Afghanistan
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
China
East Timor
Georgia
Guam
Gay Life in Bhutan
A story about gay Bhutan is a modest one. There is no visible gay presence, no venues and one organization called Rainbow Bhutan that gently offers education and compassion to inquiring minds in this mountainous society. It is a story of slow determination and courageous commitment that has arisen from the personal lives of a few local Bhutanese gay people.
Hua Hin, Thailand–Gay Life Beyond Bangkok
Hua Hin Thailand is a modest-sized city on the country’s southern peninsula that has become a popular vacation destination due to its balmy climate and long beaches. There is not a LGBT community there, rather only a couple of venues; one is a bar and the other a hostel.
Belief, Culture and Activism: an Activist’s insight, by Sunil Pant in Nepal
Belief, Culture and Activism: an Activist’s insight Sunil Pant <pantsunil@gmail.com> May 12.2017 Dear Friends, As International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT 2017) is approaching, I wish to share a small write up based my experience during my time with Blue Diamond Society, (similar thoughts I shared at the recent YP10 conference in Bangkok and South Asia
Bagan Photo Gallery 2016-1
Bagan is an ancient city located in central Burma/Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom’s height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 4,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries
Gay Life in Burma: Threads in a Repressed Culture
The rocky road to Mandalay is full of potholes and the traffic is slow. The land is also full of pitfalls for lesbigay natives in Burma who know little about gay pride and sexual identity. The gentle guys and virtually invisible lesbians are naive and secretive. But 2015 brought democratic elections and a new Parliament
Gay Life in East Timor 2016
With only half an island that’s shared with homophobic Indonesia to the west, tiny Timor Leste has a giant statue of Christ at the east end of the island on a sacred hill. (98% are Roman Catholic) What chances are there of finding a lively LGBT community in this remote mostly ignored nation of just
Gay Life in Armenia: Stigmatized and Mistreated
Armenia has been politically free of harsh Soviet domination for twenty years but human rights and attitudes have been slow in changing especially regarding sexual minorities. Although homosexuality has been legal in since 2003 the situation for local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens has resisted change in society and at home.
Inside Mongolia’s Only Gay Bar
By Lila Seidman June 3, 2016 At the only gay bar in the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, Zorig Alima tells me he’s a “penis shaman.” The proprietor of d.d/h.z says he can confidently predict men’s penis sizes and sexual predilections. He gives my companion a disputable “reading,” and dashes away
Burma, Rangoon 1 Random Images (Shwedagon Pagoda Shrine)
Rangoon/Yangon is the country’s largest city with a population of over five million, and is the most important commercial center. The former military government officially relocated the capital 250 miles north to a brand new town called Naypyidaw in March 2006. Although Yangon’s infrastructure is weak compared to other major cities in south-east Asia, it
Burma, Rangoon 2 Random Images
More images of Rangoon/Yangon, the country’s former capital and largest city. The new capital is called Naypyidaw, 250 mles north of Rangoon, built in 2006. General elections in Myanmar in November 2015 were won by the National League for Democracy, the first free election in fifty years. The leader is Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burma, Mandalay: Inwa, Bagaya Kyaung Monastery
The monastery is about eleven miles south of Mandalay city. The religious lecture hall in the eastern side of the monastery has a seven-tiered roof. The monastery was built on 267 teak posts. The monastery is (118) feet long and (103) feet wide. The entire monastery is decorated with carvings. floral arabesques, ornamentation of curved
Burma, Mandalay: Sagaing Hill and U-Bein Bridge
A few miles south of Mandalay city are the green forests of Sagaing Hill, once the capital. The hills are covered with hundreds of white and gold stupas. The vast area is well known as a retreat from the world for monks and visitors. Nearby is U Bein Bridge, the world’s longest teak footbridge that
Burma, Mandalay: Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery
Eight miles south of Mandalay city is the Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery. It is not an outstanding monastery with exotic shrines and temples. It is more known because of its closed proximity to the city making it convenient for many tourists–mostly Japanese–to show up at breakfast time to gawk at the hundreds of monks lining
Burma, Mandalay: Shwe In Bin Kyaung Monastery and Local River Village
Shwe In Bin Kyaung Monastery is a beautifully carved teak monastery. Commissioned in 1895 by a pair of wealthy Chinese jade merchants, the central building stands on thick tree-trunk poles. The highly detailed pointed ‘steeple’ soars to a majestic 75′ completely integrated of carved pieces. Balustrades and roof cornices are richly decorated with high-relief figures
Burma, Boat Trip (south) From Mandalay to Bagan
Burma from Mandalay to Bagan by boat is an 11-hour cruise downstream on the Irriwaddy River passing temples, farmers plowing, logging docks, many other tourist boats. The river is muddy from all the traffic; it is one of Burma’s main north-south routes.
