ButtyBoy
03-06-2009, 05:40 PM
For tourists who prefer not to visit Egypt because of the increased persecution of gays and other minorities in recent years - Tunisia may be the answer. Although police harassment and ocassionally imprisonment of gays is far from unknown in Tunisia, it's not nearly on the scale of that in Egypt.
In Tunisia sex - gay or straight - is very very easy to find if you are either good looking or have money. Even if you have neither the looks or the money you can for just a few dinars experience an amazingly envigorating massage by one of the handsome young masseurs at Hammam Zariba, a relatively unknown hot spring near the town of Zaghouan in the mountainous interior of Tunisia.
The four most important things to remember are
1. Always carry atleast one condom as you may not be able to find one when you most need it.
2. Always be discreet to minimize the risk of your Tunisian friends being arrested.
3. Always ensure that if your Tunisian friend says he's eighteen or nineteen that you see his ID card to verify his age.
4. Tunisia is safer than most countries but as in any cruising situation - especially with street sex workers - take sensible steps to ensure your own safety and the safety of your valuables.
TUNIS FOR STRAIGHT MEN.
Libyans consider Tunis their "Amsterdam". They cross the frontier of Tunisia in their thousands to travel the two hundred miles to Tunis. Here the straight men visit the hostess bars near Avenue Habib Bourguiba (an extremely espensive and often frustrating experience) or the discotheques such as Pyramids a short drive from the centre. If they are on a budget they can also visit the legalized brothels in the old city. One of them is situated on a narrow street just a hundred metres or so behind the British Embassy and is said to have about fifty prostitutes and equal number of rooms. There is also a smaller brothel on Rue Boussen and doubtless many others. Doctors visit the premises to ensure the sex workers are healthy. But it is still always advisable to use a condom both for your own safety and theirs.
The "rip-off" hostess bars which leach money from those with more money than sense, are not to be recommended. The sex workers, mostly Tunisian but including sometimes workers from Egypt, Morocco and Romania) are ludicrously tarted up with artificial blond-hair and make-up and will almost never agree to leave the premises whatever the financial incentive for fear of arrest by the police. The only chance is to arrange for a rendez-vous outside the premises the next day but the chances of your hostess turning up are slim. They can make a lot of money in commission from every 30 dinar drink they can induce you to buy.
The patrons of these bars are mostly either businessmen from Tunisia or from other Arab countries, especially Egypt and Libya although I did see one Moroccan man who seemed to have an almost endless supply of one hundred Euro notes. To give credit to his generousity he bought cocktails for a Romanian hostess to induce her to sit with me, even though I insisted I was quite happy sitting alone with my male friend.
TUNIS FOR GAYS.
Gay men prefer to cruise the section of Avenue Bourguiba between the two five star hotels - Africa and el Hana - and especially the tables outside the very fashionable coffee and snack bar - Panorama (pronounced banorama). During the afternoon the seats are occupied mainly by families or businessmen savouring the delicious crepes and juices (choose between carrot or orange) but as night falls the number of gays increases. Here you can find both educated middle class gays and also, lingering on the pavement in the close vicinity of the tables, young men - usually unemployed - looking for tricks.
The central strip of pavement in the middle of Avenue Bourguiba is also popular for cruising and many young students also congregate in the evenings on the steps of the municipal theatre which lies approximately opposite the hotel el Hana. The key rule in all these places is to take your time and not necessarily to accept the advances of the first person who approaches.
A VIGNETTE OF GAY LIFE IN TUNIS.
In the Cafe de Paris on Avenue Habib Bourguiba I climb some stairs and sit down next to a balcony with a smart glass balustrade which looks down over the customers seated on the ground floor. My eye catches a middle aged Tunisian businessman, with a grey suit and equally grey hair, seated at a table with a cafe expresso and a croissant. He's reading the French paper La Presse.
Then, in walks his male escort - about nineteen and wearing a bright red casquette - and he sits down next to his patron. The older man feigns complete disinterest and continues to read the paper, while the lad feeling increasinly frustrated by the inactivity fumbles with his cap - adjusting it first one way and then the other. Then the two are joined by a somewhat camp Tunisian student, the businessman lowers his paper and finally a conversation starts.
COCK SUCKING IN THE CINEMAS.
I found no difficulty in giving a blow job ("Aiyz shisha ?" or "Veullez faire du shisha ?" is the way Tunisians usually ask for this service.) to a Tunisian acquaintance in a cinema which was then showing the film Kama Sutra. It is welcome news for many visiting tourists that many of the cinemas near Avenue Habib Bourguiba which show the 18 rated soft porn European films double as places for gay couples to have sex.
