On holiday

Finally back home. Sweetheart and The Inquisitor spent three long weeks in Pattaya, like real holidaymakers. That 'leave' had been arranged long ago, De Inquisitor had arranged it in February. For one reason or another he wanted to stay longer in the infamously famous seaside resort, and that is why he chose a hotel that was almost unknown to him. The private hotel.

This choice was dictated by its location. On the corner of Second Road and soi Yamato, and the fact that parking is offered. He actually knew the hotel because he had seen it built about twenty years ago. On the other corner of the street there is the Wonderfull Bar and he often sat there at the time. Experienced many legendary parties, the bar was managed by a Belgian who became a good friend. And so De Inquisitor saw a building appear, quite large and high in those years, little by little it took shape. Once finished, you saw an impressive lobby downstairs, elegantly decorated with enchanting lighting. The Inquisitor then thought it must be expensive.

When booking where criteria such as parking and payment at check-in are given priority by De Inquisitor, the price turned out to be extremely advantageous. Just under nine hundred baht, a bargain in the middle of the center, everything easily accessible, on foot or via those typical open taxis.

But twenty years is a long time. The hotel is a bit tired, the beautiful lobby changed to a twenty-four-hour restaurant that you have to go through all the time, the parking lot turned out to be a basement that flooded with the first major rain shower - a source of anxiety throughout the holiday. The room was facing the street, and the Wonderfull Bar still has live music until about XNUMXam. The double glazing turned out to be insufficient, the repertoire of those boys is rather monotonous, the same songs every night, the same order.

But despite the fact that the air conditioning often did not work, that the toilet spray kept leaking and the elevator urgently needed to be cleaned, De Inquisitor enjoyed himself.

Soi Yamato, soi Post Office, Beach Road, Second Road. The Inquisitor walks nostalgically through it, his thoughts to his first years in Thailand, now twenty-eight years ago. In fact, little has changed. Little noisy bars where there's no cat except the ladies who still call out to you in hope after all these years. Laundromats that outdo each other. Massage parlors where no masseuse has a diploma. Small restaurants that target their own compatriots: English, Norwegian, Danish, French, German, Italian. The Japanese Yamato from which the soi owes its name is also still there, and again De Inquisitor will not eat there.

Sewers are still the same because with every shower you have to wade through the water. Waste is still thrown into heaps and keeps the environment with that typical smell. The traffic is just as casual as before, crossing Second Road is still an adventure.

Walking Street remains attractive for both the lover and De Inquisitor. The live bands are much better, like now in the who has taken over the role of Lucifer. Insomnia, where the sweet buys a bottle of vodka in her enthusiasm, “now we just have to order coke” – without realizing that the price of the bottle of vodka is five times as much as in a shop. And we get so tipsy that we end up in the Ice-Bar afterwards. So cold, after five minutes De Inquisitor has to leave despite the drink. Then into an immensely small Turkish place to eat kebabs so that we regain our balance and can continue.

We also go to soi Bua Kao, full of bars and restaurants. The Inquisitor is nostalgic again, he still knew that this street was a wasteland: no road surface, no buildings. To Dre's Bar to watch the football. And where you have to drink quickly because it's Belgian here: "please have a beer and give the rest one too". Two games we get there but the third game we get stuck on the way.

In soi LK Metro. Where we do go into a GoGo and have fun with an overly enthusiastic farang that drives the ladies crazy, only, The Inquisitor sometimes wants to know how much his bill was. Another bar here, a bar there and suddenly De Inquisitor sees that the Belgian football team is already appearing on television – all the bars here are full of screens. We cheerfully look for a strategic place in a very large open bar between the masses. And that mass appears to consist almost exclusively of Englishmen … . It doesn't take ten minutes or outside on the street there is already a fight between two men. Oh, here we go. Despite the fact that De Inquisitor keeps his cool, he spontaneously starts to cheer at the Belgian goal. oops.

But see: “No problem man”. “ou are ok, don't worry”. After the match, De Inquisitor gets some firm pats on his shoulders together with a heartfelt “congrats”.

Well, Englishmen, they are still strange rascals when they have had a drink.

And made The Inquisitor into the Megabreak. By appointment via this blog. Gringo is a regular there. Nice to meet, you now see a face and a personality behind the blogs. We don't get around to playing pool – The Inquisitor is impressed by the surroundings, countless pool tables there. They also play 'Nine-ball', we amateurs keep it at eight. Here are the better players, for sure. In any case, a nice meeting which is repeated again a few days later, De Inquisitor has another nice acquaintance.

And so the days fly by, nice and lazy doing nothing, sleeping a lot, going to a restaurant a lot so that De Inquisitor gains four kilos, the sweet doesn't want to weigh herself because she eats too bravely from the oh so extensive offer in Pattaya. Yet you do notice that the entertainment has to adapt, there are far fewer Westerners than before. Group tourism from neighboring Southeast Asian countries is massive, but they have a completely different spending pattern. And especially many Indians who always go out with three or four men but ignore the bars. That means that there are signs on many facades: 'to take over business'. Hotels, shopping centers and places of interest benefit from that mass tourism, but the smaller catering establishments have to work hard to survive.

We ourselves did not do real tourism. Yes, just sit on the beach because they say it's sweet and tasty there but offering things like the Sanctuary of Truth, Nong Nooch, Big Buddha, Yom Tien, … no, we've done that enough in the past.

Yet De Inquisitor gets tired of the urban hassle, the bustle, the completely different biorhythm that we have to maintain. Waking up late, in bed very late, unsustainable. And we shift to the east side of Sukhumvit Road for the last five days. The New Dao Resort is located near the neighborhood where he lived for nine years. The Inquisitor and the sweet usually always stay here when they come to Pattaya. Swimming pool in front of the room, excellent cuisine, brilliant staff. And we can reminisce with the many friends we still know here. And watch football in the Holland-Belgium House, as an extra advantage: they have herring here! The sweet goes to her sister who lives nearby for the day, The Inquisitor secretly uses it to make an afternoon round to the bars in the area, and see, he must have come a lot earlier because just about everyone knows him yet.

Satisfied and with charged batteries we can go home.

And home, yes, is here, in Isaan.

That unsightly village in the middle of nature. With all its flaws but also with all its pleasures.

Pleasures in the form of seeing her sweet daughter again who had remained in the care of the grandmother because she had to go to school. The two cats that purr with delight, the three dogs that continue to wag their tail after many cuddles. She is very pleased because her crab and shrimp farm survived without damage. The Inquisitor is satisfied because the pond is in order, there is no damage to property and property despite the heavy rains.

Even the flaws are taken for granted by The Inquisitor. It is the evening of Brazil – Belgium and around dusk a heavy tropical storm is approaching. Deep black clouds slowly move in our direction, a little later the wind picks up. Then you smell the rains coming, and then it starts. Very heavy rainfall that continues. The Inquisitor already feared it, and sure enough, suddenly the power is gone. No football, that's not possible!

But Buddha favors The Inquisitor, after a short interruption there is electricity again.

And now, Sunday morning, it's still raining. But De Inquisitor is sitting nice and dry on his terrace. Looking at the grass that has grown high but he can't drive down. The sweetheart is diligently doing a 'big clean' in her shop, everything is being washed, even the large fridge. Stepdaughter is lazy again and hides in her room. Cat Toulouse keeps teasing by shuffling up and down the keyboard of the laptop. Soon there will be fresh spinach on the menu, a rarity here that De Inquisitor was just able to find in Udon Thani. Together with the Camembert cheese - the sandwiches are smelling in the oven.

Yes, we are back home. Delicious!