Isaan fix

I had not planned to visit the northeast this time as my schedule was very tight and I wanted mostly recover from a long hard-working period. However there was this boy from Camfrog, and there was also the opportunity of a fast direct flight from Phuket with Air Asia (they offer three flights a week directly to either Ubon or Udon).

So after a short 3 days stay in Phuket, it was a sharp transition from an over touristy island to an almost farang-free Isaan. My first night was in Ubon Ratchathani which I had liked so much last October. This time I chose to stay in downtown Ubon in a simple thai hotel : Krung Thong Hotel (welcoming staff, 450 THB a night and with very clean rooms), whose main advantage is to be next door with the Black Beans Karaoke.

After an afternoon of shopping and strolling around the Thung Sri Muang park, I went straight to the bar. However contrary to my last year's visit, they had less boys, and these were not really interested in this poor lonely farang. I was not treated to detailed introductions of every boy like last year, but left alone sipping my beer. A pity as the boys seemed to be on the interesting side as far as looks were concerned. As for the other places in town, I could not visit "Famous Bar" ; the place was now called "G-Place", not knowing whether the "G" would stand for "Gay" or for "Girls", which obviously would change completely the interest of the place. Just one word to say that the other place is still open and well.

I was a little bit intimidated to think that I would meet in real life the Camfrog boy with whom I have been chatting for a long time. And when I saw him sitting on his moped in front of my hotel in Mahasarakham, it seemed to me that I had been knowing him for ages. Everything went well, we spent two days and two nights together and he was far from being the shy student I had pictured.

Faces in Mahasarakham

By the way Mahasarakham is a vibrant small city with many students, and a general good atmosphere. I staid in the high-end Taksila Hotel (Wasu Hotel was full) which has everything you could want from the best hotel in town (except a swimming pool) ; it is rather conveniently located close to the market and the bus station. Nevertheless I do not really feel at ease in these "Hi So" places - even when they come at only 1000 THB a night. Having a young-looking boy (aged 21) in tow did not help, although the staff was absolutely delightful.

Coming back to Bangkok was an eight hours chore with an unexpected bus change in Khorat, and the dreadful section from Saraburi to Morchit where there is absolutely nothing to see except traffic jams, countless trucks and soulless factories. It was huge relief to be back in Saphan Khwai. Alone, meaning : with the whole town for myself.

Adventures on isaan roads

Street scene in Ubon Ratchathani

Naklua’s suggestion was a great one. I went to this small place called Black Beans (which reminds something not very poetical relating to gay sex). I had never read anything about it in any webboard but my official tuk tuk driver knew everything about gay places in Ubon. This is a karaoke bar located almost next door to Krung Thong Hotel in downtown Ubon. There is a bunch of about eight to ten lads on duty, and once again I was surprised by their high level of cuteness. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that some seemed to be rather on the young side. I took a 22 y/o student coming from Loei Province which proved to be an excellent partner for the night.

So that leaves us with the coyotee bar, the karaoke bar, and also two places where gay people go : one near Laithong Hotel and the other out of town (sorry I do not know more) – more than you could expect for what is usually labelled as a gay desert. And I do not count the mysterious house of boys that no one wants to tell about …

As for praticalities, Ubon is a big town but they have a very easy bus system and tuk-tuks can be found everywhere ; I staid in Nevada Grand Hotel (now Ubon International Hotel) which was nice despite showing its age, and within walking distance to Famous Bar. However the neighbouring Nevada Complex is now almost empty so I guess this is not any more the place to find boys at night.

Mukdahan Tower

My trip to Mukdahan was quite uneventful except for the fact that in these days of end of school holidays, busses and stations were filled to overflowing with pretty young things getting back to their universities. Mukdahan was another of these towns I would call John Deere Buri but with nice views over the Mekong as a premium. Strangely enough, the banks were almost deserted at night. One night was enough.

The trip to Udon was along a 2nd class bus and for more than five hours, it could have been a nightmare because the bus was more than full. I was lucky enough to get one of the last seats, about 20 other travellers had to stand for 2 hours until we could reach Sakhon Nakhon.

I was sitting on the back seat, trapped between an elederly monk and two students who shared the same seat, one sitting between the wide opened legs of the second.... You can imagine that the trip was a complete dream, and I had no qualms about pressing my leg towards the boy's in order to give as much space as possible to the monk, of course out of respect for him. The latter seemed to apreciate it as he suddenly tied a band around my wrist. This happened exactly when we were entering the That Phanom district, and this is where my boyfriend's favourite wat is located.

Wild Ubon Ratchathani

I am now beginning my second and last night in Ubon Ratchathani and I love to be here. First of all what I see all the day long is most pleasing to the eye, and if some Pattaya residents are asking where the beautiful boys are, well I guess there is a fair share left here in Isaan. Moreover the whole town exudes a wild atmosphere and at night the streets belong to young motorists all more handsome one than another... is it because helmets are a totally unknown thing here, is it because of the persistant wind ? Anyway I really feel like being in the Far West here.

Thung Si Muang park in Ubon Ratchathani

However the official gay scene is rather limted ; my first visit was for the so-called "Famous Bar", which claims itself as a gay bar but is rather a boys bar with an unusual format ; they have six to eight boys acting both as waiters and coyotee dancers ; both women and gays come here but what I mainly saw was women yelling at the boys who of course are more interested in them than in older farangs ... This bar is located behind the former bus station which is now known as Talaat Hok (market number 6), along Chayangkhun Road (the big road towards Amnat Charoen). Things begin to liven up at midnight. Despite one of the boys here being what most would call an absolute stunner, I did not stay there. In fact I quickly realised that he was probably beyond reach, and so I had to look elsewhere - sorry cannot tell more.

This night I will try the suggestion by Naklua (see comment in last post), and also see whether there are some hustlers near the park ; to-morrow it will be a short bus ride to Mukdahan where there will probably be not much to report about.