I asked whether it was safe to have sex in the cinema to which the young man replied.
"I know my country. Yes or No ? The police made this cinema for having sex. It's normal here."
Whether the owners of these cinemas and the police are actually complicit in what actually transpires I can't actually say. They may perhaps just turn I blind eye sometimes or may be they are too preoccupied with other business to really notice.
All I can say is that at the end of the film when the lights suddenly came on - me and my friend were caught in a highly compromising and embarassing position but to do credit to their tolerance the other cinema goers - who were exclusively male pairs - seemed to be totally unshaken by what I feared might be a somewhat shocking sight.
However despite the above comments I cannot vouch for the safety of these cinemas. There is some evidence of police harassment and arrests of Tunisian gays - more perhaps in Sousse than in Tunis but even in Tunis it is probably sensible, whatever your nationality, to be careful and discreet.
TAKING BACK MEN TO YOUR HOTEL ROOM.
Unlike Egypt there seemed to be no problem at all in taking back men to my hotel room. Normally there was no extra charge but when one night I returned with two totally drunk male friends they requested politely that I book an additional double room for my friends. Indeed it seemed as if I might have gone a little too far in my hedonistic search for homoerotic pleasure - atleast as far as the female receptionist was concerned. Until then she had continually chatted to me for up to an hour every afternoon on the sociolinguistic theories of Chomsky - but after that day she refused even to acknowledge my presence. But I'm digressing needlessly. With the exception of a few easily offended individuals - sexual hedonism in the privacy of your hotel room - whether gay or straight (I met countless female sex workers going up and down in the lift) - seems no problem at all in Tunis.
Most hotels do however ask to see and sometimes to keep the identity card of your visitor but a few hotels - which are virtual brothels and charge for rooms by the hour do not ask for identity either from you or your partner. These hotels however are only known by a few professional sex workers.
Please don't email GayEgypt.com to ask for hotel names as for legal reasons it is totally impossible to help you.
SOUSSE FOR WOMEN AND GAY MEN.
Once you've read this guide why not browse our new gay Sousse message board - click here !
Sousse almost certainly has more male sex workers catering to visiting European tourists than any other Arab country and I am including cities such as Luxor, Aswan, Tangiers and Marrakesh which I also know well.
The main cruising area starts at the main entrance to the medina or old town ( Place des Martyrs ) and extends across the busy Place Farhat Hached and then along Avenue Habib Bourguiba (not to be confused with Avenue Habib Bouruiba in Tunis mentioned above) which leads to the corniche past the unmissable Sousse Palace and Abou Nuwas hotels and then extends along the sea front corniche atleast as far as Dreams discotheque.
The corniche and sometimes the beach itself can be the best cruising ground late in the evening and at all times in the summer when it is crowded with muscular lads and (for those readers who may be lesbian) pretty girls. In the winter the corniche can be a bit quiet.
You can find several cafes along Avenue Habib Bourguiba which are popular with hustlers - especially two which are virtually below the above mentioned hotels. Normally it takes only a matter of minutes, at most an hour or two, to find a willing partner. But do ask to see their identity card if the youth doesn't look older than twenty.
Renting a room in a hotel or a flat couldn't be easier. There are many flats available north of the city in Hammam Sousse and some of them are rented by the hour. In the two appartment blocks I visited, neither I nor my Tunisian partner was asked to provide proof of identity. Fairly comfortable flats with a television can be had for around 20-30 dihrams for two hours during the week. At peak season and at weekends you may have to pay more.
I also visited a small hotel not far from the railway station - I'd better not mention the name - where basic small rooms with an ensuite shower can be rented by the hour for around 10 dihrams. It was extremely busy, with mainly older European men and their Tunisian boyfriends arriving and departing in pairs.
It may take a little while for gay men who wish to meet suitably like minded gay Tunisians. For while there are no shortage of Tunisian men who consider themselves strictly "rajul" or "straight" who will "fuck" Europeans or "sell their cocks" - only a minority of the hustlers actually think of themselves as "gay."
You will frequently find that their attitudes towards Europeans are double-edged. On the one hand they seem to admire European open-mindedness and freedom and speak of lack of freedom in Tunisia, but on the other they frequently appear to show little respect for the "bitch" or "gay" who was the partner the previous night, and any flattery you receive shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Do be careful with your money. Though theft and muggings are rare - they do happen ocassionally. Never carry to much money with you and don't be easily misled by stories about medical problems, sick parents or of not being able to find a job because of a Palestinian refugee status.
