Day Eleven: A Bumpy Ride

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I thought that after riding in a C-130 cargo plane as a teenager that my body could handle any bumpy ride. We bumped up and down over hours and hours of Vietnamese roads and “roads,” but nothing came close to the ride we experienced this morning in a small boat.

The plan for the day was to take a boat from the Pattaya beach out to a small island where we could spend the morning on the beach or in the water. The day dawned overcast and a bit drizzly. The boat was small and I wondered how we would get all 35 people on board, but we made it. Thu, Micah, Matthew and I sat in the front. An elderly gentleman and two kids joined us. The boat speeded toward a platform in the middle of the sea, in very rough, stormy waters. Those of us sitting in the front caught air several times and were very happy to get to the platform. We were just there for a short time, long enough for those who wanted to pay for it to take a parachute out on the water for a few minutes, then it was back in the boat. This time, those of us in the front were given lifejackets, which was very good because we were jostled and in the air more often than on the seat. My right hand was like a vice grip on the metal bar and my left wrapped firmly around the small child in front of me, who was enjoying her ride but holding me tightly for dear life.

When we arrived on the beach our guides told us that the section of seats that they reserved for the tour group was not paid for, so if we wanted a seat we would need to pay 30 baht. It was also 10 baht for bathrooms. And the plan was we’d be here, on the beach, in the rain, for a few hours until the return trip for lunch. Most of the people – maybe even all of them – were unhappy about being carted off to an island and then told that they would need to pay if they wanted to sit. We decided to avoid that option. After walking along the stretch of beach vendors, we found the one bar/restaurant that had a bathroom, so we sat and had something to drink, had access to the restrooms (which were relatively clean compared to many we’ve seen on this trip), and stayed out of the rain for a while. Shortly before it was time to get back on the boat and leave for lunch, we went down to the water. It was warm and there was a section for swimming, so had it been a nice day I’m sure we would’ve been there. Instead, Thu and Micah were in the water for about ten minutes and then we headed back to our tour group. The boat ended up being nearly an hour late. We were not able to ride up front because the seas were even stormier and this boat did not have lifejackets (which always makes me very nervous). The ride was still bumpy, and after catching air a few more times my brain started feeling like it was jostling around in my head until my eyeballs felt bruised. By the time we arrived for lunch, I went straight to bed for painkillers and a nap and felt so much better several hours later.

The afternoon involved a journey to a massive orchid garden. Thailand is known for orchids and they are everywhere – so beautiful! This garden also had a terra cotta section, which included massive sculptures made out of terra cotta pots. We had dinner here after walking around and taking pictures. Before the orchid garden, we went to see a cultural show and an elephant show. These shows were actually worth it (unlike the dang orangutans). The cultural show involved dances and costumes from the four cultural groups that compose Thailand. The elephant show was amazing. Thailand’s symbol is the elephant, so the elephants are very respected here. It looked like they were well cared for and the audience loved watching them. Afterwards, for a few baht people could sit on an elephant and have a picture taken – so Thu, Micah, and I all did that and Matthew took pictures.

Normally after dinner we would be on our own, but this evening involved a special show – a glittery musical at Alcazar. The show featured transsexuals and transvestites in what looked like Thailand’s version of Broadway. The sets were beautiful, elaborate, and it was nonstop music for an hour. Definitely fun!

When we returned to our hotel we decided to head out again since it was our last night in Pattaya. We stopped at a “cocktail car” for drinks. These mini food cart bars are all over the city, made out of convertible VW vans. A pretty cool idea! We ended up watching the main street again for a bit. Micah was hungry and bought KFC and it was definitely better than any KFC in the states.

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