Features > The Pleasure Activist

by Doug McClelland

(posted September, 2007)

Budapest and Bratislava

Before I tell you about Budapest, I have to tell you about the flight to get there. I flew Lufthansa German Airline from Vancouver to Frankfurt, and then connected on to Budapest. Lufthansa provides great service but the amazing thing I had never encountered before was the washroom set up of their plane. The plane was an Airbus A340-600, a wide body jet that holds about three hundred and fifty people. In economy there are five extra-large toilets located on a lower deck in a small lounge area. I’ve never seen a plane so well setup for the mile high club. You go down a flight of stairs to the lower deck, which makes it easy and inconspicuous for two people to enter one toilet, and since there are five toilets together there is no line waiting outside when you finish. Of course I insisted that my buddy traveling with me come check it out. We easily slipped into a cubicle without notice and proceeded to have a hot fuck session at 35,000 feet. Afterwards, we exited back to our seats with no one the wiser. If you are going on a long haul flight watch for planes with this configuration.

Now, on to Budapest. Budapest was a surprise to me. I had been in Prague, which is a mid-size picturesque city full of tourists, and I was expecting something similar in Budapest. I was mistaken; this is a big city that reminded me of Paris or Madrid, rather than Prague, and I didn’t see a lot of western tourists. In fact, Budapest has been called the ‘Paris of the East’, and it has been a major metropolis for a long time. Budapest is the capital of Hungary with 2.5 million people living here. It is divided by the Danube River, with one side being Buda and the other being Pest. Hungary has been a member of the European Union since 2004, but does not use the Euro currency yet. It uses Hungarian Forints, which exchange at about 187 to the US dollar this month.

Budapest's recorded history begins as the Roman town of Aquincum, founded around AD 89, and it has been continuously developing since then. The area was occupied around the year 900 by the Magyars, the cultural and linguistic ancestors of today's ethnic Hungarians. The Ottoman Empire conquered most of Hungary in the 16th century and has left it’s mark. In 1686 the area was recaptured by Austria, from which point on it participated in the tomultuous history of the area, including being governed by a facist regime allied to Nazi Germany, and then forty years of communist dictatorship. In 1989 the comunist government fell and was replaced by a democratic system.

I have three recommendations for tourist attractions to visit. The House of Terror is a museum located at 60 Andrássy in the former offices of the secret police. It contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist dictatorships of Hungary and is also a memorial to the victims, who were tortured or killed in the building. The exhibition includes the basement where you can see the cells that were used to torture the prisoners.

Second, Statue Park is a park with a gathering of monumental communist-era statues. These include statues of Lenin, Marx and Engels, as well as local Hungarian communist leaders. After the fall of the communist regime in Hungary in 1989, the communist statues and monuments were immediately removed. These formed the basis for the collection in statue park. It’s really interesting to see that all these statues that have been removed from places of prominence throughout the city.

My third recommendation is to visit the historic Turkish baths. Considering the place of baths in gay culture, it’s really interesting to see these historic places. The Rudas Bath was built in 1550, during the time of the Turkish occupation of Hungary. It retains many of the key original elements of a Turkish bath, exemplified by its Turkish dome and octagonal pool. It is located at 9 Döbrentei on the Buda side. It re-opened in 2006 after a careful renovation of its interior, which updated some areas while maintaining the historic atmosphere. It alternates between men’s and women’s days. I went and was amazed. The cerntal bath is a large warm pool surrounded by four smaller pools of different temperatures. The room is dimly lit and full of mist. There are steamrooms and saunas, showers and massage areas. I had a Turkish massage, where a big brute works you over till you are mush. You could also opt for the soft massage, which was performed by handsome young men. The place has lots of gay men in it but everyone was on their best behavior because the room is full of straight men too (sort of like being at the YMCA). I did see one guy discreetly jacking off another in the pool, but when others noticed they were yelled at by a couple of guys. You just wear a tiny loin cloth that they give you or go nude. Every time a hot guy entered you could see half the heads swivel to check him out. While I was there two young Americans arrived wearing surfer style bathing suits and everyone laughed at them, wondering what sort of back woods place they were from. The other five hundred year old bath is the Kiraly Bath built during the time of the Turkish occupation. It is located at the corner of Fõ utca and Ganz utca. Its address and entrance is Fõ utca 82-84. The Kiraly Baths are open to both sexes but not at the same time. There is also the interesting Gellert Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool, an elegant Art Nouveau place built in 1918, for a different style. There are many spas and hot springs in the Budapest area that attract people from all over Europe. Don’t miss this experience if you visit.

Hungary is one of the most liberal Eastern European societies. There is an active gay scene in Budapest and in the rest of the country. Budapest's Gay Pride is the biggest in Eastern Europe and was also the first such event in the ex-communist bloc. Budapest Gay Days lasts at least a week every summer with film festivals, pride, and parties across the city. The age of consent is fourteen and has been equal for both heterosexual and homosexual activity since 2002. Gays are not banned from military service. Hungary was the first ex-communist country to legalize the same-sex partnerships. Common Law Marriage applies to any couple living together in an economic and sexual relationship, including same-sex couples. Despite this progressive situation I have to note that on July 7th Budapest's gay pride parade was attacked by skinheads, neo-Nazis and other thugs. They threw eggs, bottles, smoke bombs, and Molotov cocktails at the two thousand marchers, physically attacked several marchers, and pelted police with beer bottles.

