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DAY2 |
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I boarded a small bus and it was packed! Our backpacks were thrown on the roof to make room. There were two English guys on board and they were in such a great mood because we were leaving Cambodia. They orginally came into Cambodia from Thailand and could not wait to return they said. They kept cracking jokes like: You need a flak jacket to visit Cambodia. And the people here are nothing short of extortionists. I could relate with some of these accusations. There were some instances when felt a little nervous here. The bus bumped along and the sun found it's way in through the curtainless windows. I felt my left arm starting to bake. My friends from Canada were sitting behind me too. They were a pretty relaxed couple and were also looking forward to returning to Thailand. We made it through the border crossing fairly quickly and then boarded another bus. This is when I noticed something was different. The bus was CLEAN! There were curtains. The air con worked! And there were little trays to place your drinks and books. I couldn't believe it. We drove for a short distance and stopped for gas. It was a mini-mart and I wasn't prepared for what I saw inside. It was like a 7-11. There were all kinds of cool slurpy type drinks, ice cream, candy, chips, and magazines and other food. I loaded up with some candy,ice cream and chips.
After about four more hours we were in the largest city encountered on my trip. The king's picture was everywhere. He posed in business suits, golf attire, traditional robes, with his camera, newspaper and all sorts of GQ type looks. We were dropped off in the backpackers district on Khao San road. It was one big gathering. People were on the street playing techno music and selling copied CD's, some were telling fortunes, some were applying henna to the hair and skin of their customers. The most popular consumable was food. Stalls, tables and restaurants were everywhere and the smell of noodles and chicken filled the air. I followed the Canadians down the street and they stopped at one of the stalls. A man ,who appeared to be in a bad mood, stood up and asked what kind of shake they wanted. Andy asked for a banana strawberry shake. The man went to work. He must of put three or four bananas in the blender with five to seven strawberries. I couldn't see well because he worked so fast. He also dropped in some shaved ice and sugar water. The result was an enormous bag filled with a delicous shake. I know it was good because I came back later and had one for myself. As a side note after drinking the shake,which I couldn't finish, I was not able to eat dinner that night.
I checked into this hole in the wall guest house called the "Green Guest House". It was located on Soi Rambutri. My room was only $1.30 but it had no bed sheets, towels or toilet paper and the water was cold (of course). I improvised on the towel issue. I pulled down the window curtain and found that it not only wrapped around my waist like a towel but also absobed water decently. Ha. When I told the Canadians about my first shower experience in Thailand they had a good laugh. I went downstairs and searched for a bus ticket to Pattaya. I was sitting on a curb contemplating my next move (probably watching the hippies walking by while doing so) and noticed a guy walking along with a blue shirt and a huge red start in the center. "Dave!" It was Dave from Cambodia. He was on the bus with me when I left Vietnam and traveled into Cambodia. It was good to see him. We got caught up on our adventures and he told me that he would revisit Pat Pong tonight with Jeff. I asked what Pat Pong was and he looked shocked. You really need to come with us he said.
Just the taxi ride to Pat Pong was entertaining enought to write a book about. We took a taxi there, got into a fight with the driver, were thrown out of the cab, took another cab, yelled at some people in a tuk tuk and raced them the rest of the distance to Pat Pong. They won. Once in Pat Pong we grabbed some 40oz bottles of Amstel and proceeded to tour the not so family oriented district. Although I say it was not geared toward the family, there were families everywhere. What ignorance. What were these fathers and mothers thinking when they decided to bring their children from Europe and tour one of the world's most notorious sex scenes. I stood looking into a bar with an 8yo boy standing next to me. There must have been 40 women in there wearing bikinis and looking out at us. Dave, Jeff and I looked around a little and stumbled down the wrong street. All the lady boys (or Homosexuals) came out and tried to get us into their bars. We hurried down to the end of the steet. After two 40oz bottles of Amstel I was ready to party. We went into a street level bar and had a seat at up front at the bar. The girls were packed onto the stage and they all wore white bikinis. Some had little numbers pinned to them. Here is how the scene played out. A girl walks up. Sits down or stands behind you, starts a conversation, asks for a drink and then if she likes you she'll ask if you want to take her home. Now why would I want to do that? I was having a blast. I had two good American guys here with me, good cheap booze and 25 girls dancing up on the stage wearing almost nothing.
At some point we decided to move upstairs. I think we went to a bar called "SUPER PXXXY" <- use your imagination here. It was spelled correctly on the actually sign. Anyway, It's very difficult to describe the rest of the night without using some X rated terminology but I will do my best. I just hope my mom doesn't read this. This bar was more of a shooting gallery than a strip joint. Girls were pulling all sorts of things out of their private areas. ha. How's that for improvising? Ok. So there were darts, ping pong balls, 40 foot long ribbons, ciggarette smoking and you name it. One gal even wrote that she loved me on a sheet of paper on the dance floor using her you know what. They wanted me to buy the sheet of papper but heck...would anyone really have believed me if I showed this around back home? I left it there.
We took a Tuk Tuk back to the guest houses. We were bloody drunk by this time. We shouted at everyone and everything. One taxi cab driver threw two beer bottles at us. This just spurred us on more. We laughed so hard too. Back at Khao San road, Dave grabbed a big plate of noodles for 0.30 cents. I ate a little of it then went to my room and threw some clothes on top of me to suffice as a blanket.
Back to home.