numazu

Day 8.9: New Year, Old Me, Same Same BurBoy He grabs me and pulls me close to get a good look at the hickey. He rubs on it and looks at me. “Who did na?” he asks. I tell him the truth: “I find a boy from Hornet in Mandalay.” He looks at me, almost not believing me. “Sure na? You get Hornet? No boy bar Twilight?” I take him by the waist and say “Yes I am sure. You want to see my Hornet?” “No I OK. But you shower na. Shower together na.” “Why together? You finish shower already.” “I want see if have other,” pointing to the hickey. An inspection! I disrobe and head over to the shower. He is handling this better than I thought. I turn on the shower and once the water is hot enough I get in. He gets in as well, and gets the soap for my usual soap down. As he soaps me up he looks at my chest area, back, and cock. He doesn’t find anything else. He smiles at me and kisses me. “You have sex many na.” I nod, flashing my best charming and sheepish smile. I rinse and then step out of the shower to dry up. He does as well, but still looking at the hickey. “Hmmm. I think no good na. People say I give you big kiss na.” pointing at his neck where my hickey would be. So he was more worried about people seeing the hickey on me and thinking he gave it to me. Not the fact that I had sex with another guy. I finish drying and hold him close and kiss him deeply. I tell him to not worry about what other people think. I tell him the only thing that matters is what happens between the two of us. He asks me “Why you cannot wait for me have sex?” I say “I can have sex everyday ok.” He thinks about it then says “OK, after party have sex na OK?” I kiss him deeply and tell him “We can have sex now.” “No now, after na. Now I want go party.” The one thing you guys have to know about our relationship is that when we are together we are inseparable. It is not normal do be apart if we were in the same country. But when we are apart, we rarely talk about our activities, other than work, and his English classes (more on that later), or the occasional going out with friends, when I get a selfie of him with friends and bottles of whiskey in a Thai bar, or me in my American bar with my drink in front of boy strippers. So not telling him about this tryst last night when it happened, or asking for permission, is not our thing. So I wasn’t surprised that he wanted to come to the party, even if he was tired. We get energy from each other, and just the sight of the other guy gets the either of us going. He takes my hand and leads me to his suitcase. “What I wear for party?” I open his suitcase and we go through his things. I choose a nice muscle tee and tight shorts. He puts on tiny underwear and starts putting on clothes. I put on something as well. I arrange my money for drinks and food, and take out credit cards and such. I send MuscleBoy a quick Line, apologizing that i will not be able to off him tonight, and I hope he gets a customer. When I booked the AirBNB condo, I thought that it was decent walking distance to CentralWorld, the venue for the White Party. But Google Mapping it and assessing the walking distance, it looks like it will take us about 20 minutes to get to CentralWorld. We can walk it for sure, but the combination of us being tired, it being close to 10, and we have anddy, GT forum member extraordinaire, waiting for us, we decide to take a taxi. I leave the taxi getting duties to BurBoy’s capable hands. He gets one right away and off we go. There was considerable activity on Ratchadamri Rd on our way to the party. It was New Year’s Eve tonight, and we see a lot of people walking towards the direction of CentralWorld. I guess there was some sort of celebration or gathering at the mall. Pretty soon we hit a roadblock, and most of the surrounding roads along CentralWorld were closed for New Year’s Eve. BurBoy takes out some baht and pays the driver (60 baht for a 43 baht fare). We get off about a block from CentralWorld. We take the overpass to get to the mall. There were some barricades around CentralWorld, and people were snaking through the barricades to get inside the mall. There were some security guards that were telling people where to go. I guess because of the expected crush of people, there had to be some order to get into the mall tonight. We patiently go behind the end of the line and we dodge and turn and duck and 15 minutes later we are finally inside the mall. I text anddy that we are finally inside. He tells me that he is already up at the venue, and he is finding some of his friends. The party was at Muang Thai GMM Live House, which is on Level 8 at the enormous CentralWorld. This was the same venue of the Songkran parties. It takes us a lot of escalators to get to the venue, but pretty soon the general public that surrounded us on the lower floors, have progressively changed to a lot of gay boys. We knew we were close. We get to the main floor and I message anddy that we were here but we needed to get our tickets. I had a photo of my passport in my phone, and I took my California Driver’s License with me (I also use this at DJ Station). I readied the email confirmation of the ticket purchase. There was no line to get our tickets. The staff takes my phone to scan it. She then tells me that I didn’t go to the party yesterday. I was reminded that I bought the ticket for entry to all three night parties. I bought it 5 months ago when they had Super Early Bird prices, so what I paid for three parties is still less than the price of two parties if we bought them now. I Line anddy and tell him we are going in. We get in the ticketed area and see anddy waiting for us. We both get hugs and I introduce anddy to BurBoy. anddy speaks to BurBoy in Thai, and BurBoy is surprised that anddy can speak the language. We catch up on the few days that had passed, and then we decide to inspect the activity outside the main dance hall before going inside. There were a lot of backdrops in the periphery, with hot boys posing in front of them. And a lot of boys having their photos taken with the hot boys. We go inside and anddy says we are going join one of his friends who also came tonight. We enter the main dance hall and see that the party was well on its way at 11 PM: We force our way through the throngs of (mostly) hot, shirtless, sexy Asian boys who were having the time of their lives: anddy finds his friend. It was the Khmer guy who worked as a mamasan/captain at Fresh Boys, who we talked to a few nights ago after leaving X-Size. He was with some of his friends. We all get hugs, and BurBoy gets an extra hug, as the Khmer and him talk for a little bit in Thai. The music was hopping, the lights were flashy, and everyone was in a party mood this New Year’s Eve: And there were hot boys everywhere, talking, dancing, and occasionally making out: Some use the elevated platforms to good use, to see and be seen: There was a huge LED display that had the time, hanging over the center of the hall, no doubt for the impending New Year’s countdown: The stage was hopping as well, with the DJ playing the latest pop dance tunes. Everyone seem to know what was playing, and some were singing along, including BurBoy and myself: Lots of sexy dancers onstage, to complement the sexy boys watching offstage: anddy was successful in coaxing BurBoy to take off his shirt, to match all the boys there. As someone who was not at all modest indoors, BurBoy was kind of shy in public. I don’t know why he would be, he had an amazing body. We all dance to the beat. As his abs glistened in the dance floor lights, and as the time got closer to midnight, the boy crowd got thicker and thicker: As the countdown grew close, I tell BurBoy that it was customary to kiss your loved one at the stroke of the New Year. The tradition of kissing someone you love as the bells tolled at 12 midnight supposedly sets the tone for the rest of the year. He thought for a bit, and then got his phone and types in a word. He shows me the English translation: luck. I smile and tell him, yes, kiss me and you will be lucky all year next year. He laughs and we continue dancing. And the countdown begins. Someone onstage does the count, and we see the seconds tick away as 2016 winds down. At 12 midnight the confetti and smoke fall, and everyone screams and celebrate the New Year. I turn to BurBoy and we kiss. If this kiss sets the tone for the rest of the year, I am one lucky guy.

Day 8.7: Playing with Fire #1: Covering All My Bases Let’s take a step back a little bit. Because of my last minute booking of the balloon ride over Bagan, I had to sacrifice the first of three nights of the White Party in Bangkok. And because BurBoy did not have a passport, he could not make the flight with me, and instead opted for the bus to Bangkok, which takes almost a day. We were both going to be in Bangkok at the same day, but since I was taking a relatively quick flight from Mandalay, I will get to Bangkok hours before him. Because of the length of the bus ride, BurBoy told me that he was not sure what time he was getting in Bangkok, but he was sure he won’t be in before 8 PM. And because of the arduousness of the journey in taking a bus/van all those hours, he also didn’t know if he would be up for going to the White Party that night we get to Bangkok. So I had to cover my bases. I had two successful offs a few nights ago in Bangkok: ShanBoy and MuscleBoy. Both 22, cute as hell, and were willing to go with me (for a fee of course). I’d rather go with BurBoy for obvious reasons (he is free, more caring, and he wanted to go), but won’t feel bad if I went with either the two other boys. So while in Mandalay I was talking to both boys on Line when I could. Just a few hi’s and hello’s, due to ShanBoy’s very poor English, and MuscleBoy being busy. I’m sure either would be a good choice to go to White Party, but I thought MuscleBoy was slightly ahead of ShanBoy due to English skills. I tell MuscleBoy what time I thought I was going to be at the condo, as well as the address of the condo. So tonight, when I got dropped off at the condo, meeting the AirBNB host at the lobby, I also see MuscleBoy, sitting on one of the lobby couches, waiting for me. It was almost 7 PM, and the host, myself, and MuscleBoy go up to the unit. The host welcomes us to a nice two-bedroom condo, with a nice TV and fully-furnished kitchen. She shows us the two bedrooms: one had a king-sized bed, and another a single bed. I booked this condo a month ago, when I thought I was going to invite two Pattaya boys with me to the White Party, instead of going with BurBoy, thus the extra bedroom. BurBoy was unsure he was going to be able to get back to Bangkok with me. I was covering my bases then. Now, I don’t mind the extra space. The lady leaves the condo unit and both of us are alone at last. MuscleBoy asks where to leave my luggage and I tell him to just put it in the Master Bedroom, pointing to it. I go to the bathroom to pee and wash my hands. When I emerge, Muscleboy gets in the bathroom as well. I inspect the unit and appreciate all the nice amenities included in the unit. There was a huge TV with cable in the center of the room, and there was a comfortable couch to sit on while watching. There was a decent kitchen table and full stove top and oven and huge refrigerator with some bottled water. I take two bottles and give one to MuscleBoy, who takes it gratefully. We sit on the couch and talk for a bit. He was wearing some nice fitting pants, a blue shirt open in the front, and a white and tight singlet underneath, revealing his huge pecs. As we sit, he puts his hand on my thigh and starts stroking it. We talk for a bit, about his day, his week of customers, my Myanmar trip, and plans for tonight. I tell him that I am waiting for word from BurBoy, my boyfriend, on what time he was arriving from Myanmar tonight, and if he was coming to the White Party with me. I told him I wasn’t sure if I was bringing him to the party with me, but I told him I will compensate him no matter what. He was sweet enough to come to the condo and keep me company while waiting for BurBoy, so that alone will warrant some payment. As we hang out, MuscleBoy puts a finger on my neck, rubbing my hickey. I laugh and say that I got this in Myanmar. He smiles and says “you get good kiss.” I asked him if he wanted to eat. MuscleBoy says he ate before coming here so he was fine for now. I was feeling a little bit hungry myself so I suggested we go to 7-11 just a block from the condo. I get some food and more drinks for the condo. MuscleBoy gets a Meiji chocolate protein drink. He takes all the grocery bags and we get back to the condo. And then my phone beeps telling me I had a Line message. It was BurBoy, telling me he was on the van that will take him back to Bangkok. I ask him to send me his location on Line. He does and it looks like he is about a little over an hour away from the condo. I panic a little bit. BurBoy was coming soon, and I was still with a boy! I type away and ask BurBoy if he wanted to go to White Party. He hesitated answering, before telling me he will decide when he gets to the condo, to see if he is too tired to go. I did not want to insist on a firm answer now. He might suspect that I had someone with me now. I send him the condo location through Line location so he knows where to fo. MuscleBoy and I get back to the condo. I weigh my options. What am I going to do with MuscleBoy and BurBoy? I wanted to go to the White Party, and will go with BurBoy if he wants to, but I did tell BurBoy that I was going with anddy, the forum member I met a few days ago, so I was going no matter what. He did not have to know that I was going to use his ticket to get MuscleBoy in if he doesn't go with me. I eat some of the snacks when we sit down and MuscleBoy drinks his protein drink. We finish eating. I have to spend my hour wisely with MuscleBoy. I didn’t want to have sex now (surprisingly), but I wanted to see MuscleBoy’s magnificent body. So I suggest we hang out at the smaller bedroom and cuddle. I suggested he strip down to his underwear while we cuddle in bed. He asks if he should shower first. I tell him that won’t be necessary. We get to the bedroom and he takes off his clothes to reveal very sexy tight white Calvin Klein underwear. He lies in bed and invites me to come over. I get in and touch his muscular torso and abs. He said he just went to the gym before coming here. It showed. It was great. The view from the window in this bedroom looked great as well: I take this moment to discuss with him what was going to happen. I tell him that BurBoy was getting here in an hour. I did not know if he was going to come with me to the party. I wanted him to come with me if BurBoy just wanted to stay home. It was 8 PM and MuscleBoy thinks about it for a moment. He says that he will go to Jupiter and wait for my Line if I needed him. I told him I will compensate him for his time here with me now, and will pay the bar off fee and the balance of his long time fee if he comes with me to the White Party. I’ll make sure that I Line him before 10 PM so he can get another customer in Jupiter if he wanted to. I then focus on the task at hand, admiring MuscleBoy. We talk some more. He seems way more relaxed now than our first time together. He confesses that he wishes that he had tonight off and instead spend some time with his friends on New Year’s Eve, but the bar will fine him if he doesn’t show, unless he pays the off fee first. I joke with him that if I off him tonight, he still wont be able to hang out with his friends and instead go to a gay dance party with hundreds of gay boys. He says he still prefers that, because he can dance and drink. My hand finds its way to his penis, still really thick with a healthy amount of foreskin. I pull down his underwear and play with his cock a little bit. It grows hard beautifully. I look up to him and he smiles. I kiss him and he kisses me back. I do a little bit more exploration. Maybe I should’ve asked him to shower. Oh well it is too late now. We just cuddle in bed and talk some more. I then get a beep in my phone. I look and forgot about the time! I see that BurBoy is asking me what the name of the condo building is. I type it in. He says he took a taxi from the bus station and will be there very soon. I hug MuscleBoy and then get off the bed. I ask him if I could take a photo of him in his underwear. He pulls up his briefs and puts his hands behind his head, showing me his armpits. I take some photos. He then makes me promise to not show it to anyone. I am a man of my word. I tell him that BurBoy was coming to the condo pretty soon. He gets off the bed and starts putting back his clothes. The sight of him putting clothes back on made me almost cry. Someone who looks like him should be naked all the time. I tidy up the bed, and then look for any evidence of MuscleBoy in the bedroom. In the main room I tidy up as well, taking the protein drink bottle and my snacks in the trash. I see MuscleBoy finish getting ready and I reach for my wallet. I take out 1500 baht for the almost two hours he was here. I tell him I will give him more if we see each other later tonight. He takes the money without counting and wais in appreciation. I take one last inspection of the unit before we both leave the unit and take the elevators. At the ground floor I leave the elevator first. The elevators were in the other end of the lobby from the entry doors, and were in a glass enclosure that required a key card to operate the doors to come in or get out. Before letting MuscleBoy out, I take a peek at the glass front doors of the building. I see BurBoy at the door, looking inside. I quickly grab MuscleBoy and tell him that Burboy is here! He quickly hides from sight and pushes the elevator button. He says he will take the elevator. I tell him I will take BurBoy up to the unit. I wait for MuscleBoy to get in the elevator, using the key card to operate the elevator, before getting out of the glass enclosure. When the coast was clear, I get out to get Burboy. I take my phone and see Line messages from BurBoy, most probably telling me he has arrived. I run over to the front doors to let BurBoy in. He sees me and smiles. He then tells me about his bus ride: long and arduous. I ask him if he was tired. He tells me he was, a little bit, but he thinks he just needs to shower. I nervously operate the door to open it to get to the elevators, slightly worried that MuscleBoy was still there. He wasn’t. We get in the elevator and then to the unit. In the unit, I get BurBoy a water. He takes it and then says he will use the bathroom to do his business and to shower. He closes the bathroom door. I quickly leave the unit and get back down to the lobby. Sure enough my instincts were right. I see MuscleBoy waiting by the elevators. He didn’t have a key card so he could not get out of the glass enclosure. I apologize profusely, and thank him again. I wave the key card to open the doors. He gives me his best boy smile and tells me to Line him soon. I tell him yes. He leaves, successfully this time. I get back up to the unit and hear water from the shower. After 5 minutes, BurBoy emerges, fully naked, abs and swinging cock and all. He gives me a kiss on the cheek. Crisis averted. Maybe not averted. He sees the hickey on my neck and stares at it. He looks at me with a mixture of anger and incredulity. Am I finally going to pay for all my boy craziness and dishonesty? Next…

