tassojunior

The best of Columbia are the masseurs at Club Tobi in Medellin. A relax massage is 30000 COP, a regular massage is 50000 and a full massage is 70000. That's $10, $16 and $22. ( I never noticed a difference between the $16 and $22 sessions) And they don't expect a tip ! For the $16 or $22 session they will do anything you want and would be glad to discretely meet at your hotel where they can keep everything they make. Only 3 masseurs most nights but solid 9's on a scale of 1-10. Bogota is more expensive but anywhere in Columbia 150 Euro sounds more like a price to "buy" rather than "rent". I only saw a couple escort ads in Bogota and those were in Euros and too high so I imagine they try to snag international travelers and businessmen who are used to those prices. Columbians aren't. Grindr, at least in Medellin, is full of "Prepaygos".......Grindr hasn't learned the slang yet. Certainly meet a safe place in public ! Also there's a male brothel in Medellin I hear. .

I have a chance to go to Helsinki for a week and am wondering if anyone has any experience. (sex wise) Was going to St Pete also and Tallin and Riga but may not have time for all those this visit.

I guess the only redeeming virtue would be if they allow guests to come to rooms. Otherwise a pretty spartan place. Even $50 seems high. I'd prefer the Holiday Inn or something like it on the nicer north end of Chapinero around the 70's.

Sort of like comparing Greyhound to Trailways when you're flying steerage (coach). But I have found Avianca proper has the best coach. It's obviously a heavily-gov't-subsidized airline and controls Columbian airports. Not sure about Avianca-TACA or Avianca-Brazil. An interesting twist is that ultra low-cost Spirit flies non-stop from FLL to Medellin and 3 other cities in Columbia. I don't know if any of Spirit's ultra-low fares apply to international.

Saudi oil is in the oppressed Shia part of the country. 50% of the US budget goes to military. We didn't pay for our last two invasions (Iraq and Afganistan) but borrowed money mostly from the Chinese. Several trillion. China is , or will soon be, the world's leading economic country because they don't do military but invest in infrastructure and loan money to dumb military-obsessed countries.

If the Romanians have taken over Madrid too that means they've probably taken over most of Europe. Certainly all you see in Berlin and half of what's in Budapest. Out of thousands I've never seen an attractive one and been pickpocketed by them too often. I suspect it's all gypsies (Roma) as on Chaterbate there are some attractive , even blond, Romanians. I'm headed to Helsinki, Hamburg, Riga, Tallin and St Petersburg in the next few weeks. Hopefully they haven't taken over all those towns too.

The Russian visa thing is a PITA. I'm starting the process tomorrow and my visit dates have to allow for the visa processing. Plus I have to give them my passport for maybe a month. If those Chaterbate boys weren't so f...ing perfect.

I'm planning on late August (to get the visa}. I prefer hotels to AirBnB usually but I'm wondering if hotels would be no-friends-up in Russia. Also trying to hit Riga, Tallin and Helsinki.

David is now bottoming in the live show at Action Bar (July 4) http://www.action.gay.hu/main_eng.html

I've been asking a lot of the CB guys and it seems most of them are indeed in Medellin. All except my favorite of course, Zac, who says he's in Cali. Since a lot of CB guys are Columbian that's a lot of trade in Medellin. It's kind of hard to miss the 3-story gay sex hotel at 57A and Oriental- it's whole front is painted as a rainbow flag. (Google StreetView?) The hustler bars around it do have odd hours by US standards.....all completely closed most of the day and on random nights.They close earlier than American bars too but when they're all open the entire block is packed. The sauna in that block is just a street number like all the other saunas in Medellin.

Club Tobi is still definitely open at Calle 47 #43-88 . There's no sign and clearly no one knows it's entrance is there- there's just the address number. I highly recommend it as the prime spot to start. Did you go to Calle 57A where it intersects Avenue Oriental? There are 5 or 6 gay, mostly hustler bars there that flow into the street plus a sauna and the gay sex hotel which is painted in rainbow flag colors. The Gran Hotel on Calle 54 is the type hotel middle-class South Americans stay at. Mostly families and very safe. Nice well-kept building with security guard but with 1970's type furniture. Nicest for the area. I don't remember the $80 visa fee. Sorry you didn't at least get to Club Tobi. I regret missing the "house of boys" mentioned above.

Is telephone the only contact? Their own website seems gone.

Be sure to start with Club Tobi. The male whorehouse mentioned a few posts up sounds interesting. Don't expect a lot at the 57A/Oriental corner and maybe you'll get lucky. Gran Hotel is very nice but I stayed there just to be close to 57A, If cabs work for you from other places I'm sure there's nicer rooms. I'd probably stay other places now that I know the town.

I know about Central Station bar from the boys on CB. But what is the situation with taking them in as guests at hotels? That could be a dealbreaker.

Same here...all those St Petersburg guys on Chaterbate are amazingly good-looking. I'm wondering if Central Station the huge gay bar there the guys tell me about has any working guys or any of the saunas. Airfares to Russia are low--especially on LOT.

How safe are the Metro's in Rio ? I've always taken taxis.

