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well, given the reports we have seen on the incredibly high drink prices it may be that a vicious cycle has been created. In addition to it being low season people aren't interested in spending all of their money on drinks. And because there are so few customers I suppose the bars have to raise prices to cover their costs. Of course the rise of the baht may factor in a bit too. When it was 40 to the USD a higher price might not seem so bad, but with it sitting around 31 to the dollar now that's a pretty big difference. since I am not there I don't know for sure, but it seems like this may be a factor.

As I noted in the Sihanoukville thread: As for gay scene, there isn't much of one. There are a couple of gay or gay friendly bars in Phnom Penh. I visited Salt Lounge while I was there. It's very friendly. I happened to be there for their 3rd anniversary party which was quite an event. I know I have written about it elsewhere if not here before. They set up a stage out front with a tent over it that took up about half of the street. They had some (bad) drag, candle and fire dancers, and a few other things. For the Cambodians who had never been outside of their country before it was something the likes of which they had never seen. If you are used to shows in BKK and elsewhere I think it was a bit quaint. But I felt kind of honored to be there to share the experience with them. They have a website: http://www.thesaltlounge.com/ The Sticky Rice guide to gay Asia has links for gay places in Cambodia. Where to stay depends on your budget. I stayed at the Intercontinental last year. It was very nice in a chain hotel sort of way. The breakfast was good but the dining room was a bit overwhelmed with tour groups. This year I will be spending a night at the Amanjaya. It is much better located right near the river, palace, and Silver Pagoda. The Intercontinental is not very close to most of things a tourist would want to see. The Raffles Le Royale is supposed to be the best hotel in town, and I would guess it has prices to match. You could do PP in 2 days. There are no go-go bars or anything like that. If there is a commercial sex scene it must be pretty underground there. At least I didn't see it. There is certainly a great deal of poverty for sure. There's no "massage" scene either like there is in Thailand. I did have a massage but it was a legit massage with both of us fully clothed. They gave me a tshirt and loose pants to put on. The masseur was similarly attired. That was for a basic Thai-style massage. I supposed if I had opted for an oil massage instead I would have been naked but my guess is that the masseur would have still been fully clothed. He put me in a number of interesting positions. As for what to do in the city, there really aren't all that many tourist attractions. There is the wat on top of Phnom Penh (which means Penh's Hill). The grand palace is very nice, but not as nice as the Grand Palace in BKK. The one in PP is only about 100 years old. The Silver Pagoda is on the same grounds as the palace. I think it's a pretty well-confirmed rumor that the current king is gay. There is the genocide museum. Other than that there's the casino and the riverfront park. The national museum is OK, mainly just a collection of statuary without much identification. And there are a bunch of women inside who will try to get you to buy flowers for all of the Buddha statues. There are a couple of old markets that are crowded and hot. I arranged my visit using Purple Dragon tours (www.purpledrag.com). My guide, Nol, is a fascinating and passionate guy. He was a monk from age 8 until he graduated from school. He took me to visit his old monastery which is near the palace which was a special treat. He has very strong opinions about all sorts of things. His accent took a little getting used to. But I had a really great time just spending time with him and our driver and eating our meals together. I will be returning to see him later this year. Having a guide and driver was a big time saver and very informative.

That is a detailed reply. As he says you basically pay for things in USD and get small change in Riels. Most prices are quoted in dollars. As for gay scene, there isn't much of one. There are a couple of gay or gay friendly bars in Phnom Penh. I visited Salt Lounge while I was there. It's very friendly. I happened to be there for their 3rd anniversary party which was quite an event. I know I have written about it elsewhere if not here before. They set up a stage out front with a tent over it that took up about half of the street. They had some (bad) drag, candle and fire dancers, and a few other things. For the Cambodians who had never been outside of their country before it was something the likes of which they had never seen. If you are used to shows in BKK and elsewhere I think it was a bit quaint. But I felt kind of honored to be there to share the experience with them. They have a website: http://www.thesaltlounge.com/ The Sticky Rice guide to gay Asia has links for gay places in Cambodia. There is also apparently a gay bar in Siem Reap (Linga Bar) that is supposed to be really nice. I was so tired after visiting the temples all day that I never ventured out to find it. I loved Cambodia. I will be going back for a few days in November on my next return to SE Asia. I am not really into beaches so I don't have much interest in Sihanoukville. This time I will be heading down to Kep and visiting the old sites around that area. Although the lodging options in Kep are fairly dire from the looks of things so I am sure S-ville is much better in that regard. I think Bokor is easily doable from S-ville though as well.

I am happy that you went. I definitely plan to go there in the next couple of years. Glad to hear the weather was good in November. You say it was cool at night...exactly how cool? Light jacket cool? fleece jacket cool? heavier coat? That's probably around the time I would go...late October or November.

yes, flights to Laos are expensive. Bangkok Airways flies to Luang Prabang at least so you may want to check them to compare or use a site like kayak.com to compare multiple airlines. There aren't a lot of airlines that fly there so prices tend to be a bit high. I think Lao Airlines also flies to BKK. you may want to take a look at Purple Dragon's Laos offerings. I am using them for my trip later this year. I have traveled with them the past two years and while they are not cheap I think they provide a great service.

