Beach Commune
Posted by Stuart at 10:28 PM on May 24, 2003It is not in my nature to sit around all day and do nothing. I have always known this, but I was still surprised today to find out just how hard I have to fight to stay still and enjoy it.
Doing "not much of anything" sums up my time in Pattaya so far. My friend Kho picked me up at the Pattaya bus station on his friend's motorbike last night. We rode into town, had dinner, and went to his apartment where I took a nap. After an hour or so I was woken, told to shower, and taken out on the town with friends for some beers and billiards.
This morning Kho and his friends slept in. I, of course, was wide awake by 7 AM, so I stayed in bed and finished reading The Pianist which I started on the bus last night. Eventually everyone woke up and we shared delicious rice porridge on the floor of one of his friends' apartments.
Let me stop here to describe the living arrangements. Kho and his friends live in a hotel about 1/2 KM from Jomtien Beach. It is perhaps the most communal setup I have ever seen. About 6 small rooms (big enough for a queen-size bed and not much more) on one floor of the hotel are shared by at least 10 young people. None of the rooms have air con, so the windows and doors stay open all the time. It's almost as if they live in a big 6-bedroom house.
The daily schedule goes like this: Wake up around noon, order breakfast from the restaurant downstairs and eat together. Then, walk to the beach (together) and sit under big umbrellas (together) until the sun starts to go down and the volleyball net appears. 3-on-3 beach volleyball is played for hours until dark, when it is time to go back to the apartment (together) to have dinner (together). Some nights are spent out on the town (together) while some are spent in one of the rooms playing cards and watching TV (together, of course).
And that is the description of my weekend so far.
