holtju2

So how's the gay nightlife in above mentioned countries? I am just about to book my Summer trip.

keeton

Obviously you are not a US citizen with that itinerary!

As for Sauid Arabia: Regardless of nationality, you cannot enter Saudi Arabia unless you are a Muslim or are going to work, where you need a visa and letter of invitation from your host employer. General tourism is not permitted. I would dare say that gay nightlife is non-existant (not that I looked). Homosexual activity is punishable by death, if caught. Ironically, it is a custom for men to walk around holding hands as a gesture of friendship. Don't even think of bringing in porn (or even mainstream) media as your belongings _will_ be searched and any music CDs or video DVDs will be confiscated (I saw it happen in customs) and you may be subject to arrest. If you are able to get an internet connection, any adult or Jewish (even containing the words "zion" or "love") sites will be blocked.

I doubt if Iran would be much better.

What kind of "summer trip" is this?

meFIRST

Saudi Arabia does not permit general tourism. I was there for a project. It is a very modern country though, the cities are very "american" (ie roads run on a grid) and if you ever get invited into people's homes - it's PALATIAL, though not everyone lives like that I've been told. A lot of migrant workers. Just like the rest of Arabia.

The saudi's are very gracious hosts, a kind, gentle people that values 'family'. Or at least that's the sense I got. The men, most of the at least, border on huge - all that eating good food i suppose. The women were all covered up so I can't comment.

For the record : Saudi men kiss each other on cheek when they greet each other. (This privillage however is strictly I believe limited to the arabs, I would be too afraid of even try)

Anything else remotely gay is so repressed I couldn't detect it. There is nothing gay in Saudi Arabia. If there is, it's extremely underground (remember punishable by death).

If you realy like middle easterners, hop on a plane to Beirut or Istanbul and have fun. Dubai, is boring and hardly anything gay either. Also bear in mind, gay websites are blocked in all these countries - I had to VPN into my corp network in Europe to access porn (the IT people must love me).

If you like history, I suggest a visit to Sanaa, Yemen. Again notthing gay there but a lot of history, (I haven't been)

For real freedom, try Tel Aviv

I was so withdrawn from the my trip to Jeddah and Riyadh that I routed by trip back to the USA via Berlin and Amsterdam. For OBVIOUS REASONS! (after all of that, one needs xxxx)

Flying Buccaneer

Did you just read Tony Wheeler's Bad Lands? Most of the countries on your itinerary are covered in the book.

JCinNYC

Do you know how to get around it? I'd love to go there, seems so exotic and underground to me, that I find it fascinating.

BTW, there was an article in The Atlantic a couple of months ago about Gay life in Saudi Arabia. It was pretty interesting from what I remember. They said there were specific locations, day of week and time (time of day was key) where gays guys would meet to do the eye contact game. The ones who scored would go home to have their "privacy" with the new friend. The article kept mentioning several Starbucks as the meeting places, in case someone is interested (do not the time though). Also, 'tops' are not considered gays, go figure!

holtju2

You can have some sort of transit Visa for couple of days or so while "transiting" via Saudi Arabia.

BTW in many countries tops don't consider being gay.

meFIRST

The transit idea may work - though it's WORK for you. You'll have to navigate through the maze of the Saudi Arabian embassy. If you do go this route - use a visa service. I wouldn't bother dealing with the embassy directly. Not worth the effort.

Saudi Arabian Airlines in the premium cabins is actually quite good, though the amenities on board was a little behind the times. No beds, No IFE of Qatar Airways standards (this may have changed) .

But, Arabs in general are very gracious hosts, the service was wonderful in the front. I particularly loved the pre flight drinks of Arabian coffee with dates. The food was delicious, the service very SQ. It was a very comfortable flight.

No sexy kabaya though and no booze on the plane.But who needs it? The male FA's were more interesting. And actually, because of of the male/female restrictions on social interaction, A LOT OF THE FA's on the plane are guys.

Aside from the holy cities of Mekkah and Medina (which the Saudi's are very proud of by the way) I don' think there is anything of significance that tourists would find interesting. I'm almost certain that you have to be a moslem to enter those places.

