Bangkok/Yangon/Bagan/Mandalay Trip Report: Playing With Fire

[numazu]

Day 5.0: The Art of the Airport Goodbye

 

After two wild nights in Bangkok, it was time for me to go back to Myanmar. This is a roundabout way to do a holiday, my going back and forth between Thailand and Myanmar. Some of the more efficient travelers among you might ask me: can’t I just stay the whole time in Myanmar, going from Yangon, to Bagan, and to Mandalay, and then go through my Gentleman’s Intermssion? It would definitely save me some time, money, and hassle going to and from airports!

 

If I did it the smart way, I would only have 3 flights (to Yangon, Bagan, and Bangkok) instead of four (to Yangon, Bangkok, Mandalay, and back to Bangkok), and save one cab ride to Bangkok. But then I will have BurBoy with me. I simply cannot have a proper Gentleman’s intermission with BurBoy in the same city with me. He would insist on tagging along to the bars. He would get jealous at the boys. It wouldn’t be as fun. I would be more free if I was alone anyway. So this actually worked out, even if the next flight was one that could’ve skipped if I chose the smart route.

 

I told ShanBoy the night before that I had a flight today, so as the alarm wakes us up very early, he knew what it was for. It was only 5 and half hours of sleep for me, but I never really get much sleep when catching a flight the next day. We both wake up and cuddle for a little bit, and then I tell ShanBoy I was super hungry. All that activity last night just drained me, so I needed to eat. I didn’t want to spend too much time on breakfast, since I was paranoid to be late for my flight. And there was only one place I go for a quick meal.

 

The stuff of nightmares:

 

 

McDonald’s, while unapologetically consumeristic, devoid of character, and with uninspiring food choices, is admittedly the reliable choice if you find yourself anywhere in the world. Whether I am in bumfuck Nevada, one-horse-town Texas, an industrial park in small town England, or stuck in a long layover in Haneda Airport, the Big Mac and French fries combo is the same anywhere you go. And sometimes it is nice to sample the specialty dishes that are unique to the country you go to. Fried chicken and rice? You’re in Manila. Fish and chips? You’re in London. Loving that Shrimp Burger? You’re in Tokyo.

 

There are two McDonalds of equal walking distance from the condo. I choose the McDonalds on Silom a block from Soi 3. The morning air was cool, and the sidewalks were just coming alive with people walking to work:

 

 

Before walking in McDonalds I ask ShanBoy if my choice is good for him. He gives me two thumbs up. We walk in and choose from the menu at the top of the cashier. I get the Big Breakfast with (of course) iced coffee. ShanBoy order and Chicken and Cheese burger sandwich. Our total was a cheap 223 baht ($6.50):

 

 

My soulless but tasty big breakfast. The hash browns here were noticeably fluffier that back home. But no cheese? Sad face:

 

 

The McDonalds was playing some Swing Music as we try to talk. I tell ShanBoy the same thing I told MuscleBoy the night before. With the help of google translate, I tell him I am going to the White Party, and may need his company in a few days. He is OK with this of course. I do feel that MuscleBoy may be better company to that party. His English was way better, the outer aesthetics more attractive to me and the hundreds of other gay asian boys in the premises, and holding on to all that muscle would be a plus. Still, ShanBoy has his own charms, and I would probably have a sweeter time with him, and maybe even have a more fun time. So who do I pick for the party? Same age. Same line of work. Muscle vs. Twink. Fair vs Brown. Thai vs. Myanmar. We shall see.

 

As we head back to the condo, I take a few photos of the tributes to the recently deceased, and very revered former King. They were everywhere, and it was evident that the people continue to love him:

 

 

 

 

Before heading to Thailand, I was a little bit concerned about the entertainment being toned down, as part of the mourning period. Two months after his death, everything seemed back to normal. The gogo boys, the gogo shows, the alcohol, the loud music, were more or less still there. We turn the corner at Soi 3 and see a line to one of the food vendors in the street:

 

 

There was a lot of black in that photo. Obviously there were still a lot of mourners paying their respects. It did not affect my two nights here at the least. I expect to have a normal White Party in a few days.

 

We get back to the condo unit and I tell him that I will take a quick shower to be fresh for the flight. He tells me he will join me in the shower, of course. We do our soap downs. He offers to soap up my back. He does a good job. I start soaping up his body. It feels nice to the touch. Pretty soon my hands are all over his body, feeling every inch of him. I stroke his cock and see it grow. I soap up his butt and put a test finger slowly in. He shrieks and I take it out. We both laugh. Bangkok never really quits.

 

We towel dry and continue on the bed. We make out for a bit, and then I lay him on the bed, put his legs up in the air, and dry hump him. I continue to make out with him. And then I lay right next to him, and we chuck-wow while kissing. We both cum. Another short soap down follows.

 

I hurriedly pack, though there wasn’t a lot to pack anyway. I Line the condo unit owner and tell him I was leaving and will be leaving the key cards in the mailbox like previously agreed on. It was 9:15 AM and it was time to get a cab. ShanBoy surprises me and says that he will go with me to the airport. I ask him if he he was sure. It was a long way back to Bangkok. He says “I OK” and then winked and smiled at me. So charming.

