When I was in about sixth grade, I bought an atlas of world history in the gift shop of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. One of the maps showed the Khanate of the Golden Horde covering most of Eurasia, from Mongolia to Poland. Who wouldn't be fascinated by that?
Later I read The Empire of the Steppes, with Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Tamerlane shaping world history, and did a research project on gay personal ads in Central Asia. I got my M.A. from Indiana University, where you can study Central Asian languages, but I decided on Mandarin instead.
I don't want to actually visit these places: endless steppes sound a little boring, and they have some of the most homophobic governments on the planet. But a quick look at some Central Asian hunks might be fun.
1. Mongolian guy on a gay dating site, top photo.
Mongolia is not all nomads living in yurts. Check out the skyline of modern UlaanBataar.
2. Ulaanbataar boy on Grindr. A little skinny; I'd hold out for the wrestler.
3. Kazakh guy from Almaty. previously Alma-Ata, previously the capital.
4-7. Shirtless dinner in Koshetau, Kazakhstan
8. Tatar sheep-wrangler from Kazan, which is actually in Russia, a 13-hour drive from the border of Kazakhstan. But he's cute, so who's complaining.
More after the break. Warning: explicit