My God, I can't believe that it has actually happened!! We have actually returned to
Thailand as a group. We had decided on Sunday night to have a strategy session on Monday afternoon to decide on what, where, when to go while here.Monday morning bright and early this group
gathered for the free buffet breakfast and got to know each other a bit more. It is still a bit of a dream that this is happening. After breakfast, folks head off in different directions to explore a
bit and return at noon for the strategy meeting. We took about an hour to finalize our plans for the first week with the base tour item still in limbo and being deferred.
Sunday night Ken and a few
others made the meeting at the FLB Bar while others of us stayed back in the hotel. Monday afternoon Pete advised me that the orphanage run he was making on a personal level would have to be on Tuesday
since he had to make an appointment. Robbie, Bill and I decided to accompany him along with his wife "A" and sister-in-law "O". And we wonder where are E, I, U and sometimes Y are
hiding <grin>.
The trip to the Pattaya Orphanage was very moving. We arrived about 1000 and after a few minutes for Pete and "A" to take care of business we were introduced to this
adorable four year-old little angel named Praew (I still don't know how to say her name). Very bashful understandably, she finally started to warm up after Robbie slipped her a tootsie pop. The smiles
didn't start until we took digital pictures of her and then showed them to her right away.
While A and O talked with officials at the orphanage about visits and sponsorship requirements, the four
guys were escorted around the grounds and given a tour of the facility that Father Ray Brennan built from nothing. Our guide was a cute early to mid 20's gal of French-American ethnicity named Sarah
H'enor. She has been at the orphanage for only a few months but has been in Thailand for four years. I could bore you with all the "this is where…" and "here is where…" but I will
tell you the place is simple and well cared for with the means they have at their disposal.
The culmination of the tour was seeing the babies. I don't mean the kids playing, I mean the babies. In
fact, there were a set of twins a boy and girl that were only ten days old and so precious it breaks your heart. The little tykes are so small in my hands look about the size of a hot dog at a ball game. The
good thing about this, if you can call it good, is that while they are so poor they don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, they don't know any better, and yet have smiles that
light up a room. In a strange way, they are the lucky ones.
It was very hard for me to leave those twins and the other kids after getting the good news I received only two days earlier. A and O
stayed and played with the kids and their sponsored child Praew while the rest of us took off. We started to cruise after we left the orphanage.
After driving down Beach Road/Walking Street from one
end to the other, we went and checked out the Sugar Hut that Pete had stayed at prior to our arrival. Pete had moved the whole family to Nova Lodge Sunday as the Sugar Hut had them all falling over
each other. The Sugar Hut is all that and more than Pete was able to describe with his words and photos. We stopped for lunch and a beer and during our visit we even met the young lady whose picture he
took at breakfast and posted on the site. Lunch was very good; the conversations varied and better. After nearly four hours and a couple of beers later, it was agreed to move along.
Upon reaching the
car park, we ran into those turkeys Pete had photographed earlier in the week. This time there were more - about a half-dozen turkey chicks that couldn't have been more than a couple of days old. We
finally headed out and on the way back to town decided to make another side trip. We ended up at the Cabbages and Condoms Resort. This place is all that and a bag of Fritos. It is a beautiful place and
is well worth the price of admission. A one bedroom accommodation is about $75.00 a night. And the ultimate suites run over $200 per night. No description I could make would do this place justice. You
just have to see it.
After a brief stop at the fruit stand we called it an afternoon and returned to the hotel. I planned to take a shower and go to the bar and meet up with some of the guys but I
laid down on the bed and that was pretty much it for me. I was still fighting off some jet lag but knew it would not last long. Coming to Asia, I recover quickly. It's going home that wrecks me. I got
up to answer the door and it was Ken asking me to spread the word about the next days outing to the Tiger Zoo. Ray Hayes also stopped by a few minutes after Ken left. My intention was to go out and
run' em with some of the guys but I ended up in my room and prone & alone for the night.
There was a lot more that happened but I haven't been briefed by the others and I am beat.
See you
