Bohemia Bunny

Day 4 - A lesson in bluffing your way through, or Genuine Thai Hospitality

May 25th, 2006 by lynnylchan under Leisure

We were again the breakfast stragglers, heading down 15 minutes before it ended. There was a bit of a fuddle, I expected a buffet spread but was presented with a menu. We soon cleared up that we had 200 baht worth of credit to spend, which we could use by ordering a full American breakfast, or by picking and choosing from the a la carte menu. I had an omelette and bacon while the boyfriend had boiled rice, a Thai omelette and French toast. The boiled rice turned out to be similar to Teochew porridge.

After breakfast we took turns lying in the hammock on the balcony. The boyfriend took the word ‘relax’ to new heights by sleeping till lunchtime. He wouldn’t have slept so soundly if not for liberal applications of insect repellent. We wanted to venture out and see the rest of the beaches, and the best way was to hire a motorbike. The boyfriend tried riding one, but controlling the direction and throttle proved to be something you can’t master in 15 minutes, so we gave up, declined the offer of a taxi and set off on our intrepid way down the road.

Along the way we saw (and smelled) 2 bunches of elephant poop (elephants don’t stand still to poop, so it was a trail of dung), several flattened frogs and many, many villagers zipping past on motorbikes, staring at these two nutso tourists. We stopped at a vista of a rocky bay to rest in the shade of a tree and take some pictures. Further down the road, we walked through a local village and found the dirt road leading to our destination - Same Same But Different. The restaurant had been recommended to us by the resort owner.

The dirt road didn’t precisely lead to the restaurant. Rather, we walked along the beach until we saw a walkway leading to Pimalai Resort, and this is where we started our bluff. We made our way to the reception counter of Pimalai (which is a very posh, pricey and exclusive resort) and inquired as to their Internet service. We were courteously led to the library where we played half a game of chess (the boyfriend checked me) while waiting for one of the terminals to be free. Internet use was free for guests, and the staff had just assumed we were guests. You’d never get away with this in a KL hotel, they are always suspicious and will ask for name and room number. The Thai spirit of hospitality means that all tourists are treated with the same courtesy, whether you’re a middle-aged European or an Asian uni student. And their emphasis is on serving the guests, not policing everyone who comes in to ensure that no freeloaders (i.e. us) are costing them profits. That’s probably why we got away with it.

We needed the Internet to book our rooms, and we even had the audacity to print out the booking confirmation on their laser printer. So we got the task done for free, but we walked a very long way to do so. Thankfully, Same Same was right next to Pimalai so we had a light lunch there, and continued with our shameless freeloading by lying on Pimalai deckchairs. The resident pet dog lounged on the beach and politely posed for the camera, then trotted off to accompany one of the staff who was fishing on the beach.
We ate dinner at Same Same while watching the sun go down. It wasn’t very spectacular, but it was pleasant not to have any buildings in the way. We had called back to The Narima for transport, so shortly after 7 pm, the owner herself picked us up in her four-wheel drive. It was a short 10-minute drive back, but it certainly seemed very much longer when we were plodding along in the afternoon heat. The owner had told us it was 3 km from Narima to Same Same, and we must have been a bit nutso to walk that far, at the hottest time of day.

We had a lovely dip in the pool when we got back, so that for a change we didn’t have to support our own weight. A jar of egg rolls was sitting invitingly at the reception, so we helped ourselves. Our laundry came back, soft and clean. Man, I could get used to this Thai hospitality thing.