The Las Vegas Courtesan

This location of Donna’s Ranch is the only brothel located in the small town of Battle Mountain, Nevada, which also straddles the I-80 going towards Reno. Yet again the brothel was on the other side of the railroad tracks, tucked away in a far corner of the small town that made it obvious you were visiting the brothel if you were seen on this side of town. Although still not a great looking brothel, I thought it was far better than the location in Wells. This location was newer, larger, and had less of the trailers-patched-together feeling that I got from the Wells location.  

The bartender was very friendly and welcoming, and the girl that gave me the tour was also very nice. The brothel has 3 VIP suites, which included one jacuzzi suite and one with an attached massage room. There’s a $100 minimum, but later found out that there really isn’t a house rule on minimums like other brothels. After the tour was over she sat with me at the bar to chat and talked about clients and her background. She said most of the clients are locals, truckers, and miners who come in after getting off of work. She said some of the locals are a little difficult, but liked the truckers and miners more. Normally a stripper in Northern California, the girl said she comes out to work to take a break from the big city and at this time, make some extra money before Christmas. Normally there are 10 or more girls, but at this time right before the holidays, there were three available and the other two were busy… so I didn’t have a line-up.

If I had a choice between the two locations of Donna’s, I’d have to pick this one over the location in Wells. Of course it’s small and quaint, but the nice staff and girl that I spoke with were better than some of the other smaller brothels I visited.

 

So late last year I had posted an article that went over STD’s and ways that they are transmitted and how you can prevent contracting one yourself. During my most recent round of testing and my annual exam with a new doctor, I learned a lot of new information about testing and transmission of HPV and herpes type I and II and wanted to share it with my readers.

First of all I wanted to update on the information about HPV and how important it is for everyone to be screened. There are over a 100 different types of the virus and over 30 of them can be transmitted sexually. Even though the newest Gardasil vaccine has been approved by the FDA and recommended for teenagers through 26 year olds, my doctor still told me I am not too old to receive the vaccine. Yes, it is more effective for people in this age group, but she said they are currently trying to get it recommended for ages up to 40. Apparently the current age group is the easiest for drugs to be approved for and takes longer for them to be approved for the 40 year old category.  The one down side to the Gardasil vaccine is that it only prevents infection from HPV types 6, 11, 16, or 18, and like I said earlier there are far more types than the four listed. These types are just the most common that are currently being targeted. The testing for HPV has become more readily available and more affordable according to my OB/GYN. I was informed that the newer tests are much more accurate at finding abnormal cells located in a smaller area on the cervix while normal paps smears are a broader survey of the health of the cervical cells and can return false negatives. The one downside to the newest HPV tests is they do not recommend testing until the patient is 29 or above. I was confused as to why they would wait so long to give patients these tests, but was explained that people in their mid-20’s or younger often times get HPV’s that their body naturally combats and the doctor ends up “chasing a red herring”, as she said, with over medicating. By the time the patient is in their late 20’s-early 30’s, the tests are more accurate at finding HPV types that have started to damage the cervical cells and the body hasn’t been able to combat.

Now with herpes type I and II, I also found out new information and how testing has changed recently that greatly aids in the identification of these two specific virus types. Previously when I was visiting a clinic for my exam I had asked about herpes testing and was informed that if I had ever had the chicken pox virus or mono as a child then I would automatically test positive for herpes (even though pox is type III and mono is type IV). Testing just wasn’t easily accessible or cost effective to offer until now. Now you can be tested for the specific types of herpes instead of a broad test that was previously offered. It’s around $100 and is offered even at Planned Parenthood (though Clark County currently doesn’t offer it in their series of testing at the Health District.)

Before both tests I was warned about the odds of testing positive for herpes type I or HPV. My doctor explained to make me feel at ease, “Now if I went out on the street and pulled random people and tested them for type I herpes, 1 out of 4 would have it.” She went on to explain, “but either way it’s good to know because honestly, 30% or so of the genital outbreaks that I send off to the lab to be tested have come back as type I but in the genital region, which means it’s oral to genital contact mostly.” “Wow”, I thought. She went on to explain how easily it’s transmittable. “You could have shared a drink with someone when you were a teenager and gotten it”, she said.  Also she warned me with the possibility of testing positive for HPV since there are so many forms and how my pap smears could have been normal all along but still could have had HPV. Also when reading up on these diseases did I start running across in several places how doctors are currently researching the connection between type I herpes and Alzheimer’s disease. Even more scary. I definitely held my breath for both tests after her discussion and the statistics.

Luckily everything, even type I, came back negative. Now I definitely will stay cautious in my sexual practices, even though I get complaints about my short list of rules, since it has paid off for my health.

Carlin is the next stop along the Interstate-80 trail of small towns lining the highway that each seem to have a brothel or two located in or around them. I was very unsure when embarking on this trip that both brothels, Sharon’s Bar & Brothel and The Dovetail Ranch, were open. At the time I was looking for information, The Dovetail had no website and Sharon’s website doesn’t seem to be updated that often (also the directions on their site were so confusing I just hoped that Google maps wouldn’t let me down in the middle of the desert.) Carlin is a small 2,000 person town 23 miles east of Elko, and both brothels are located on a highway-to-nowhere on the eastern outer edge of town. I was glad to see that my venture paid off as both brothels are open for business, though I ran into the same common problem on the trip: my Christmas season timing made the selection of girls to be little to none.

 At least in Carlin I wasn’t met with the same strange “you can’t wait in the bar area” regulations like in Elko, though both are in the same county. Then again both places were small enough I don’t think they could have fit in a parlor. I am still perplexed as to how these two places seem to make money since you cannot see them from the freeway, and the small rolling hills make it hard for you to see them even when you are on the small two-laned highway out of town.

Sharon’s Brothel is the first house you get to on Highway 278 heading south away from the small town of Carlin. It’s a large trailer that has a bar and seating area, but has no VIP rooms in the back— only the rooms that the girls live and work out of. Since it was quite small there wasn’t much of a tour to be had, but I did learn one new thing about regulations and testing that I had never heard before. Apparently since there are new tests for HPV and other STD’s, the girls have the option in Nevada to have an anal exam to clear them of any STD’s so that they may also perform anal sex. The girl at Sharon’s informed me that she had the proper testing to be cleared to perform anal sex if the customer desired to do so. I had always wondered about the legal restrictions on anal sex since I had read long ago in the book about the original Mustang Ranch that anal sex was prohibited. I personally would never perform anal sex with any client even if I was cleared to do so, but it’s good to know there are specific tests and requirements for the girls to pass in order to keep them clean and safe.

   I struck up a conversation with the owner (who might have been Sharon herself) while she chain smoked away sitting at the bar by the door. She’s a chatty older woman who seems like she’s seen it all in the brothel industry. I would have loved to pick her brain, but we all know how much I love cigarette smoke and had to leave quickly. I had mentioned wanting to visit the brothels in Nevada since I had moved here (well, even before I had lived here), and she had encouraged writing a book about them instead of writing about them online. I know there have been plenty of small books written over the years and tried to explain that I wouldn’t get rich very quickly by selling a $10 paperback book. Ah well, I guess I’ll stick to my night job!