Thelma and Louise Take on the World: Our Beach Safari Continues...

Sunday the 15^th was our first full day in Thailand. We woke up late…11:30. We lubed up with sunscreen and headed for the beach. Pattaya is more of a locals beach, so its not as nice as some, but it is still a beach no less. We laid out and enjoyed the water.

After the beach we went for a walk down the street just to see the area. We found this amazing little café that made the most amazing fruit juices. Thelma had strawberry and I had Kiwi. The fruit was blended with ice and everything nice. They were delicious. Then, on our way back, we were soaked with water and then doused in baby powder. Why? It is Songkran, the Thai New Year and festival of water. So…the Thai’s and drunken white tourists walk/drive around in the back of trucks with buckets of water, squirt guns, paste, and baby powder and soak/cover anyone and everyone. It is tons of fun and we were happy to experience the party despite getting soaked and powdered. April 19^th is going to be the big celebration in Pattaya and we can’t wait!

That night we decided that we would head to the movie theater to see The Hunger Games. We showered, got ready, and had the front desk get us a taxi. She managed to get us an open bed truck with bench seats in the bed. Surprise…its Songkran and we were soaked within 10 mins. Awesome. So…we decided to ditch the truck for a closed taxi while we were in traffic. Flagged one…but he was from Bangkok and had no idea where the Central Festival was located. Awesome. So…we had to go to a local hotel to ask the door man for a taxi. We get one, but he still didn’t know where we wanted to go. He asked a couple of times for directions, but we finally made it. We were wet, a little stressed, but made it to our destination. It was glorious. It was like the western world exploded before our eyes. Central Festival was a multi story super shopping mall with everything imaginable inside. We indulged ourselves with McDonalds and then went to enjoy what turned out to be an amazing movie.

After the movie, we flagged a cab and headed back to the Shakespeare Hotel. We finally got to see what Pattaya was all about. It is a party city through and through. As we drove home, we past club after club and prostitute after prostitute. It’s the business of area apparently. It is said that the women on the left side have been tested and the women on the right have not. I wouldn’t touch any of that of course, but I ask which direction must you travel to make the left and right rule true? We will never know.

After our wonderful day, we slept well.