Pattaya Garden

... less than a dollar; plus lots of cheap seafood.

So I stay there for 5 days: spent the better part of the day on the beach, swimming or reading or writing my blog with my netbook until I dozed off; or just stared at the horizon, enjoying a beer or drinking the juice of a young coconut.

Finally. I could relax and be lazy and not feel guilty about it.

And that’s why this entry is a short one.

... had to sit down below. Thus turning into possibly the worst 40 min of my life.  We inhaled so much carbon monoxide my throat, lungs and head hurt. Every time I turned around the entire boat full of people were asleep. Not boading well for us at all. I was not feeling well so got up to try to go outside and get some fresh air. Unfortunately it had just started to poor! I guess there was just no winning. Luckily we did start to feel better not long after ...

... was in and out of a weird limbo, a retreat to the excesses of my farang mind where the memories and experiences, my impressions of former trips to this alien culture rule....

Trying to get a grasp on myself I look at the Thai night. Even way out of Bangkok centre huge shycrapers rise up in the moonless sky, big concrete highways on massive pilons remind me of Space 2000, or maybe the notorious Amsterdam neighborhood called Bijlmermeer where the local metro on ...

We flew to Bangkok & were picked up by pastors of a church from there. They drove us to Pattaya a few hours away & we met up that night with a church that works in this town. The sexual exploitation here is more than unbelievable. I felt quite sickened by it all.



Pattaya, Thailand hilaryramsey

... in the same area as the night market so it was packed with people. We lit candles and circled the temple 3 times, then paid our respects. It's hard to get into a meditative zone when there are tons of people everywhere and speakers blasting at full volume, so i would consider this more of a festival atmosphere then a spiritual observance. I did manage to find a room with some monks and meditating locals. I sat with them and meditated for a while. Anna ...

... idea what to get, or where to put it. The other thing that crosses my mind is what happens if I do "find myself" and then the tattoo is not in keeping with those findings? I think too much. Irish pubs are everywhere. That is because there are Irish people everywhere and they do like a little tipple from time to time. They are handy when living in Asia, as they are fairly similar to English pubs and so have quite a homely feel when you need ...

... the one 'cowboy' who was intent on capturing me onstage.... I was bit relieved when the show was over and the lights dimmed then everyone relaxed and got on with their drinks etc. After that experience last night, i think i'm going to lay low tonight and recoup some lost energy.... but everyone was friendly and all was taken with good faith and a laugh, which is what i like about the nightlife here - easy going and no pressure. Tomorrow i book my ticket for the North of Thailand ...

... 4 rivercrossing I still had to pass by the ferries as the bridges wasn't finished yet. About 40km north of the Thai border I got it finally to spend a night in my tent at a palm beach called Ban Chuen Beach as the infrastructure was nearly perfect. It supposed to have an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as beach with the world's finest sand! Today going on to Pattaya by permanent rain.

... Nah, it doesn't matter. I like it here! Let's go see some ladyboys!" More on the ladyboys in a moment. Now there were some things to like about this town. Although considered one of Thailands ugliest beaches, it was overall quite pleasant with semi-clear blueish green bath temperature water. You plop down in one of the beach chairs (50 cents each for the whole day) and the parade of vendors stroll past you. "Foot massage?" "Pineapple?" "Ice cream?" "Tattoo ...

... rather touristy and a bit busy, has beautiful white sands and the sea has no rocks or anemones. So it was nice to go out swimming without worring about poisonous stonefish and those big black spikey beasties that you get on other bays. Once again Hans crossed my path and we, along with two other Swedes from the minivan, booked a speedboat trip for tomorrow. Relaxing in the afternoon, there was a resident dog that made me chuckle. He was desperate to find shade and picked a spot under a ...