For a simmilar, less stressful experience, I'm recommending Damascus (Syria) and Beirut (Lebanon).

Who needs terrorism? . I just wanna be with the guys....
Can we all get along....

keeton

Even those are difficult to get: http://www.arab.net/saudi/sa_visas.htm

anonplz

I've been to Caracas, but this was a number of years ago (pre-Chavez, in fact, and things were pretty bad then, haven't been since so I can't draw contrasts/comparisons), and my info is undoubtedly very dated. But Tasca Don Sol was a fun cheersy spot. Then there's a disco - Tiffany? - on the main Parkway in the nice part of town. Also, Zipper for raunchier times. Few other places - I'll see if I can dig it up. Oh, and at the time I was there, it was sort of an open secret that the Tamanaco had a bar or disco with a gay night which was popular, because the Tamanaco apparently is good about keeping out dangerous characters, and believe me, there seems to be an excess of dangerous characters in Caracas, so be very careful if you do go (and I actually have a handful of specific stories I could share, but will only do so by PM, if you are interested). Food's good, and the people are pretty. Clothing is a good buy. Many Europeans go there "on holiday".

Never been to the other places, but of course, as one who used to travel frequently, I have known people from all those other countries (except NK, to my knowledge). Some people say that Cuba is getting better with regard to respecting gays' civil rights? Americans are basically prohibited from going there, so I wouldn't go, personally. Probably an interesting place. Oh, but you asked about nightlife - well, an indicator of nightlife, IMO, would be that in all of those countries except Cuba (IIRC, and also maybe Venezuela), homosexuality is a crime, punishable by death in some instances. So I'd not go looking for trouble.

SFO-SSA

While getting there may be a hassle if you're a U.S. citizen (although certainly doable through Canada, Mexico or another country), you can have a fine time as a gay person in Cuba. I've been four times, and I would go back in a second if the Bush Regime wasn't watching our every move these days.

meFIRST

Oh dear

Passports of USA nationals must be validated prior to departure from the USA stating that travel to Lebanon is authorized by US Secretary of State in Washington DC. This is a US government regulation

Good luck trying to get this!!

This must a new thing with the new pro hamas gov in Lebanon. This certainly was not the case when i was there (pre 2004)

Guava

I think the OP should re-write the title of this thread to read as: "How to get yourself killed in 60 days."

Jimmy67

Cuba: Lots of gay life there, however also lots of prostitution.
Venezuela: Great gay nightlife. Nice people.
Libya: no experience
Syria: Think hospitable and nice, sexy lebanese guys in beirut and multiply by 10!! Some mixed gay dance clubs in Damas. And of course M2M action int he hammamat.
Iran: Wonderful hospitable people, however Teheran is a horribly full dirty city. No nightlife of course, but lots of private parties.
Saudi-Arabia: Similar to Iran; lots of expats organise privater parties in their compounds. Check the dating sites for friends who can invite you, so you can get a visa.
North Korea: Have been to South Korea, and didnt like it too mucht here




/Venezuela/Lybia/Syria/Iran/Saudi Arabia/North Korea

Randeman

I heard something on Iran...recently...let's see...what was it? Oh, yes; their president was Grand Marshall of the first ever Tehran Gay Pride parade. Yes, indeed. And those other countries? Hateful rumors about them being anti-gay...not true at all! I would encourage visiting all of them and just bein' a big ol' queer.

anonplz

Saw Parvez Sharma's "A Jihad for Love" tonight about the lives of oppression faced by muslims in South Africa, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and South Asia when they are born gay. Fascinating and very well-done film. At 81 minutes, it was too short for me, though, as I enjoyed getting a glimpse into these closed societies. Sad and infuriating, too. Suffice it to say that while some of the individuals depicted in this film seem to know the limits and how far they can go (no doubt because they are natives), it's probably a bad idea to think a foreigner could go to, for example, Egypt and dress as the opposite gender and not cause offense (and perhaps worse). Very worthwhile film if you are at all interested in the topic. The film wraps up on a hopeful note. Even got to meet the director in the lobby after the film (which was a surprise, as I didn't know he was even supposed to be there).