Our travels are about experiencing both the good and bad things about this World. After 12 days in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi , Alissa and I are headed two hours south to the beach town of Pattaya, Thailand. The area of Pattaya may not be as well known to Americans as the Thailand destinations of Phuket, Koh Phangan Island and Chiang Mai, but it is actually the second most-visited city in Thailand after Bangkok.
We set the accommodation up on couchsurfing. They tell us their trick has been to watch American movies with Russian subtitles, and then watch the same movie again without the subtitles. Getting around Pattaya is pretty easy to figure out, as its three main roads are called Beach Road, Second Road, and Third Road, with the main tourist street called Walking Street. Foreign visitors to Chicago are required to learn the names of former U. S Presidents to get around, and all I need to do in Pattaya is know how to count.
Eating is also cheap, as there are a lot of great, affordable restaurants down Beach Road as well as countless food stalls. For those who prefer a cleaner beach for swimming, ferries are available to the nearby island of Ko Laan which features clear water and white sand beaches.
During the day, Pattaya seems to be like every other beach town in Thailand, but by night it turns into another world. A world completely driven by one thing…SEX. To be clear, none of us tonight are sex tourists, rather we are just kibitzers in this crazy city that makes Sin City look like Branson, Missouri.
Tonight is about the four of us seeing this place for what it is and experiencing what we can of it. The four of us are walking along, and although we feel safe, the sense of insecurity is still there for some reason.