This is it! Thanks for the confirmation. I have seen BurBoy use this pink card before for identification. I guess it is not as under the table as I thought, and I'm happy that BurBoy has it. I urged him to get a passport if for some reason we will fly somewhere outside Thailand. He used only ID once in a Bangkok Airways flight from Bangkok to Phuket, so I guess flying domestic in Thailand or Myanmar is possible with just the ID. Thanks for sharing your story. Still puzzled by allowing border crossings and yet not allowed to go past Chiang Rai. How do they monitor this? And how long did it take your BurBoy to get his passport? Mine is still waiting on his, after one and a half months. And let me know how Hua Hin went for you guys! I am planning on going this April pre-Songkran and would like to know what to look out for. And you must try the balloon ride. I've already have had quite a few members PM about it. I wish I could make money of off my recommendations! lol Again, I wonder how they check for people going out of their approved areas. Is it just random checks? Or is there border police at outside of the approved area? I only used my iPhone in this trip, so all the photos here taken by me are from my phone. I toyed with the idea of taking my DSLR with me to Myanmar, but that thing is big and unwieldy at times, and with the walking and barefoot touring we were doing, it would just be in the way. I upgraded my phone to an iPhone 7 Plus last fall in anticipation of this trip, and I got the 256 GB version so I can store all the photos. I use my DLSR camera less and less now. If I went somewhere super picturesque like to American National Parks, and I know I will have a car to use for touring, I will take it with me, and I am sure my photos would be stunning if I used it in Myanmar, but the camera phone I have is more than enough to take with me in the fast-paced touring I did. Advantages: no messing with memory cards and computers, using the graphic apps in my phone to enhance the photos, being able to upload choice photos directly to Facebook or Instagram in seconds, and having all my photos automatically backed up to iCloud (with a $2.99 additional fee because I have thousands and thousands of photos, as well as apps, to backup). Watching the physical closeness of the boys in SE Asia is a great thing to see. Sometimes I would see two boys sitting together, with their arms around each other, and there is nothing sexual about it, just two boys being close to each other. It's not something you see where I live, so when I see it out there I can't resist taking a photo. And BurBoy loves the horseplay, to the point where we trash our hotel room/condo unit because it can become rough at certain points.

Day 8.5: Tale of Two Airports Before we head over to Mandalay Airport I stop by the shops scattered in the periphery of the Jade Pagoda. I was always to snag some very nice Jade jewelry for my Mom, BF, BurBoy, and some siblings. Kaung asks if they were genuine jade and they said yes. Some of the cheaper ones are lower quality jade. I also found some cute jade figurines to put in my office and house. I was in a jade buying spree. We get back to the car and shove my newfound jade booty in my luggage. I get in the car and looking at my watch realized that I had less than 2 hours left before my flight. I look at Google Maps and see that it will take us 21 minutes to get to the airport: I hope we do not have any issues getting there. We get on the highway from the Jade Pagoda, but we were going the opposite direction to the airport. Since it was divided highway, we get on this “off-ramp” and get on the highway on the other side: The off-ramp was just us plowing through some bushes and then getting on a rural road and u-turn it back to the other side of the highway. Not the most comfortable of u-turns but it got the job done. On the way Kaung and I say our goodbyes. I thank him for the great time. He thanks me as well, and asks me to thank BurBoy for being a good companion. He asks me what I was doing in Bangkok with BurBoy. I tell him about the White Party. Well probably not all about the White Party, just that it was a dance party over 3 nights. I show him photos of the venue and everything. I try to hide my hickey while talking to him, but I know it’s as obvious as a flare shot up a starless night sky. We get to Mandalay Airport at the estimated time: I say thank you to the drivers and Kaung. I gave Kaung and the drivers a little bit extra as a tip. They were very thankful as I got helped with my bags. Kaung talks to one of the airport employees and the employee takes my bag right away. I say one last good bye before they speed away. The employee and I get to the bag security check thing and he sets my luggage there. I was about to give him a tip because he helped me, but he made a waving gesture to say “no” and walked away. I just thought everyone deserved a tip today. There was an hour left before I can make my scheduled flight, but going up to the counter to check-in my luggage, I am told that the flight is 45 minutes late. This is what happens when you travel on high season. And doubly so that it was New Year’s Eve today. No doubt a lot of revelers are making their way to Bangkok today to celebrate the New Year. Not only is Bangkok known as the "City of Angels" (Krung Thep), but it is also the city of partying. Mandalay Airport, at least this terminal, was older than Terminal 1 at Yangon Airport, but it had the basic amenities, including clean toilets, that any decent airport in the world has. I always judge an airport by how often they clean their toilets are. Going through immigration here was a breeze, a feature I find comforting in Yangon, Siem Reap, and Phnom Penh airports, and comparing it to the disaster that is the Bangkok immigration lines. My airline of choice today was AirAsia. I have used Bangkok Airways to and from Yangon, and the flight from Bangkok to Mandalay. But my return flight to Bangkok, I chose AirAsia because of the time of the flight. Because of the Jade Pagoda stopover, I wanted a late noon flight. This will allow me to still be in Bangkok before evening, in order to make it to the second night of the White Party. I had to skip the first night due to my desire to stay an extra night in Mandalay and to afford BurBoy a chance to visit his family, before he has to take the bus to Bangkok. AirAsia is always a cheaper option than Bangkok Airways, and I find the service to be the same (except for the passenger lounge). The only big difference is the airport: Bangkok Airways uses the newer and more spacious Suvarnabhumi, while AirAsia uses the older and more cramped Don Meaung. I get to the main departure hall and see that there are some shops that I can go finish off my still healthy wad of Burmese Kyats. I counted my money and saw that I still had $80 worth of cash. Instead of converting these back to US Dollars or Thai Baht, which would no doubt incur a huge exchange penalty, I just thought of having a small lunch and buy a few trinkets to serve as souvenirs. There were some pretty nice shops to choose from. I see this Myint Myint Khin (MMK) shop, which had a few candies on sale: I found a few shops that sold fridge magnets, jewelry, and some “Longyi for Executives”. I also found this grotesque carton of Lucky Strike cigarettes, with a picture of what will happen if you smoke. I almost threw up my breakfast: I quickly found some delicious pineapple cookies to counter that Lucky Strike image, but strangely enough, they were Thai cookies, so I don't buy them, because it was weird to buy something from Thailand, in Myanmar, especially if you're waiting for your flight to get you to Thailand: I made a dent in my kyat wad, and now down to $15. I took out a few kyat bills to serve as souvenirs, and then headed over to the food section to hunt for food. I see this nice looking coffee shop, where I almost got my iced coffee: But I found a nice restaurant where they served lunch items and the iced coffee I needed. I ordered that and a seafood fried rice with egg as a snack: I stayed in the restaurant for an hour while I waited. My flight was delayed, and most of the passengers were waiting in the uncomfortable gate seating by our gate. I took my time to eat in my nice cushioned couch of the restaurant. After the hour was up they call us to board. We quickly board the aircraft and since I bought one of those upgrades to AirAsia’s “Hot Seats”, as well as food and drink onboard, I was one of the first to board the aircraft. It takes us about 20 minutes to complete embarkation, and we take off without incident. After 15 minutes, the meals were served, and I found myself eating again. Their meal choice was more palatable than Bangkok Airways. I chose a Chicken Curry when I booked the flight: Thai immigration forms were distributed, and with just over an hour in the air we start our descent into Don Meaung. First to board and first to leave, I race to the immigration counters, eager to start the last leg of my holiday: 9 nights in Bangkok. But I was soon stopped dead in my tracks by this sight: It seems that everyone and their mother was trying to get into Bangkok this New Year’s Eve. It was a horrible scene. All the immigration counters were staffed to full capacity, and yet it was mayhem out there. There seem to be some lines neatly formed close to the counters, but as it snaked through the arrivals hall, the lines blurred and it was a free for all. It was awful. I had to choose a line of course. How do I choose? I look and check the counters. Maybe choosing the officers who were younger would be the best. Maybe when you’re younger, you’re faster and less particular about what you look at in the forms? But that older guy in the center looked like he was letting everyone through at a fast clip, so maybe he is the guy to choose. But this one line by the far wall looked like they were served by two officers. Maybe I should go there. Decisions already! I choose one and stick to it. It takes me an hour and a half to get to my officer. It takes him literally 20 seconds to look at and stamp my passport. I take the elevators down to baggage claim, and then through customs and then to the taxi line, and find this: I’ve never seen the taxi line this busy before. The lines took the entire space from the exit to the far wall, and everyone looked like they were there forever, angry, looking hopeless, and resigned to their fate. Another freakin line. Everyone wanted to get in Bangkok tonight. I take matters into my own hands and fire up my Uber app. I know it is way more expensive to take Uber from the airport, but right now I didn't care. I look at my app and see there were some UberBLACK cars circling the area. I request for one and immediately a car accepts my ride: I make my way out side to the curb to wait for my ride. What I see was a sharp looking Toyota SUV in a sleek black color. The car stops and the driver gets out and takes my luggage and I get in the back. Very clean and nice, with the right amount of aircon. The driver confirms the address of my AirBNB condo for me and off we go. He was fast, darting through the busy Bangkok streets, and was able to avoid traffic. Pretty soon we were at the condo building and we was allowed to go in the gate entrance. He stops at the entrance and helps me with my luggage. He thanks me and wishes me a Happy New Year. He leaves the condo: The Uber flat rate for UberBLACK cars picking people up from the airport was 1000 baht. I looked at my app and see that I was only charged 378.37 baht for the whole ride: But 5 minutes later I got an email from Uber, adjusting the fare to 1000 baht. I was OK with that. I got rescued from Don Meaung hell by a big black savior, so I’d say that was a good use of my money. I go in the glass door entrance to the condo, and look for the lady host waiting for me with my keys to the condo unit. There was another person waiting for me, it was my prospective date for the White Party tonight. Remember when I told you that if BurBoy did not want to attend tonight’s party, that I was going to ask either X-Size’s ShanBoy or Jupiter’s MuscleBoy to accompany me? Well my choice was dutifully waiting for me, sitting on one of the couches. Who was it? Next post…