 

He takes the lead and looks for a cab. He tells me that we should head over to Silom Rd to be able to catch a taxi, instead of looking for a cab in the less busy Soi 3. We get to the corner and he hails one. He tells the driver our destination. The driver agrees and he helps us with putting my luggage in the trunk. We pile in the back and we drive off. Pretty efficient, no haggling of fares, and the driver uses the meter no problem.

 

Since it was awkward to use google translate in a cab, most of our journey to the airport was silent. He does take my hand and puts it in his lap. He squeezes it once in a while. The first toll booth comes and the driver tells us something in Thai. ShanBoy tells me “50 baht.” No sweat. We get to the second toll booth and he says “25 baht.” Pretty soon we roll into Suvarnabhumi. I look for the Bangkok Airways sign and we get off. The whole fare was 320 baht. I give the driver 340 baht and we get off on the curb.

 

ShanBoy takes my big luggage from the trunk and pulls it with him. We head over to the Bangkok Airways counter and I check-in for my flight. I don’t check-in any luggage. My flight to Mandalay was at 12 PM so I had about 2 hours to spare. I decide to accompany him to the basement level so that he can go back to Bangkok via the Airport Rail Link.

 

This is sounding like the very first post of this thread: “Day 16: Boy Loses Boy.” I do lose a boy today too, but it wasn’t as sad as Day 16 was. This was only Day 5, and I was in the middle of my holiday. Mandalay still lay ahead of me, filled with promise, and BurBoy, waiting for me. I feel a little bit bad for leaving ShanBoy, but I had another boy waiting for me at the end of this plane ride, so it was bittersweet.

 

We get to the basement level and we sit down for a moment. I take out my phone and tell him about my plans for the next few days. I will be going to Mandalay, and then to Bagan, to visit some temples. I tell him I will be riding in one of those Balloon rides over Bagan, showing him some photos. He was pretty impressed by the balloons and the temple views. I tell him a little bit more about the rest of the trip, and the cities I planned on visiting. This inspired him to show me photos on his phone. Some of his hometown, some of his house and his parents, and some of the temples and buddhas that were close to his house.

 

This was a great primer for the second part of my Myanmar trip. Its crazy to think that I found ShanBoy in Bangkok, making my two-night stay more like being in Myanmar than Thailand. It’s like I never left that place, plane ride notwithstanding. And ShanBoy was very sweet. Sweet in bed, sweet for going all the way here at the airport, and sweet for sharing with me his Myanmar life, if not in so many words, at least in his actions. In any other Bangkok holiday, I would be offing him multiple nights. If there was not a BurBoy, ShanBoy would have been my companion in Myanmar.

 

I look at my watch and it was 10:45 AM. It was time for me to go through immigration and wait at my gate. I take out my wallet and count some money. I give ShanBoy 3000 baht for my long time with him, including his wait time in X-Size. I then peel off 200 baht from my wallet and tell him “for train.” He smiles and accepts gratefully. He hugs me and then kisses me on the lips. Are Myanmar boys not afraid to show affection in public, at least in Thailand? This one really knew the art of the airport goodbye.

 

I watched him use some coins to get his token. He then uses the token to get through the turnstile. He waves goodbye to me before disappearing at the turn. There were no tears in this goodbye. My heart was not filled with sorrow, at least this time. Instead it was full of hope and excitement for the coming flight ahead. I will be back again with BurBoy. The thought of this made me really happy for some reason. I will know that reason soon.

 

Next up, BurBoy, and Mandalay…

[Creditisdue]

How long is the mourning period. I read somewhere that it will take a year. Is that true? My trip is in May.

[spoon]

A year is correct

[numazu]

Day 5.4: I’m on my way to Mandalay, and I’ll be gone to Bagan

 

For those of you haven’t read my previous trip report, I just had a successful little trip to Cambodia. I visited two cities, Phnom Penh, the busy Khmer capital, and Siem Reap, the beautiful cultural destination. This Myanmar trip mirrors that one somehow. If Phnom Penh is to Yangon, both capitals at one point in their existnace, and the largest city in their country, then Siem Reap is to Bagan, with its complex of temples and small town vibe.

 

But where does that leave Mandalay? That’s where Myanmar gets lucky. Mandalay is also once a capital, and the second largest city in the country. With its once capital status, it benefits from the infrastructure, culture, and commerce that a former capital usually enjoyed. As a result, it is has one of the two international airports in Myanmar (sorry Bagan – though there are plans to change that).  It is more Phnom Penh that it is Siem Reap though, so it has big Asian city problems (traffic, poor people moving in, commericialization). Naypyidaw, the new capital of Myanmar, is another story, and one I an eager to get to know in a future trip.

 

(I'm thinking Mandalay is like Ayutthaya, both once capitals, but ironically Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century. Which makes Ayutthaya more like Bagan or Amarapura. Something to think about.)