Many of the hustlers can speak foreign languages well and have sometimes, often with the help of visiting tourists, done considerable research on life in a particular European city so that if you say you are from England, they will tell you that their brother lives in Manchester and that they visit the city every few months. It also enables them to make unlikely promises - such as that any money they borrow from you they will return on their next visit. Promises that should not be believed but you can pretend to believe them if it makes your trip more enjoyable.
A VIGNETTE OF GAY LIFE IN SOUSSE.
A European man of about forty years with long blond hair is seated at a cafe table at the end of the corniche. The five star Abou Nuwas hotel lies behind the cafe and the tables look out either across the beach or over the corniche.
Around him are four Tunisian lads, the youngest around eighteen and the oldest about twenty one. Beside him sits a ludicrously wrinkly char-pei dog which would seem exotic enough on Fifth Avenue or Kensington High Street. In Sousse the sight of such an animal seated at a cafe attracts considerable attention from the Tunisians at neighbouring tables, and that's even before the man gives one of his lads a mobile phone and asks him to take a photo of the dog.
I hear one well informed Tunisian hustler at another table explain to his friends that you can buy mobiles which take pictures but that they are extremely expensive. His friends seem impressed and look enviously at the young men who surround this queenly, if somewhat obese, European who, having made a suitable impression, now stands to leave.
He saunters slowly away, with the dog following on the lead, walking in a beautifully feminine manner which belies his obesity. His cauterie of young men follow in tow. The quietest and most handsome sports a red manchester T shirt and a matching red "casquette". He walks closest to the tourist and is no doubt the Prince among the hustlers.
SOUSSE FOR STRAIGHT MEN.
For straight men, the discotheques may prove somewhat frustrating - unless you can really flash the cash or you're extremely handsome - as the number of men usually far outweighs the number of women. Some prefer the easier option of using a brothel. There is atleast one in the city where you walk down a long corridor and view the women attired in skimpy thongs - one in each room with the door open. Choosing couldn't be easier. Just look at each woman and when you finally decide, simply enter the room of your chosen partner.
HIV AND AIDS.
Always make sure you carry condoms with you and be prepared to counter all manner of excuses why condoms should not be used. Frequently Tunisians, and this includes many sex workers, will argue that condoms are only necessary if either you or they are ill - so which of the two are you implying ?! You may then feel embarassed into not using a condom. Don't ever make such a deadly mistake. Just say you always have sex with a condom because it's normal in England and you actually prefer it. Or think of some other good and believable reason.
RISKS FACING SEX WORKERS.
Tunisian sex workers face many risks - from HIV - see above - and also from the police who frequently arrest them and let them go in return for financial reward and from other crimminals who, like the police, observe the sex workers with tourists and then wait for them to return to their homes late at night with their money.
This is particularly risky for sex workers living in the medinas (old quarters) of Tunis, Sousse, Hammamet and other cities. They will frequently try to hide the money in their shoes or inside their socks but most of the crimminals know all the usual hiding places.
Frequently sex workers are disowned by their families and do not get the normal protection of revenge which might be afforded by their elder brothers. So they are seen as easy targets, especially in the narrow streets of the medinas at night. Their attackers know they can often get good money from them and face little risk of retaliation. Sometimes they may also rape the sex worker as well.
THE MAGIC OF HAMMAM ZRIBA.
Never had such a beautiful hammam (or "Tunisian sauna" as one tourist unimaginatively called it) such a modest description. Zriba in Arabic refers to an area on which farm animals are kept and is sometimes used as an insult to describe an untidy or dirty household.
The Hammam is situated in a mountain village surrounded by farmland. Even from the main street you can watch young shepherds shouting "mooush - mooush" as they drive a small herd of sheep along a hill path. But the village is far from dirty. Indeed it's one of the cleanest and most beautiful locations in all of Tunisia.
Above the village towers jebel Zaghouan - a mountain which though only just over a thousand metres high - seems much taller than it's altitude would suggest - for it towers vertically into the sky and even on the sunniest days, its' flanks are often shrouded by layers of mist and cloud.
To reach Hammam Zriba, you need to take a louage - a taxi-like van which usually carries between seven and eight passengers - from either Hammamet or Tunis - to the small hillside town of Zaghouan. The journey takes just over an hour from either city and costs just a few dihrams. You may also be able to take a louage from Sousse but I haven't checked this.
Once in Zaghouan a short walk takes you to a taxi rank which, hidden in a small side street, can be somewhat difficult to find. But don't worry - if you keep repeating the phrase - taxi hammam Zriba - someone will help you. The taxi ride to the hammam takes about twelve minutes and costs about four dihrams.