Day 8.25: Throwing Jade My alarm wakes me at 9 AM. My body still craved for more sleep, but it was time to wake up. I had to make my flight today, with Kaung and the drivers taking me to the airport. We were also going to stop by one more tourist place before saying goodbye to Myanmar, so I had to hurry and get prepared. The five and a half hours total sleep that I got tonight would be sufficient on most vacations, but right now, after a full day of travel, touring, and sexual exertion, not to mention the emotionally charged visit to the temple just 4 hours earlier, has given my body something to be tired about. I get up to go to the bathroom and prepare. I turn the lights on and I look in the mirror. I see it staring at me: a hickey on my neck. The dark red skin blemish was coin-sized and obvious. There was no hiding it, it was there for the whole world to see. There was only one person who could have done this: TallBurGuy, the ultra-passionate tall drink of water from last night. We got so carried away by the passion, and this was the result. I try rubbing on it to see if it will go away (it never does). I turn on the shower and try to not think about it. But of course the shower is a place for thinking, so my mind just goes through all sorts of things about this hickey. Oh my god, Kaung saw it this morning. He was accompanying me to a place of worship and I looked like a slut. Oh geez, what will BurBoy think? He will be furious! He will know that I had sex with another boy while he was away! My mind just comes up with all sorts of things. But there was no denying it. I have a hickey, it’s too much trouble hiding it, I enjoyed myself on the way to getting it, so I’ll just have to deal with the consequences. In the shower I scrub myself clean, rubbing on the hickey area in a lame attempt to get rid of it. I get dressed for the airport and dash to the top floor restaurant at the hotel. The Bagan King Hotel in Mandalay has disappointed me, with their policy of not allowing unregistered guests to visit you in your room. I felt it was preposterous, but whatever, I need to do my due diligence next time. Let’s see if the breakfast will redeem this hotel for me. I get up there and there were a few quests still having breakfast at 9:30. I get seated and I go to the buffet and see that they only have very few options on tap: Paltry options for breakfast meats, some scrambled eggs, some bread and some muffins, and four kinds of juices. They didn’t even have rice or congee to give it some variety. I make the most of it, and I fill up for the journey ahead. I look around the room and notice that they had the Yoke the puppets hanging tight. I am assuming they also have dinner shows like in Bagan Thande: Since it was on the 6th floor the restaurant at least had a good view of this part of the city. It looks more built up than Phnom Penh, but obviously less so than Yangon. I can see it is metropolitan enough for a 20-something professional like TallBurGuy, and I wouldn’t mind going back here to visit the city and the surrounding small towns, like the ancient capital Amarapura, as well as using it as a gateway to the northern states of Myanmar. The possibilities! I finish my unsatisfying breakfast and head back to the room to finish packing. After 5 minutes I get a call on my room phone. It was Kaung, telling me that he was downstairs. He was 15 minutes early. He asked if he could come up to the room. That was kind of strange, but I say yes. In 2 minutes he was knocking on my door. He comes in and asks me if I had breakfast and had a nice sleep. I told him yes to both and told him he was a little bit early because I was still packing. He said it was OK and said he will help me pack. He saw some of my souvenirs and clothes that was neatly piled on the side, and started putting them in my luggage. While he was doing that I looked around the room to see if there were any stragglers I have forgotten. After he successfully packs my luggage he looks around the room to check as well. He actually found one of my tour pamphlets and some dirty socks I forgot to pack. I finish packing with his help. When we were done and I was checking my passport and backpack, Kaung asks if he could use the soap I used for the shower. I said yes, he could. He then promptly takes off his shirt, revealing a golden brown torso, and heads to the bathroom to wash away a stain that was in one of the sleeves, using the spent soap I used to shower earlier. I am sure he was not coming on to me, and was genuinely just trying to wash a stain off his shirt, but having a cute, shirtless, 19-year-old boy alone with you in a hotel room is a little bit awkward if the context was not sexual, at least for me. He finished using the soap and puts his shirt back on. He takes my luggage and helps me down to reception. I check out and don’t have additional charges. I admire the Christmas Tree they still had up: Kaung already at the car helping the drivers put my luggage in the back. I get in beside Kaung. As we speed away I take a photo of the cute bellhop. Another reason to go back, if not to spend a night in his hotel (never again), at least to say hi to him: We still had one more stop before heading to the airport, the Jade Pagoda. Touted as the first, and only, pagoda in the world made entirely of jade, it’s a fairly new pagoda (finished in 2014). The whole site cost an excess of 10 million US dollars, so this was no joke. It takes us about 40 minutes to get from downtown Mandalay to the area, but once we get close we see a bunch of new construction. Kaung says that because of the pagoda, many have invested on building a mall and shops around the area, in anticipation of the mass of tourists and devotees to the Jade Pagoda: The car parks and we get charged an entrance fee by a cute but distracted ticket seller: Kaung goes with me and we enter the pagoda complex. And then we see it, the impressive Jade Pagoda. The Jade used were of varying purity, but the distinct jade color of the pagoda makes it one of the more unique pagoda I have ever seen: Gold is so overrated. I take a ton of photos, of course. The pagoda in various angles: There are also some bits of jade rock outcrops tastefully used to decorate the pedestals: There were four Jade and marble buddhas that are in temples in four sides of the pagoda. There is something about jade that makes these buddhas more unique than their traditional gold counterparts: The grounds around are also tastefully decorated. The green motif is really working for it, in combination with the green plants: Kaung and I tour the grounds, and pass by a park, a stage with another jade Buddha, this one standing: And then we discover a nook that had women (and some men) flocked to apply Thanaka: As my last primer for you guys on Myanmar culture, I would be remiss if I don’t talk about Thanaka, the yellowish-white cosmetic made from ground bark of thanaka wood. Some are sold as paste, but in its natural form it is sold as small logs, and you grind the log on “Kyauk pyin” or stone slabs, and wetting it lightly with water, is applied to the cheeks and forehead and nose in sometimes circular and attractive patterns. It is primarily used for sunscreen, but can also prevent acne and promote smooth skin. I have seen BurBoy use it while he Lined me during his one month in Myanmar. I bought him some Snail White sunscreen and he used that instead. Some stock photos of boys wearing Thanaka: As you can see, everyone was getting in the act. You can see small logs of thanaka, and some water, and the women grinding it one the big stone slab: before applying it on their faces: Kaung warns me that it is time to leave for the airport. I bid goodbye to my last Myanmar landmark. As we leave I take a photo of this big Myanmar family, proudly wearing their traditional Burmese garb, getting their photo taken in front of their newest landmark. I get a tinge of sentimentality. It was New Year’s Eve, and I was apart from my friends and family. But in a few hours I will be reunited with BurBoy, hopefully still happy to see me, in a different country: Thailand, in different circumstances: the White Party and Silom, but hopefully with the same feelings of love and caring. Next, Bangkok, and playing with fire…

Nice thoughts on a holiday Monday morning in California. The BF is still asleep, and naturally I am awake and sipping coffee. I only wanted this to be a short reply, but I am physically unable to keep anything short, so apologies for the looooong reply. Feel free to skip. Thank you DivineMadman for the very thoughtful inquiry on the peculiar quandary that I find myself in. I like presenting a lot of detail in my Trip Reports because this is the only way I know how to write about such things. It’s both catharsis and a creative outlet for me. Interestingly enough, however many details are presented in here, I do not lay out the whole story, due to the limitations of the medium, and the interest of keeping my privacy. I reveal enough to make the story both coherent and relatable, but obviously a lot of other details have been left out, for a variety of reasons. Some of them may be personal, others because they are not relevant to the current day’s narrative, but most of them are because they are just normal, boring, life things. The current quandary I am in is very complex, and not as cut-and-dry as I would like, and probably looks messy at first inspection. What you have just described is a fair assessment of the situation, as it has been laid out in the report. I do not write about BurBoy’s feelings as much, and that goes the same with my BF, who is the invisible presence that looms over everything I do in life, and that's my fault. It is clear that my BF and I do not have a “traditional” relationship (monogamy, among a myriad of other things, lacking), but it is perfect for us, and has worked for the almost 9 years we have been together. It fits our goals for what a long-term relationship should be, warts and all. BurBoy is different. He is the exquisite creature that has outlasted all the seemingly silly boys that have tried to alter my reality. And there is a big reason for him lasting as long as he has: no asking for commitments, no demands to be my boyfriend, at least when I am not in Bangkok, and does not need my money outside of our holiday excursions. I think the problem lies in my deception when I am with him. He does not want me to have sex with other boys while I am with him. He is very possessive; therefore I have to manufacture alone time away from him in order to fuck other boys. Not good on my part, but that is where I am right now. I hate talking about him like this, but it’s probably healthy for me if I do. In my reality BurBoy is as much a boyfriend as is my American BF. The caring is there, the love is there, and there are lots of both. Total honesty is not, never has been, and probably never will be there till the very end. I am not fully honest with my BF as well, even with his access of my writings on here. BurBoy, similarly, chooses not to know about what I do when I am back here in America, and though we talk daily, constantly, even on video chat once in a while, he does not ask too much about what I do in America. I think it is equal parts him not being interested and also not wanting to know. It’s that reason why this relationship with BurBoy, like with the BF, has lasted as long as it has: it just works. I wish I could write about the 16 months that BurBoy and I have known each other. Knowing the development of the relationship probably will give you guys more insight on why it has worked, even with constant deception. All that time together, and apart, has lead us to this point. I have resisted this boyfriend thing with him for the longest time, for a lot of reasons of course, but the most of all, its because it is not a clean-cut “traditional” relationship. We both know there will be an end to this. There are no conversations about the future, or growing old together, or him moving to America or me moving to SE Asia. But there is a lot of love, support, and yes sex, in the meantime. Not a lot of honesty, and that is mostly my fault. Realistically, for all I know he has a side Farang (or I am the one on the side, who knows). I don’t care. Should I? Maybe. But that is not me. ggobkk has said it best, that living is messy business. It starts out that way: childbirth is messy, and painful, and sometimes fatal. But we have to go though it anyway, in order to live, to move on, and to continue on breathing and creating and make mistakes all over again. This might be the biggest mistake I will ever do in my life. And I won’t have it any other way.

