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A member of this site recommended Cucuta as an out of the way non-touristy city and I enjoyed the few days I was there. It might be a good place to get work done. There's little to do there for a tourist, especially one who doesn't speak much Spanish. But it's definitely different from the bigger cities that get lots of foreign visitors. The people were quite nice. I stayed in a nice airbnb a couple of blocks from a big shopping centre. The owner showed me a walking route to the centre with enough security guards that made it relatively safe. There was a hotel between the airbnb and the centre that had a big pool you can hang out at for the day for a small fee. There is one gay sauna that had a couple of working guys plus the receptionist was also available when he was not working. There's also a gay bar that I didn't go to, but heard had lots of cute young guys. I think finding sex partners you don't have to pay depends on a combination of, are you at all attractive and how skilled you are getting guys into bed. Not sure how dangerous it is compared to other Colombian cities, but the airbnb owner gave me lots of safety tips. And because of the general friendliness in the shops, restaurants, etc, I didn't feel like I was alone in a hostile place. An example, when I left I had to pay for my carry on before boarding the plane. I don't speak much Spanish and the guy at the airline counter didn't speak English so it was difficult for both of us, but we both stayed cheerful and I apparently I was his first Anglo-only customer because when we finished I realized his co-workers had been watching and they gave him a round of applause and he gave me a fist bump.

Not sure what the measures are, but on just a couple of visits to Colombia I didn't sense it's particularly dangerous for gays or that they are oppressed. Could be totally wrong of course. But the gay saunas were in regular and working class neighbourhoods and not hidden in any way. In Cucuta the gay sauna is right next to a motorcycle sales and service business with a dozen or more young guys squatting around motorcycles out front that I had to walk right by to go into the sauna. It's not even the kind of thing you'd see in Canada I wouldn't think. The doorman at the Airbnb building didn't care about the young guy I brought back one night, didn't need to see his ID and they chatted a bit, not sure what it was about, but it was friendly.

It didn't occur to me they might be available. I just think they're beautiful and probably hoping for modelling gigs.

Wow!!!

I was given a handicap seat in the front of a highway bus in Brazil and didn't know why at first... then I saw the fat person symbol.

Very true. I have spent most of my life in parts of Canada that still have communities of Indigenous people, but they are largely invisible in large urban areas. The history of Indigenous people in Canada has been betrayal after betrayal after betrayal by politicians and bureaucrats, from the arrival of the Europeans to present day.

An American who has travelled a lot told me once that black people are hated everywhere and there is that weird thing that people fear the darkest people the most. It's very sad to see disheartened looking black men, even in poor countries like Laos, trying to earn a living a selling stuff on the sidewalks. Has anybody ever seen research about blackness including the night being instinctually feared.

All in Rio?

I took a motorcycle taxi in Vietnam once. It was a relatively long ride on a highway. I've always had balance problems, so I kept my arms firmly clasped around his waist. He didn't like it and at one point I think he asked me to let go. While it did feel good, it was the safety his firm masculine body provided that I needed, not some cheap thrill, well maybe that too, a bit.

Sounds like wise advice Neyger. My one experience with a webcam guy in Colombia was he milked me for as much as he could ( and I can't blame him) before I got to Colombia and even after I arrived. I finally told him no more communication unless I get a time and price.... and he turned out to be fantastic in pretty much every way. May be best to avoid a paysite like OF.

I've used Uber without any problems. My last visit, an Uber driver offered to take me to Guatapé which I accepted. We had a great day, he was great and we did two sightseeing days in Medellin after that. There is also a taxi option on the Uber app. I like Laureles better, but I think it is a matter of personal preferences. I went to St Moritz in January three times, there weren't many customers and the same two or three tops each time. The bartender at the time was one of the tops. I had a great time with him.

This is a passage above of texts from Perry's phone, Among these included Perry declaring "I am a racist," and comparing the Black Lives Matter movement to "monkeys" multiple times, and also as "animals at the zoo". He also stated in a text, "To [sic] bad we can't get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe." It was also revealed evidence obtained when Perry's phone was seized, How does that not make him an avowed racist? I have no patience for protesters of any kind who want to block other people from going where they want to go. But the evidence suggests he was looking for an opportunity to shoot people.