Burma, Bagan Temples, Shrines and Stupas 1
Bagan, one of the world’s wonder places with it enormous 26-square mile plain where more than 2000 temples, shrines and stupas still stand, many from the tenth century. It is 120 miles south of Mandalay and is accessed by boat, roadway and air. The variety of structures, the designs and the craftsmanship are hard take
Burma, Bagan Temples, Shrines and Stupas 2
More images from Bagan, one of the world’s wonder places with it enormous 26-square mile plain where more than 2000 temples, shrines and stupas still stand, many from the tenth century. It is 120 miles south of Mandalay and is accessed by boat, roadway and air. The variety of structures, the designs and the craftsmanship
Road Trip from Bagan to Inle Lake
The drive from Bagan to Inle Lake is an 8-hour adventure in rural Burma, full of roadside attractions including a tacky lunch stop, road repairs, overloaded cargo trucks, wandering animals, dense forests, winding mountain roads, death-defying truck drivers, a broken van spring (ours), police checkpoints…and finally into Inle Lake and the town of Naungshwe on
Burma, Inle Lake Views 1
Inle Lake is 13 miles long and 7 miles wide. It is the largest fresh water lake in the country, serves as home to thousands of fisher-folks and farmers, monks, artisans and crafts people, families with children/students as well as one of Burma’s main tourist destinations. The diversity of sights more than satisfies any visitor
Burma, Inle Lake Views 2
More views of Inle Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the country. It serves as home to thousands of fisher-folks and farmers, monks, artisans and crafts people, families with children/students as well as one of Burma’s main tourist destinations. The diversity of sights more than satisfies any visitor from huge sprawling merchandise markets, silversmith
Gay Hong Kong Update 2015
LGBT Hong Kong today is alive and well with new faces, venues and activities as it adapts to Chinese rule since 1997. The Pink Dot gay festival and the LGBT film festival were undisturbed during the week of my visit. By Richard Ammon GlobalGayz.com October 2015 Despite the tension with Beijing, Hong Kong
A Bridge and Memory Over The River Kwai
A casual visit to an historical WW II site became a moving experience when one of our tour group members revealed a powerful memory: he was a prisoner of war and helped to build the bridge. His story transformed my visit from a curiosity into a vital memorial to the men who suffered and died here.
Gay Life in East Timor 2015
Introduction East Timor (Timor L’este) is unique in southeast Asia–it is Roman Catholic, standing nearly alone among thousands of Islamic Indonesian islands. But such a distinction does not make it any easier for LGBT citizens to live their personal lives. Male and female homosexuality in East Timor is legal. There was a clause against discrimination
Gay Life in North Korea
There is such fear and secrecy and propaganda about many aspects of North Korea that it’s difficult to find anything reliable about everyday life there–and doubly so about homosexuality. The concept of same-sex attraction or ‘Gay Life in North Korea’ hardly exists in the minds of people. Even with people who feel this attraction, there is ignorance about what it means or how it can be expressed in behavior.