Day 8.0: That Time I Watched Someone Feed a Statue Ask my BF or parents and they’ll tell you that I am a huge morning person. I get up earlier than most of the people I know, and I luxuriate in the quiet of the morning, meditating about what to do for the day, before anyone else cuts through the silence and disrupts my day. I like sipping my coffee, reading a book or some news, and just be alone with my thoughts the minutes I get to just be with myself and the morning. But after just having an amazing (and lucky) time with my tall knight in shining motorbike the night before, I find myself struggling to wake up to the alarm. I went to bed last night at 1 AM, and now it is 3:15 AM, and I have to be up for my next tour stop. No matter how much of a morning person I am, having only two hours of sleep can’t be good for anyone. I force myself to get off the bed and walk around the room a bit to get the blood flowing to my limbs. I go to the bathroom and wash my face and brush my teeth, and brush my hair a little bit to look presentable. I put on some pants, because I am about to visit a religious site, so I have got to show reverence somehow. I look at the temperature on my iPhone and decide that I should also bring a sweater. At 3:45 AM my hotel phone rings. It is Kaung, telling me that he is at the lobby waiting for me and to take my time if I am not ready yet. I take my phone and wallet and head down. Kaung was talking to the receptionist, and then sees me and escorts me to the car. Only one of the drivers made it this morning. While in the car, Kaung asks me if I had a good night sleep. I told him no, I didn’t get to sleep much. I ask Kaung what this tour was about. I am going into this tour cold, not knowing what it was or what we were going to do. This tour was SiamRoad Ya’s idea, and he talked about this with Kaung. I had no idea what was going to happen, but it was sold to me as something to see at least once in my life. We drive for 15 minutes to our destination, the Mahamuni Buddha temple. Kaung tells me what he knows about what was about to happen. Myanmar is obviously a fairly religiously devout country, and it has a lot of ceremonies that celebrate this faith. But what we were about to go to was a special event for a lot of people in Myanmar, and locals gather from all over mostly Northern and Central Myanmar to pay homage to this Buddha. It was the Buddha Teeth Brushing and Face Washing Ceremony, and as weird as that sounds, it was actually a fairly popular event. We get closer to the temple and the driver tells Kaung something. Kaung tells me that we will be getting off here. As we walk over to the temple I was glad that I was wearing my sweater because it was kind of chilly. I see the temple from the distance: We get close to the entrance and see that there were already quite a lot of people waiting to get in: The revelers were probably 99.5% Burmese, with some sprinkling of farang tourists. Almost everyone was in nice and colorful local wear. I felt out of place with my tacky track pants and bright red sweater. Almost everyone was carrying some sort of tribute in his or her arms: On the side, various vendors were selling tributes mainly consisting of food: At 4:25 AM the gates were opened and people walk through the corridors, respectful, but with purpose. We pass by some shops that are closed at the moment: We get to the main hall and people crowd in between the center arches: Kaung tells me that most people wanted a good view of the front of the Buddha under the center arches of the temple, but there are views at the sides as well, which was a good enough view if one was not particular with which vantage point they see Buddha from. Since the center arches were getting really crowded, I suggested we head over to the one of the side gates. We get to the left gate and see that there were only a few people there. Kaung and I stand close to it while people around us gather: Pretty soon one of the staff opens the gate. You can see the Buddha through the gate: I decide to sit down cross-legged, like the rest of the locals, to be appropriate: While we waited for the ceremony to start, I observe and admire the people gathering around me. Everyone was Burmese, wearing colorful clothing, and praying while they were sitting. Some were young (some good looking boys were around), some were old (a lot of grandmothers in the mix), but it was clear that most came from the far-flung Northern states, judging from their different style clothing from what I’ve seen in Yangon or Bagan. It is obvious that this place brings the whole country together in religious worship, and I am a mere spectator. Soon the helper monks were installing a platform and stairs for the senior monk to use to have better access to the Buddha: The formal ritual began with the senior monk getting up to the platform and covering the Buddha with a gold cloth: The monk then takes an urn of cooked rice and “feeds” the Buddha. Of course the Buddha did not open its mouth and began chewing. Instead, the monk, in a rubbing motion, slathered the rice around the mouth and let the rice fall to the floor. Then the face washing begins, with the monk wetting the face of the Buddha with water, and then washes the face with a cloth. The action is repeated, with a rhythmic and coordinated action: The motion of the senior monk’s arms was very soothing to follow. The gold from the Buddha, the reflection and detail coming from the individual intricate designs in the walls and ceiling of the temple, the calm and gentle chants from the monks, everything made me oddly contemplative. I look around me and see the people hanging on every chant, every gesture of the monk’s arms, bowing and praying and meditating. This means a lot to them. I think about my own reasons for coming here. Was I here to just observe a ceremony as a tourist, reducing this sacred event to just a simple tourist trap? Actually, this meant much more to me than just a run-of-the-mill stop. It was probably because I only had 2 hours of sleep, or because I was exhausted after my earthly exertions with a local boy last night, or maybe because I was about to leave this county I have grown to love. Whatever the reason was, I started to cry. I was openly weeping in front of strangers, a world away from me, not by current proximity, but by life circumstance. This did not have any religious meaning for me, and yet a feeling of reverence and bliss washed over me, like nothing I have ever felt before. This ceremony did not mean anything to me, and yet it felt like this was what I was looking for all my life. And this was a microcosm of everything I have experienced these past few days. I did not have any desire to go to Myanmar before this trip, and yet coming here felt like I needed this visit more than anything. I did not need another boyfriend, but getting to know BurBoy more has shown me what having one can, and should, feel like. I could not do anything else but surrender to the moment, the feeling. I did not think about past failures or future worries. This was happening now, and it was what I needed. I gather myself. I try to not look at Kaung. I sit for another 10 minutes and wipe away the tears before telling him that we can leave. We pass by the central arches and see there were a lot of people still watching the ceremony: We go outside and admired the architecture. There were two boys wearing matching sweaters: As we exit, we pass by some shops that are now open, anticipating the crowds that will leave after the ceremony. Lots of nice looking breakfast food: We head back to the hotel. I tell Kaung I will try to get some sleep, and to pick me up at 10 AM so we can head over to the airport at a reasonable time. I get to sleep right away. What an emotional couple of hours, days, week. So my last few hours in Myanmar, including a nasty surprise, next…

Day 7.9: The Best Things in Life are Free I was eager to satisfy my massage curiosity this trip. It already started with my outcall massage experience with Tao, which was very satisfying. So now, finding myself alone in Mandalay, I had the chance to check out one of the two massage parlors in the city. The two in the city are reviewed in this link: https://www.travelgayasia.com/mandalay-gay-massage-spas/. Seems like Paradise had slightly better reviews, and since it was closer to my hotel, I thought I’d give it a try. I have been checking out Grindr while resting for a little bit before heading out for the massage, and there was some very promising conversation with the boys on the gay app. I was very close to meeting with 3 boys that I had some steamy conversations with. One in particular caught my attention: a 28-year-old Burmese guy, tall for Burmese at 6 feet, and had perfect English, at least in what he was typing. He said he was having coffee in a nearby café close to my hotel, and he said he could drop by if I wanted. I was very tempted, but now was for massage. It was close to 9 by the time I got out of my hotel. Google maps said that the spa was a 15-minute walk from the hotel. I pass by this sign, probably the best use of a Burmese pun I’ve ever heard while in Myanmar (Mingalaba is welcome in Burmese). It right up there with "Hello Deli" and "Sawadee Crab Shack": I walked the deserted side roads of Mandalay. I was careful to avoid the main thoroughfares so I don’t get mowed down by motorists at night. I was in shorts and a t-shirt, even if it was slightly cool tonight. It was the perfect weather to just walk and experience the city at night. It was a quiet night, and reliably so: it was Myanmar after all. After some death-defying crossing of the street action on my part, I get to a residential part of the city where Paradise Spa was. There was a group of guys drinking right across the street from the spa. How many men have they seen enter this place to take advantage of the services? I go in a two-story residential house. There wasn’t anyone at the front desk. I go in and wake up about 4 boys relaxing in the couches inside. They call on the receptionist and he appears and receives me at the front desk. He invited me to sit down on a nice looking couch and he offered me some water to drink. I thanked him and got shown a menu of services they offered. It ranged from 30 minutes of straight-up massage (9000 kyat = $6.50), to more involved specialty massages starting at 15,000 kyat ($11) for an hour. I chose what looked like a combination 30 minute scrub and an hour massage at 18,000 kyat ($13). It wasn’t a lot of money so I just chose one that looked good. I was then shown an iPad with photos of the boys. There was only about 8 boys shown, and there was 2 that were attractive to me. I chose the one that looked the most Burmese, since I was in Burma. He gets called and then goes up to me and he escorts me upstairs where the massage rooms are. We go in a somewhat run-down but large room with a dingy bed in the center, and a pillow at the head of the bed with a faded pillowcase. He asked, in horrible English, if I showered already. I said I did, so he went into the in-room bathroom and showered. When he finished he was in a towel. Nice body, not too worked out but fit. He had classic Burmese looks, but he did not smile, and was all business-like. He asked me to strip and lie on the bed. I did and positioned my head on the pillow. He started with the scrub treatment, which was pretty pleasant, and I felt the exfoliation work. He did this for about 15 minutes and then he said he was done. He asked me to shower away the exfoliating beads and to prepare for the main massage. I get in the bathroom to shower. No hot water, the water heater didn’t work, so I shivered through the process. I tried my best to get all the beads out. Emerging from the bathroom naked under the towel, the boy goes to me and used another towel to get all the beads out that were stuck in hard to reach places. He invites me to go back to the bed to continue the massage. I was expecting the lights to dim but he didn’t, and the harsh fluorescent lights were still on during the massage. The massage oil was applied, and what follows was a decent massage. I relaxed a bit, dozing off in some parts, slobbering on the pillow. I immediately thought, yikes how many guys have slobbered on this pillow. Gross! I try to put it out of my mind. He asks me to turn around. I see his nice body, and the penis hiding in the skimpy briefs he was wearing. It was nice visuals, and the massage was decent, but he kept the briefs on. When it was time for the sensual part, it was… not inspiring. He did not take off his briefs. He started chuck-wowing me, but the harsh lighting, the gross bed, and the disinterested masseuse was not doing it for me. So it took him a while to get me off. I did, eventually, almost regrettably. This was not a sexy massage, more just the boy going through the motions. I dart to the bathroom to clean up the oil and cum. I emerge and start putting on clothes. I reach for my money and gave the masseuse 18,000 kyat, which was the same as the cost of the massage itself. I went down the stairs and got out of there. I spent an hour and half there getting a decent massage, and not so decent ending. Maybe I had too high expectations. Maybe I should’ve picked the other cute guy who was actually smiling in his photo. From the look of the other boys there, it seemed that there were very cute boys there. If I were here longer I would try the other boys, just because it was dirt-cheap. I get back to my hotel slightly regretting going to the spa. In lower spirits, I fire up Grindr, and see more messages from new boys and boys I have talked to earlier tonight. I waste some time typing away. And then I notice that cute 6-foot Burmese guy said hi again. He asked where I went, why I was offline for a while. I told him I had some dinner, but now was back in my hotel room. We talk for a while. He was interested on what I thought about Myanmar, and was glad I liked Yangon and Bagan. Our talk turned into flirting soon after that. And then it went to the subject of what we were both into. We had the same likes: we loved kissing, passionate body contact, rimming and topping. Pretty soon we were exchanging steamy photos. He had a nice body, and had an even nicer uncut cock. I got hard, even if I just came half an hour ago. He asked me again: “Can you meet now?” I took a chance and said “Sure, can you come to my hotel?” I gave him my location using the Grindr location thing. He said he will be there in 10 minutes. I tidy up my hotel room in preparation for company. I tidy up myself a bit and didn’t have to shower since I just did it in the spa. After 12 minutes he said he was parked outside the hotel. I go down and meet him outside on the sidewalk. Lets call him TallBurGuy. He was still on his motorbike, and he disembarked, towering over me. He was cuter in person than he was in his photos, and he smiled and shook my hand. He tells me his name again, I had to ask him to repeat it. He had classic Burmese looks, maybe a little bit more Chinese than Burmese. I was ready to tear off his clothes right there. But right now, outside in the streets of Mandalay, we talked, and checked each other out. He spoke in perfect and clear English with a Burmese accent. It was clear there was a mutual attraction, and we were both eager to consummate this. We go to the hotel and I nonchalantly go to the elevator to get up to my room. But the receptionist stops TallBurGuy, saying some words in Burmese. They get into a conversation, and the he told me that the hotel did not accept outside guests to get up to the room. I talk to the receptionist about it, and she was firm in not letting TallBurGuy in. I used all my charm, and then all my logic, but could not get her to budge. TallBurGuy could not believe it. A second disappointment tonight! We go back out and talk about it. He said he could not believe this hotel. I told him I could understand why, probably because Myanmar was still conservative. He said it doesn’t matter. I was a paying customer, and he suspected I paid a lot of money to stay in the hotel. I told him how much I paid. He laughed and said I should get my money back. It was nice talking to him like this, but we were still eager to have sex with each other. TallBurGuy finally says “OK, I will take you to my house.” I asked if he was sure. He said yes. He lived with other people in this big house but had a room for himself. I don’t even think about it and just get on the motorbike with him. We speed through the streets of Mandalay. We get to a main intersection with traffic lights, and we speed though that. He was going fast, probably so horny and frustrated from being turned away at the hotel. We get to a residential area like where Paradise Spa was, and he parks next to a big house with high gates. There were no lights on that I can see, but it was 12 midnight so it was understandable. He leads me towards the back and then opens a gate, and then a few meters to a door. We go through a hallway and then he uses his keys to open the door to his room. I walk in a room with some furniture and a bed on the floor. I could see some clothes hung and folded by the side, and a desk with some papers and books on them. He plays with the lights till he was satisfied with the ambiance. He made it a little bit romantic and dim. We both take off all our clothes and we lie down and made out. He grew right away, and I can feel his respectable cock grow in my hand. This was way hot. He was a great kisser, very deep and lots of tongue. We touch, prod, and feel. I go down on his cock and put it in my mouth. The foreskin and the big cock head. I did this for a while before he put his attention on me. He licked my nipples, sucked on them with ferocity. He licked my neck and sucked and licked it for a while. We kissed, and then he went down and lifted up my legs to give me an amazing rim job. I cannot believe how good it felt. He went back up and kissed me, making me taste myself in his mouth. This was hot. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was passionate. We were both tops, but he teased me with his cock head. He put the tip in my hole. He whispered he wasn’t going in, just to tease me. He dry humped me for a while. Pretty soon we couldn’t take it anymore. He lay down and he manhandled me to put me on his chest, with him jacking himself off while I jacked off, sitting on his chest, with my cock slapping his chin. I came, and he quickly put my cock in his mouth, taking it all in. I then felt his some of his hot cum hit my back as he came. We both smile. He gets a towel and we towel off. We head back outside to talk. He was all smiling and chatty. I get back on his motorbike get a ride back to the hotel. It was 1 AM and the streets were deserted. He drove slowly, and we talked the whole way back. I got to know him more. He worked for an NGO, is college educated, and a Mandalay local. He loved his city, and could not think of anywhere else to live. I profess my love for his country, and tonight, my admiration of his passion. He asks if I went to Mandalay often. I regrettably say that I don’t. He tells me that if I find myself back here, to let him know so we can spend more time together. As we get back to the hotel, I put my arms around him. He saved the night. As if I needed more reason to love this country, here comes this tall drink of water to add to the many things I got to know and love about this wonderful place. I get off his bike and we both wave goodbye to each other. He speeds away out of my life. Tomorrow, the highlight of my Myanmar trip…