 

When choosing an international airport to fly to from Bangkok, Mandalay was the closest one to Bagan, even if it was a 3.5-hour drive from the airport to Bagan. I tried to get a plane ride for us from Mandalay to Bagan, but couldn’t find one in the timeframe we required, so I had BurBoy find us a taxi in Mandalay while he was staying there for two nights. I offered to give him money for food and taxis while he was in Mandalay, but he declined and said I already paid for the hotel stay so no need to spend more money.

 

While I was getting my jollies off in Bangkok, BurBoy was enjoying staying in Mandalay. He found a gym in town, so he was able to get some workouts during his stay. He was able to walk around the city, and he sent me photos of his exploration. He knew with my schedule that I might not be able to tour Mandalay as much as Yangon, so he made sure he was able to show me what I was missing.

 

He sent me photos of the Mandalay Royal Palace, once home to two Kings, destroyed by the Japanese, and rebuilt by the Burmese:

 

 

 

 

He also went up to Mandalay Hill (elevation at the top at 735 ft) and took some nice photos of the awesome views of the city down below:

 

 

 

 

Too bad I wont be able to see these for myself, but BurBoy was kind enough to share his visit to me.

 

So my Bangkok Airways flight was 45 minutes late, so I Line BurBoy right away so he does not wait too long. He says that the taxi will come at 12:30 PM to pick him up but he will try to call them to see if they can come a little bit later. I go to the Bangkok Airways lounge and OD again on iced coffee. I read up on Bagan and temples. I am so unprepared for the tour but I do my best reading about the area.

 

We finally get on our flight. The plane was almost full, which was a good sign that tourists are flocking to the country. The Bangkok Airways flights are blending together now. Same gross meal. Same old aircraft. And same decent service. This flight was a little bit longer than the one to Yangon, however, so the flight attendants did not have to rush to clean up after us. I change my SIM card in my travel cellphone from my Thai SIM to my Myanmar Telenor SIM.

 

We descend upon Mandalay soon and land without incident. When we land I turn on my phone and immediately Line BurBoy to tell him I was there. I get a lot of angry emojis, and ask me why I was late. I take a photo of the ongoing disembarkation of the passengers so he knew I was on my way:

 

 

I forward some “forgive me” emojis and ask for forgiveness. He was joking of course, he was just giving me a hard time.  I try my best to zip through everyone through immigration, customs and baggage claim. I look at my passport and notice that the entry stamp for Yangon looks different from the Mandalay one.  Weird. I finally get out to the arrivals lobby and I immediately see BurBoy, in his tight t-shirt, with a killer tan and the biggest smile in the world.

 

He gives me a terse hug. “Hurry na!” he tells me. He was rushing because he did not want the taxi driver to wait one second longer. A tall, young and lanky Burmese guy with bleached blonde hair hiding under a baseball cap, and super skinny jeans, runs up to us and takes my luggage. “Is he our driver?” I ask BurBoy. “No. Him son.” was his answer. I thought for a minute that he hired a cute young driver for me to stare at with lust on the hours we were on the road. Well, I can still stare at him, so I guess he did do me a solid.

 

Parking was close to the exit, ad we walk to a 5-door hatchback looking crossover car/SUV thing as our taxi, with a kindly middle-aged man in a longyi waiting for us by the side of the car. The son opens the back and puts my luggage in, which joined BurBoy’s own luggage already there. We both get in the back, with me strategically sitting behind the driver in the right-hand drive car, so I can be diagonal staring distance to the son. One has to think about these things.

 

We speed away at around 2:10 PM. After 10 minutes we get out of view from the major infrastructure that dotted the outskirts of the airport. I check my google maps and see that the drive time to our hotel in Bagan was 3 hours and 15 minutes:

 

 

I discreetly try to take a photo of the driver's son. As you can see, I was not too successful with being discreet:

 

 

Hour One: BurBoy was a chatterbox, telling me about his two days. He showed me photos of his hotel room (spartan but liveable), his breakfast (very basic but edible), his gym (nice facilties and modern), and the streets of Mandalay (wide and modern and buildings are tall-ish). I could not show him my photos of course. ShanBoy in his underwear. MuscleBoy in his tight t-shirt with muscles bursting. Tao and his bare butt. He would probably kill me right there, in the backseat, if he saw this.

 

The road to Bagan is very non-descript and not interesting. Sometimes you would see the occasional pagoda:

 

 

But really it would look like this, just a nicely maintained highway with railings and some growth over yonder:

 

 

Hour Two: BurBoy takes out a small yellow packet from his pocket and gives it to me. I wasn’t sure what it was really:

 

 

I open it and it was a small green leaf with something inside it. I open it up and see this:

 

 

BurBoy explains it to me. It was called “gyam yar” or “kwun ya” in Burmese, and upon further research, it is more commonly called “Paan” (Hindi). It is betel nut leaf with some areca nut and possibly some tobacco. Reading on it more, I find out that it is carcinogenic and may cause oral or throat cancer. I’ve never had anyone I love give me something that caused cancer before. Such a sweet and deadly gift. As an aside, these are internet photos of Burmese guys who chew this things addictively:

 

 

 

 

He encourages me to eat it whole and chew. I do, and it tasted sweet and minty. I down it no problem. There are worse things in life you can do than eating a known carcinogen (maybe). Besides, it was only one time and I am sure I won’t eat this ever again. It was one of those things that you do in the moment, to experience the present, and just be mindful of what is happening now. BurBoy had that effect on me. I don’t have to worry about the future with him. I don’t have to think about boyfriends, or America or my job. What only counted was right now. That was really the gift all along.

