Any information about Belo Horizonte ?

[Guest EuropeanGuy]

I will have to spend a few days in Belo Horizonte from February 4th to 8th.

 

I know the main sauna with "garotos de programa" there is supposed to be Sauna 1097 (aka "Hot House").

 

Is it still the best in town ? Is it really comparable to those wonderful saunas that can be found in Rio or Sao Paulo ?

 

Are there any other good places in Belo Horizonte to find rent boys ?

 

I am totally addicted to these "garotos de programa"...

 

Thanks to everybody in adavance, and especially to Trilingual, the "Brazilian saunas specialist", who could very likely help me !

[gulliver]

Carlo at Romanus is the person to contact. When Floridarobb and I did our month long tour of Brazil, he arranged the rooms (making sure we could have boys) and gave us up to date lists of the saunas, which ones had rentboys, and all the other info we needed. One thing to note is that smaller cities may be much much slower in the saunas during the week and I would try to arrange it so my stays were over the weekend in the future. Eduardo who makes arrangements for visitors is from Belo Horizante and is planning on being there in the next few months visiting his family. You may email him and inquire about using him as a tour guide and sauna guide. He is not easy to contact by email so do it early.

[BillyZ]

Belo Horizonte

 

I don't think that any place in Belo Horizonte (which sounds something like Bell'orizonch when Brazilians say it) comes close to being "really comparable to those wonderful saunas" in Rio or Sao Paulo! So, I'd suggest lowering expectations.

 

Yes, the best sauna (by far in my experience) is indeed Sauna 1097 (aka "Hot House"). It is the best for lack of any serious competition (even on the days alleged to be the prime days for certain saunas, e.g., Vapore on Sunday).

 

Nevertheless, Hot House is probably adequate to get you through a few days if you can get over being spoiled from having so many dozens of choices in Rio and SP.

 

I was just there in late December and, while Hot House had only a handful of guys each day, the choices were not bad -- including a hand

some 6'2" muscular hunk, an athletic 5'11 black stud, a cute golden slim boy, and a short kid with a great smile. If one is appealing, you might want to grab an extra towel or two to put on the awful plastic pallet in the cabin.

 

Other travel tips...

 

* Nice to be there on Sunday and stroll through the enormous handicrafts fair by the main park.

 

* A day-trip to the well-preserved colonial town of Ouro Preto is essential if you are going to be in BH.

 

* I'd also recommend taking a three-hour tour to see the spread-out highlights of BH.

 

Start work on setting up the tour(s) immediately when you arrive, because it may be difficult to find a van tour with an English-speaking guide, and they will try to sell you a expensive "private tour" or an over-priced hotel taxi (with a driver who knows little or no English). I finally found a very helpful English-speaking woman at American Express travel who found a bilingual guide taking a small group to Ouro Preto.

 

Hope these suggestions help,

Billy

[trilingual]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

Billy, those are great suggestions. I haven't been to BH for two or three years now, but Hot House was always particularly good on Friday afternoons. Crowded, with a large choice of guys. I'd also strongly endorse engaging Eduardo, if he's there. Nothing like having a local show you around their home town!!!

 

BH is large and spread out, but a lot of the nicer areas are fairly centrally located. In addition to the places Billy mentioned, the Praça da Liberdade near the governor's palace is lovely, the Parque Municipal downtown is cruisy, and the Shopping Cidade downtown is very useful (functioning ATMs) as well as cruisy. . .

 

Ouro Preto and the other colonial gold-mining towns are outstanding and worth a trip by themselves. One of them, Sabará, is now a suburb of BH, less than 30 minutes away by vans that leave from the Rodoviaria downtown. It's worth going for the day to wander the old colonial center, visit the baroque churches and one of Brazil's oldest theaters, etc.

 

BH is low-key compared to Rio or SP, but can be a surprisingly pleasant place. It has a dramatic location in a bowl in the mountains, and is an attractively green city. Enjoy your stay there!

[jivau3930]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

BH has the #1 futbol team in Brazil - Cruzeiro. Rivaldo, 2002 World Cup #1 Player returned from Milan to BH last week to play forward for Cruziero.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/xp/20040108/t/1652759880.jpg

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

Oooooooooooh, he is cute! I wonder if he "swings" one or both ways!

 

Thanks jV...and please send me your email address; your most recent message to me was erased too quickly for me to send you that promised reply! Obrigado! Axiom....

[Guest EuropeanGuy]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

Thank you very much to all of you for your very useful information !

 

I will give you a report on my trip to Belo Horizonte if I happen to find any other interesting place than "Hot House"...

[Guest EuropeanGuy]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

One last question: Does anybody know what is the usual sauna boys' rate in Belo Horizonte ?

 

Is it the same as in Rio or Sao Paulo ? Is it, as in many other smaller cities in Brazil, even cheaper ?

 

Thanks for your help.

[trilingual]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

> One last question: Does anybody know what is the usual

>sauna boys' rate in Belo Horizonte ?

 

> Is it, as in many other smaller cities in Brazil, even cheaper ?

 

Unless there's been a dramatic change, the answer is "yes, it's cheaper." R$30 has been the going rate in most cities outside of Rio and São Paulo.

[BillyZ]

Going rate...

 

Tri wrote that "R$30 has been the going rate in most cities outside of Rio and São Paulo."

 

Tri's assessments are so valuable that I'm reluctant to dissent, even in part. But, it's my impression the gap between Rio/SP and the hinterlands has narrowed -- at least somewhat -- where gringos are concerned.

 

While we all can boast of our "bargains" and I was quoted R30 by a handsome guy last week in São Paulo, garoto migrations may be leveling expectations of what gringos should pay.

 

In Salvador, I went with a guy I'd almost picked the previous week in 117 in Rio. In São Paulo, I encountered a stud I'd just crossed paths with in Porto Alegre. In Porto Alegre, I saw a guy we'd had a sixway with the previous year at Lagoa in SP. In Rio at 202, I saw a guy who reminded me that we'd talked in Curitiba a couple of weeks earlier. My new best friend in Belo had worked a year at 117 in Rio.

 

Anyway, "EuropeanGuy," I don't think you should feel like you are being ripped off if you pay 40 or even 50 if it is good in Belo Horizonte, although I'd treat 50 at the upper limit in BH.

 

Personally, I find that too much negotiation about price can spoil the mood for me, but I know some of my M4M buddies get a rise out of it -- especially when they snag that unadvertized special!

[trilingual]

RE: Belo Horizonte

 

Look into Netuno and Vapore. However, BH is the kind of town where each place has its "day," so, if you can, ask around to find out which are the best days at those places. Otherwise they may be fairly deserted!