It's really a first world problem. I don't think I am risking much having two boyfriends like this. One is conveniently on the other side of the world and the other is here with me. I know someday my relationship with BurBoy will end, the how or why is the mystery, and it has me on pins and needles. This is life in general, and the uncertainty is what makes it worth living. Thank goodness life is not boring, yet. You guys are right, these interesting events happen in any stage of life. I conveniently blame it on mid-life to excuse my behavior. But really, this is who I am and I will probably continue doing this for the rest of my life. The Myanmar and Cambodian tourism boards should give me my cut for inspiring people to check out their countries. Though I'm pretty sure they'd think twice when they see all the boy smut I write. If you do decide to go, write up a trip report here! In general I think that the majority of people who write reviews were motivated to express their negative views of the place. I always regard these rankings with a grain of salt. Like you, I look at the actual individual reviews instead of the overall score and ranking. Having a lot of reviews in general is a good sign, it means it is a high trafficked place and it is a known entity. The rankings are useless, I agree, but it does give more buzz to the places that are highly ranked. They even proudly put a TripAdvisor "Certificate of Excellence" sticker, or something, in their storefront, because this carries some weight with a lot of tourists. At the end of the day, these rankings depend on the person. Much like people having different tastes in a boy bar: if I see a negative review here about a bar, it doesn't mean I'll have the same negative experience as that other guy. I do take it into consideration, but I am also eager in trying it out for myself and forming my own opinion. And vinapu, I will write about your Chicken and Cashew Nuts in a later post, since you have high regard for it.

Day 7.7: Some Touring and a Massage It’s one thing to climb up 777 steps to see a monastery. It’s another to do it barefoot most of the way. As with the temples, I appreciated the extra dimension touring barefoot gives me. I was ready to do more but I knew we had a long drive ahead of us. Looking at Google Maps, it looks like we are going the long way back because of where Mt. Popa was in relation to Bagan and Mandalay: We get on some rural roads on our way to Mandalay. There were three times where we stopped to give tribute to these toll points. I offer to give money but Kaung said it is part of the cost of the car we rented. I doze off for a little bit and get woken up by the winding roads. Kaung asks me if I was hungry. I tell him I was a little bit. The cardio I got from walking up and down those stairs did give me an appetite. Our halfway point was a village called Myingyan, and it had some nice storefronts and the usual selection of pagodas and religious imagery. Kaung asks me what I wanted to eat. I said anything that had rice dishes. He picks a Chinese Restaurant called “Cool Connection”, and at close to 2 PM, the place was empty: Kaung explains to me that this place turns into a fairly popular bar at night, but at day time it is just a regular restaurant. We order, and I was craving some rice and some soft shell crab: Kaung and I share the rice and he orders some chicken. The dishes included some nice chicken broth with vegetables. The drivers, having their own lunch allowance, looked for other choices in town, but came back to the restaurant and they ordered their own food. We all order Myanmar Beer, probably not a good choice of drink for the drivers, but I felt like splurging a little bit. We all finish and I pay for everyone’s food, not even thinking about it ($11 for everything). Kaung informs me that he will deduct from my payment the cost of the food for the drivers. They receive an allowance so it would be unfair to me if I paid for their food. I said “OK” but in my head I am thinking that I didn’t care if I get reimbursed my $5.50 or not. There was still some two hours left in the drive, and I dozed off again as we made our way to Mandalay. I told Kaung that I wanted to get in alittle bit of shopping before retiring for the night. Nothing big, just some nice souvenirs for friends and family. He said that we can check our some of the shops at U Bein bridge, before we make our visit to the famed bridge. I doze off some more. I wake up and I find that we are in bigger roads now, a sign that we were close to Mandalay. Kaung and the two drivers discuss a bit on where to exit to check out the shops and the bridge. We stop suddenly and we get off the highway through a very steep and makeshift “off ramp”. It was not really an official off ramp, just a depression on the side of the road where cars and motorbikes use to get on the highway, if they were impatient to look for the official off ramp. The car was not a off-road vehicle, but it sure handled like one when we drive on this steep and unpaved “off ramp”. I do love the third world and its lax road rules. We get to U Bein bridge around 4 PM and I had time to do some nice shopping. There were a lot of tour buses and people at U Bein today: I become serious with my shopping, and dart into the shops to find some cool things. The three Burmese boys: Kaung, and the two drivers, were tailing me, just making sure I was safe. I got some really cool items and made a dent on my Kyat supply, though I still had plenty since I made sure I got enough for the entire stay. When I was done the drivers offer to take my shopping bags to take back to the car. We head over to U Bein bridge and get some nice photos of the bridge and the sunset. Sunsets here in Myanmar are extra special, it seems: Kaung had some tidbits for me about U Bein. He was pretty knowledgeable, and it is truly nice to see a sunset on this 167 year old teakwood bridge. There were a lot of visitors this time, and it was maybe 90% locals in their local wear, and only few of us tourists. It was a nice way to end the day and the drive. Of course, some boys for my boywatching series. People watching is as much a feature in my touring as is temple watching. Boywatching #6, U Bein Bridge edition: We get back to the car and head into Mandalay proper. We hit some traffic about 2 miles from the hotel, a sign that we are in the thick of the city. As we get closer to the city center, I see tall buildings and traffic lights. Mandalay seems like a proper Asian city. Kaung pulls out his phone to locate my hotel, the Bagan King Hotel, in central Mandalay. We get to the hotel and the car parks right in front. The driver step out and helps with the bags, and Kaung and I head over to reception: Kaung immediately says my name to the staff and they look for my reservation. I take out my passport and credit card and give it to them, and both were returned promptly. Kaung asks a few things to the staff and then informs me that they recommended to leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 3:30 AM for our next tour. I ask for a wake up call at 3 AM. One of the cute staff helps me with my luggage. Kaung and I follow him to my room. At the room the guy shows me the various features of the room, like the lights, the shower, the safe and the bed. He was really cute, and he was looking at me with curiosity, but I did not have the balls to proposition him in front of Kaung. He finishes the orientation and I give him 500 kyat for tip. He thanks us and leaves us to the room. I tell Kaung that I want to pay him now, for his services, and the car. He starts itemizing the the various items that I am paying for, and I look for a notepad to take notes. He tells me the cost of his tour (found in his website), and the cost of the car ($100 a day, except for tomorrow where it was $60 because it was only half a day). It was what I expected, and I give him some kyat for his payment, but gave him dollars for the car payment. I thought the cost was fair considering the quality of the service rendered, and all involved were very attentive to my and BurBoy’s needs. It’s been an amazing few days, and it was not over yet. He takes the money and tells me that he will see me bright and early tomorrow. He leaves my hotel room. I relied on Tripadvisor to vet my Myanmar hotel choices. The Bagan King Hotel was a good choice in my opinion for a number of things :1) It was the #3 in the top hotels in Mandalay, and the top 2 were budget value choices 2) they had a decent breakfast buffet, from what I can figure out online, and 3) it was walkable to a gay massage place or two from the map. I didn’t know if I was going to be alone or not in Mandalay, so just in case, I wanted the massage places to be somewhat accessible. My room, very tasteful décor and the bed was pretty comfortable: Now that I am by myself I open up Grindr. Lots of cute boys online now, but I notice half of the profiles are fake. I can tell because some of the photos were of boys who have a huge social media presence and were very popular on Facebook, they were either Thai or Viet (a beauty ideal for the Burmese, probably), so I don’t think those boys will be in Mandalay. It’s the scourge of social media and using apps. You don’t know if you are getting cat fished or not: I talk to some boys who I thought were real. I also get some proactive messages, from locals who did not have a face pic on their profile, but they were open to send some once they assessed that I was real and just a tourist. They were still very careful with whom they talk to. They have to be discreet. But right now, even with some promising conversations online, I had one thing in my mind: to get a gay massage. There were two in the Mandalay area, Lime Spa and Paradise Spa. Both fairly walkable to my hotel, but one was closer. So I take a shower, wear some fresh and clean clothes, and start walking to my first massage experience in Myanmar. Was it good? Next post…

Just catching up: Its hard to watch what I eat when I am on holiday. The food experience is an integral part of touring for me, so I feel that the tour is not complete if I am not sampling the food, especially if it is my first time visiting. I watch what I eat the other times. And BurBoy does eat some junk food. Not sure if he does it everyday, but he does eat it a fair amount when with me (chocolate mostly). After I came back, I was able to undo the damage I did on my diet this last trip. Ate a little better, slept a little longer, and exercised a little bit harder, was all I needed to undo it. Thanks. It's been a treat writing these, and discovering the photos I took again when I choose what to post. Myanmar is a photogenic country. It's always win-win for me . Yes I am sure BurBoy has no idea that that chewing betel causes cancer. He was just sharing part of his culture with me, as he had for the whole trip. I didn't like my first and only foray into betel nut chewing, so doubt I will be pursuing this in the future. There was definitely a lot of red teeth, and red spit on the ground, while I was there. Such a nasty habit tho. LOL. Maybe I sneaked out in that time and found a willing bellhop to fill that 1 hour and 15 minutes. LOL. This was a good segue to the current post. As I described, Mt Popa is crawling with monkeys and the "janitors" (there were many), for the most part, were able to clean up the mess while I was there, so no stepping on monkey poo for me. I'll get to the other ones on a later post .

