Sin City, a.k.a. Pattaya (Day 6)

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We ventured into Pattaya Town today (we are actually staying a good few km's from Pattaya) and that was definitely more of a culture shock than actual Thailand.

Pattaya isn't real Thailand. And straight away we decided we didn't like it all that much, not because it's over-commercial, not because of the amount of touts and not because of the amount of go-go bars and lady-boys milling around. The main problem was the amount of lechurous old farang (foreigner) who not only make it obvious that their staring but actually go in for the kill and try and give you a grope. So after a couple of hours mainly seeking the safety of the many air-conned malls we decided to hope on a baht-bus (Songthaew) back to the campus.

The baht-bus was definitely the more fun part of our day out. We chartered it (used it like a taxi) and finally haggled a price (only after the driver thought we were heading somewhere completely different. Tiger Zoo and Regent's School, I guess sound the same, but at least we didn't get ripped off, unlike the 2 bottles of water we bought from a cafe which cost 28 baht each!!! Now we know to only buy bottles of water from 7-Elevens or other supermarkets rather than somewhere that mainly sells food. Lesson 1 learnt!!

Tomorrow we'll be heading into Bangkok for the day to buy our train tickets for Chiang Mai next week and to spend a couple of hours doing the touristy things.

By the way, we've only been in Thailand for a few days and already our itininery has changed drastically. We've knocked a few places off and added what we hope maybe more worthwhile places, and of course we'll keep you updated.

Dan & Amy
xxx

PS...we've added some photos of the area surrounding the school campus, where we stopped at one of the many temples and got taught how to pay our respects before Amy went to the local salon to get her hair cut.

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Photos

Pattaya
Just outside the campus

Pattaya
Some of the stalls that sell great ice coffee and some of the spiciest food we've had so far!

Pattaya
A common site around this part of the world

Pattaya
On...and another common site...the coconuts taste good too!

Pattaya
Entrance to the school campus

Pattaya
A temple nearby

Pattaya
Temple

Pattaya
Temple

Pattaya
Temple bells

Pattaya
Entering the temple

Pattaya
Being tought how to pay our respects

Pattaya
After paying our respects we were allowed to turn our backs to Buddha and pose for a photo.

Pattaya Town
Walking Street..full of go-go bars and the like...very quiet this time of day!

Pattaya
The entrance to Walking Street

Pattaya Town
After not that long we beat a hasty retreat to avoid the nasty old farang milling around town!

Pattaya Town
View from the back of the Songthaew

Pattaya Town
Songthaew ride

Pattaya Town
Songthaew ride

Pattaya Town
Picture of the King...very highly respected here

Comments

[Anon]

Not your Friend!
Just so you know Dan....im sitting in Alpha Tower reading this and disliking you very much....you guess who this is from!

[Amy and Dan]

Suki by any chance??

[Suki]

Correct!

[Paul]

Can feel the heat
Hi Dan and Amy Love the updates and Photos keep them coming. The weather in Bournemouth is a sizziling 20c. Food bland Beer great. Enjoy yourselves and be carefull. Love from Paul and all in Bournemouth.