TALES from a GAY LIFE (mostly in Asia) – Part 6

[PeterRS]

Sometimes I think I made a mistake by choosing Bangkok as a place to work remotely and eventually retire. For I have been intrigued by Taipei since my first visit in 1986. It was then under martial law and gays were more or less confined to wandering in a park behind what was then the Hilton Hotel. Some readers may have read the novel also made into a TV series, Crystal Boys, a depressing tale about those who all but lived in the Park in the 1970s. Yet within not much more than half a dozen years after martial law was abadoned in 1987, much had changed. At least two bars opened and a couple of saunas. One of the bars - only recently closed - was called Funky. On a visit with two friends from Hong Kong we tried to find it. After wandering around for at least 15 minutes, we gave up. I suggested checking with the concierge at the nearby Sheraton Hotel. He was all smiles when I asked my question, checked on his monitor screen, and then with the smiles gone informed he he did not know of such a bar! Not prepared to give up, we kept wandering the area until we finally found the entrance. Unfortunately we also found that young Taiwanese in the mid-1990s tended to keep themselves to themselves. Perched at the bar and looking around many lovely faces, we found no interest whatever. We then hit the sauna instead!

The sauna on the 5th and 6th floors of a building near the main station was very large, had an open shower area with mirrors behind which were close to the steam sauna so that there was a constant flow of beautiful naked bodies between the two. Having mandatory military service certainly helped create some stunning bodies. Upstairs were dozens of private rooms and a huge dark room area. My Hong Kong friends were staggered at its size and clientele.

I have lost count of the great times I had there. Sadly a major earthquake in 1999 so damaged the structure of that building it had to be torn down. Various other saunas have opened and shut. Most recently I posted about one of the longest established Hans Men’s Sauna having moved 200 meters up the road into much larger far more pleasant surroundings. I occasionally used to visit Rainbow sauna, but that was known for the attitude shown by some guys to foreigners. The owner closed it and then opened what quickly became the most popular sauna, Soi13 in.

When the Japanese colonized Taiwan, they developed a whole series of hot springs. The most popular amongst gay guys is Huang Tzu accessible by the subway to Shipai station. Not always very busy during the week, it tends to be very crowded at the weekend. There used to be the possibility of some groping in the steam room, but I noticed at the weekend the owner has kept the steam permanently hot which means it’s really too hot for more than a couple of minutes. NT$250 (US$7.65) gets you access to the hot spring. For an extra NT150, you can get a meal in the attached restaurant. Even after visiting many dozens of times I still love the sight of so many glistening naked bodies, many young and fiercely good-looking! 

Nine months ago I was visiting the new Hans Mens Sauna when I saw a beautiful early 20s guy come in. Thinking I would be way too old to attract him, I merely sat on a sofa watching the crowd go cruising by. Soon the beautiful youth appeared and smiled at me. I smiled back. He asked if he could sit beside me. What? I was thrilled. He then told me in good English that he had met me before. Surely not! I would certainly have remembered. Then he told me it was at the hot spring when he was with his then boyfriend. Only 18 at the time and unable to speak any English he had not tried to speak to me. But for whatever reason he remembered me! He was keen to go to a room. I felt almost in a daze. We had a nice time and a chat. We kept each other's Line details but never kept in touch.

Then just recently at Christmas I was dining with some friends from Shanghai on the top floor of Icon Siam when I suddenly saw a lovely young man smiling in my direction. Certain that he'd be smiling at someone else, I looked around. Nobody. To cut a long story short it was my Taiwan friend. He was with a group of his own friends and so we did not even try to chat. As he was leaving the next day, we said we'd meet again in Taipei. But last weekend he was in Siem Reap. So hopefully we'll meet up on my next trip in May. But I remain really puzzled. How do you remember for 4 entire  years someone you only saw for a few minutes in a hot spring at such a young age? It can be a strange gay world!

I did post a photo blog of my 5-day 4-night round the island tour in 2016. It really is a superb holiday destination. I will report the link in the final part of this series.

 

PS: I have stupidly forgotten to add in various trips to China over the years. Apart from many to Beijing and Shanghai, the Harbin Snow and Ice Scupture Festival from mid-January to mid-February each year is a spectacle impossible to describe, utterly stunning. As others have written, Chengdu in the centre is a very gay city with something like 20 universities. When i was there I had too many hits on the apps. When I told one lovely young man I had no time to see him as I was leaving the following day, he asked when I'd leave the hotel. He said he would be round to meet me at 10:00! Chengdu is also famous for being close to the famous panda reserve where you can see at least 50 of these lovely creatures. 

Also either a bus ride or short plane ride away is the absolutely magnificent and huge Jiuzhaigou National Park. Starting 4,000 meters up in two valleys, it is impossible to describe the beauty of the place as you descend. Nearer to Bangkok and easy to get to is the capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming. Here the apps were also busy but I was there principally to visit three towns and cities - Dali with its three pagoda temple, the amazing old town of Lijiang nestled below the Himalayan peaks, and especially the monastery in what is now called Shangri La. The Ganden Sumtseling Monastery is said to  be the finest Tibetan monastery outsde Lhasa and is quite stunningly beautiful. I was staying in a lodge right behind it. As I sipped my ginger tea in the afternoon, I could not keep my eyes away from such beauty.