Date: 2008-01-26
To: Crook
Miles today: 0.0

Great to hear Peter has a trailer. I was as crook as a dog yesterday and struggled to get out of bed, it was nausea, muscle tiredness, headaches, hot and cold spells, I think I am falling apart. All manner of things could be to blame for my condition, but after a day of bed rest I feel invigorated this am. At about 7pm I came good, so I decided to go for a wander around the streets of Pattaya. Other than my first night here, I tend to avoid pattaya at night, just pass through it on my return walks. I walked out of my hotel, and straight into a traffic jam right on my very door step. Turned to the right and headed in a westerly direction, there are groups of about 5-7 Thai girls sitting on chairs positioned outside of Thai massage places. Their first words are "Hello Welcome", followed by something in Thai, then "Do you want massage?", I give a polite smile, hence this gives them encouragement, then some yell out "I will come back to your room, I love you long time". Down a little further there is another set of girls on the opposite side of the road, and it is the same procedure. "Hello Welcome" and "I love you long time" are the two most common phrases that you hear from the girls, and often the pharse will still be ringing in your ears before you have stumbled upon another group who screach out the same phrases. Within a few footsteps another group of girls standing in front of a small beer bar, and once again the same procedure. Then there is a brief respite, before passing over some grids, take a deep breathe and hold it until you reach the end of the street. There is a 7 11 on one corner, and directly opposite the lane on the other side of the road is a huge beer bar, with well over 100 girls, when you walk past them the noise at times can be incredible, a choir of Hello Welcome. First you have to cross the couple of lanes of traffic, it is one way which makes it slightly easier. Day one in Pattaya this took some time to do, these days I just jump out and and hold everyone up with a confidently raised arm. There is another long laneway, narrow and poorly lite, but nothing to be scared of, just full of more Thai girls, similar to the ones located near my hotel. If you have your gaze set straight ahead on some distant object then they will say little to you, but if you give them a glance then they will get very animated. I find it so rude to completely ignore them, so tend to give a polite nod of the head, but then often they run out and touch your arm and offer all the services. So I use religion to make my way through, I guess that is Peter's influence rubbing off on me, and it is placing the hands together with fingers pointed skywards, and bowing politely. They all do the same thing, and say thank you, and nothing else is said. Beach road, which runs parallel with the beach is the most hectic of Pattaya. It is lined with Go-Go Bars, think of some Vietnam movies and you will get the picture, girls dancing around poles on table tops. Then there are tailors always manned by indians who put out there arm and offer to shake, they are the most determined, and refuse to let you pass unless you are rather forceful, or just completely ignore them (it is a reminder of Bangkok). Their first question is where are you from? I always say India, and this tends to confuse them for a second allowing me to get beyond their clasp. More Go-Go bars, with girls who look exhausted standing out front. Some open aired beer bars, these tend to have a series of small bars clustered within, maybe 10 with about 10 girls gathered around each small bar, hence I have claculated their always tends to be about 100 girls in each establishment. A store full of clothes, one full of trinkets, a Family Mart, a person who is severley deformed sitting in the gutter amongst all of the scooters parked begging for money. Then a group of taxis, or people on scooters wanting to take you somewhere, then a man who has a card, and on the card is a selection of woman who will give you a 2 hour bubble bath, that includes everything. More deformed people begging for money, a massive Mc Donalds, some Thai restaraunts, more Go-Go bars, and beer bars, people whelling large carts with toys on them, food, or some other item that is for sale. Then there are the stret hawkers who walk up and down the streets selling all types of things, you can even buy tazer guns, and small green lazers. You cannot walk more than 10 paces without being grabbed on the arm, having someone offer you a handshake, trying to sell you something, take you somewhere, wanting you to come into their establishment, or the beer bar girls yelling at you at the top of their collective voices. Then you have to cross another road. It is safety in numbers as there is a continous line of people, and the footpath only has enough room for 1, well it does when I am walking along it, and it has no verge, (mown grass) the gutters are twice the depth of ours, an indication of the heavy rains they get, can you imagine the color of the Thailand Gulf after the first big down pour of the year.I think I am finally becoming accostomed to my surrounds, and am beginning to enjoy the experience. I was watching some Australian news and there was a shot of some people walking through a city street, and it looked so orderly and quiet, I thought how utterly boring. This place is crawling with all sorts, and the utter chaos is magnificent. Our societies maybe 200 years ago where not to different, we have just become so obsessed with rules and regulations, striatht lines and order. This is freedom, but it does come with many down sides. Up another street which is like a big open air market, the street is closed off to vehicular traffic and you are free to walk, but then you see some girls who look about 13 holding up signs for a Go-go bar and you do not even know how to respond. My impressions of this place are changing dramatically, just getting use to it, and I even enjoyed my evening walk.On the way home I had a new experience, 3 lady boys were sitting out the front of a small beer bar and of course I had to look at them. They all began to make a motion with their hand and mouth, which involved their tongue pushing into the wall of their check, and their hand making up and down movements, they yelled out some things that left you in no doubt of their offer in case you did not catch onto the charades. Thailand always throws up a new experience each day.I had another Thai dinner, it was so delicious, chicken, with noodles and vegetables floating in a soap. One of the nicest meals I have ever had in my life. The vegetables look lifeless compared to ours, they are smaller, and a lot more dull. I think it is because they probably don't use as much fertiliser, or the many other tricks we use in the west. The flavours of both the fruit and vegetables is amasing, maybe I will start consuming hydroponic stuff when I get home. LOL