Day 7.3: Popa Don’t Preach This is the part of the tour that I had no idea what it was about. I am a naturally a planner, a strategist, and have made a pretty decent career out of being able to tap into these strengths. So before I fell in love with South East Asia I would plan most aspects of my life as much as I could (career, relationships, vacations). But I discovered that giving up this control that I was used to having all my life, is needed to life to the fullest. Its probably the biggest gift that SE Asia has given me. So now I go with the flow. There must be a reason why BurBoy wanted to go to this place. The drive was not bad. It was on a two-lane rural road: Once in a while we would pass by a small village and see some kids panhandling by the side of the road. Kaung says this is a problem, as it's dangerous for motorists to suddenly stop and give them money, and its also dangerous for the kids, who are in danger of being mowed down by vehicles: As we get close to the Mt. Popa village, we pass by a “checkpoint”, which is usually just some kid or young man collecting 100 kyat from cars entering their village, which is a customary thing to do in almost any rural village that dots Myanmar’s main roads. I read somewhere that this is a legacy thing from centuries past when warlord states existed and travellers were required to pay these tolls to enter their property. Seems harmless, but I have no idea where this money goes to. So this was our checkpoint, the boy in white was collecting the 100 kyat: The interesting thing was what was happening in the left of that photo. Some horseplay with two boys. Through the magic of Apple’s live photo, I was able to split the photo above into 84 frames. See horseplay in action: I wasn’t really sure what was going on here, but it was actually nice to see boys just being boys. We stop at the local market, and Kaung explains to me that this market was often called “colorful market”, for the rainbow colors that were found in the merchandise. Flowers, fruits, and other snacks were on display: We get further into the village, and starting on our ascent to the mountain, we stop to take photos of the prize, the Mt Popa Taungkalat Monastery on top of the Taung Kalat pedestal: We were not actually climbing to the summit of the mountain itself, but instead we will drive to the base of this pedestal hill, which was actually a volcanic plug. And with any culture where mountains or volcanoes dominate the landscape, Mt. Popa has its share of legends and mysticism associated with it. There is a festival in the spring where lady boy mediums (Nats) gather to talk to spirits and communicate their messages to the people. This mixture of Animism and Buddhism, celebrated against the backdrop of this fascinating volcano, makes this festival a must-see for me in the future. We get into Mt. Popa proper, and it was abuzz with activity on this Friday morning. The car drops us off the bottom of the stairs to the monastery, and Kaung and I get off as we start out ascent: It was 777 steps overall to climb the rest of the 2156 feet to top of the summit of Taung Kalat, so I will have my cardio workout on this tour. Adding to this is doing the climb barefoot, adding a lot to the experience. Kaung leaves both our slippers to the person in charge, he slipped him a 100 kyat bill for him to take care of our slippers. The first third of our climb we encounter a lot of shops selling souvenirs. Kaung asks me if I wanted to buy anything but I told him I will try to shop later in Mandalay: And then suddenly you hear it: loud screeching noises, followed by loud little and nimble footsteps stomping their way on the ceiling. And then you see it, it’s the scourge of the mountain, the macaques: You see them solo at first, and then they quickly occur in groups, just being monkeys. Kaung cautions me to not get too close and to not feed them. They are known to bite and be aggressive. There were some locals who were professional monkey “shoo-ers”, driving the monkeys away from the throngs of visitors. We get close to the summit and see the gilded structures that can be seen from the base. We try to get closer but a macaque was sitting guarding the place: At the summit we can see some of the other gilded structures, under renovation: Lots of photos taken here. Here’s one of the actual summit of Mt. Popa, which was 4981 feet above sea level: Down below, the village: While up here I took a deep breath to take in the clean mountain air and just appreciate the whole experience. I love mountains, and the urgency of work and daily life back home do not afford me too much time to appreciate it. This mountain, with all its religious trappings and wonderful stories surrounding it, will inspire any hardened person: Lots of plaques that were paid for by generous donors who contribute to the upkeep of this place, including one from back home in California: Since this is a monastery, lots of religious imagery in the vicinity of course: Kaung was patient with me taking lots of photos, and offers to take some of me when he thought it was warranted. He had a lot of information on the monastery, the locals, and thoughts about Buddhism in general. He asks me at certain points if I was tired. This was great cardio so I told him this exertion is good for me. He says that he is used to this climb, and on certain weeks he does this climb even twice in one day. It took us about 30 minutes to get up to the Taung Kalat summit with various stops for photos and touring, so it was a breeze, but I was glad that he was concerned if the 777 steps were bothering me. So no trip would be complete without my boywatching series, Mt. Popa edition, Boywatching #5: We start heading down the steps: At the base two macaques bid us farewell: Next up… Mandalay

Day 7.0: He Flies, I Ride With the ringing of my alarm we wake up at 7 AM in our Bagan Hotel room. The very long day we had yesterday had us fall asleep right away last night. Today was no different. It was a big day for both of us. I have to make my way back to Mandalay to catch my international flight back to Bangkok tomorrow, and BurBoy had to make his flight in 5 hours at Bagan airport to Yangon. From Yangon he will take a bus to his hometown to stay the night, and then the next day hop on the 14 hour van ride to Bangkok. I will not pretend to know how the citizens of Thailand’s neighboring country’s can just come and go as they please through Thailand’s porous borders, without much thought about passports or visas or overstaying. Even with my little episode with Cambodia Boy about his passport and visa expiring weeks before our flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, which necessitated him sneaking across the border to Cambodia and get a new passport, I still don't understand how they can just do that. Exit stamps were not needed apparently, but it meant me flying alone to meet him at PP. Before meeting in December, BurBoy spent a whole month in Myanmar and tried to get a passport, as well as get a job that earned a living wage. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in doing both. The passport was going to take months to get, and the jobs just weren’t there. He told me he has been invited back to his old job and can go back after I leave in January, and that he will just get a passport at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok. That still didn’t answer the question on how he can just go back to Bangkok, by land, without a passport. He has a work ID that he uses to work in Thailand, kind of a special one that certain Myanmar people have to be able to work in Thailand. Maybe that was enough? I don’t know. So we wake up, shower together, no hanky panky this time, since we both were leaving the hotel so we need to pack and of course eat the generous buffet they had here. After the shower we pack up our stuff. BurBoy asks me to take some of his things with me, since I had the advantage of check-in luggage and a car that will take me all the way to Mandalay Airport tomorrow. He rearranges his big bag and transfer some clothes he wont need on his quick hometown trip, as well as some souvenirs he bought and his aunt bought to give to his mom and dad back in Bangkok. He hands me the luggage, and tell me that “Bag have ice na. Many many ice!” He was joking of course. If they found ice in my luggage, I will be spending the rest of my days at the infamous “Bangkok Hilton.” After packing we had over to the breakfast buffet, famished after having an early dinner and long night’s sleep. The restaurant was half full this time, and still we got seats closest to the lake: We do our best to fill up for our respective travel ahead, while enjoying the view of the river and Mt. Popa in the distance: BurBoy was kind of subdued this morning. He had a lot in his mind. He was leaving his home country again for Bangkok, after being here for a month, the longest he has probably spent here since he was young boy. He wanted to find a good job but couldn’t find anything that made worth his time. Bangkok was still way more lucrative. He has a good thing going with his restaurant job, having known the owner and some of the staff since he he came to Bangkok many years ago. He will spend some time with his aunt and cousins in his hometown tonight, before heading back to Bangkok tomorrow. Over breakfast we talked briefly about today’s travel. He was jealous that I was going to Mt. Popa today, and he said he wishes he could go with me. I thought about and then I gave him a choice: he could go to Mt. Popa with me today, and then we both head to Mandalay to stay the night, and we can change his flight from his original flight (Bagan to Yangon) to a new one that takes him from Mandalay to Yangon. Since he will be with me in Mandalay tonight, he has to skip going to one of the two White Party nights we intended to attend together. Even with today’s plans followed, he was not sure if he would be up for attending the first night back in Bangkok partying anyway, since he just came from a 14-hour bus ride to Bangkok. If he came with me today, it works out for my butterfly needs. I will be looking for either MuscleBoy or ShanBoy to be my companion to my first White Party night. Plus, I would rather discover Mt. Popa and Mandalay with BurBoy anyway. I have enjoyed touring his home country through his eyes, and it just would not be the same experience without him. He warmed up to the idea of him changing flights and days to go back to Bangkok. He has heard a lot of things about Mt. Popa, and he agreed that as long I was in Myanmar, he should be there for me. I look quickly online for flights from Mandalay to Yangon tomorrow, but could not find any. We can shop around the Bagan airport in a moment to see if we can make this happen. I was even amenable to buying a whole new ticket at a different airline, and defaulting on our old ticket, just to make this happen. We finish breakfast and head back to the room. We take our bags and give the room a final once over and head to reception. I see Kaung already at reception. I give the keys to the lady at the counter and she calls some staff to check on the room. After a few minutes we get the OK and we head over to the car. We now see two drivers in the car, with one sitting in the passanger side. Kaung says that it is normal for drivers to be in tandem when driving long ways. I get two drivers on my drive back to Mandalay, much like the father-son combo in the taxi heading to Bagan. While on our way to Nyaung U airport, BurBoy and I discuss the potential change in plans with Kaung. The car is parked and Kaung, BurBoy and I head over in the airport to see if we can do a ticket change. We find the Air KBZ counter: and BurBoy and Kaung talk it over with the lady in the counter about the change. We all get invited to the office at the back so the lady can use the computer to see what she can do for us. After a few minutes she says that there is only one flight to Yangon from Mandalay tomorrow and it is an afternoon flight. This won’t work with BurBoy, as he needed a morning flight so he has time to visit family. BurBoy and I go back and forth with the pros and cons of the change. He said he’d rather use the time waiting for the flight to just get to Bangkok. I offer to have us go to the other airlines in the airport to see if they could help us. BurBoy said he doesn’t really want me to spend more money on any of his affairs, and he would rather me use the money for our fun in Bangkok. I agreed, so we tell this to Kaung. Kaung heads over to the car and comes back with the driver and BurBoy’s bags. I hug Burboy and tell him to Line me when he gets to Yangon on his 11:30 AM flight. He tells me to have fun on Mt. Popa and Mandalay. One more shot of the airport before we go: I was kind of disappointed that BurBoy wont be with me on my Myanmar trip’s last leg, but I am sure I can manage. Kaung and I are now sitting in the back while the two drivers were up front. The additional driver was also young and in a longyi. We speed off away from the airport and get on a rural road that is used to get to Mt Popa. I look at Google Maps and see that the drive is about an hour, which is not bad: Kaung asks me if I wanted to stop at a traditional palm hut that old some palm liquor, palm sugar snacks and peanuts. He was eager to start his touring with me. I said of course, alcohol at 9:30 AM is great when on holiday. We drive for about 10 minutes and we head over to a bunch of huts on the road and park. Kaung and I get out of the car and we head over to the huts. There were a lot of tourists this morning: We go to a nearby table and Kaung explains to me the various parts of the palm tree used: We head inside and go through some items for sale, which was mostly palm sugar and peanut snacks. We go to the back to see the process of making palm wine. We some fermenting pots, with some palm sap or the Jaggery used to activate its own yeast for fermentation: After which they distill the mixture and out comes the precious palm wine: I also see some snacks being made in a a giant wok: Kaung invites me to try the palm wine (commonly known as Toddy, or Htan Ye here): I drink two glasses worth of the wine. It was actually nice tasting and kind of sweet. I discover later that it was 4% alcohol. We then sit on a little table where some very very delicious and addictive peanuts, sesame, and other types of nuts cooked in different ways, were served, with some kind of "salsa" or dip to enjoy them with, in the center of the snack tray, decoratively arranged: Kaung talks some about the preponderance of peanuts in Myanmar. Interestingly, Kaung pronounces peanuts “penis”. He stops himself when he does this, and apologizes for his pronunciation. Maybe it was deliberate? I eat the peanuts (not the penis) and fill myself up for the drive ahead. Though I guess eating some penis would not be too bad right now. Next up, climbing up a mountain…

