Hi again from Pattaya the city with more Western men and Thai ladies than anywhere else in Thailand. We have been having fun and frustation in equal amounts the last few days.

Yesterday we were unable to book our bus to Cambodia in advance so ended up sorting out a minivan to take us to the border which worked out more expensive but gets there in half the time. After lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe it felt like we were in a scene from Benny Hill. The buses here are trucks with benches in the back you jump in and press a buzzer when you want to get off, and it took us 3 attempts to get close to where our hotel was as they never went the way we expected, even after we asked them!!!!

We also forgot our passport and were unable to change money at the bank so took another bus to somewhere near the hotel and collected the passport then went back into town to try again with the money changing.The 1st 4 money exchange places wouldn't exchange money and then I had to jog to the bank as it was closing, luckily I made it with time to spare and guess what they didn't need the passport!!!!!

Pattaya has several beaches from the rowdy Pattaya Beach through DongTan the gay beach that welcomes all and the quieter Jomtien beach. Today we plumped for the small Hill Beach and hired a couple of beds with the sea lapping around them. Both Mel and I were looking forward to seeing some fish and took our snorkel gear with us.

The seabed here is loose and unfortunately the visibility was pretty poor but we spent some time out there swimming around. As usual the sun was out so we took shelter under our parasol.The day was really relaxing and the hawkers on the beach although persistent were friendly and selling everything from corn on the cob (delicious) to electric shavers!!!!!!

We have another day here tomorrow and meet Christina and Alex before our early break for the Cambodian border on Saturday at 7am.

See you in Cambodia.

Lots of Love

M & M

xx