Once you've arrived you will need to buy some shampoo sachets and a glove for the massage from a shop adjacent to the entrance. You can then descend along a short stone gangway to the ticket office which lies half between the entrances to the male and female sections of the hammam. If you are a man you then have the option of buying just one ticket for the hammam or also purchasing an extra ticket in order to have your own private room. Make sure you have a towell and a spare set of boxers or swimming trunks with you before you enter.
Once inside - undress in your room, hide your valuables, lock your door and exit wearing just your boxers and carrying just your shampoo sachet and massage glove. You can leave your towel in your room. On exiting your room you will have to make your way down a steamy corridor along which streams the naturally heated spring water. Along the sides you will see many men and not a few young children washing themselves or receiving an invigorating massage.
You will receive several propositions for a massage from the masseurs. But walk slowly and take your time. The masseurs change daily. They don't seem to be licensed - indeed it seems that any man with the inclination can buy a ticket for the hammam and start working as a masseur. However some undoubtably have considerable skill and experience. Their muscular bodies seem a testimony to the hours of arduous hot work they undertake.
On most days and at most times (the hammam is usually open from 6am to 11pm) you are faced with a heavenly choice of masseurs. There are lads aged eighteen or nineteen with slim fit figures and the most beautiful smiling faces who approach you through the steam, or the fitter more muscular forms of men in their twenties who seem, initially atleast, to have a more serious and professional approach and finally the somewhat corpulent and hairy forms of the fatter and older masseurs of somewhat doubtful attraction but undoubtable ability.
To book your masseur all you need to do is hand him your shampoo and massage glove. Then for a little while you can forget such attractive distractions and enjoy the experience of the hammam itself for at the end of the corridor lies a small plunge pool with a narrow area all around for seating. Above it is a domed ceiling with small square holes to let in a few slim beams of natural daylight through the steam which pours from the hot water.
It takes usually a few minutes to get used to the heat. Most first-time visitors dangle their feet in the hot water first and then slowly slip down until they immerse themselves. Traditionally, and to fully benefit from its' effects, you should immerse your head also.
Once you emerge, you may wish to simply sit by the side of the pool watching the other men come and go, and the youngsters play along the edge of the pool and sometimes diving into it, sometimes showing off with an underwater cart wheel.
When you feel suitably clean, you exit for your massage which takes place in the public but steamy areas which surround the plunge pool and the stream of hot spring water which pours through the surrounding rooms.
The initial minutes of the massage can be a little forceful but if you are worried or have a fragile back please make sure the masseur understands this. All the masseurs I had were extremely experienced but I say this just in case you are unlucky in finding yourself with a novice.
Be warned also that later on in the massage, the masseur will begin to rub shampoo along your stomach and the top of your thighs. If you allow yourself to enjoy the sensation too much, you may soon find yourself with an erection showing between your wet shorts despite the very public nature of the massage. This could prove very embarassing. If you are easily aroused, try to think of something tedious and boring such as your last accountancy seminar - and if you doubt this will work then you must undertake the massage strictly at your own risk !
You can then return to your room in order to pay the masseur. My masseur would usually wait in the corridor and I would pay him, making sure to leave my door open at all times so that no one would get the wrong idea. However, one Tunisian gay man thought I was stupid. He said that masseurs would often accompany him into his room.
But some say that having sex in the privacy of your room will bring bad luck and although the door can be locked and although you can't see under it, there are holes in the adjacent walls which though above eye-height, can be easily reached by standing on tip-toe by those wishing to spy into an adjacent room. So your privacy is not guaranteed and any sexual activity is therefore somewhat dangerous.
I did sometimes hear moans from some somewhat indiscreet Tunisian visitors - no doubt being given a shisha job by their partner - but this is not what the hammam is about. If you just want sex you are much better off visiting Tunis or Sousse. Hammam Zriba is all about the magic of the bathing experience itself and the technique and skill of the masseur - so that you emerge from the hammam a new man.
HAMMAMET
Some of the sex workers in Hammamet seem to be more mercenary and desperate than their counterparts in Sousse. Tourists should also be aware that Hammamet is a very small town and that if you wish to avoid a sex worker you met all too easily the first night, you may find it difficult.
One tourist described being encouraged by a sex worker to have sex in the front garden of a house not far from the city centre until the tourist's relative prudence won out and they chose instead the walled grounds of some industrial complex in the suburbs. Such activity is of course, as always, strictly at your own risk.
Most of the cruising is concentrated around the central square near the main entrance to the Kasbah and along the short stretch of corniche near by. Hustlers often patronize a German style bar on the square and can also be found in the evenings in a nearby discotheque. Many other discotheques can be found in the hotel areas stretching to the north and south along the beaches but the fashionability of such places with locals changes quickly.
