More odds ends from the road

To and from Pattaya-

Taxi from Bangalapu area of Bangkok to the eastern bus station (Ekemai) – costs approximately 300 BT and takes about 40 minutes. They rush you through at the ticket window, so ask for that primo seat quickly and check your ticket to see what you’ve ended up with.

Buses to Pattaya and other southeastern cities leave from Ekemai station Pattaya ones leave every 20 minutes at a cost of 113 BT. They are clean, modern and comfortable so it should be a very pleasant 2 hour ride. Note: use the toilet before boarding.

I needed to get to Suvarnabhumi International airport in Bangkok on my return from Pattaya and had a couple options. Option One, private bus leaving from the Pattaya bus station – 2 hours and I’m thinking around 250 BT. Option Two, 850 BT for a taxi, hotel pickup and directly to the airport in 2 hours, my taxi guy said “if needed he could do the trip in an hour, maybe less”.

For a taxi to pick you up on arrival at Suvarnabhumi or to get you there from Pattaya contact Pang supat_200022000@yahoo.com she is in Pattaya phone 083 555 4578. She is not only a dependable business women but very cute.



Word on the street in Saigon is that cyclo’s have a month till they are history. The government has been messing with them for years. Originally cyclo guys were comprised of South Vietnam ex military officers who had their citizen rights pulled by the Communists after the war and to this day are an independent lot.

Saigon now has a franchised Hard Rock café. This is the real deal too, not like the other one where an enterprising beer bar owner stuck a picture of a guitar and a name board with the proclamation “Hard Rock Café”

The sidewalks they were rebuilding in Saigon are just about all done but are all being used for motorbike parking – so walking is still an adventurous pursuit.

Saigon, is not Saigon any more, just too many changes, so maybe Ho Chi Minh City works now. Though I've got a feeling uncle Ho wouldn't appreciate the direction his name sake city has taken. From what I know of Ho's life he wasn't much of a glitz kind of guy and the city centers sole is being lost to glitz and conspicuous consumption. Simple restaurants and shops are being pulled down to make way for designer's name stores and expensive western style eating establishments. The hostess bars and Saigon's infamous taxi girls are but a memory as establishments like the Hard Rock café swing into action.

Facebook is not assessable from locations with in Vietnam.. However, it can be assessed via proxy server but postings aren't passable, anyway I can't get it to work.

Exchange rate official rate is 18,000 head for a jewelry store (gold shop) with units of 100 dollars and get 19,000 plus. Note: Bills have to be in great shape, no cuts, marks, etc. Whats up with all that?