Return of the Baht Bus Man

I made it. I'm back in Pattaya. And? Mixed emotions. Yesterday I got off the plane exhausted, found my bags, and then found my taxi driver. It's an odd experience traveling 14 hours in a plane at 880km/h and not feeling like you've gone anywhere. Then, hop into a car driven by a random Thai man down the motorway at 160km/h for an hour. You can really feel the speed - despite wanting to pass out, I didn't sleep a wink!

   I arrived here at the shop at about 3 in the afternoon and started to chat with Sheena and Terry, the South African couple that run the shop. We had a good catch-up, I got told where my accommodation was, then I went outside to find my old friend Chris. From there, I found my room (hurting - just ugly, but hey, it's busy season), had a shower, then went for some dinner at the little Thai place right behind the shop. The lovely thai lady that runs it remembered me! Within minutes my dish, Pad-Gra-Pow-Moo, was in front of me and I had an ice cold fanta. Made the rookie mistake of asking for it Medium Spicy, then pouring all my chilli's into as well. Ow.

   The rest of my evening consisted of catching up with those still around I knew, and gossiping about all the new interns. SangSom cokes were ordered... okay, one. And some red wine! Just a glass. Nothing crazy this time around. Around 8pm I hopped on a baht bus (a truck you jump on/off of - public transport) and headed to downtown Pattaya. Not so much for entertainment purposes, but I wanted to stay up to at least 10 pm. I wandered the shops and stalls for a bit, then caught a Baht Bus back home. Sleep came easy after over 24 hours with limited sleep on a cramped Airbus...

   I've spent my morning in a theory class reviewing some physics, and after re-learning the Constants of some of the equations most of it came back! Possibly doing a wreck dive and night dive tonight sinuses dependant. Nose is clear, but feeling a bit of pressure in the ol' sinuses. Woot. All that time in dehydrating aircraft sure kills the nose.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

   Well I'm off to buy some batteries for my Dive Light and sort my gear out. Wishing you all the best.

See you later, B

Ps: Will try and take some pictures of Baht Buses, Gogo girls, and all the other unique things around Pattaya for your perusal...