In Tunisia sex - gay or straight - is very very easy to find if you are either good looking or have money. Even if you have neither the looks or the money you can for just a few dinars experience an amazingly envigorating massage by one of the handsome young masseurs at Hammam Zariba, a relatively unknown hot spring near the town of Zaghouan in the mountainous interior of Tunisia.
The four most important things to remember are
1. Always carry atleast one condom as you may not be able to find one when you most need it.
2. Always be discreet to minimize the risk of your Tunisian friends being arrested.
3. Always ensure that if your Tunisian friend says he's eighteen or nineteen that you see his ID card to verify his age.
4. Tunisia is safer than most countries but as in any cruising situation - especially with street sex workers - take sensible steps to ensure your own safety and the safety of your valuables.
TUNIS FOR STRAIGHT MEN.
Libyans consider Tunis their "Amsterdam". They cross the frontier of Tunisia in their thousands to travel the two hundred miles to Tunis. Here the straight men visit the hostess bars near Avenue Habib Bourguiba (an extremely espensive and often frustrating experience) or the discotheques such as Pyramids a short drive from the centre. If they are on a budget they can also visit the legalized brothels in the old city. One of them is situated on a narrow street just a hundred metres or so behind the British Embassy and is said to have about fifty prostitutes and equal number of rooms. There is also a smaller brothel on Rue Boussen and doubtless many others. Doctors visit the premises to ensure the sex workers are healthy. But it is still always advisable to use a condom both for your own safety and theirs.
The "rip-off" hostess bars which leach money from those with more money than sense, are not to be recommended. The sex workers, mostly Tunisian but including sometimes workers from Egypt, Morocco and Romania) are ludicrously tarted up with artificial blond-hair and make-up and will almost never agree to leave the premises whatever the financial incentive for fear of arrest by the police. The only chance is to arrange for a rendez-vous outside the premises the next day but the chances of your hostess turning up are slim. They can make a lot of money in commission from every 30 dinar drink they can induce you to buy.
The patrons of these bars are mostly either businessmen from Tunisia or from other Arab countries, especially Egypt and Libya although I did see one Moroccan man who seemed to have an almost endless supply of one hundred Euro notes. To give credit to his generousity he bought cocktails for a Romanian hostess to induce her to sit with me, even though I insisted I was quite happy sitting alone with my male friend.
TUNIS FOR GAYS.
Gay men prefer to cruise the section of Avenue Bourguiba between the two five star hotels - Africa and el Hana - and especially the tables outside the very fashionable coffee and snack bar - Panorama (pronounced banorama). During the afternoon the seats are occupied mainly by families or businessmen savouring the delicious crepes and juices (choose between carrot or orange) but as night falls the number of gays increases. Here you can find both educated middle class gays and also, lingering on the pavement in the close vicinity of the tables, young men - usually unemployed - looking for tricks.
The central strip of pavement in the middle of Avenue Bourguiba is also popular for cruising and many young students also congregate in the evenings on the steps of the municipal theatre which lies approximately opposite the hotel el Hana. The key rule in all these places is to take your time and not necessarily to accept the advances of the first person who approaches.
A VIGNETTE OF GAY LIFE IN TUNIS.
In the Cafe de Paris on Avenue Habib Bourguiba I climb some stairs and sit down next to a balcony with a smart glass balustrade which looks down over the customers seated on the ground floor. My eye catches a middle aged Tunisian businessman, with a grey suit and equally grey hair, seated at a table with a cafe expresso and a croissant. He's reading the French paper La Presse.
Then, in walks his male escort - about nineteen and wearing a bright red casquette - and he sits down next to his patron. The older man feigns complete disinterest and continues to read the paper, while the lad feeling increasinly frustrated by the inactivity fumbles with his cap - adjusting it first one way and then the other. Then the two are joined by a somewhat camp Tunisian student, the businessman lowers his paper and finally a conversation starts.
COCK SUCKING IN THE CINEMAS.
I found no difficulty in giving a blow job ("Aiyz shisha ?" or "Veullez faire du shisha ?" is the way Tunisians usually ask for this service.) to a Tunisian acquaintance in a cinema which was then showing the film Kama Sutra. It is welcome news for many visiting tourists that many of the cinemas near Avenue Habib Bourguiba which show the 18 rated soft porn European films double as places for gay couples to have sex.
I asked whether it was safe to have sex in the cinema to which the young man replied.
"I know my country. Yes or No ? The police made this cinema for having sex. It's normal here."
