At the mercy of the locals

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After 12 hours of traveling from Cambodia I arrived at a market somewhere in Bangkok. It was different from the dropoff point I expected so I panicked a bit 'coz I had no idea where I was. I asked for directions to the train station and luckily it wasn't too far. I was told not to walk by the shanties along the railway when no one else is walking there but I was too tired to bother looking for another way when I got there. My friend told me not to take the bus because it's more difficult to get to their place via bus. But I got lost trying to find the place she wanted me to be. I took the wrong turn and rode the wrong bus and got so lost until a friendly Thai woman pointed me to the right bus station to take me to my friend's apartment.

Finally found Liz and Van after they tried to pick me up at another station where they told me to go. We catched up over dinner and I slept in their apartment that night and did my laundry. The next day I took the bus to Pattaya. This is my second time in Thailand and I've already seen most of the tourist spots in and around Bangkok. When I got to Pattaya it was still Songkran! They have a different schedule in Pattaya. Mostly for the tourists I think.

My friends told me to take the ferry to Koh Larn because the beaches there are much nicer than Pattaya beach. Coming from the Philippines and spending my summers in Palawan as a kid I have very high standards when it comes to beaches. So Pattaya beach just didn't cut it.

When I got to Koh Larn all the tuktuk drivers went home already. Apparently the town shuts down at 6pm. I decided to walk to the nearest beach to find accommodation. It turned out to be a two hour walk. Aggressive dogs were barking at me and chasing me. I was scared because I knew I couldn't out run them. I'm still recovering form a major leg injury. When I got to the beach I asked if they had guest houses. There wasn't any in that beach. I had to go back to town which was a two hour walk. I was so tired and worried because it was getting dark. I saw some teens with motorcycles and asked if I could hitch a ride. They were kind enough to let me hitch a ride back to town. There I walked around again to find a place but everything was closed. I started to panic a bit because there were no more ferries going to Pattaya. I contemplated on sleeping on the bus stop by the side of the road but I was wearing shorts and for sure the mosquitoes would feast on me. I didn't want to stay up all night at 711. Some locals were​ still partying out on the streets because it was Songkran. A couple of them smothered my face with white paste.

I asked for help from a woman I saw who was washing the dishes and she called her husband who was out partying in the street. I could tell he was drunk but I agreed to get on his motorcycle with him. He drunk drove me around and knocked on guest house owners houses until he found one who was willing to get up at 8:30pm and prepare a room for me. I was so relieved when we finally found a place. I thought about giving him money but thought that could ruin his selfless action so I just gave him a hug.

I checked out the beach the next morning. There's not much point to going to the beach when you're traveling alone so I didn't really enjoy it. I decided to just go back to Bangkok that afternoon. There were no buses going to the bus station that day because it was Songkran (holiday). But by a miracle I somehow found a van that was taking other tourists to the bus station. They were Germans who did not appreciate getting splashed with cold water but since they were obviously tourists, our van got hit a lot. I was soaked down to my undies when we arrived at the bus station and I didn't have any more clothes.

I met Annabel the following night in Khao San road which is a famous street for backpackers. Just like Pub Street in Cambodia, it was nothing special. I don't get why it's famous. But it was nice catching up with a friend whom I haven't seen in ten years.

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Who says you don't like going to the beach alone?
Fair go Harold....any excuse to show your buff bod don't you think!!!!

[Josevich]

Who says you don't like going to the beach alone?
Haha! Might as well show the fruits of my labor and starvation