Back home from RIO - Fourth Report

[Mavica]

Well, I’m back home in the U.S. . . . arrived several hours ago. Here’s a report of my last couple of days in Rio:

 

Friday was a “relax” day for me, time to catch-up on my rest before heading back to the U.S. in a couple of days, and to soak-up some rays of sun. After breakfast at the hotel I headed for the gay beach at Ipanema. The setting of this beach is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever experienced; and, there’s lots of gays in attendance (and, yes . . . many hustlers). The waves were strong, and the water cool (almost cold). The cost of two umbrellas, one chair, and 5 beers was just R$19 . . . a good value. I headed over to Studio 64 gay sauna in Ipanema at 6 p.m. This is a bath without garoto’s de programa (at least I didn’t recognize any). It’s a short walk from the gay beach and there were about 40 guys cruising and having sex. I had sex with four guys (in both the dark room and a private room), and many of the guys were comparable to many guys I’ve seen hustling at the commercial sex saunas. This is a very nice sauna, with a very nice mix of guys . . . many very handsome (and well-endowed for lovers of big meat). I left the sauna at 9:30, stopped to eat at a kilo restaurant in Copacabana, and curled-up with a cocktail and watched a movie on the t.v. No hustlers for me, I’d had enough of the free stuff!

 

Saturday was our last day. At breakfast my friend told me of an unpleasant time with Kevin the night before. Kevin, who hustles out of Estacao, was to have spent Friday night with my friend. They had some preliminary sex, dinner in the hotel dining room, and Kevin wanted to see a movie. At Rio Sul, Kevin had to be torn-away from playing video-games with the children, and then asked my friend to buy him an array of expensive “good-bye” gifts. My friend declined, but agreed to the movie (after which they were going to spend the night together at the hotel). During the movie, Kevin kept pestering for gifts. So, my friend . . . who, by this time was annoyed and confused about what was happening . . . told Kevin he was going to get a soda and some popcorn . . . but when he got to the lobby of the theater he took-off, grabbed a cab, and headed back to the hotel, alone. He dumped Kevin unceremoniously.

 

Well, during breakfast who should show-up announced . . . but Kevin! I thought my friend was going to crawl under the table to avoid confronting Kevin. The dining room was full, and, to the chagrin of my friend, I asked Kevin to sit down. Kevin told me his side of the story, while my friend sat in silence (he didn’t understand Spanish, in which we were speaking). I asked my friend to leave us alone for 15 minutes before returning, and I proceeded to honestly tell Kevin what my friend had told me, and why he said he dumped him. Kevin said it was all a misunderstanding, and, who knows . . . it might have been. Anyhow, Kevin wanted a couple of the gifts my friend was going to give him (wallet, t-shirts, etc.), and I dispatched my friend to his room to retrieve them. I left the two alone, and suggested to my friend that he apologize, get it over with, and move on with the day (which he did, and they hugged and shook hands). We escorted Kevin out of the hotel, and all was fine (hurt feelings on both sides). Kevin did get paid for his time, and for the sex, so both guys probably got what they really wanted out of the short relationship.

 

Off to the beach we went, Ipanema again (“Miriam” kiosk/tent), and it was a nice (but cool) day. It was overcast, the waves were washing chairs, towels, etc., away . . . but it was still better than being back in the Midwest U.S. (a storm is reported to be headed for Rio this coming week). I was expecting M4M'er, Sucker, to arrive in town, and we had communicated earlier and wanted to meet before I left town, so we headed back to the hotel at 2 p.m. Sucker was in his room, I telephoned and we introduced one another, and we met in the lobby and headed for Point 202 at about 3:15. Point 202 is about a block and a half walk behind the Atlantico Copacabana Hotel (and around the corner from Roger's), but it wasn’t ready to open just yet. Maybe I misunderstood the first-day opening time, but they had been passing fliers around town saying 3 p.m. However, workmen were still going at it, painting, hammering, etc., when we arrived, and we were told that opening would be at 5 p.m. So, off to Plan B. I showed Sucker where Roger’s was (but said I wouldn’t be going there), and he said he was interested in Estacao (and, maybe, meeting Dalton!). The three of us got to Estacao about 3:30 p.m. and there were a couple of other customers and maybe 6 hustlers. One of the guys, Jordan, with a fat whopper of about 9” showed his wares to us, but I think we were all a bit intimidated by the size of that thing to want to try it on for size! I showed Sucker around, we had some drinks, and we watched the guys drift in, talked to several, etc. My friend took a nice (light-skinned) gay boy (passive) upstairs for a massage, b.j., and a fuck . . . and I latched onto Breno, a rather dark number who proclaimed quietly in my ear that he was a top . . . only for me to soon find out that he couldn’t keep a hard-on (until I stuck a finger up his ass). What he really wanted was to bottom! Oh well, doing that was on my list for the day anyway, and he has a great ass. More drinks all around, for us three, for the guys who gravitated to our table, etc. Sucker fell in love, and took a beauty upstairs to see if the equipment would fit . . . which, he pronounced, “It does!” Running out of time, I grabbed a tight little number with a dick that one needed a crowbar to separate from his chest, and we climbed the mountain for one last toss in the sheets before heading to the airport. My favorite of this trip, Juan Paulo, was nowhere to be found, and I was a bit disappointed.