Electoral College electing "blunts" the effect now, but if even one or two blue big states go to electoral votes by Congressional district there may never be another Democratic president. We're talking Pennsylvania or New Jersey or Wisconsin or Illinois where Dems would lose dozens of electoral votes. I don't understand why the GOP hasn't already done this unless swing states just like the attention but eventually I'm sure even Repugs aren't stupid enough to let this slip.

""I have never seen it quiet like it is now" If it's worse than ever that's saying a LOT in Rio. My last time there I had to stick to the beachfront in Copacabana because even on the next street over I was followed by thugs looking to rob. My neighbor's brother is a businessman in South America and has been robbed every single trip to Rio (about 10). Worst one was at an ATM where he was almost killed. Rio's one of my favorite cities but it's very dangerous in the best times. Sao Paulo and especially Porto Alegre are looking better and better. And the money-in-the-sock thing is important in Europe now too as the pickpockets everywhere give one more body contact than desired. Workers at the Eiffel Tower just went on strike demanding protection from all the pickpockets. But if Rio's worse than ever.....

on ITA you can change currency to USDollars

Just got this notice that Copa has this fare from Cancun with a plane change in Panama City. Pretty cheap to get to Cancun on money or ff points. Verified and plenty of flights open. Very tempted even though this would be a lot of connecting. Easy to search on ITA Matrix software. Sounds like the PA guys are worth it.

Just back 2 days ago (see my Berlin post). Axel is really nice. There's a Mercure right on Fuggerstrasse in the bars. Toms actually has a couple decent apartments I hear. I stayed at the Scandic KuDam at the end of Fuggerstrasse next to KaDeWe which is a really nice 3 star. The 4-star Ellington is also there and the Crown Plaza another block up. Hotel rates in Berlin are very "dynamic" and can be bargains some days and outrageous a couple days later. Really pot luck whether you pay $50 or $500 for the same room. And some days Berlin is completely sold out.

If even one or two big blue states controlled by the GOP like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc shift to electoral voting by Congressional district, there may not be another Democratic president for a long time. The popular vote may become much more Democratic but it won't matter, only the electoral vote matters. So far the GOP hasn't pulled this trick because those states like the attention from being close. Also, even without gerrymandering, the House will always be very Republican because of Democratic concentration in dense cities.

Returned to Berlin for one day on my way back to US. Didn't go in Tabasco this time but checked several other places and met 2 hot Germans. Everyone's opinion of Tabasco seems to mesh with mine---place packed with Romanians, gypsys, and Arab pickpockets only interested in stealing, not tricking. When you've become too rough for hustlers to patronize you've hit bottom. There were maybe 40 hustlers in the small park next to Tabasco- no Germans. I returned to Blue Boy a block away and which is a slight improvement from Tabasco- more clients there and a German or two. I met a blond German and we went to the sex-hotel which has a sign saying it's a Hostel half-way between Tabasco and Blue Boy above the BoyToy rent bar. Room is $25 for 1-hour. The rate was 70 euro for full versatile sex and the guy was fine physically, if no Einstein. Next I went to Tramps Bar which is directly behind Tabasco and again met a very attractive blond German. Back to the "Hostel" and the rate again was 70 euro but he didn't bottom. Afterward we had a beer in the ToyBoy bar which is directly under the hostel. The guys available there were largely Romanian but the bar was much safer. I probably felt the best in Tramps Bar but it has a much smaller clientile, probably owing to discouraging Romanian thugs from hanging out. Blond Bar, next to ToyBoy, is very nice but I don't know if much rent frequents. I checked out several of the many gay bars close by but none had any rent. There are over 1000 listings for escorts in Berlin and both the ones I met are on PlantetRomeo. I had to go to the Zoo Bahnhof to get back to the airport and it used to be hustler-central in Berlin. There are still several clients cruising there but I didn't notice any obvious rent. I couldn't help but notice the thousands of stunning guys in the plaza next to it. Like a Hollywood casting call. Berlin is now a place where you have to hide any money or valuables when going out but there are still some attractive guys available "on the hoof" and plenty online.

I missed the oral academy as I met someone I saw a few times. A 23-yr old named Cjad who hangs out in Action bar and is the most sought-after. Very muscular, huge dick, blue-eyed good-looker Hungarian with huge smile and big laugh. At first discussing rates he said 30 euros, top only, but then when I asked for extras (69) it got to 50 euros which is still fine. Evidently 50 is a fine rate for many of these guys. He texted me every day for repeats so it was plenty incentive. Even David Sweet who advertises on RentMen and PlanetRomeo only charges 120 euro for complete versatile sessions ( we couldn't connect after several tries). Evidently he bottoms on the Friday live sex show sometimes. The current week's sex partners's photos are on their website. I also hung out at Habloro and Funny Carrot a couple evenings (short walk from Action). Not as threatening with tough Romanians as on weekends. They're aware of the problem and last summer hired a security guard to keep the crowds off the sidewalks out front- on weekends it's like running a gauntlet of pick-pockets getting in or out. There is zero trade in any of the public parks or rail stations anymore. My last 2 days I switched to a very luxurious hotel closer to the bars. Action Bar is behind the very nice Mercure Korona on Calvin Square, while the Ibis Centrum and several apartment suites are across Calvin Square from it. The National Museum is also there.