 

Hour Three: We are both quiet, alone in our thoughts. The sun was slowly setting in the horizon as we progress to Bagan. The son in the front was quiet as well, looking at the sights. What was he thinking? What did he think of BurBoy and I? I Line BurBoy, joking that I will ask the son to stay with us at the hotel. BurBoy Lines me back, asking if I thought the son was gay. I type on Line that I don’t know, but the blonde hair and trendy jeans might be a sign. BurBoy Lines that it doesn’t matter. He wants me all alone tonight after being away. So the son may be gay or straight, it didn't matter.

 

So next, the night in Bagan...

[Vessey]

I am sensing that your relationship with BurBoy is continuing to develop even further  and may progress even deeper in coming days. 

 

Given you long-time BF back home, how are you going to prepare both yourself and BurBoy for the inevitable parting, especially as he seems to be growing fond of you?, 

 

I don't ask this critically because I am sure that I would go with the flow as well under the same circumstances, but I guess it is something you have been giving thought to?

[numazu]

Day 5.7: Modern Comforts in an Ancient City

 

Bagan, our home for two nights, welcomed us like Siem Reap did me just 3 months before. With Siem Reap, after driving almost the whole length of the country, passing by non-descript rural towns and vegetation, the ancient city creeps up on us, not announcing its arrival, and the buildings and structures are scattered along the main road. At least Siem Reap had some developed nightlife that can fill the hours you are not temple hopping. Bagan is more subdued, quiet, and wholesome, and more conducive to focusing on the ancient delights than modern forms of entertainment.

 

As we get into more modern parts of Nyaung U, one of the three towns that support the Bagan temple tourist zone, we hunt for a Money Changer. The taxi ride was 90,000 kyat ($66), and I only had about 40,000 kyat left from my last money exchange in Yangon Airport. I had BurBoy call the hotel to see if they can change money. When BurBoy hangs up he said they couldn’t. It is after the fact that I discover that hotels are not allowed to change money anymore. Since it was after 5 PM when we get to town, the moneychangers have closed for the day.

 

So it was up to ATMs at this point. We try one that we spot at the side of the road, but my Charles Schwab ATM, and my Bank of America ATM, didn’t work. Driving from Nyaung U, to the next town, Old Bagan, where our hotel was, to New Bagan, the third town in the Bagan temple zone, we see a KBZ Bank ATM. I remember that BurBoy and I bought an Air KBZ flight from Bagan to Yangon, so KBZ was a known entity. I try it and it worked. I was able to get a few hundred thousand kyats that I thought would see me through the next few days. I had the taxi to pay for, some pocket money for tips and souvenirs, and some kyats to pay Kaung, our Siam Roads guide, for the next two to three days.

 

With cash in hand, our car makes it way back to Old Bagan. I count 90,000 kyats from my giant wad of bills, and then I ask BurBoy if I should add more money for a tip. BurBoy shook his head. The boy knows best of course. As we drive past the various properties in New Bagan to Old Bagan, I notice that there weren’t any conventional high-rise hotels in the area. Most of the hotels are bungalow-type duplexes or compounds that gave it a more community feel than more impersonal high-rises and uniform-looking rooms.

 

The driver heads over to one of these hotel compounds and goes into the driveway, but it was the wrong hotel. BurBoy speaks to them in Burmese and they pull out of the driveway from this hotel to find our correct one. We head into another driveway and there it was, the Bagan Thande Hotel. It was one of the top 10 hotels in the Bagan area, on TripAdvisor. The cute son gets out of the car and takes our luggage out of the back compartment, and went straight to the hotel registration lobby to set the bags there. BurBoy gives the driver dad the money and off they went to go back to Mandalay. BurBoy then tells me they told him that the son tagged along so the dad won’t fall asleep when driving back at night.

 

When I was researching on which hotel to stay at around the Bagan area, I had a few criteria. I wanted a) a hotel in Old Bagan by the Irrawady River, so that we will be close/walkable to some of the temples, b) a good breakfast buffet so we don’t have to look for options in town in the morning, and c) their restaurant is known to serve alcohol. Culture, food and booze are the three things that were important to BurBoy and I, at least in Myanmar.

 

With the reviews mostly favorable, I booked two nights in Agoda at $110 a night. Check-in was pretty efficient; with the receptionists speaking excellent English and BurBoy did not have to rescue me language-wise. I gave them my passport; BurBoy gave them his Myanmar ID. The reservation was not prepaid so I had a choice of paying cash (in kyats) or credit card. They accepted my Visa no problem. We were given a key with a gigantic wooden block as a keychain. We were shown then in a handy map set on the reception platform where our room was in the compound. It was one of the Superior Bungalows.

