Back to BKK, then Nong Nooch/Pattaya

After returning from Ko Samui, Keitlyn and I had another full day and a half in Bangkok before we met Uncle Michael and headed to Pattaya/Nong Nooch. We spent our first day mostly in the markets. The first was in Chinatown, where a massive multi-block spread held corridors of shops selling everything from ribbon to leggings to Thai-attired Barbie dolls. Afterwards, we went to Bobae Market in search of t-shirts - all over Asia we'd seen wonderful broken English slogans like "Her manner is very feminine" and "I am to be credulous," and we wanted some for ourselves. Sadly, all I picked up was a "same, same" tee, a good find but still a disappointing turn out. Later that day, we roamed around the markets surrounding Khao San Road, where we decided a street food buffet would be a perfect dinner. We ended up with an incredible excess of food, including spring rolls, fresh rolls, sticky rice, fried banana, papaya salad, green mango and some deucers of Chang and Tiger beers, all for about $13 (the majority of which was actually the beer). On the way home, we got caught in our first monsoon rain although luckily we were only about a block from our hotel when it started to pour. Sorry this picture is kind of lame, Keit got the good one of our dinner spread.

The next morning we got up early and took a two hour van ride out to the Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market, the oldest of its kind in Thailand and - we think! - the location of a Top Model photo shoot a couple cycles back. To get from the parking lot to the market, we took a long speedboat past riverfront homes and saw a little bit of life outside the city. The market itself was an enormous traffic jam of tourists being rowed by elderly lady gondoliers past stands full of souvenirs and various treats. Although it was - like much in Thailand - overly directed at tourists' wallets, it was still a hectic and fun place to observe another type of commerce.

That afternoon we hopped a cab to Novotel Hotel at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where we met with Uncle Michael who had flown in late the night before. He hired a driver to take us to Pattaya, about a two hours away, where we were staying at Nong Nooch Garden and Resort. Nong Nooch is actually about half an hour past downtown Pattaya and kind of in the middle of nowhere. I really don't know exactly how to explain the resort itself. I think UM called it "a freaked out amusement park for adults," which is kind of correct. The place is famous for its enormous botanical garden, the largest in the world and the sole purpose for our trip over there (UM is part of a worldwide botany club - yes, he celebrates his dorkdom - and came to Nong Nooch to meet with the curator and take some pictures). The garden itself is kind of like Disneyland, with its different little lands like the Cactus Garden, French Garden and even Stonehenge.

Nong Nooch also welcomes thousands of Chinese tourists each day who come for the gardens, mini-zoo and, above all, the elephant show. NN puts on the most elaborate and slightly horrifying elephant show imaginable. While the hordes of enthralled Asians around us (we were the only Americans in the whole resort) applauded and cheered, Keitlyn and I cringed a little as the poor elephants rode tricycles, played darts, painted and hula hooped before us.

Despite the pity we felt for the performers, we actually had a lot of fun at Nong Nooch. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast exploring them and the mini-zoo. Even better, Uncle Michael hooked us up with an authentic Thai house rather than one of the blander housing options. This is us enjoying a little downtime in our room on a particularly sticky day - Nong Nooch was even more humid than Bangkok and you could break a sweat just standing outside.

On our last night in Thailand, we decided to go into the city for dinner and a little fun. A 30 minute cab ride took us to Walking Street in Pattaya, a city notorious worldwide for its go-go bars and surplus of lady escorts. The street was crawling with middle-aged white men and considerably younger Thai women on their arms or, even stranger, holding their hands.

We grabbed some dinner at a fairly calm establishment and decided to go for a stroll and a little "sightseeing" before heading back to the resort. The entire road is lined with neon signs and scantily clad Asian hookers and hostesses beckoning you to come in, have a drink and oh so much more. While we wanted to have a drink or two, we were understandably intimidated by most places we passed, so we decided on a little hole in the wall spot, apparently called Shangri-La Bar, whose decorations I really can't find words to explain.

I guess the best way to sum it up was "fire hazard." Slightly fearing for our safety and feeling somewhat braver to face the ever-increasing swarm of happy couples on Walking Street, we headed down a couple blocks to some front row seats for the festivities and did some real good people watchin. This guy in the middle had three young fillies accompanying him that night!

Obviously it was an immensely entertaining evening. The next morning we came back to Bangkok, where I said goodbye to Keitlyn - really sad!! - and headed to Hanoi with UM. That's where we are now, going to bed and to Halong Bay tomorrow morning. More on Vietnam later!