In July Thai Air had decided to cancel all flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays due to in July, but had never bothered to tell us until I got an email the day before we were supposed to leave. After hours of frustrating phone calls (and losing all respect for Thai Air) we decided to switch our flights to EVA Air, where we were able to get Elite class (something between Coach and business) for virtually the same cost as our previous tickets. Unfortunately, it did mean we would have a stop in Taipei and I would have to take an extra day off work, but it was the best option we had.
Tuesday, Aug. 5
Since I wasn’t able to go to work on Tuesday, I got to sleep in and have lunch with my Mom before leaving. Brita’s mom picked us up and drove us to LAX where we hoped our last minute tickets wouldn’t cause us any problems. Fortunately they didn’t so we had plenty of time to grab some treats and entertainment for our long flight and for Brita to get a last minute smoke break.
It had been years since I’d flown out of LAX (I try to avoid it by flying out of Burbank or Ontario), but I really couldn’t believe what a crummy, teeny international terminal it had! Everything was filthy and half under construction, there was no sit down restaurants or coffee bars (what, no Starbucks?), I was pretty disgusted. Anyway, I did manage to find myself some juice past security while we waited since our plane took off about an hour late.Wednesday, Aug. 6
We lost a day due to flying and crossing over the International Date Line! Some time in the wee hours of morning we were rushed through the Taipai airport by people yelling “Bangkok”, who put stickers on us. We didn’t get to check out the airport at all, but honestly we were too rushed to notice anything anyway.
Thursday, Aug. 7
We arrived in BKK around 3 am and called family, changed some money, had problems with Brita’s bank card. We caught a taxi to Kelsey’s Aunt’s house, which only got partially lost. When we finally arrived we got to greet Kelsey and meet Kelsey’s cousins who were still awake and were a bit drunk but very friendly. They gave us a tour of the house then headed off to sleep. The house was really neat – multi-level with a meditation room, and rooftop garden with a great view of the city of Bangkok. From the roof we could see a big mosque, and we were actually able to hear a muslim prayer call at dawn. We weren’t unprepared for the unbearable heat and wretched smells of Bangkok, but it was still a bit surprising.
After we caught a few hours of shut-eye, the whole house woke up and we got ready for the vanpool to Pattaya. Carolynn & Jeremy arrived from their hotel, and we got to meet Kelsey’s mom, and brother, Dominic. We stopped at gas station to grab snacks and go to the bathroom. We got Mama cups (the Thai version of Cup ‘O Noodles but WAY better) and some neat Thai candy, and discovered Thai toilets, which aren’t much more than a hole in the ground.
About an hour later we arrived in Pattaya Beach. We checked into Amari Orchid Towers, they greeted us with big smiles and delicious glasses of lemongrass tea. The people are so very friendly with giant smiles on their faces, and they even had our names on a welcomes sign, though Brita’s name said Mr. Daniels! Kelsey gave Carolynn, Brita and I gifts for coming – individualized beach bags w/ our initials on them filled with goodies – so cute!
While Kelsey and Josh met up with the wedding planner, the rest of us checked into our rooms and decided to take a little walk down to the beach. It reminded us of Mexico – honking taxis, stray dogs everywhere and a horrible sewer stench, which made the beautiful resort and hotel seem so out of place in such an obviously poor country. We decided to head back to our safe haven and Carolynn, Jeremy, Brita, and I headed down to the pool for some veg time and to check out the swim up bar. We had fun out in the sun, but the drinks took forever!
A few hours later we caught up with Dominic (AKA “Domo”), and went in search of dinner. We found a great noodle joint called MK, where we fed 5 for dinner the first night down here for what was approx. 16 dollars - so nice to be in a part of the world where the dollar still holds some value! The food was delicious, and we didn’t seem to have any problems speaking English – though their English is obviously very limited. We quickly picked up how to say "Hello" and "Thank you", and the people all seem genuinely pleased when we try speaking to them.
