses ( 10$, cash only ). Visa and Mastercard worked , I was told American Express won't but not my problem since I don't have one

Tourist attractions : My favorite was just wandering through touch looking but in fact friendly streets of Old City with faded architectural beauty every several steps. There are several churches and monasteries , unfortunately most of the were closed , even on Sunday. Tourist life centers on one of 4 plazas -Caterdral, de Armas, Vieja (Old) and San Francisco. Cathedral was opened during day and there’s very good view from it’s tower. Plaza Vieja: Capitol building , newly renovated and literally shining all over the city. It can be visited by guided tours only , hourly from 10 am to 4 pm and admission is 20$ . Tickets can be obtained in the building right across the Capitol – there’s signage. Several castles , most impressive and worth visiting being Morro and St Cristobal across the Havana Bay from Old City. Easiest way to get there is by taking tourist bus T3 heading to Playas del Este. Cheapest and more picturesque is by taking ferry across the extremely picturesque bay to Casablanca, it takes 10 minutes and costs 2 peso although everybody paid either 5 or 10 and did not expect change and walking from ferry landing by the Christ and Che Guevara house. Teatro Nacional beside Capitol , there are tours for 2$ but unfortunately I assigned for that Sunday and on Sunday there are none. Next time . Guys I went for tour to Vinales Valley were impressed. View from top of Jose Marti monument on Plaza de Revolucion, 120 pesos. Colon Cemetery, vast expanse of funerary monuments Having ice cream in Copelia emporium across from Yara cinema and Habana Libre hotel. Stroll along Malecon with accompanied ocean waves crashing, at one point one bumps into American Embassy. Monumental churches on Avenida Reina and Avenida Infanta are both in process of renovation and we not accessible and so was Central Railway Station. Speaking about railways I wanted to visit railway museum in former Cristina railway station but while it looked maintained it was firmly shut without any signs about opening but a lot of stock can be seen from the street. Gay stuff : I did not go there for guys but upon learning that Telegrafo, Cuba’s only gay hotel is right beside mine I had some hopes of possible hookups but truth is I saw only one guy , quite attractive , who could be looking for business opportunity, he even blinked eye and smiled at me but it seemed half hearted and I was not sure he meant what I did. Other then that unfortunately I did not notice anything of note but as I said , I did not go there for debaucherous entertainment so don’t feel disappointed notice gay flag on top and also on 2nd floor balcony

no, as you learn below I saw only one ( not even sure ) at Central Park, La Rampa I visited during daytime and there was none and I did not even measure where Las Vegas bar is. Next time. Indeed hotel security seemed tight which restrained my adventurous side too.

I'm not competitive and in the race with anybody, lol. Mashed sweet potato at front was indeed extraordinarily yummy, res was good as well. As for apps, I checked Grindr once, did not see anything of interest and gave up so can't comment. I did not go there for guys.

Glad to hear you did not waste precious vacation time

if you don't want to walk, they have shuttle to Silom Road, Also for 20 baht motorsai taxis from the corner will take you there in 3 minutes. You will like Quarter, breakfast is good deal there. Keep in mind , if you will be walking you will be passing by Senso massage so feel free to check their offerings.

No shortage of available guys in Bangkok, apps or not

some city contrasts : both pictures taken standing on the same spot - Christus and Che Guevara house, 100 m apart Capitol and half ruin again both pictures taken from the same spot - notice Capitol in distance and gay flag on restaurant traditional Cuban dish called 'ropa vieja" ( "old dress" ), 4000 CUP=~9$