Here is an interesting post on that very subject by the owner of Purple Dragon Tours http://www.purpledrag.com/blog/4October07.htm I personally have very conflicted feelings on the subject. I think I come down on the side of visiting and spending money mainly serves to enrich the tyrants and does little to support the people. But I also see the other side and understand their argument. Obviously it's a complicated issue.

I definitely have to agree with you there. And since everyone talks about how much she cared about the poor people you kind of wish she could have left some instructions to save the money and spend it on the less fortunate. But I assume that this is just the way it "must" be done with respect to protocol. You can see the chariots at the National Museum in an annex building. They also have video from some of the formal important funerals that play on a continuous loop. When I was there several art students were drawing the chariots. They are very impressive.

of course the reason this guy is in trouble is that he was abusing boys and taking their pictures and one of them turned him in to the police.

can he really be called "gay"? Since he seemed to prefer young boys that makes him either a pedophile or perhaps an ephebophile. Apparently he also abused some young girls, but I guess the pictures that we know about are of boys. I believe there is a distinction between preferring children and some one who you would call gay in the conventional sense who prefers adult males.

exactly. The Chinese need to step in. But that's one slightly less repressive regime telling another what to do. If there are 50 million people and only 400,000 troops you would think that they should be able to overwhelm the military even with its guns. There are several dead already and there will likely be many more. It was somewhat encouraging to see 10000 people come out today even after the monasteries were raided and monks beat up. Reports of some soldiers refusing to beat the monks is also a bit encouraging. I wonder if there's any chance of a coup within the military? As much as we would like to think the outside world can do something it is unfortunate that it appears an internal rebellion or revolution is the only way the situation inside the country will change.

A couple of things.... It is great that you generally enjoyed yourself. My first time, as it were, was about a year ago and I also had an amazing time, but I too found it to be very eye opening. Particularly Pattaya and Sunee. And I agree that the place is fairly shocking to see first hand. However, as has been pointed out here there are plenty of venues there that are on the up and up. Did you really pay Bt1500 for a short time? Is that the going rate now? I never paid more than Bt1000 for a short time and that seemed to satisfy everyone involved. And that was before the dollar started it's downward slide. The only time I ever took any taxis I had my guides with me and they did the talking so I think that helped avoid any taxi hanky-panky. The driver who took me back to the hotel the night of the coup wanted an inflated price but was quickly put in his place. I tipped him anyway because I was happy that we found him under the circumstances. The traffic in BKK is chaotic, but in an odd way I thought that was part of its charm. I suppose if I lived there and had to deal with it every day it would make me crazy, but in small doses it didn't bother me. And the nice thing about being in the Silom area is that the skytrain is right there and can get you around to many places you want to go.

here's the Cambodia e-visa website http://evisa.mfaic.gov.kh/ This is the route I plan to go for my Cambodia visa, US Passport holder here as well. You need an electronic passport size photo (.jpg) and you fill out their online application and pay the fee. Seems pretty simple. Don't know about Laos.

what a strange little article. It comes across as fairly sympathetic to him until the end when it talks about his lifestyle and special haircuts.

I would avoid United for such a long flight. I paid for economy plus (upgraded at the airport to business) on Thai last year and thought it was OK. This year I booked a flight using United miles in business class on ANA. Before you call to trade in your miles do some research to see the options on all partner airlines and when you do call them ask them to make sure they check the partners and not just United. If the first person can't give you what you want call back and try again. Unfortunately some agents are more diligent than others so you can't always rely on the first person. And inventory changes all the time too.

A minor point but Uzbekistan is not in Eastern Europe. It is in Central Asia. And I think people from that country are called Uzbeks, not Uzbekistanis.

OK, I thought I had been around the block. But what in the world is "chuck wowing"? Otherwise I think your tipping sounds reasonable to me as a tourist. Why wouldn't you invite a boy whose dancing you like to come sit with you though instead of a $0.60 tip for dancing? I suppose I tend to base the value I put on these things on my experience in my home area. For me the idea of paying US$30 for a "short time" still seems like an immense bargain. And while I would likely not pay some one in a western strip club a few dollars just for sitting to talk to me, since it is the custom to do so in LoS I don't mind doing so. For all the money I am spending on the trip a few more bucks isn't going to kill me. And if it helps these guys have a little bit more fun in their lives or whatever they are going to use it for then, why not? It's just a bit of a redistribution of my wealth to Thailand.

According to this thread on FlyerTalk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=661511 The airlines are supposed to be collecting the tax now as of Feb 1 flights. If you bought a ticket before the airlines started collecting the tax you will have to pay, presumably in cash, at the checkin desk.

I guess I usually tend to stay in midpriced places, but the older I get the more I appreciate a comfortable bed. And I have found that bargain hotels tend to not be very comfy for sleeping in most cases. I stayed at a beautiful hotel in Chiang Mai called the Lanna Mantra. Fantastic bed, nice bathroom, the Ping River right at my doorstep all in a lush garden setting. I was a disappointed in the beds at places like Tarntawan and Ambiance in Pattaya. On my next trip I intend to step up to hotel class quite a bit. I am planning to stay at the Sukhothai for several nights in BKK, the Intercontinental in Phnom Penh, the Victoria Angkor in Siem Reap, and I think also the Triple Two Silom in BKK.

