Ric and I have trawled a mall in search of shorts today. We were surprised to find shops which sold authentic brands as opposed to the fakes we've seen everywhere else in Thailand!
We've also booked a day of diving tomorrow off the south tip of Phuket. They even threw in a T-shirt. I can't wait to get back in the sea and the visibility should be good.
I have to say, this Patong area we're staying in makes the Khao San Road in Bangkok look positively refined! It's as seedy as it gets. Just now whilst walking back to our hotel I was offered an array of sex shows by numerous girls and lady boys. Ric looked quite bewildered.
If I was to summarise and thus stereo-type the tourist crowd here, and I'm afraid I can't resist, I'd say it was predominantly white, middle-aged, over-weight, unclassy Brits. It ain't pretty. One chap we spoke to today bragged about how he never has to speak Thai or touch 'their' food, there being a Waitrose round the corner and burger and chip shops on every street. It's amusing at first to go to a restaurant where they serve 'Indian Cuisine, Pub Grub and Euro-Thai Classics'. Something for everyone you might think whereas in fact it's all rather sub-standard, samey and over-priced.
It makes Ric and I want to get out of here as soon as possible! Then again, we are here so there must be others like us too. I'm sure we'll meet some more tomorrow on the dive boat.
Goodness, what awful snobs we've become!
For some escapism from both the madness of the streets and my crazily spinning head we went to see the new Sex And The City film today too. The reels weren't quite in order (grrr - very confusing) but it was still highly entertaining. Even Ric laughed. I cried as I always do in cheesy films.
The Thais seem to be enormously devoted to their aging King. There are pictures or him literally everywhere you go and apparently it's disrespectful to lick stamps which have his head on them.
We couldn't believe it that even in the cinema they play a three minute video montage of him which is backed by mournful singing (not even the national anthem) to which the audience is expected to stand and pay their respects. We felt a bit naughty for not doing so!
Speaking of song, I write this to the background noise of terrible karaoke wailing outside. Luckily our room is double glazed so we'll still get sleep, in our separate beds, before our 7am start tomorrow. Ric and I find we generally sleep and therefore get on better when we have a twin room. This confuses hotel staff no end but we've had enough of sharing one puny sheet between us!
We haven't written much yet in the way of novels or screenplays but fear not, there are many more long journeys ahead of us for that.
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