Day 6.9: Sunset Over Bagan It was 4 PM, and Kaung had an idea. He still felt bad that I was not able to get beer over lunch. He had this idea in his head, but he consulted BurBoy first before talking to me about it. While at the parking lot in Mahabodhi he, the driver and BurBoy were debating on what to do next. I feel that Kaung knew that BurBoy knew me very well, and knew what I liked out of my tours. When they were done debating Kaung proposes that instead of going to our 10th and last temple to watch the sunset, why don’t we buy some Myanmar Beers, rent a boat and watch the sunset over the Irrawady River? It’s been a full day of non-stop touring, with the occasional food orgy breaks over breakfast and lunch. The day started up in the air over Bagan, and then on the ground in an air-conditioned car visiting the mighty temples in the archeological zone. All what’s left is the tour going on water to end the day. I thought this was an excellent idea. We head over to one of the stores that sold groceries to get some beers. The driver takes the cooler with the ice and bottled waters from the trunk and fills it with the precious Myanmar beers. BurBoy and Kaung also get some small snacks to take on the boat. We drive to the beach where the Old Bagan pier area was: Kaung talks to the lady who was managing the boats, and we soon get our own boat for the sunset cruise: All four of us (Kaung, driver, BurBoy and myself) pile on the boat. Driver brought the drinks and snacks. On board Kaung talked to the helmsman of the boat to give him instructions on how the cruise will go: The boat slowly gets off the dock and heads out to the river. We all initially sit in the back where the benches were, but Kaung encourages me and BurBoy to sit upfront where the table and chairs were: Soon all four of us occupy the front, but there was still beers and snacks left in the back: Driver gets the food and distributes the beer to all of us. There was probably 10 beers that was bought. There was also some peanuts to share: Also they bought some “Mya Zinyaw,” which was a tamarind candy: Lots of photos were taken. Group shots, shots with just BurBoy and me, shots with Kaung and me and shots of just me and just BurBoy. Some shots at the nose of the boat. This is Kaung looking out to the river up front: Soon we were done with our first beers and on to our second, as the sun worked its way down the horizon: On the way into the Irrawady, we pass by some islands with some people on them: Kaung tells me that December is the dry season in Myanmar, and the river is at its lowest level. These islands appear during this time and locals were able to plant crops on them, since the land is fertile due to being submerged half of the year. I can see some crops growing on them already. Kaung says that a lot of people depend on the crops that grow on the islands that appear, since the rest of Bagan was arid desert and less fertile. It was a problem for the other half of the year when the people who farm here can’t rely on the islands and thus no source of income. The boat stop just past the islands, and the motor is turned off as we float on the river. We see some boats doing the same thing: We were just there, floating on the Irrawady, watching the sun set. We chug our beer, have some conversations about growing up in this part of Myanmar and depending on the river for a lot of their livelihood. BurBoy lived further inland so he did not have this experience, but otherwise they bonded on a shared experience of growing up in a country that is largely poor, but filled with cultural riches and natural wonders. It was definitely worlds away from my own, American middle-class, upbringing. I wonder sometimes if by some twist of fate I was born here. Maybe I would be happier. The grass is always greener on the other side. After some time the sun was emitting its orange glow over the horizon, accentuated by the dessert air that Bagan had: We became quiet, just admiring the sunset, our heads buzzing with the beers we were drinking, and with the boat gently rocking back and forth, it lulled us into a sense of calm: I’ve seen a lot of sunsets in my life, but nothing quite like watching it with three Burmese boys in longyis, on a boat, with beers in hand. Sometimes the things that you don’t plan on doing, is what ends up surprising you the most, and turns out to be the most memorable thing you do. Starting the day, I knew I was going to be floating in the air looking over Bagan, and its beauty. I did not expect to end the day floating again, on water, looking across the horizon, admiring Bagan again, and its beauty. I look at BurBoy and he looks back at me lovingly, smiling, looking back at me with those beautiful eyes. I did not have to say anything to him, but he knew I was giving thanks to him for making this trip special. He sits beside me and gives me a playful elbow in the chest, unable to be closer to me, still mindful of Kaung and the driver who may not be comfortable with displays of affection, whoever was doing it. But he did put an arm around me briefly, squeezing me and then pulling away. I squeeze his shoulder with my hand, as my way to acknowledge the gesture. As the sun was setting I ask Kaung how long we should be out here. Kaung said it was up to us really. We could be here to the night. I ask BurBoy what we should do. BurBoy said it was getting cold with the sun slowly disappearing, and it was best to head back now. That is what we do. On the way back we pass by a temple, and Kaung tells me we do get to see our 10th temple anyway: Temple #10: Bupaya This was a popular spot to watch the sunset from. I see that the temple was super crowded with tourists. We were supposed to watch the sunset this way, but I was glad that we didn’t and chose to do it on the boat instead: Kaung was very proud of himself, because he was able to give me the 10 temples that I wanted at the start of the tour. I congratulated him for a job well done. It was a tour for the ages, and Kaung, while young and inexperienced, made up for it with enthusiasm and smarts. As we get off the boat and get driven back to the hotel, we talk about tomorrow. I confirmed with Kaung that I will need him and the driver all day tomorrow for more touring, as discussed earlier. Kaung asks me if we needed to use the car tonight to go to dinner or whatever. It was available for us all night as well. I look at BurBoy and then tell him that we are tired from being up at 4:30 AM this morning, so we were just going to have dinner at the hotel. We get dropped off and agree on meeting up at 9 AM tomorrow to get picked up for our next tour. BurBoy and I pick up the key from reception and get to the room dead tired. I ask BurBoy if he wanted dinner (he says YES empatically), but he said he was super tired so he wouldn’t mind if we had an early night. We shower together, get dressed and get some food at the restaurant. We get the same curries we loved the night before, and also some more Myanmar Beer. That beer was heaven sent. We finish and head back to the room. We take off all our clothes, check our phones for a bit, and then turn off the lights and cuddle all night. This was an amazing day. All because of this guy I had in my arms. Tomorrow, I go to Mandalay!

Day 6.75: Touring Temples with Boys: Bagan Edition Part 2 Temple #5: That Byin Nyu Kaung tells us that we are heading to the tallest Temple in the Bagan zone next, the That Byin Nyu Temple. A 12th century structure, it had the same semi-symmetrical structure like the huge Ananda Temple: It was the façade that impressed BurBoy and I, so we took the time to get group photos with all three of us, BurBoy and I, and solo, to send friends and family. Like Ananda, the white/grey color of the temple stands out from the other traditional yellow/brown color of the rest of the temples. Because of the reent earthquake, most of the temple was closed except for a few places. We go into one of the entrances: And find some Buddhas and tributes. BurBoy, being fairly devout, gave tribute and did his worship. I stood aside and observed BurBoy’s process that seemed so important to him: After visiting 5 temples, it was time to eat again believe it or not. It was almost 2 PM and Kaung asks if we were hungry. I said I was getting there, BurBoy exclaimed “Yes!” so there was no question we were about to take a break to eat. Kaung asks me what I wanted. BurBoy interjects, in Burmese, and after some exchange, Kaung says we will be going to a “Burmese Buffet” where they will serve a variety of food for us to sample. BurBoy knew I needed authenticity for food, and he knew what to ask Kaung. We go to the Golden Myanmar Restaurant, which up front did not look like anything special, except there was a lot of big long tables and chairs, and the restaurant was 2/3s full, even if it was late lunch. It ranks #82 out of 107 restaurants reviewed for Bagan, so not god reviews (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g317112-d2100849-Reviews-Golden_Myanmar-Bagan_Mandalay_Region.html), but it was recommended by Kaung so not second guessing the choice. Kaung at the edge of the photo: We get sat down and was asked what drinks we wanted. They did not serve alcohol, which concerned Kaung and BurBoy a little bit, because BurBoy wanted me to have my beer. I assured them that I was alright without beer. We got waters instead. Kaung then told me there was an opportunity to get beer later. More on that later. Kaung asked me if I wanted him to stay for lunch or should he join the driver for lunch by themselves. I tell him of course and to share in the food and tell the driver to join us. Kaung said the driver is given a lunch allowance and will not be joining us. Since I was paying for the car, the lunch for the driver was part of what I pay for, so no need to pay twice. We get served food right away. It came in by the truckload: Lots of choices here. At least 5 kinds of curry, a fried fish, some fresh and stir fried vegatables, some garnish like fish paste and pickled stuff. Everything was so flavorful and delicious. And as always, BurBoy would serve me the food, telling me what it was and how it was cooked, and me trying it and saying it was delicious. And it was truly delicious. Since it was a buffet, we can ask for more portions for the flat price. I loved the pork curry and the fish so I had seconds and thirds. The hungry boys had fourths. I pay up, it was 13,000 kyat or so (less than $10) so it was super cheap, super authentic, and super satisfying. This was my kind of lunch. Temple #6: Dhammayangi Of all the temples we have discovered this day, we spent the most time at the Dhammayangi Temple. Maybe it was the extra energy we got from the lunch, but me and BurBoy were up for some walkies y’all. Kaung tells us we go from the tallest temple, to the widest one: The walk inside was pretty nice. It was 10 degrees cooler inside than it is outside. Our bare feet took a break from walking on hot stone onto a cooler and smoother temple floor. Walking inside was almost like walking in a cave, with cracks of light from the outside, piercing through the interior, which was still, thankfully, unspoiled by connected electricity and technology: The buddhas inside, existing through the centuries, were quiet witnesses to the hundres/thousands/millions of people that visited its home. They were always there, guarding the place, always in a state of bliss and calm: BurBoy pays tribute to some of the Buddhas. I felt lucky to see him do this everytime. Kaung explains again to us about the restoration efforts being done on the walls that were painted over through the years. He shows some of the efforts in this temple. It exposed some gorgeous murals that were unnecessarily painted over by ugly white paint: We head outside and there was some vendors selling traditional souvenirs, showcasing the proud arts and crafts heritage of the country. I buy a few trinkets, curated by BurBoy, of course: As we head out to the exit, our feet once again feel the hot ground and dirt on our feet: Temple #7: Manuha The Manuha Temple is one of the must-sees in the Bagan Zone. It was one of the oldest surviving ones (11th century), and named after the king who built it: And it was a contrast to Dhammayangi. We walked barefoot on marble floors instead of cold cobblestones. Here is BurBoy and Kaung, barefoot and in their colorful longyis: Nice big buddhas inside, including this 90 foot reclining Buddha, with the Burmese face: Lots of other religious imagery inside. It was more developed and had more of an infrastructure surrounding it that the other isolated temples. Temple #8: Sulamani This was one of the temples that was severly affected by the earthquake. We could not go in but we could see it from the distance, and take photos: Temple #9: Mahabodhi The Mahabodhi was also a must-see, as this 13th century temple was built to look like the actual Mahabodhi temple in India, which was one of the four holy sites where Buddha attained enlightenment: This temple was very photogenic, as the exterior had very intricate stone carvings, and it had about 450 buddhas in them: Lots of photos taken in this temple. And when BurBoy decided to adjust his longyi by hiking his shirt up to reveal his abs, I had to take a photo. It was commonplace for the men to adjust their longyi every so often. Kaung also did it, although more modestly of course. After visiting 9 temples I felt that my feet were able to withstand the elements walking barefoot on rock, dirt, stone and marble. I felt an extra level of accomplishment being able to tour like this. While in other tours around the world you can use your eyes to see, your hands to touch, and your tongue to taste, I feel that being able to go barefoot and get the chance to feel the ground below you just added to the experience. There is nothing like feeling the earth under your feet, feeling the temples crumbling before you with every sharp pebble you step on, and experiencing it as how the locals choose to feel their home: bare, raw, real. My first world soles exposed to third world rawness was the one thing that made the whole experience extra special. And it was just about to get even better, as we wrap up the tour.

Yes they do not fly when it is too hot, windy or wet. My understanding is they only fly between October and April. I've also seen online that you can get a slight discount when booked through travel agents but you have to pay cash. Also, in low tourist volume months like October, November and March and April, they are known to give the slight discounts as well. As you can see, both BurBoy and I love to eat, constantly and a lot. He doesn't put on any weight, and seem to keep his abs intact even after two weeks of eating with me. I am not as fortunate and have to work on it when not on vacation. But yes, I am glad I am not skinny anymore, but sometimes wish my body handled food better like when I was in my early 20s. Thanks guys. Its nice for me to relive the moments when I wrote them, and then relive them again when I post them. Alas, there is not enough sex in this report, so I hope it is fine. Thanks vinapu! Same to you and to everyone else here!

Day 6.5: Touring Temples with Boys: Bagan Edition Part 1 Also could be titled: Who knew I would love Buddhist temples so much? My September trip to Angkor Wat was a joy. It was a treat to see this world famous temple for the first time. But it was also sensory overload, with having too many things happening at the same time. Sareth did his best in focusing the tour for me so I can learn a lot about the ancient temple. But bringing three Jomtien boys with me gave the tour a little bit of chaos. Their boy energy sometimes enhanced the tour, and sometimes muddied the waters a bit. This time it was different. BurBoy had an abundance of boy energy, sure, probably even more than those three flighty boys combined. But he was also very interested in knowing about his heritage through visiting these temples. He came from a place of curiosity, and reverence, and this gave the tour a deeper meaning for me as well. He wanted to know more about his country, and therefore I wanted to know more about it as well. After not knowing anything about Myanmar just a few short weeks ago, I am now chock full of knowledge. I’ll try to describe the temples we visited, and will try not to make the descriptions too dry. I have a million photos that I took of these beautiful temples, and I am very proud of them. I am showing some highlights, but trust that I have taken so much more. Temple #1: Shwezigon Pagoda BurBoy tells me that one of the things that distinguishes Burmese language from Thai was the existence of the shw- and z- sounds. I do hear it sometimes on Myanmar TV. And Shwezigon Pagoda is our first stop. Built in the 12th century by a monarch of the Pagan dynasty (and where Bagan got its name). Its not as opulent as its more audacious brother, the Shwedagon, but it was one of the musts in Bagan: We take off our slippers before we get in the compound. This would be a recurring thing for me with all the temples: walking barefoot when going in these religious sites. Kaung informs me that I came at a bad time. The gilded stupa was being re-gilded currently, so the structure was covered for the renovation: This photo shows that the gold was getting stripped a bit from this lion, so they had a ways to go to re-gild everything: The pagoda was the center of the complex, but the real sights to see were the temples surrounding the pagoda: We pass by some of them and Kaung tells me that since Myanmar consisted of individual states with their own cultures and languages, this pagoda complex had a little bit of everything that represented a lot of the country. Also, there were some contributions by the Chinese and the Japanese, who have greatly contributed to the upkeep and modernization of the pagoda complex. Some highlights. One temple had representations of the life of the Buddha, here he is as a prince on horseback: The intricate tiling in one of the temples built by the British, as well as the gorgeous ceiling: An old pagoda umbrella turned into a spinning “wishing well” of sorts: The umbrella was on a rotating table, and inside were individual containers you can try to throw your money in. If your money goes in one of the containers, you will get your wish according to the fortune corresponding to the container. Pictured are for “May you meet with those who love you” and “May you be well and happy”: There was a farang trying his luck on the love thing. BurBoy got his wish on being rich and prosperous. Temple #2: Htiliminlo Temple Pronounced tee-loh-meh-loh, this was a 13th century temple named after the monarch who built it. This king was one of the last monarchs who got to build these grand temples. This shot was taken actually at a neighboring temple, showing the top being repaired from the beating it got from the recent earthquake: Inside, the temple had very many places for worship, and had many Buddha statues where devotees took the time to pay respects. Two of large buddhas is shown here. It had an interesting face common with Burmese buddhas: Kaung tells me that most of the walls here were painted with white paint over the years, covering some of the painted murals. This was part of the restoration effort to expose the painted over murals: Nearby there was a smaller temple that was part of the Htilomilo complex. We had to walk on grass and dirt so because we were barefoot, the temple had complementary slippers for everyone to use to cross over the grass and dirt to get to this smaller temple. The entrance was low, and we had to crouch to get into it. Inside there were kids asking for donations from tourists. They did not ask BurBoy and Kaung for money, but they looked at me and did a double take and did not know what to do with me. Pictured is Kaung heading down one of the stairs, lighted with candles because it was dark inside, in the smaller temple, and a kid asking for money: On top of the smaller temple was a view to other nearby temples: There's 2000+ of these temples. Impossible to visit them all in one day. “Temple” #3: Tharabha Gate I wanted to see one of the oldest structures in the Bagan archeological site, so Kaung suggested going to Tharabha Gate. The 9th century gate was one of twelve original gates for the walls that enclosed the original Bagan, and predated most of the construction of most of the other temples. Most of what is left has been reconstructed recently: It was a quick drive in, and we quickly moved on from there. Temple #4: Ananda Temple One of the more interesting temples of the trip, Ananda was high on my list. It had tremendous Indian influences, and was symmetrical. Inside, a lot of locals and tourists visiting: Inside where four very tall standing Buddhas, and one of each was facing North, South, East and West. The wonderful thing about them was that they were made of solid teak wood, as Kaung invited me to knock on one of them to make sure they were wood. Here is Konagamana, the East facing one: As we head away from Konagama we get greeted by a few Burmese people: Outside, we admire the impressive architecture of the temple, as we walked barefoot through the grounds. Lots of photos with BurBoy, of the structure: We walk around the grounds, and see that there is a lot of restoration being done still: Kaung finds a camera left by a tourist. He looks for the administrator of the temple and it takes a while for him to find him so he can turn over the camera. BurBoy and I wait by the shops in the temple: Kaung finally turns the camera over to the administrator. He said that of all the things a tourist may lose during a tour, the camera probably would be the most devastating loss of all. All the tangible memories of the tour lost with the loss of the camera. So it was important for him to see that the camera is returned. A few hours later he gets a call from the administrator saying that the Japanese owner of the camera was overjoyed that they got their camera back, and wanted to give Kaung a reward. He said he turned it down and he was just glad the owner claimed the camera. So more, with my good boys, next…

