Monday 24 January 2011

Country for Old Men

I've wanted to spend last days of my holidays doing nothing somewhere at the beach. So I've decided to go to Pattaya, which is close from Bangkok and getting there and back will not be to much of a hassle. Especially that I could stay there at home with my aunt and uncle, which is so much nicer than staying in a guest house or in a hostel.
So I've went there last Wednesday, and funny thing. My aunt recommended me to take bus from the airport as it stops almost directly at the place where they have their apartment, but from Khao San Rd it was easier to buy a ticket for mini van. But in the end I've been forced to take bus from the airport, as the bus which I was meant to take had an accident earlier and travel agent took me to the airport and bought me a ticket for a bus from there. Which was handy in the end as mini vans do not go as far as Jomtien, they only go to city center of Pattaya which is quite a distance from Jomtien.
Pattaya is well known for its sex tourism. For old usually fat guys coming here to meet Thai girls, Thai boys, lady boys, anything that you imagine. What I did not know is that its also popular holiday destination for Russians and Arabic people. If you go out here in the night and go to the Walking Street you meet mostly Russians and Arabic people. Very barely you are prone to meet other nationalities here, which was kind of disappointment for me. I was not hoping for anything big, just to meet someone to make party with. In the end I've been having fun on my own. Wandering from one club to another. I've had most of the fun in Mixx and Lucifer. I've also visited famous Insomnia, but I did not like the music at all.

At the beach here (which itself is not too nice at all - very narrow and sand is not fine and littered) mostly what you see are fat people, ladies sometimes top less (as if they would have something nice there to show), you also see gay couples lying on their fronts with they speedos (yes, speedos as 99% or mes wear them here) pulled down to tan their asses. Those are quite good looking, at least in terms of how they are built. But still not too much to catch your eye.
Also when you walk along the beach in Central Pattaya on the one side, closer to the beach you see all the Thai girls waiting for one of the men sitting in cafes on the other side of the street or walking along. If I were one of them I'd definitely be embarrassed of standing there like behind the window in a store and waiting who will buy me.
That made me spend most of my time at the swimming pool in the apartment where I'm staying. There of course also most of the people are rather old, but at least I can swim there and read and stay in a calm atmosphere, which is what I need now before I come back home and fly to Dubai for a new project, which makes me nervous already. I'm concerned how it'll be there especially that it's Italian project and Italians are known for their long working hours which I hate as I love to have some time to make my sports. I had some break from working out during my trip but now I want to come back and in fact I slowly do. I thought it'll be more difficult after over 4 months of break, but as I swim here I do about 1,5 km as I used to do back at home and it's not too challenging. So I'm happy that my stamina is not fully down at least if it comes to swimming. I'll see in about week time how it is in terms of running as my plan is to come back to running as soon as possible.
Central shopping mall in Pattaya. It's purely for tourists as regular Thai citizen would not be able to afford to buy in all those expensive stores that are there.

Something nice in Pattaya - view from the beach in Central Pattaya

This is how walking street looks like on Saturday - packed with Arabs and Russians

Show time 1:30 a.m.

Walking Street - Pattaya party area

Pattaya city by night

Having dinner with my family, this time we had European food - the best pizza in Pattaya is meant to be in Hopf Brewhouse

This is how beach looks like. Very narrow and packed with umbrellas and fat people underneath.


To proof my last sentence. Have a look at speedos.

Save the wales

Things like that would be impossible anywhere else in Asia, maybe Phuket.
Swimming pool where I do my laps

That is why I spend most of the time at the swimming pool, where at least I can do laps and I don;t have to pay to go to the toilet.

4 comments:

  1. Dubai is not that bad, hope you'll find some time to visit Oman, before it starts to be hot.

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  2. definitelly I'm gonna find time for that. My LP guide books on this region are on their way already ;-)

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  3. Hey You,

    I cant believe we just missed you, we would have hung about if we knew you were going to Pataya.

    You definately got to see more of the nightlife than we could with an 8 year old in toe but you have summed it up perfectly!

    I hope you are still enjoying the travels and you never know we may meet up somewhere.

    Take Care

    Darren

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