Whether the owners of these cinemas and the police are actually complicit in what actually transpires I can't actually say. They may perhaps just turn I blind eye sometimes or may be they are too preoccupied with other business to really notice.
All I can say is that at the end of the film when the lights suddenly came on - me and my friend were caught in a highly compromising and embarassing position but to do credit to their tolerance the other cinema goers - who were exclusively male pairs - seemed to be totally unshaken by what I feared might be a somewhat shocking sight.
However despite the above comments I cannot vouch for the safety of these cinemas. There is some evidence of police harassment and arrests of Tunisian gays - more perhaps in Sousse than in Tunis but even in Tunis it is probably sensible, whatever your nationality, to be careful and discreet.
TAKING BACK MEN TO YOUR HOTEL ROOM.
Unlike Egypt there seemed to be no problem at all in taking back men to my hotel room. Normally there was no extra charge but when one night I returned with two totally drunk male friends they requested politely that I book an additional double room for my friends. Indeed it seemed as if I might have gone a little too far in my hedonistic search for homoerotic pleasure - atleast as far as the female receptionist was concerned. Until then she had continually chatted to me for up to an hour every afternoon on the sociolinguistic theories of Chomsky - but after that day she refused even to acknowledge my presence. But I'm digressing needlessly. With the exception of a few easily offended individuals - sexual hedonism in the privacy of your hotel room - whether gay or straight (I met countless female sex workers going up and down in the lift) - seems no problem at all in Tunis.
Most hotels do however ask to see and sometimes to keep the identity card of your visitor but a few hotels - which are virtual brothels and charge for rooms by the hour do not ask for identity either from you or your partner. These hotels however are only known by a few professional sex workers.
Please don't email GayEgypt.com to ask for hotel names as for legal reasons it is totally impossible to help you.
SOUSSE FOR WOMEN AND GAY MEN.
Once you've read this guide why not browse our new gay Sousse message board - click here !
Sousse almost certainly has more male sex workers catering to visiting European tourists than any other Arab country and I am including cities such as Luxor, Aswan, Tangiers and Marrakesh which I also know well.
The main cruising area starts at the main entrance to the medina or old town ( Place des Martyrs ) and extends across the busy Place Farhat Hached and then along Avenue Habib Bourguiba (not to be confused with Avenue Habib Bouruiba in Tunis mentioned above) which leads to the corniche past the unmissable Sousse Palace and Abou Nuwas hotels and then extends along the sea front corniche atleast as far as Dreams discotheque.
The corniche and sometimes the beach itself can be the best cruising ground late in the evening and at all times in the summer when it is crowded with muscular lads and (for those readers who may be lesbian) pretty girls. In the winter the corniche can be a bit quiet.
You can find several cafes along Avenue Habib Bourguiba which are popular with hustlers - especially two which are virtually below the above mentioned hotels. Normally it takes only a matter of minutes, at most an hour or two, to find a willing partner. But do ask to see their identity card if the youth doesn't look older than twenty.
Renting a room in a hotel or a flat couldn't be easier. There are many flats available north of the city in Hammam Sousse and some of them are rented by the hour. In the two appartment blocks I visited, neither I nor my Tunisian partner was asked to provide proof of identity. Fairly comfortable flats with a television can be had for around 20-30 dihrams for two hours during the week. At peak season and at weekends you may have to pay more.
I also visited a small hotel not far from the railway station - I'd better not mention the name - where basic small rooms with an ensuite shower can be rented by the hour for around 10 dihrams. It was extremely busy, with mainly older European men and their Tunisian boyfriends arriving and departing in pairs.
It may take a little while for gay men who wish to meet suitably like minded gay Tunisians. For while there are no shortage of Tunisian men who consider themselves strictly "rajul" or "straight" who will "fuck" Europeans or "sell their cocks" - only a minority of the hustlers actually think of themselves as "gay."
You will frequently find that their attitudes towards Europeans are double-edged. On the one hand they seem to admire European open-mindedness and freedom and speak of lack of freedom in Tunisia, but on the other they frequently appear to show little respect for the "bitch" or "gay" who was the partner the previous night, and any flattery you receive shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Do be careful with your money. Though theft and muggings are rare - they do happen ocassionally. Never carry to much money with you and don't be easily misled by stories about medical problems, sick parents or of not being able to find a job because of a Palestinian refugee status.
Many of the hustlers can speak foreign languages well and have sometimes, often with the help of visiting tourists, done considerable research on life in a particular European city so that if you say you are from England, they will tell you that their brother lives in Manchester and that they visit the city every few months. It also enables them to make unlikely promises - such as that any money they borrow from you they will return on their next visit. Promises that should not be believed but you can pretend to believe them if it makes your trip more enjoyable.