That's good to know about the weather. I will have to keep that in mind if I ever get a chance to venture there. I have to say I am intrigued by the beautiful boy with the wooden penis on his head. Apparently the faux penises are very important in their ceremonies and festivals.

That's one of the places that I am also fascinated by. I started to doing some research a couple of years ago and as you say it is not cheap, but I think the tours charge a daily fee that includes pretty much everything. There are several tour agents out there. Go to www.tourismbhutan.com and you should get a good idea as far as what there is to see. See the photo of the boy with a penis on his head... www.tourismbhutan.com/aaa.htm [attachmentid=180] 5 days seems short to me, but I like to be in a place for a while. There are 5 day tours available though. www.tourisminbhutan.com has tours listed. I think that Druk Air has a limited flight schedule so I am not sure how often their flights to BKK operate. I would also guess that November is probably pretty cold up there in the mountains. I would probably go during summer if it was me. Just Google "Bhutan tour" and you will get lots of info.

Thanks you guys. I was definitely planning on taking the train back and forth to the airport. I'm really not much of a bar person and I don't smoke so you're right that I will probably avoid them. A massage does sound nice though. And these saunas sound intriguing. I read the Tokyo section on the utopia-asia.com website which seems to have some good info. Mainly I just love cities and thought it would be fun to soak up the atmosphere and energy of Tokyo since I have not been there before. I don't know how "flush with cash" I will be after 3 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia. :-) But having the flight basically be free I do feel free to spend a little on nicer hotels and such, but the idea of $180 on a cab ride is not very appetizing. I have a while to plan so I will keep mulling things over. Glenn

I can vouch for Purple Dragon (www.purpledrag.com) but if you are there during a busy time their package holders get priority when it comes to their guides. But I think they have a lot of guides. I spent 3 weeks in Thailand and met several of their guides. All of them were very nice and very professional. I connected better with some than others but that is to be expected. All of them were pleasant though. But it sounds like with your requirements that maybe you are looking for more than just a guide. You will not get that at Purple Dragon. You can search the other threads here for hotel recommendations. I thought Tarntawan was a good place for a first timer. But I found their beds to be somewhat uncomfortable and the breakfast only so-so. The location is great though and the staff are fantastic. I liked my room at Siam Heritage very much. The bed was very comfy for example. But they don't allow unregistered guests which is a big drawback. Again the location was excellent though. There's a relatively new place called 222 Silom (www.tripletwosilom.com) that sounds very interesting but it is a bit farther away from the bar area. It's a short cab ride though if you don't want to walk. The Skytrain station (Chongnansi) seems to be fairly close by. It is a boutique hotel with commensurate rates but it looks pretty nice. ETA: I just found out that Triple Two Silom has a B1000 joiners fee which seems pretty crazy. If you plan on bringing a boy home every night Tarntawan is probably your best bet. Or if you have money to burn I hear the Sikhothai doesn't have any problem with overnight guests and it looks pretty spectacular.

On my way home from my next trip to Thailand I will have an overnight at Tokyo. I assume others of you have experience with this scenario. My Thai flight arrives at NRT around 3:45 PM and my flight home to Washington isn't until 11-ish the next morning. I have never been to Japan. Does it make any sense to go into the city and spend the night there and then head back to the airport in the morning? Or should I just stay in the vicinity of the airport? I know it takes at least an hour or so to get into the city from the airport but it seems like it would be a shame to be that close to Tokyo and not get to see it. It will be late November though so I suppose it will be much cooler than BKK and it will probably be dark before I get into the city. I am guessing I should be able to check my luggage all the way through to my final destination so I should be unencumbered and I imagine I should be able get my boarding pass to IAD when I check in at BKK so I shouldn't have to wait in a check-in line at NRT in the morning, altho since I am in biz class I suppose checkin shouldn't be bad anyway. Any thoughts? Obviously I won't have a ton of time to do much of anything but I would just sort of like to absorb the atmosphere. And if I meet some cute Japanese boy....

I don't know that "snobby" is exactly the word I would use but it's on the right track. I think it's great that these sorts of venues are appearing and from all accounts they are what has been missing from the gay scene. But I am not sure that the occasional tourist is likely to get much of an entree into this scene. The author certainly does have a point of view that looks down on the "traditional" Silom scene which I think is somewhat unfortunate. I think both have their place and you don't need to put one down to promote the other. I also didn't realize Gene from Futon was gay. That's kind of cool. I never paid a whole lot of attention to their music because I have gotten into so many other bands but I will certainly check them out now.

The "business centre" was also very smoky when I was there. Luckily the wireless internet is pretty good. A little slow at times, but at least it's free. I even used Tarntawan's wireless network when I was staying around the corner at Siam Heritage for several nights. Now that is a beautiful hotel. But they enforce their no unregistered guests policy very strictly and they make you pay for an internet connection. Since I had stayed a week at Tarntawan I didn't feel too guilty about using their service.