I rented an apartment in Budapest, which is a very common form of tourist accomodation there. Locals are trying to get in on some tourist dollars and hotel construction has not kept up with the influx of visitors since the country opened up. Renting an apartment has a number of advantages as far as space and entertaining are involved. I rented from a gay guy who provided me with a gay guide map and directions to every place. A good place to look for apartments is Gay Stay. There are a few gay guest houses like the Poppy.

All of the gay places (except some baths) are in the center of Budapest's Pest side, in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th districts. Buda is hilly and residential; Pest is flat and the lively part of the city. The two bars I enjoyed most were Action and Coxx Club. Action is a small bar that has strippers, a good back room, plus rent boys. It is discreetly located and the sign is just a yellow A on a black background. I met a stunning rent boy here who came back to my apartment for 50 Euros. The Coxx Club is a big modern place in a basement. It has an amazing labyrinth back room that is reminiscent of some ancient dungeon. They host leather and fetish parties. The Arkadia is a small bar where rent boys hang out.

There is also an interesting sounding place that I really wanted to check out but didn’t get to. It is called New Gloryhole and is a sex club for straight men with girl strip shows. Some gay men who like to play with straight guys go there. That sounds hot to me but I can’t report on it first hand.

There are two popular modern gay baths in Budapest. The Magnum Sauna, was the first western style sauna to open in Budapest, in 2001. It’s the largest and most popular sauna with steamroom, dry sauna, private cabins, gloryhole cabins, darkrooms, video room, cruising cellar with sling, massage, free internet access, gym with free weights. The second bath is Sauna 69. It’s the newest sauna, open since 2004. It has a sauna, Turkish steam bath, Jacuzzi, cabins, gloryholes, darkroom, massage, and video room.

If you like sex shop cruising there are two places. Erotik Center is a mixed place with two movie rooms, one showing straight porn, and the other gay porn. The other is the Intim Center, which has private boots with some gloryholes and attracts a mixed crowd.

If you are looking for higher-class escorts instead of the regular rent boys check out Budapest Boys Escort or Gay Tailored Tours, which have pics of their hot men on their Web sites.

Outdoor cruising is a summer sport here due to the cold winters. Police sometimes check cruising locations and may check your ID, which you are required to carry at all times. The people's park (Népliget) is the busiest cruising park in Budapest. The best way to orient you in this park is to imagine a rectangular space with a ring road within it. The metro stop (Népliget) is where you will come out and is located in the lower right corner of the rectangle. From early morning to sunset, cruising happens at the back of the park on both sides of the ring road. Look for the dog school. Cruising happens to the right of it if you are facing the dog school. The night time cruising happens from sunset to midnight. Several cruising areas are to be found at night, mainly to the left of the Planetarium within the ring road. Once having passed the planetarium, continue to the parking area and watch where guys go. During night time, car cruising happens on the ring road, especially at the parking area to the left of the planetarium and at the back of the park near and after the dog school.

The promenade along the Danube on the Pest side between Marcius 15 tér and Vigadó tér is a popular rent boy area, busiest from 5 pm until 11 pm. Rent boys can also be found in the underpass linking the tram stop and the metro stop at the Nyugati train station, although this area has an ‘at your own risk’ reputation. The little park north off Margit bridge on the Buda side is cruisy with the cruising area being near the playground and small pool after crossing the street separating the park, best time is sunset until 11 pm. The trails of Gellért Hill (walk up the hill), near Rudas Thermal Bath are cruisy. There is a cruisy toilet at the Ferenc körut metro station, with a mixture of rent boys and others, best time is 10 am until 6 pm. There is also a cruisy toilet at the Nyugati metro station, mostly but not only rent boys, best time is 10 am until 6 pm.

If you visit Budapest you may be interested to make a side trip to Bratislava, the pretty little Bavarian style capital of the Slovak Republic. It’s a couple of hours by train. If you do there is one bath there called Expert. There is also a cruisy bar there called the Apollon Club. It is mixed but Sunday is men only night and can be interesting.

This is a really interesting part of the world and the gay scene is still evolving. It’s a good time to go.

 

Recommended in this article (also see the Sex Listings):

[Editor's note: I'll have the recommendations and Sex Listings updated for Budpest next week. Please check back. Thanks!]

 

 

Comments, suggestions, compliments, criticism? You can write to Doug, The Pleasure Activist, at doug@cruisingforsex.com.

Doug McClelland originally entered the adult entertainment business as a centerfold for BEAR magazine, but he soon moved from the front of the camera to behind it. In 1995 he founded chisel.com, one of the original gay porn sites, which in 1996 was the first gay site to netcast live video. He has produced, directed, and occasionally appeared in adult videos. His association with Cruising for Sex began when Chisel became the second sponsor of our site. For the last few years he wrote our advice column called the Guidance Counselor. In the Pleasure Activist column he is our travel reporter, sharing tips and stories from his personal travels.

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