 

Some stock photos of one of the bungalows:

 

 

The interior of one of the bungalows, with a queen bed:

 

 

We get to our room and of course we were given a room with two single beds. Two males sharing a room meant separate beds, I guess. We quickly solved the problem and joined the two beds into one giant bed:

 

 

BurBoy was in great spirits, flitting around the room and singing a pop tune. He takes me by the hand and tries to dance with me around the room, and then some horseplay after, of course. One thing about “dating” a boy with an inner fire that burns bright and hot, and a very cheery and positive disposition outside, is that it is difficult not to get swept up in his whirling dervish of energy. It is infectious, and attractive, and just downright adorable.

 

BurBoy announces that we will shower. There was no question we were doing it together. He likes to shower with a friend. I pretend to not want to and he pleads by pulling me to the bathroom. He then tries to take off my clothes and successfully disrobes me on my way to the bathroom. He is a strong boy. Just the way I like it. The bathroom was one of those shower/toilet/sink combos that while large and spacious, was not quite as modern as one would want. The whole bathroom was tiled and had drains on the floor. We shower together, no sex, just the desire to be fresh and clean from the long drive, and to get ready for dinner.

 

Since the hotel was a little bit out of the way from the restaurants around the towns, one may need a taxi (or horse drawn carriage, which were in abundance) to get dinner. Fortunately, our dinner choice was made for us tonight. We were given a dinner voucher for two that included a soup and salad, a meal with rice, and a small desert.

 

We put on clothes (matching t-shirts and shorts) and head out to get dinner. We walk through the compound and there were still Christmas lights in the grounds (it was still December 28 tonight):

 

 

The free dinner was at the Acacia Shade Restaurant, which was and outdoor restaurant with (of course) a large acacia tree in the middle for shade, and with tables around it:

 

 

The restaurant was by the Irrawaddy River, but at night we can barely see it. We get sat down by one of the staff and the restaurant was almost full:

 

 

BurBoy immediately orders our default alcohol of choice for Myanmar (we cannot get enough of this really):

 

 

I show our waiter our free dinner voucher so we get the special menu with some choices for the free dinner. So we get a vegetable option (we chose a stir-fry one and a morning glory with beef one), a curry option (we choose one chicken and one pork), a soup (we both get a legume one), and some default pudding dessert. Our main dishes:

 

 

 

We devour our meal. It tasted really good and it was a good idea for us to get different things because of course we shared everything family style. BurBoy feeds me, careful to have me sample everything that was on offer. We gulp down our beer as well, and enjoy this lovely night. It was the perfect temperature (75 Fahrenheit or 24 Celsius) and with the arid desert climate of this part of Myanmar, we enjoyed the *relative* lower humidity tonight.

 

The entertainment at the restaurant added to the already outstanding night. There was a girl singing traditional Burmese songs. BurBoy translates for me in between bites:

 

 

And the famous Burmese marionette puppetry, or Yoke thé, was also performed. It is pretty intricate, using 18 or 19 wires to control movement of the puppet, and only performed by one puppeteer. A photo of the male puppet, and then the female puppet, performing songs and dancing:

 

 

 

It was pretty impressive to see this. I guess this is a big thing here because Miss Myanmar won the National Costume Competition at the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant, by wearing a Yoke thé marionette puppet costume, complete with strings and stage as well. She says the whole thing weighed 40 kg:

 

 

YouTube video of Miss Myanmar wearing the costume, in motion:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8Lkgomg9I

 

I’ve been impressed with the arts and crafts on display here in Myanmar, and my admiration continues with the puppetry as well.

 

We finish our main course and asked for the bill to pay for the beer. The waiters rush to give us our desserts. We forgot that we had the last course, but it was too small to be memorable:

 

 

We get the bill and we pay up for the beers. As great as the night was, we have to retire early tonight. We have to be up at 4:30 AM tomorrow to make our 5:20 AM pick-up time for our first adventure tomorrow. Hint: we get up to 1000 feet in the air, all with just hot air.

 

Sky’s the limit, next.

[Guest abang1961]

Now, I am looking at the possibilities of booking a flight to Myanmar...see the damage you have done, N...(in a very good way).. Keep up the reporting..I am sure that South East Asia cross-country tourism boards must be thankful .. (minus the sexual bits, but I like!)

[ChristianPFC]

 

I’ve never had anyone I love give me something that caused cancer before.

 

ROFL! In Thailand, betel nut chewing is slowly being eradicated, only occasionally do I see old people in the provinces do it. In Myanmar it seem to take longer to get rid of this habit.

[spoon]

We call the leaves sirih in malaysia, now only exists as part of malay tradition during weddings, more so as decoration rather than to chew. My grandma now age close to 90 used to chew them. In yangon especially, a lot of them still chew and spit alongside roads and pedestrians walkway making the area smells and of reddish color.

[numazu]

I am sensing that your relationship with BurBoy is continuing to develop even further  and may progress even deeper in coming days. 

 

Given you long-time BF back home, how are you going to prepare both yourself and BurBoy for the inevitable parting, especially as he seems to be growing fond of you?, 

 

I don't ask this critically because I am sure that I would go with the flow as well under the same circumstances, but I guess it is something you have been giving thought to?