To start with this was NOT a guy hunting trip at all so if somebody is looking for juicy staff you can stop reading now. It was also completely unplanned but when accidentally while looking for something else I spotted very attractive package of flight , centrally located hotel with breakfast and transfer from and to airport, all of the sudden I had urge to see what changed in 47 years since my last visit there. I was not planning to write anything but was encouraged to do so by few members and I yielded to pressure , lol, And I’m glad I did although not entirely for right reasons – I’m great lover of ruins and sadly a lot of building stock in Havana are ruins or about to become ones and still plenty of them are inhabited. Still there are plenty of pockets of grand edifices already renovated or being in process of. Thus city is full of contrasts where ruined or half ruined building is standing next to shiny place/ hotel / museum and often stretch of street with piles of uncollected garbage taking half of her width after few steps becomes clean, neatly paved block of cafes and restaurants. Parts of city further from Old City like Vedado and Miramar are much neater but also less interesting . I felt in love with the city and chances are I will visit next year as well as week ( 6 full days, arrived late evening on day 1 , departed early morning on day 8 ). There are few paradoxes which ,make city quite unique. First , its dirty, streets are full of rubbish which is being collected but obviously not fast enough and still in all my day long walks here and there I did not see single rat while in Bangkok, shiny capital of much more developed country hardly evening stroll along Silom or Suriwong goes without spotting one. Second, despite police being rarely visible- I don’t think I saw 2-3 cops in my week there city is very safe and it needs to be said , more dark and uninviting street looked, more safe and undisturbed I felt. I’m not kidding you. Sure, it must be crime , one evening I noticed I’m followed but people on the street seem to ignore tourists passing by. Of course there are bloody exceptions – Central Park, all 4 plazas in Old City and Obispo – pedestrianized street connecting Central Park and Plaza de Armas in old City. There one is harassed without mercy and Havana hustlers are among the worst and most persistent I ever met and believe me , I was here and there . But as I said , solution can be relatively easy – use side street to reach your destination and you will be left alone. Few practical information : Internet – in hotel it was very poor and after day of trying without success I gave up. Simply because I had solution at had- SIM card purchased in the airport for 7$ for 7 days, worked very well without glitch. Of course because of idiotic American embargo certain sites were out or reach i.e. e-bay , but I could get to this forum without any issues, e-mail worked, Grindr worked but closest profiles I could see were from Key West 90 miles away. Food- situation much better than I expected. Bangkok this is not but restaurants are in all tourist frequented places and simple snacks and even pastries can be purchased almost everywhere. Quality may not necessarily be highest and serving tastiest but all what I had was edible plus at least. Meal in private restaurant on one of plazas , count on 10 $, if you find government one , I will be half of that. No, I did not have any stomach problems. Breakfast in hotel was surprisingly varied, at least 4 kinds of cold cuts, delicious if one likes salt but beacon was excellent , so not for one second in my wanderings was I hungry. Beer was surprisingly good for less then 1$ and can be purchased in myriad simple stores opened by everybody whenever aunt Rosita sends parcel from Miami. Best beer was Bucanero Max, quite strong one at 6.5 %, there were also lesser known Spanish and Dutch beers for sale along with some of locally produced which I venture to say taste better than American or Canadian stuff. Stuff I did no see for sale was toilet paper and tea so better bring your own. Apart from hotel room only toilet where I saw toilet paper was in the airport but public toilets whenever I went were reasonably clean and maintained. If there’s attendant , she will expect some ‘donation.’. Money, official rate is about 120 peso ( CUP ) / USD but I doubt anybody is exchanging at that rate. Only exchange counter I saw was in the airport. Street rate is slightly above 400, I was exchanging at 435. If somebody quotes you attractive like 500 – be prepared you will be cheated. Guy who carried my suitcase to the room told me ‘don’t exchange money on street “ and he was right as I learned next morning to my peril. Best way is to find driver or restaurant proprietor, even better host of casa particulare (bed and breakfast ), in short some place where you can count your money. Another solution is to bring plenty of low denomination of USD and use it for payments, restaurants may give you change in local money – I paid 6000 bill with 20 $ note , they gave me change in pesos. Foreign coins are useless , euro often is taken 1: 1 with USD so not very economical. Getting around: Local transport – there are local busses but I did not use one and while crowded , certainly not overwhelmingly so like sometimes shown in You Tube . From Park Central there are 2 tourist busses hop-on, hop-off type , one T1 goes around the city stopping at 20+ various attractions , another one T3 goes to Eastern Beaches and it’s handy to get to Morro castle on other side of Havana bay. Both cost 10$ for a day so you . Bicycle taxis are everywhere and 2 hours city tour I took on 1st day for 10$ was one of best things I did as I gave me great idea where various places of interest are. There are regular taxis , fees negotiable. And finally crown of them all – classic American cars from 50ties which can be renter for tour but also as ordinary taxi. There are tons of those and if you are ancient car lover there’s no better place in the entire world than Havana to indulge. 1 hr drive 25-30 $ more tomorrow, may be even it will be some gay stuff

indeed, while it's good to have some boys in mind better be mentally prepared for an alternatives. Boys are leaving the scene , going with customers for vacation , getting sick, going home to see family , being booked for whole day of your intended visit or simply in flesh look less impressive than you think based on their pictures posted. ( I was salivating over some guy from Prestige massage and by chance last trip saw him , likely going to work, on the street close to his shop. Salivating stopped immediately , while face was handsome as expected , his built was remotely close to what I hoped for based on pics)

Sadly ? What's wrong with MB ? Don't be too cheap and utilize what Bangkok has to offer. As for apps, try Grindr. Again , what you need unlimited access for. Find one-three guys you like and force yourself to be happy with them and you will be all right. Have fun ! ( wishing somebody to have fun in Thailand is like wishing somebody to get wet when ready to jump into pool i.e sure thing )

it will not it will not

somehow peace in biggest war of them all , in Ukraine, eludes him and if anything , he rolled red carpet for guy who started it . If would be highly improbable that Parliament of country which both controls Peace Prize and borders that aggressor award prize to carpet roller. As for Gaza truce - Admiral Donitz, who signed Third Reich capitulation in WWII technically ending an onslaught was never mentioned for Peace Prize so better Trump and Netnyahu don't expect it either

I can conform that. At end of August when passing by in the w evening ( 10 p.m. ish ) I noticed door opened so decided to peek inside, there was nobody, no staff , no boys , no customers but yes somebody opened it and also closed as next day's noon door were locked. Sing said ' show 23.30" so it's perhaps true they have only show with visiting boys to perform in it. So brall3, no need to get upset since as you see , giving 'yes' or ' no" answer is not that simple

He was posting here as williewillie when I joined in and I always held him in high esteem since he was member who first welcomed me to the forum and encouraged to keep posting. I met him several times when in Pattaya, he was always willing to crack latest news over coffee or beer. He was also member of other forums under different nicks Rest in peace Marc

waiting patiently, That exclamation mark ! makes me curious

answer is in initiating post :

indeed I could read it without problem