. . . get off the bus at Pattaya Beach find a room at the Nippa Lodge and get to the beach in time to watch an orange sunset spread through the sky and even cover the earth with orange light.
Later at the lodge I eat outside, in a dining room on a deck, up above the jungle with a nice view of the beach and the Gulf of Thailand. A delicious tomato-wine-mushroom-marinade-smothered-fillet with melodious dark red wine helps the evening turn into night under an unreal sky of slowly changing colors bright with orange, purple, shades of red reflecting from towering thunderstorm which have now begun to anvil out on top, and with a lonesome blue sky way up above it all. Cool breezes from the bay fan the torches on the deck and ruffle palm fronds by the porch, bringing with them the salty scent of the sea.
Next morning I walk the beach at dawn, barefoot and shirtless, wading and swimming in water so clear that only the sky and the bottom can be seen, each alternating with the other as the morning light dances upon it. Smells of water, salt, fish and ancient heat caress my skin. The ocean spins varying crests and troughs that swirl together and then part, and while rising and falling they fill the morning with endless flashes of light. I walk the length of the beach and watch the dhows slowly glide by, powered by their single small sail. Other boats ply these shores with engines that fire like a slow-hitting hammer firing only once each second.
I eat lunch at the lodge, then board a bus and return to U-Tapao RTAFB.
NOTE: The book "Into the Sun" is now published. For more info go:
http://web.mac.com/fauxtaographer/Into_the_Sun/Into_The_Sun,_Air_Force_Memories,_1956-1976,_John_Womack.html
NOTE: The book "Into the Sun" is now published. For more info go:
http://web.mac.com/fauxtaographer/Into_the_Sun/Into_The_Sun,_Air_Force_Memories,_1956-1976,_John_Womack.html