 

This is the million dollar question isn't it? And it is one that I am struggling with almost daily. I certainly do not want to end it with BurBoy just yet, not just because I am looking forward to seeing him this April, but because I have grown fond of him too. It is unfair to him that I do not just end it right now so he can move on. There was no commitment made, only the one I make whenever I am in Bangkok to visit. Right now my fondness of him is stronger than my desire to butterfly, despite my struggles (see next posts), and he is enough (more than enough) reason for me to visit Thailand. Such a reversal from what my initial reasons of going to Thailand were.

 

I have thought about the many ways this could end. I can wait for him to grow impatient with me and move on. If he gets into money trouble, he will need to become a money boy and that would be the end of it, because I do not give him any money. Or one day I could grow some balls and actually end it, but right now I don't want to. I have toyed with the idea of introducing him to my BF. I know my BF will have to think about the idea of having a third in our lives, but knowing him, he will ultimately have no problems with it. Its hard to understand our relationship dynamic but it is one that allows this kind of behavior on my part. 

 

The short answer is yes, I have thought about it, a lot. The difference between my BF and BurBoy is simple. My BF is the the type of boy you should date. The one you bring home to mom (literally), buy a house together, and have a shared sense of responsibility and stable future you always dream about having when you were young. My BurBoy is the type of boy you want to date. The passion, the intensity and the joy that you wish you had, is all right there in one person who loves you. BurBoy is all about the present, the right now, the mindfulness that is baked into his Buddhist upbringing. The BF is all about stability, retirement savings, the future, one you can build a whole life on, The American ideal. Its a struggle. 

 

Or maybe I am just going through some early form of mid-life crisis, and its playing out right in front of you.

[ggobkk]

 

 

Or maybe I am just going through some early form of mid-life crisis, and its playing out right in front of you.

 

Maybe...and maybe strong feelings can be confusing and somewhat messy.  Consider the alternative: the unemotional life.  It's not as rich or varied.  My humble suggestion is to continue wondering while you muddle though being human.

[Vessey]

This is the million dollar question isn't it? And it is one that I am struggling with almost daily. I certainly do not want to end it with BurBoy just yet, not just because I am looking forward to seeing him this April, but because I have grown fond of him too. It is unfair to him that I do not just end it right now so he can move on. There was no commitment made, only the one I make whenever I am in Bangkok to visit. Right now my fondness of him is stronger than my desire to butterfly, despite my struggles (see next posts), and he is enough (more than enough) reason for me to visit Thailand. Such a reversal from what my initial reasons of going to Thailand were.

 

I have thought about the many ways this could end. I can wait for him to grow impatient with me and move on. If he gets into money trouble, he will need to become a money boy and that would be the end of it, because I do not give him any money. Or one day I could grow some balls and actually end it, but right now I don't want to. I have toyed with the idea of introducing him to my BF. I know my BF will have to think about the idea of having a third in our lives, but knowing him, he will ultimately have no problems with it. Its hard to understand our relationship dynamic but it is one that allows this kind of behavior on my part. 

 

The short answer is yes, I have thought about it, a lot. The difference between my BF and BurBoy is simple. My BF is the the type of boy you should date. The one you bring home to mom (literally), buy a house together, and have a shared sense of responsibility and stable future you always dream about having when you were young. My BurBoy is the type of boy you want to date. The passion, the intensity and the joy that you wish you had, is all right there in one person who loves you. BurBoy is all about the present, the right now, the mindfulness that is baked into his Buddhist upbringing. The BF is all about stability, retirement savings, the future, one you can build a whole life on, The American ideal. Its a struggle. 

 

Or maybe I am just going through some early form of mid-life crisis, and its playing out right in front of you.

 

 

Thank you for such a full and  honest appraisal,

 

As a tiny example on my part, I had two favorite boys this last holiday, the first is my now University student who I saw at weekends - loving, friendly and sweet - although the sex was disappointing. On the other hand I have my friend from Toy Boys who I have seen for a year or two now - no love or devotion, but raw passion and great sex.  The former calls me boyfriend and wants me to be; the latter just calls me by my name and although friendly, tells me that he is not gay and not looking for a boyfriend. The former tugs at my heartstrings, the latter makes me so horny it twists at my stomach.

 

 

But at the end of the day its good to have choices I suppose,

 

Nothing to do with mid-life-crisis mate - can happen to any of us at any time LOL

[Dalewood]

Numazu, I completely forgot about wearing black for the mourning period. Are foreigners still doing it? Should I bring a couple of black tee shirts?

[eurasian]

You already have ' someone you should date ' and ' someone you want to date ' ... I think you are very lucky ... Hope that will be everlasting .  

[Jasper]

 

My regular Bangkok hair dresser suggested to wear a black ribbon if I didn't bring enough black or white clothes.

 

He told me that I should be able to get it from the hotel where I was staying. The hotel staff was happy to provide black ribbon so I wore it.

 

Ordinary Thais are still wearing black surprisingly even Thaniya bar girls.

[Alexx]

Wearing black has relaxed considerably, even among Thais, so I'd say as a foreign tourist at this point there's no need anymore. While it's true that you still see many Thais wearing black, keep in mind that they bought many black clothes recently. Just continue avoiding bright colors for the time being, that should be enough not to offend any sensitivities.