A VIGNETTE OF GAY LIFE IN SOUSSE.
A European man of about forty years with long blond hair is seated at a cafe table at the end of the corniche. The five star Abou Nuwas hotel lies behind the cafe and the tables look out either across the beach or over the corniche.
Around him are four Tunisian lads, the youngest around eighteen and the oldest about twenty one. Beside him sits a ludicrously wrinkly char-pei dog which would seem exotic enough on Fifth Avenue or Kensington High Street. In Sousse the sight of such an animal seated at a cafe attracts considerable attention from the Tunisians at neighbouring tables, and that's even before the man gives one of his lads a mobile phone and asks him to take a photo of the dog.
I hear one well informed Tunisian hustler at another table explain to his friends that you can buy mobiles which take pictures but that they are extremely expensive. His friends seem impressed and look enviously at the young men who surround this queenly, if somewhat obese, European who, having made a suitable impression, now stands to leave.
He saunters slowly away, with the dog following on the lead, walking in a beautifully feminine manner which belies his obesity. His cauterie of young men follow in tow. The quietest and most handsome sports a red manchester T shirt and a matching red "casquette". He walks closest to the tourist and is no doubt the Prince among the hustlers.
SOUSSE FOR STRAIGHT MEN.
For straight men, the discotheques may prove somewhat frustrating - unless you can really flash the cash or you're extremely handsome - as the number of men usually far outweighs the number of women. Some prefer the easier option of using a brothel. There is atleast one in the city where you walk down a long corridor and view the women attired in skimpy thongs - one in each room with the door open. Choosing couldn't be easier. Just look at each woman and when you finally decide, simply enter the room of your chosen partner.
HIV AND AIDS.
Always make sure you carry condoms with you and be prepared to counter all manner of excuses why condoms should not be used. Frequently Tunisians, and this includes many sex workers, will argue that condoms are only necessary if either you or they are ill - so which of the two are you implying ?! You may then feel embarassed into not using a condom. Don't ever make such a deadly mistake. Just say you always have sex with a condom because it's normal in England and you actually prefer it. Or think of some other good and believable reason.
RISKS FACING SEX WORKERS.
Tunisian sex workers face many risks - from HIV - see above - and also from the police who frequently arrest them and let them go in return for financial reward and from other crimminals who, like the police, observe the sex workers with tourists and then wait for them to return to their homes late at night with their money.
This is particularly risky for sex workers living in the medinas (old quarters) of Tunis, Sousse, Hammamet and other cities. They will frequently try to hide the money in their shoes or inside their socks but most of the crimminals know all the usual hiding places.
Frequently sex workers are disowned by their families and do not get the normal protection of revenge which might be afforded by their elder brothers. So they are seen as easy targets, especially in the narrow streets of the medinas at night. Their attackers know they can often get good money from them and face little risk of retaliation. Sometimes they may also rape the sex worker as well.
THE MAGIC OF HAMMAM ZRIBA.
Never had such a beautiful hammam (or "Tunisian sauna" as one tourist unimaginatively called it) such a modest description. Zriba in Arabic refers to an area on which farm animals are kept and is sometimes used as an insult to describe an untidy or dirty household.
The Hammam is situated in a mountain village surrounded by farmland. Even from the main street you can watch young shepherds shouting "mooush - mooush" as they drive a small herd of sheep along a hill path. But the village is far from dirty. Indeed it's one of the cleanest and most beautiful locations in all of Tunisia.
Above the village towers jebel Zaghouan - a mountain which though only just over a thousand metres high - seems much taller than it's altitude would suggest - for it towers vertically into the sky and even on the sunniest days, its' flanks are often shrouded by layers of mist and cloud.
To reach Hammam Zriba, you need to take a louage - a taxi-like van which usually carries between seven and eight passengers - from either Hammamet or Tunis - to the small hillside town of Zaghouan. The journey takes just over an hour from either city and costs just a few dihrams. You may also be able to take a louage from Sousse but I haven't checked this.
Once in Zaghouan a short walk takes you to a taxi rank which, hidden in a small side street, can be somewhat difficult to find. But don't worry - if you keep repeating the phrase - taxi hammam Zriba - someone will help you. The taxi ride to the hammam takes about twelve minutes and costs about four dihrams.