I forgot to add, a good website to start: http://www.guestfriendlyhotel.com/guest-friendly-hotel-bangkok/ http://www.guestfriendlyhotel.com/guest-friendly-hotel-pattaya/ Very exhaustive list and website asks hotels on their respective policies.

Hotel - Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park City - Bangkok Visitors Allowed - Yes Joiner Fee - No Security - No ID asked, security at ground floor where concierge is and 23rd floor where reception is, never get asked by security after many stays; have taken two boys at one time with no problems Extras - When breakfast included in stay, one boy can join with breakfast; only key card needed to access pool and gym so boy can use also Hotel - Holiday Inn Express Sathorn City - Bangkok Visitors Allowed - Yes Joiner Fee - No Security - ID asked by security at front entrance Extras - Breakfast included with stay, boy welcome Bonus: Hotel - AirBNB condo stays City - Bangkok/Pattaya Visitors Allowed - Yes Joiner Fee - No Security - Security in condo entrance or parking gate, not asked ID because treated like resident Extras - boy can use the condo facilities within reason (gym, pool, laundry), need to be respectful of residents in building: not a hotel

Day 6.25: Eating Our Way Through Bagan It was only 8:30 AM by the time we get back to the hotel. We have planned a full-day tour today of the Bagan temples, which we scheduled at 10:30 AM because we didn’t know how long the balloon ride experience will take. At the room we compare photos and sent it to social media and our loved ones. We were super psyched about it and were still on a high from the great experience. Its not everyday you get to ride on a hot air balloon. The breads and champagne were not enough for two hungry boys this morning. We head over to the Acacia Shade Restaurant for the breakfast buffet included in our stay. I didn’t spare any details, I wanted the buffet to be big and full of variety, more for BurBoy than myself. He likes buffets, and the combination of Asian and Western choices. He loves the Crowne Plaza breakfast buffet, if ever we could wake up early enough to enjoy it. I’ve read good things about the food so was looking forward to this. We get to the buffet around 9:45 AM, and the place was almost empty, perhaps because tours start before 8AM: We choose a table right next to the Irrawady river. Nice views, and nice breeze going on: We head over to the buffet and help ourselves. Some nice selection of western meats like bacon, sausage and ham. There was an omelet station and they will make your egg any way you like. They had Asian options like curries, rice and congee. And nice selection of juices that were actually superior to most of the Thai buffets I’ve tried. The coffee was nice and strong, and there was enough selection of breads to satisfy BurBoy. We enjoyed food together like we enjoyed sex together. We return to the room to prepare for the tour. BurBoy decides to wear his longyi in the tour, so he took off his shorts and wore his nice longyi. I ask if I should do the same. He told me that he feels that I am not comfortable with wearing one yet, so I should wear my shorts, but he will bring my longyi just in case I needed it. He takes our power banks and sunscreen and puts everything in his little bag. We get a call in our hotel phone and we get a call from our tour guide for the day, Kaung from SiamRoads: At 19, he is the youngest of all the tour guides of Siam Roads. When I was planning the tour to Myanmar, I was eager to get Kaung for the Bagan leg, after my success with Ya in Bangkok and Sareth in Siem Reap. Both were gay friendly (and gay themselves), and I had no problem bringing my boy companions with me when on tour with them. It added the extra dimension I needed that I may not find with just the normal tours. I felt that Kaung will be the same, and his rates were fine with me. I asked Ya for Kaung’s contacts and immediately got introduced to Kaung through phone messenger. I told Kaung what I looked for and what dates. He answered in good English and had plenty of suggestions on how the tour would go. Later in my conversations with him, I added a short Mandalay leg as well, and he was able to secure the arrangements for that. And since BurBoy was an equal partner in the tour, I had him talk to Kaung separately. He reported back that he thought Kaung would be a good choice for us, and BurBoy told Kaung that we were boyfriends so there were no surprises. Everything was set. We head over to the lobby reception to meet Kaung. Kaung was talking to the receptionists when we met him. He was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and a longyi and slippers. He looked professional and appropriate for the country at the same time. He greeted me with a handshake, and asked how was our balloon ride. I sung its praises to Kaung and showed him a video that I took. He smiled and then identified some of the temples we were flying over in the video. He knew his temples for sure. He then turns his attention to BurBoy, first talking in English, and then shifting to Burmese, where they were more comfortable speaking anyway. He then escorts both of us to the car we were using for the day. Our driver was a tall young guy who was chewing some betel nut. He shook both our hands and revealed his red teeth. There were three Burmese boys in my car for a full-day tour of ancient temples. This was my kind of tour. Kaung asked me the night before to see if I can come up with a list of temples I wanted to visit. Since I did not know my temples, I just went online and looked at the most popular ones. I chose the ones that looked good in photos. I showed Kaung my list and he wrote it all down in his notebook. He told me that they were good and popular choices, and the 10 I chose he said were all doable to go to in one day. In his notepad, he ordered the temples by location to each other and talked it over with the driver. They came up with a full-day itinerary right there, choosing temples by their distance and closeness to one another. He then showed me the list (it was written in Burmese), but he read the list to me and BurBoy. Kaung asked me if I bought a ticket for the temples yet. I said I haven’t yet. Kaung then produces this ticket. He says in his last tour the customer forgot to take his ticket. He said we can just use it for today if get asked for it, and later on the way we will buy one: It was 25,000 kyat, so I wasn’t worried about paying for it. I would probably be OK with just using this ticket, but really wanted to pay for it because I was a visitor and wanted to contribute to the development of this area. BurBoy then talked to Kaung and driver for a bit. They get into an animated discussion while we drive away from the hotel. You can see the driver and BurBoy wearing their longyis: They get into an agreement as we get on the main road. BurBoy then tells me he wanted to show me a traditional store on the way, and for me to try a traditional palm sugar juice and some snacks. You want to eat again? I ask him. He laughed and said yes, he just wanted me to try it, since Kaung said one was on the way to our first temple. We arrive at our roadside snack break: It was a compound of huts with benches and tables in them. There were a few customers but we got led to an empty hut with seats: BurBoy and I sit down. Kaung sits beside BurBoy. I tell Kaung to get the driver to sit with us. Kaung shouts to the driver and the driver shouts back. Kaung said the driver was shy. I laugh and say OK. We get served this clay pot and glasses: BurBoy pours me a glass and it looked like it was water coming from dirty pipes, or if you lived in Flint, Michigan: BurBoy explains to me what it was. It was palm sugar juice, or Jaggery juice, made of course from palm sap. This is what jaggery looks like: And this is how jaggery is made, which is boiling palm syrup: Kaung and BurBoy told me stories on how they drank this as kids. I took one sip and it was sweet but not overly so. I downed my whole glass and Kaung quickly refills it. We get served a little snack, some corned lamb: BurBoy and I just ate, but we eat this fairly quickly. I was eager to try the local and authentic stuff, and BurBoy was exposing me a to lot of it. We inspect the grounds a little bit. Before we leave I take a photo of the name of the place. It wasn’t in English so I felt this was a local favorite, and not a tourist trap. I ask BurBoy the name of the place, and said “Hatn Ayr”. So with our bellies filled with sugar juice, we head over to our first temple. Next, Shwe Zigon Pagoda, and nine others…

Yes trolling is not my style . Thanks for introducing the word "trawl" to me. It may be more appropriate. Haha I did not think about that. Believe it or not I wore Small in my twink days. Time is no friend to the metabolism, as I discover that while BurBoy eats what he wants and still manages to retain his six pack abs, mine disappears as soon as I even think about food. Sad fact of life, but as you point out, I am still luckier than most. Tawan boys Phet, Boy and Soda all wear mediums. Tong, my long time off and driver last June, wears XL because of his massive chest and biceps, but he has six pack abs, something my medium-sized torso does not have (at least after this holiday, trying to get it back, its so hard). On my day back, my boss asked all of us in the department what was the coolest thing we did over the holidays. I showed them my balloon photos and hands down I won that challenge. BurBoy and I still talk about it to this day, and BurBoy has shared his photos and stories with his family and friends. He had to lie about it to his family though, saying that he only paid 200 baht for it. They know he can't afford the $380, and he didn't want them to ask any more questions about how he was able to afford that. And what a difference from 2001, with only one balloon, and being able to book it the day before. Right now they can't keep up with the demand, at least in high season. I believe you can get it cheaper in off-season months. Thanks guys. If I can inspire anyone to take the plunge and discover avenues previously unexplored, then I have done my duty. I fucking hate platitudes, but really: don't be a passive bystander in your own life. Stop doing what's comfortable, and start challenging yourself. A life changing event that I can't talk about here, happened some years ago for me, and that was the kick in the pants I needed to stop worrying about what is perceived to be acceptable, and just live my own life. And not the way I think it should be, but with an open mind and just going with the flow. I've never been happier.

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.

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.

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.

Wise words quoted here. Everyone has their own experiences and no need to second guess or berate any member that has a differing opinion than you do. It is interesting that my bar experiences have been different from what I've read in this thread, but that does not mean it won't happen to me down the road, or it did not happen just because I can't imagine it happening. Again, different experience from what I've seen, though I have never been to Cupidol. I've found that mamasans/captains are a good thing to have in your back pocket if you are looking for a boy. Any questions I have about what the boy can or can't do, their temperament in and out of bed etc, these guys have been there for me. I've actually befriended ones in Dream Boy BKK and Boyzboyzboyz in PTY. The one in BBB has actually lets boys he thinks would be compatible sit with me without any drink for the boy, just for a test drive. If I don't like them, no payment is made. If the boy stays long with me I tip him 100 baht for his time, since he could not be with other customers. Of course I tip the mamasan 100 baht every night whenever he does something for me. If spending $3 in a bar a night means I will maximize my chances to land the perfect boy, its a small price to pay. I get someone who talks to me too and keeps me company once in a while, while I look for a boy. When I am back home I don't even think twice about buying $5 coffees everyday, so why would $3 bother me at a bar? But again, some of you may think I am a high roller, only a short-time tourist, and too liberal with my money. But it is my money, and if I think it is warranted I will dole it out with no hesitation. Do you have a formula for this firecat69? Does one have to have x number of years and y number of posts before you can acknowledge their opinions? How does my 317 posts and 13 month membership rank? Asking for a friend (really).