[numazu]

Day 6.0: Up in the Air

 

After my September trip I knew that I was going to go to Myanmar, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do there. I had a vague idea what was there. It couldn’t be that different from Thailand right? Temples, good food, and great people. Can’t be too worried about details in September. But by mid-November when I actually had the time to sit down and plan my trip, I had to hash out the specifics. I did my research, trolled for information online, both on GT (including z909’s great thread) with my own crowdsourcing thread, and general advice online, and found a few things I was interested in.

 

By mid-November, I put in “Bagan” in Google and found the usual TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet entries about the area. But shifting to the Image search yielded very intriguing photos of hot-air balloons floating on top of ancient temples. That looked fucking cool. I dig deeper and find out there were three hot air balloon companies that fly the Bagan temple hot air balloons. I try to book reservations for the dates I thought I was going to be in the area.

 

I try “Balloons Over Bagan” first and they have a booking system in their website. They are all booked up solid in the holiday dates in December and January. I then try “Golden Eagle Ballooning” and they were booked up solid too. I go to “Oriental Ballooning” last and see that they do not have an online booking service. Was I just shit out of luck? I try the proactive approach. I Facebook Message all three, asking if they had spots available for the date range I thought I was going to be there. I even put in dates that coincided with the White Party. While parties are nice, hot air balloon rides are just hands-down way cooler.

 

The companies reply to my message right away. Points to them for being professional and on point. Balloons and Golden Eagle were all booked up through second week of January. Oriental Ballooning, however, had two spots available in their premium balloon for December 29. I pounce on it, tell them that I will take both spots. They email me a link to pay for it online. I put in my Visa and it went through without a hitch. I got a confirmation email 24 hours later, confirming my spot. With this confirmed, I build my vacation around it, plan Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan. Its nice to have an anchor event to base your vacation on.

 

It wasn’t cheap. It cost me $380 a person for the tickets. But again, with my motto: life is too short, I didn’t even think twice about it. This is one of those “bucket list” events that you just cant pass up when it is presented to you. Economics worked out on my end, and when it was time to pay my credit card bill last month, I didn’t even think about it.  I am blessed to be able to do these sorts of things and not worry about the future. Having a BF that pays half the bills, mortgage etc surely helps a lot.

 

So here we are, alarm wakes us up at the butt crack of (before) dawn, at 4:30 AM. BurBoy springs into action, gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom to pee. I boil some water and make coffee that was free with the room. I hear the shower turn on and I knew I needed to join in the showering. It was a quick soap down, all business, but BurBoy was excited and was a chatterbox. It was as exciting for him to do the balloon ride as it was for me. This was gonna be fun.

 

While toweling dry and in between sips of coffee, BurBoy surprises me with something. He takes two white t-shirts, neatly folded in a plastic bag, and presents both to me. Both medium sizes, and had the word “Mandalay” in them, and one had a photo of Mandalay Palace, the other of U Bein bridge. He probably bought them during his stay in Mandalay. He points to the shirts and says “For you. Take one please.” I thank him and pick the palace one. He wears the other. He planned us to be wearing matching shirts on our tour today. How sweet. And its great that we wear the same size shirts.

 

We get to the front of the hotel lobby at exactly 5:20 AM. I called Oriental Ballooning yesterday to confirm our pick up today. They asked me for my hotel and room number and kept my cellphone number in case they needed to call me. There were three other guests waiting with us at this hour. After 10 minutes an empty van drives in the compound. The person in the passenger seat gets off and calls two names, mine and BurBoy’s. We head over the van and confirm it was us. We get in and sit on the front row. The others who were waiting asked the Oriental Ballooning guy something. I guess they were waiting on other ballooning vans.

 

We drive through the dark roads of Bagan and we pick up a party of four at the Bagan River View Hotel. And then we all are driven for about 15 minutes as we make our way to the balloon launch site. We get there and there was a small breakfast spread waiting for us. We get seated with another couple and we get asked what kind of drinks we wanted. We both wanted coffee. We get our coffee and our breads and pastries as well:

 

 

While we wait, the baskets get prepped, which was cool to watch:

 

 

After 15 minutes, and making small talk with the nice European couple in our table (with BurBoy able to talk as well), we get our safety orientation. The pilots for every balloon flying with Oriental was there. They rattled of names of the riders assigned to them, and then after that they go through the standard safety information while riding. Pretty straightforward, and they walked through the whole process from blowing up the balloons, to where to sit, how to brace yourself when taking off, what to look for while in mid-air, and then how to brace for landing:

 

 

After the safety orientation, we were advised to go to the toilets for some last minute relief, while the balloons are prepped. After taking photos, BurBoy and I head over to the port-a-potties but saw there was a line. BurBoy disappears into the bushes and pees there. After he was done, he points to the bushes and says “Pee pee here OK.” I do what I am told. We get back to the launch site and see that we were well on our way:

 

 

 

 