Once you've arrived you will need to buy some shampoo sachets and a glove for the massage from a shop adjacent to the entrance. You can then descend along a short stone gangway to the ticket office which lies half between the entrances to the male and female sections of the hammam. If you are a man you then have the option of buying just one ticket for the hammam or also purchasing an extra ticket in order to have your own private room. Make sure you have a towell and a spare set of boxers or swimming trunks with you before you enter.
Once inside - undress in your room, hide your valuables, lock your door and exit wearing just your boxers and carrying just your shampoo sachet and massage glove. You can leave your towel in your room. On exiting your room you will have to make your way down a steamy corridor along which streams the naturally heated spring water. Along the sides you will see many men and not a few young children washing themselves or receiving an invigorating massage.
You will receive several propositions for a massage from the masseurs. But walk slowly and take your time. The masseurs change daily. They don't seem to be licensed - indeed it seems that any man with the inclination can buy a ticket for the hammam and start working as a masseur. However some undoubtably have considerable skill and experience. Their muscular bodies seem a testimony to the hours of arduous hot work they undertake.
On most days and at most times (the hammam is usually open from 6am to 11pm) you are faced with a heavenly choice of masseurs. There are lads aged eighteen or nineteen with slim fit figures and the most beautiful smiling faces who approach you through the steam, or the fitter more muscular forms of men in their twenties who seem, initially atleast, to have a more serious and professional approach and finally the somewhat corpulent and hairy forms of the fatter and older masseurs of somewhat doubtful attraction but undoubtable ability.
To book your masseur all you need to do is hand him your shampoo and massage glove. Then for a little while you can forget such attractive distractions and enjoy the experience of the hammam itself for at the end of the corridor lies a small plunge pool with a narrow area all around for seating. Above it is a domed ceiling with small square holes to let in a few slim beams of natural daylight through the steam which pours from the hot water.
It takes usually a few minutes to get used to the heat. Most first-time visitors dangle their feet in the hot water first and then slowly slip down until they immerse themselves. Traditionally, and to fully benefit from its' effects, you should immerse your head also.
Once you emerge, you may wish to simply sit by the side of the pool watching the other men come and go, and the youngsters play along the edge of the pool and sometimes diving into it, sometimes showing off with an underwater cart wheel.
When you feel suitably clean, you exit for your massage which takes place in the public but steamy areas which surround the plunge pool and the stream of hot spring water which pours through the surrounding rooms.
The initial minutes of the massage can be a little forceful but if you are worried or have a fragile back please make sure the masseur understands this. All the masseurs I had were extremely experienced but I say this just in case you are unlucky in finding yourself with a novice.
Be warned also that later on in the massage, the masseur will begin to rub shampoo along your stomach and the top of your thighs. If you allow yourself to enjoy the sensation too much, you may soon find yourself with an erection showing between your wet shorts despite the very public nature of the massage. This could prove very embarassing. If you are easily aroused, try to think of something tedious and boring such as your last accountancy seminar - and if you doubt this will work then you must undertake the massage strictly at your own risk !
You can then return to your room in order to pay the masseur. My masseur would usually wait in the corridor and I would pay him, making sure to leave my door open at all times so that no one would get the wrong idea. However, one Tunisian gay man thought I was stupid. He said that masseurs would often accompany him into his room.
But some say that having sex in the privacy of your room will bring bad luck and although the door can be locked and although you can't see under it, there are holes in the adjacent walls which though above eye-height, can be easily reached by standing on tip-toe by those wishing to spy into an adjacent room. So your privacy is not guaranteed and any sexual activity is therefore somewhat dangerous.
I did sometimes hear moans from some somewhat indiscreet Tunisian visitors - no doubt being given a shisha job by their partner - but this is not what the hammam is about. If you just want sex you are much better off visiting Tunis or Sousse. Hammam Zriba is all about the magic of the bathing experience itself and the technique and skill of the masseur - so that you emerge from the hammam a new man.
HAMMAMET
Some of the sex workers in Hammamet seem to be more mercenary and desperate than their counterparts in Sousse. Tourists should also be aware that Hammamet is a very small town and that if you wish to avoid a sex worker you met all too easily the first night, you may find it difficult.
One tourist described being encouraged by a sex worker to have sex in the front garden of a house not far from the city centre until the tourist's relative prudence won out and they chose instead the walled grounds of some industrial complex in the suburbs. Such activity is of course, as always, strictly at your own risk.
Most of the cruising is concentrated around the central square near the main entrance to the Kasbah and along the short stretch of corniche near by. Hustlers often patronize a German style bar on the square and can also be found in the evenings in a nearby discotheque. Many other discotheques can be found in the hotel areas stretching to the north and south along the beaches but the fashionability of such places with locals changes quickly.