 

The dance/show room at Estacio did feel like there was air conditioning operating, especially because the glass door separating it from the rest of the facility was closed. There were also four or five large fans going. This is the only time during the trip that I saw the sliding door closed, and I think that, once the crowds/guys show up, the door is left open . . . and the cooler air escapes only to be replaced by the heat/humidity. One of the two rooms I rented was nicely air conditioned (the first time I’d felt that); and, this time, the beds had sheets on them. Clearly, things are much more relaxed earlier in the day than they are as the hours get later . . . but, there are also fewer hustlers working. A first-time visit might be best during these quiet hours. This was the earliest I’d hit the saunas, because on other days I was otherwise occupied. By the way, when Sucker asked around for Dalton, we were told that Dalton doesn’t work the saunas anymore (not my type, so not my loss) . . . but, rather, he books appointments by telephone. Breno offered to call Dalton for Sucker, but Sucker said he’d take a pass . . . for the moment.

 

Well, we paid our bill, hugs all around the sauna (what a beautiful check-in boy!), and back to the hotel to pack we went. Off for the airport by taxi at 8:15 (R$47), plane left on-time . . . crazy big dinner at 12:30 a.m., continental breakfast before landing, easy customs clearance in Miami, and no problems getting onto our final destination. The departure tax of approximately US$36 was included in the cost of the airline ticket (United). One surprise . . . it seemed almost impossible to change R$ back into US$ at the airport. American Express wouldn’t touch the Brazilian currency of my friend because he didn’t have the receipt from the hotel where he changed the US$ into R$. And, we were told by the tourist desk that there were no currency exchanges in the airport. I flagged an airport employee who found a co-worker who changes money, and, for a big fee, my friend got rid of his R$. What’s up with this? What to you “regulars” do? I had no R$ left, because I used it at Estacao, and gave it as tips to the maid and front desk employee who was most helpful during the stay . . . so I didn’t face the same issue. Oh, by the way, Rene is not the manager of the Atlantico Copacabana hotel, he’s one of several front desk employees . . . maybe the supervisor, but certainly not the hotel manager (I might have misunderstood earlier comments about this. Anyway, he didn‘t seem to be around much, and other employees were more accommodating, IMHO).

 

Thanks for all of your comments. I’ll probably post some final thoughts during the week.

[trilingual]

Sounds like an excellent last couple of days! Once you start getting the hang of Rio (and that's hardly difficult to do) it's easy to have a good time!

 

Currency: I don't think I've changed local currency back into dollars since the inception of the real. However, I noticed on the ATM receipts from Citibank a reminder to keep the receipts in order to change money back. That was also the situation back during the crazed days of hyperinflation and a new currency every other month. If you don't have your receipts, the only way to change excess currency back is to do it on the "parallel" (i.e., black) market. The airport is a bad place to do that, because you'll get the worst rates. If you have a lot of excess currency at the end of your stay, you'll do better going to one of the "cambios" in Copacabana. They're mostly found in "travel agencies," and there are a number clustered on Av. Copacabana close to the Copacabana Palace.

 

Alternatively, you can try spending your money at the airport, where you can pick up souvenirs, books and magazines, cachaça, Brazilian coffee, etc. to take back with you. You can also keep excess cash for your next trip to Brazil. With hyper-inflation checked and the exchange rate relatively stable, your reais should hold their value. I had about R$100 left at the end of my trip last year, and it was still enough this year to pay for my cab fare into town and take care of a few other things before I had time to get to an ATM. If you're not going back to Brazil any time soon you might be able to sell your reais to someone else traveling to Brazil who wants to have some ready cash upon arrival. Maybe someone here on M4M would be interested. The exchange rates are published in many papers, and can also be found on http://www.cnnfn.com

[Mavica]

Changing money back

 

I used the Citibank ATM for all of my withdrawals, and not one of the four receipts I have make reference to keeping them for exchange purposes. The video screen on the ATM does advise users to keep receipts in case of account posting errors, however. My traveling companion found exchanging US$ he brought with him at the hotel front desk the most convenient (he's not an ATM-type of person) . . . and it was (only a small difference from the bank rate). The hotel didn't hand-out any exchange receipt, just the currency. So, for people exchanging at a hotel front desk/cashier . . . the difficulty of chainging BR$ back to US$ at the airport legally (or even at all), can be a challenge (especially if the traveler isn't fluent in Portugese). I've seen no mention of this currency covnersion problem in any of the tourism materials, including Lonely Planet guide, that I reviewed prior to my departure for Brazil; maybe its in the material somewhere and I missed it.