There were 12 total people on our basket, plus the pilot. It was a smaller basket, and everyone had a “window” seat. The other companies had cheaper options for a balloon with a bigger basket, with 20 or more riders, but not every spot was a window seat. I take this one last photo, which was a cool shot of all three companies ready to take off. Balloons over Bagan have the maroon ballons, and Golden Eagle had the yellow ones. We were in the green ones:

 

 

We of course get a shit ton of photos taken. We haven’t even taken off yet. We get one last one together when we were  just off the ground. And then we were off. It was exhilarating slowly float up like that. We take our first photos just off the ground:

 

 

And we catch our first glimpses of what we came for to see, the temples:

 

 

As we get to 1000 ft, we catch up with the sun, rising on the far horizon:

 

 

We see more temples, and the mighty Irrawady River:

 

 

There was not bad place to be in this smaller basket balloon. We were spinning slowly as we were in the air, so you eventually get to see what everyone sees in the basket. And while the temples were the main attraction, it is really the combination of the temples, the vegetation and rivers of Bagan, and the 19 balloons that were up and running that morning, that completes the experience:

 

 

 

 

Our pilot, Richard, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. He knew a lot about the history of the place, the names of the temples, and trivia about hot-air balloons. Our party was very inquisitive, and Richard was game to answer all questions. He said he was English, and does this almost year-round. He spends 6 months here in Myanmar, flying balloons, over the first and last months of the year, and spends the other half in Africa, also flying balloons. That was the life.

 

After 45 minutes of floating, we start our descent. We fly over a small town, mostly supporting the agricultural industry:

 

 

We get our warnings of bracing ourselves to land, and landed without incident. As we wait to disembark, the “umbrella” of the balloon up above was lifted up, to let the hot air out the balloon:

 

 

We get directed to the champagne tables, where will we toast to the successful flight and to get our certificates. We sit down on the stools as the other riders gather around. When everyone was there, there was champagne and some fruit to share with everyone. The pilots gather and toast to our success:

 

 

 

Richard distributes our certificates, each one bearing our name. It was a nice souvenir to keep for a very memorable day.

 

I took a lot of photos but only managed these two for my boy series. Boywatching #4:

 

 

 

It was truly a remarkable couple of hours for us. BurBoy was excited and happy and smiling the whole time. I got a ton of photos to share back home. And of course, it was a unique way to see the temples in one go without having to visit them one-by-one. I’d say it was worth the money to do this. And it was a good introduction to the actual temple visits later today.

 

Temples, and boys, and more temples, next.

[emailbroken]

Day 6.0: Up in the Air

 I did my research, trolled for information online, both on GT (including z909’s great thread) with my own crowdsourcing thread, and general advice online, and found a few things I was interested in.

 

I'm going to suggest you trawled for info rather than trolled.  Not your style

[vinapu]

nice to know that ballooning made such  a progress in Bagan , when I took the same adventure back in 2001,  ours  ( the same,  Baloons over Bagan) was only one in the air, could be booked day in advance and cost only 195 USD

 

You are right , it's adventure worth every penny and one remembers it forever. 

[vinapu]

 

 And its great that we wear the same size shirts.

 

certainly that can't  be said about overwhelming majority of us farangs and our Thai ( Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, Viet ) boys , lucky you and enjoy while it lasts, LOL  

[Vessey]

What an astonishing last day up in those balloons, as you and others have said life-time memories in the making both for you and for Bur-Boy.

 

Of course, as Vinapu has already mentioned, the thing that I am most envious about is that you can still fit into a medium-sized T-shirt! LOL

[Moses]

Day 6.0: Up in the Air

 

It was truly a remarkable couple of hours for us. 

 

Fantastic report! Just amazing

[reader]

Numazu, you're wise to undertake these adventures at a relatively young age and fortunate to have found a guy who brings so much sheer joy into the relationship.  Butterfly or no butterfly, you're one lucky guy.  One of the things I find myself occasionally falling victim to is the feeling that it's too late to fully enjoy life. But what really holds me back is not physical constraint but a mental one that often finds excuses to believe that it's even possible. Sharing your experiences challenges that mindset. Thanks for taking the time to put these reports together; they're like a not-so-gentle nudge in the back.

[Vessey]

Numazu, you're wise to undertake these adventures at a relatively young age and fortunate to have found a guy who brings so much sheer joy into the relationship.  Butterfly or no butterfly, you're one lucky guy.  One of the things I find myself occasionally falling victim to is the feeling that it's too late to fully enjoy life. But what really holds me back is not physical constraint but a mental one that often finds excuses to believe that it's even possible. Sharing your experiences challenges that mindset. Thanks for taking the time to put these reports together; they're like a not-so-gentle nudge in the back.

 

Spot-on!   That's absolutely spot-on! 

 

'Carpe Diem' was the Roman phrase, and how many of actually do still 'seize the day' as middle-age overtakes us.

 

This TR is proving an inspiration perhaps even a guilt-trip to some of us all-too-far-from-medium-sized couch potatoes.

[steveboy]

" And its great that we wear the same size shirts."

 

certainly that can't  be said about overwhelming majority of us farangs and our Thai ( Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, Viet ) boys , lucky you and enjoy while it lasts, LOL  

 

LOL!  Not even when traveling with a Tawan boy ?