That makes sense. I had some enjoyable hook ups in the saunas. But not as great as I had hoped. The one incredibly hot guy I met in a sauna turned out to be quite scary. He asked for the money up front, which I paid. Then he immediately asked for more. I said no. His glare at me pretty intense. Then he just laid on the bed without engaging. It was a short session. The next guy the complete opposite, lots of fun. When I was leaving the original guy approached me in the locker room and again demanded more money while staring into my eyes with an angry expression on his face. It was uncomfortable. None of the other hookups in the saunas were memorable. It seems like a really interesting city, but I was alone and every time I walked in an area outside of the heavily sanitized tourist zone..... lots of police and tourist shops... a local would tell me it was dangerous for me and I should go the tourist zone. I have no doubt they were concerned about me. By coincidence a guy met travelling in Turkey was in Salvador visiting his parents and picked me up the airport and took me to their place in a gated suburban community for lunch. They weren't rich, normal middle class retirees with a small home. It was a block from a nice beach which we went to for a walk. It was a weekday afternoon and the beach was almost empty. He told me his mother was very worried about our safety. So it was a short walk. He said Salvador is the kind of place where you never want to look like the most vulnerable person.

Same situation with me re Colombia and Istanbul. I'm now adding another destination on those trips so I don't feel like I should lie when co-workers ask where I went.

I see you're in London, and will assume you don't mean London, Ontario. House parties almost always end up centred in the kitchen in Canada, especially for younger people and I'm curious if that's pretty much the same around the world.

Canada is even more fucked up. A Liberal government started a phased in program to make Canada metric in the early 80s. We got as far as kilometres and celsius when a Conservative government was elected and stopped the transition. But it didn't reverse what had been done. So some things among the citizenry are celsius and kilometres while others like inches and pounds are used. People in some industries and fields use metric because it's a better system... ie health care workers use kilograms and centimetres. I think kids are taught metric in the schools, but it still hasn't taken complete hold for some reason. One of the last vestiges of the Empire along with the monarchy, I guess.

Ha, ha... good point. Is leaving shoes on more the norm around the world? Could this be one of the rare occasions when Americans are oblivious to how out of step they are with most of the world. And I'm saying this as a Canadian who often forgets to take my shoes off and doesn't notice the typically passive aggressive Canadian hints that I'm annoying my host.

It's pretty common in Canada for hosts to expect their guests will take off their shoes. It might vary a bit depending on location and climate, but obviously there's going to be snow and or mud in Canada for much of the time. Wearing boots to a house party is a necessity, not a choice. I imagine if it's important for people to wear shoes indoors, they bring a separate pair to change into. Many women bring multiple pairs of shoes to work for instance and stow them under or near their desks.

Sorry, it wasn't him Thomas. And thank you for replying about the request from OF for a pic of your identity card. I'm pretty sure it's not a requirement of Canadian law.... although the leader of the opposite Conservative Party here has said he supports the idea of requiring age verification to view porn online.

Sometimes..... mixed responses.. ie no response, a one word response, a few normal responses and one enthusiastic response. That last one was a super hot OF guy in France and then I discovered on Hunqz he was an escort. I messaged him with a tip and mentioned I'd be in France in a few months. He replied he would love to meet. I had to go to a city some distance from Paris and wasn't sure he'd actually meet. But he did, he is a wonderful guy and I had a wonderful evening. So fairy tales do come true. I have a question. I've stopped using OF.... to be more specific they've stopped used me. They say because of legislation in my jurisdiction I have to provide a photo of myself to use a credit card. I'm in Canada and there's no law about a photo.

I've also heard them called love motels.

I lived and worked in Germany for about six months many years ago. Some people there have really quick tempers and can become semi-hysterical, but I didn't see any drunk fighting. Even at a beer festival with tens of thousands of people packed into a big park there was no security. Would have been a disaster in Canada where there are many fights, especially outside bars. An inheritance from our British forefathers I guess. Not as bad as Australia and Britain. I don't think. British drunks are particularly foul based on what I saw of British stag weekends in Cologne and Prague. The Finns on the other hand, I just wanted to hug.

Do you know if there are sex motels in Thailand similar to the ones in Latin America?

Yes, as far as I know, every province/territory includes long term health care in its public health care system. Although many of the long term care facilities are full so people are warehoused in a hospital until a bed becomes available in a care home. In my family's experience, that meant my mother didn't receive any therapy, no personal grooming and as little attention as possible from the nursing staff who weren't happy about looking after helpless old people. Most of the Covid deaths in the first six months of the pandemic were in long term care homes, the worst in privately owned facilities as opposed to publicly owned. Which led to the, "they were about to die anyway" reason for opposing Covid rules. But in any case, I wasn't thinking of people who needed health care, just lonely old unhappy men.

I don't think anybody said it was an excuse.