After dinner we headed out to the Minus 5 Ice Bar with the whole gang. For only XX Thai Baht (approx. $) you get 20 minutes in the ice room, where it is all you can drink vodka. You put on big parkas and gloves, then they send you in the refrigerated room. Everything, including the shot glasses, is made of ice. We quickly discovered that only the first two shots were actually vodka, the rest was different kinds of juices (leechee, watermelon, etc.) – possibly mixed with vodka, but it was really weak. We then decided to mix half juice with half of the honey vodka (which is delicious btw), and everyone got pretty tipsy. We had a great time with the whole bar to ourselves! When we were done Kelsey, Josh, Carolynn and Jeremy took a tuk tuk back to the hotel. My sleep deprivation had started to kick in, plus a heavy buzz, so I didn’t want to stay out, but Brita convinced me that we were on vacation and we should party it up, so we went out with Kelsey’s mom and cousins to a Discotec.
What a crazy place! It had a mix of live bands and a dj, all of which was really good, despite the fact that we couldn’t understand a lot of it. They ordered a hooka (sheesha) and more drinks for the table, and danced. We got our first glimpse into the world of Thai hookers as we had a girl proposition everyone in our party (male and female) and partied until the wee morning.
Friday, Aug. 8
We slept in, and got breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel. The prices were pretty equivalent to American/European prices, but it was convenient and the food was good so it worked. I discovered the most fantastic Pomegranate juice, and sampled all the tropical fruits, though I was sad to discover that most look very pretty but are actually pretty bland.
That afternoon was Kelsey and Josh’s wedding! They had hired a charter bus to take everyone to Jomtien Beach, where the ceremony would be held. It was pretty windy and overcast, but very pretty. Kelsey looked so very beautiful in a mermaid dress, and Josh was dapper and nervous – it was very cute. Unfortunately both my camera and Carolynn’s batteries died within minutes of getting to the wedding site, but at least that gave us a chance to just watch the ceremony. The wedding officiator could barely speak English and he was butchering it so badly noone could understand a thing, and had to exercise some serious restraint to keep from busting out in laughter. It was really lovely though, and we had a lot of fun! They are such a great couple so it is nice to see them finally married! The reception was held at a local place with great little cabins right on the ocean! It had a great buffet of food, and the newlywed Simmons were able to get themselves a cocktail in a coconut, which they’d been looking for everywhere. Sadly the Americans were all so tired we virtually fell asleep at our table towards the end of the night, but it was a really charming reception.
Saturday, Aug. 9
The next morning B and I went to checked out the town, find an Internet Café and try the famous Thai massages. The little internet cafe we found doubled as a laundry mat of sorts and had decrepit 486 type computers trying to run Windows Vista on dial-up. We got quite a kick out of it, but the lack of air conditioning had us out of their fairly quickly. We found a massage parlor that looked legit (not the kind with a happy ending) and went in midly worried but very excited. It turns out Thai massages are like Pilates except you don’t have to do any work. The girl stretches and pulls every muscle in your body (including your face and head) and even lifts you over their head! This is an incredibly impressive, especially considering how teeny most Thai people are, as they use every part of their bodies to wrap you up in knots. As dancers, and thus fairly limber, Brita and I enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn’t relaxing as we had expected (that would be an oil massage instead). We headed back to the hotel for some pool time, but the sun was virtually gone by the time we got out there.
That night we joined Caro and Jeremy to check out the infamous Walking street. It is all lit up like Las Vegas with bars and strip clubs and it is a very crowded street. The prostitution and lewd acts (of horrifying things I won’t put into words) run ramped. We were shocked (I have now seen it all) and disgusted to see how little a human life was valued. We did manage to find a neat bar, named “Hot Tuna”, where there was an incredible rock cover band. We got some drinks and hung out people watching and jamming to the music for an hour or so. We then headed over to Boyz Town, the gay section, and by far the cleanest and friendliest part of town. Jeremy was too afraid to stay there long, but we were able to grab a drink and chat with some beautiful lady boys.
Sunday, Aug. 10We only got a few hours of sleep before we got up to catch a boat to go Scuba diving. Brita snorkled, but then got seasick and was miserable the whole rest of the day. I had a cute, Dutch dive buddy named Jared and we were able to make two really great dives.
We had planned to go to the famous “Tiffany’s Cabaret Show” that evening, but we were so exhausted we ended up staying in, ordering room service, and trying to watch some of the Olympics.
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