I woke up in the morning, all alone in the bed. Fanny had gone.
I lazed for quite a while, reflecting on the events of the previous night. Never before had I been able to so quickly and easily persuade a woman to spend the night with me. Persuade ?! I was astonished! I hadn't even lifted a finger, and it was all over. I really liked this country.
It was time to get up and go for breakfast. Someone knocked on the door, and when I opened it, there she was.
‘I had to give my mother a bath this morning and take care of her breakfast,’ she said as she let herself in. ‘What are your plans for today?’
‘Eh, I don't know, I haven't thought about it yet.’ I was a little surprised by her return in this manner, but it was rather nice. ‘I think I'll eat breakfast first and then go to the seaside. Will you come with me?’
‘Of course! Now jump in the shower and let's go to breakfast.’ Fanny began tidying up the couches.
During breakfast, which was as hearty as usual, none of the staff made it obvious that Chonticha was not a hotel guest, save for a slight raise of an eyebrow.
‘If you like, I can show you an interesting beach,’ she said.
‘What about your work? Are you free today?’
‘Yes. I called the bar owner, and she gave me time off. She wasn't happy, but she can try working a little by herself. I am responsible, all the time, for her entire business and she constantly complains.’
After breakfast, Fanny started up her Honda and we were off. She was without a helmet and so was I.
We merged with the swarm of motorbikes on the main street of Bang Tao. Most of the locals rode without a helmet. At times, a whole family sat on one motorbike – the father behind the wheel, followed by two children and a mother. Other times, half-naked children, only a few years old, passed by us with a chuckle, their feet barely reaching the pedals. Motorbikes were also used to carry goods and were so heavily laden that the driver could barely be seen. The policemen directing the traffic seemed to pay no attention to anything except ensuring the mass of vehicles moved on relatively smoothly.
I looked around curiously with an overwhelming feeling of freedom and being part of something very exotic. I was no longer a white man from an expensive hotel who watched life from the sidelines. I was a part of this life. I blended in with this crowd. I inhaled the same air as they did (mostly exhaust fumes) and they stared at me as I stared at them. Nobody smiled because everyone was busy driving, although sometimes someone would nod in my direction.
Fanny had a flair for driving. At a red light, she moved forward into every possible gap, sometimes literally rubbing shoulders with standing cars. Most mopeds did this, sometimes using the pavement just to move to the front of the bunch of vehicles waiting for the green light. All at once, the squeeze became tremendous and then this whole wave moved together, with a roar. Somehow, you didn't see any accidents, probably because the traffic was quite slow.
We left the city and after a few kilometers of driving on a nice jungle road, we suddenly pulled over to the side. It was here. To get to the beach, you had to go down an almost vertical hill, holding onto trees, roots, bushes, and lianas. The path was well-trodden but really steep. Huge boulders, sticking out from the ground in some places, acted as brakes against tumbling head over heels.
To my surprise, at the bottom of the hill was a crude bar made of planks, with generator-powered refrigerators and a gas cooker. I had no idea how they had dragged it all down there with that steep slope.
We bought a cold beer and set up some distance from the bar. The beach was very long and practically empty, save for a few people in the distance. After some time, a boat styled as an old Chinese boat arrived and took away the few awaiting tourists. Chonticha explained to me that this boat came from Phuket Town, picking up tourists on the way from different places and leaving them here on this semi-wild beach called Banana Beach.
After a few hours, the boat returned and took those who were ready and willing to go back to the mainland.
We hid in the shade of coconut trees as the sun was scorching. Fanny seemed to have been waiting for this, as she immediately and quite abruptly approached me. She didn't let me breathe freely all day. We did it on the sand, on towels, even in water, although the waves made things a bit more difficult. We only took a short break for a meal at the local bar. The girl serving food was so pretty that I asked Fanny to take a picture of us. She did, but without enthusiasm.
At the end of the day, I was so exhausted that I could barely climb back up the slope. We stopped once to buy a few bottles of beer from the shop.
In the hotel room, I literally landed on my face and fell asleep without finishing In the hotel room, I literally landed on my face and fell asleep without finishing my first bottle of Chang. Chonticha said something and laughed, but I slumbered into the land of Nod without even trying to understand what she was talking about.
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