Journey from Bangkok to Pattaya

Our drive to Pattaya from Bangkok was a long haul. We left at peak traffic hour on a Friday, and to avoid some of the city’s outgoing traffic, our driver took little windy side roads for the first half. Fortunately there was ample A/C and plenty of cozy cushions for us to spread out and relax. The drive was a bit monotonous, but I didn’t mind – even the most desolate areas of a foreign country have a unique interest. We passed salt farms, prawn farms, exotic flora, giant billboards, and more little homemade shrines than you could shake a Siddhartha at.

When we finally made it Pattaya city it was dark. As we slowly made our way to our destination, we kept turning onto increasingly narrower streets – windy little fingers with no street lights and fewer little shops – and it really felt like we would dead end in the middle of nowhere, when we finally landed at our delightfully modern little residence for 5 days, the Interlux Club Royal.

After such a journey, Zephyr felt like relaxing, and he almost made it…

I felt a strong desire to sample a cold can of locally brewed effervescence. Nai had suggested I try Leo, a local favorite. Into the night I walked the thin finger of a road to a convenience store and found my chilled libation – just in time in fact – as a rather large Chinese contingent came in right after me and bought out all rest of it.