After another relaxing day by the pool, we took our first baht taxi downtown for the evening. Baht taxis are modified small pick-up trucks. The truck bed has benches down either side, a step at the back as well as a place for 1 person to stand on either side of the back. There's a metal roof overhead with several buzzers to hit when you want to get off. You stand on the side of the road and flag the taxi down, get in the back and hit the buzzer when you want to get off, at which time you pay the driver - usually 10 baht (about 30 cents). A lot of tourists use the baht taxis, as well as some locals, so it can be a good place to strike up a conversation or ask a few questions.
We walked beside the beach area - wall to wall umbrellas and beach chairs lined up - just a mass of people on the beach, a mass of people on the sidewalks and a mass of vehicles on the road…
Stopped at the first seafood restaurant we saw on Walking Street, mainly because none of us could wait to get a cold drink. The drinks were good, the food just ok…. We passed on the giant lobster (approx $100 CAD); hard to tell from the pic, but they looked to be about 10 lbs each!
Walked the length of Walking Street. I dunno, somehow I expected to be a little more shocked. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention? Or maybe it was still too early in the evening. The street kept filling up, the later it got. We left by 10 pm - likely before things started heating up!
I think I was most surprised by the number of tourists who brought their kids down here. It definitely is creepy seeing old men with very young girls. I'm not a great judge of age but I'm guessing the girls are at least 18+ (I hope, anyway). Still….
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