The overnight, 12 hour, bus ride ended in south Thailand around 7 a.m. I made my way to the beach to hang around a while. I cannot check in to my hostel until later in the morning. It is still 5 or 6 miles away.

I stopped in at a McDonalds . I didn't get anything to eat because we had been fed breakfast on the bus. I got a cup of coffee and used the wi-fi, though.

Sitting around the Pattaya beach, I met a couple from Holland. They are in their 70's and will be here for two months total before returning home. Like lots of other travelers I have met, they are here to avoid the winter back home.

After checking back into the Jomtien Guesthouse, I headed for the beach. After such a busy time in and around Chaing Mai, I needed some beach time to gather my thoughts and take a few slower days. The things I did in Chaing Mai such as the mountain trekking and biking and then the kayaking and even the elephant riding, were all tiring activities. You would not think sitting on an elephant all day would be tiring, but it is. I guess because you are sitting there balancing yourself and trying not to fall off.

As I walked to the beach area I had come to like, I saw a sign about polluting the water . It said to keep it clean for the King and then the children. The King comes first, even before the children. His picture is everywhere you go and it is a crime to criticize him. So, this is not a criticism, only an observation.

I also passed a bus parked along the road. I have seen this bus moving down the streets at night. The entire front of the bus, including the windshield area is covered with lights. At night they are all lit up and each light is a different color. It looks like some kind of cirucs bus moving around the streets. What I wonder is how the driver can see the road through the windshield.

There is free Wi-Fi in most of the beach areas. Of course people are reading e-mail and surfing the web on their smart phones. A few bring along laptops. On occasion I have brought my iPad but usually just want to enjoy the beach.

While sitting in the lounger at the beach I notice a couple sitting in the chairs next to me . They are eating fish. Food stands along the streets have several type of fish displayed for sale, but I  have never bought any. I asked the man what kind of fish they were. He showed me how they eat them. 

The fish are cooked whole, with the heads in-tact. You peel the skin back (it is covered in salt) and pick off the meat with a fork. Then you tear a piece of lettuce and put the fish inside. Then add noodles and some sauce. There is a small leafy looking thing he also added, but didn't know how to explain what it was to me in english. But, just use a little of it he said. You then wrap the lettuce leaf around the entire thing into a ball and eat it. He offered to let me try one. I fixed one and added the unknown leaf. It seemed to add a little oily taste to the entire thing, and he was right, you only need to use a little. It was quite tasty and when they left they gave me about half of the fish they didn't eat.

A couple of miles from the beach is a Wat I wanted to see . It is Wat Khao Phrabat. It is built on a hill overlooking all of Pattaya. It's not a large temple like some of the others I have seen, but it is known for housing a replica of what is supposedly Buddha's footprint, established over 200 years ago. The replica is made of wood and other sturdy materials. There are also other smaller Buddha statues in the temple that are equally beautiful.

The hill sits about mid-way between Pattaya and Jomtien Beach. It is about 300 feet high, with concrete stairs to climb to get to it.

What really draws visitors to this Wat, though, is the Lookout located just behind the temple area. The Lookout is on a rock extending out from temple area. From here you can get spectacular views of the entire city of Pattaya. You also get an excellent view of the Pattaya bay. A real photographer would love this.

It is a very popular place to visit in the evenings even more than during the day . You can watch the sunset over the entire curving Pattaya Bay Area, and even provinces nearby.

The Buddha statue is more than 60 feet tall. The Buddha, which was originally painted white, was said to be built by bare hands. It’s made of hundreds of tons of cement and took over a year to finish. The Buddha is now painted gold and attracts local visitors who want to pay their respect to the image and increase their spiritual merit. The ritual includes getting a flower and an incense stick at the entrance of the temple and putting the flower on a plate and then burning incense in a receptacle provided. They will then offer the flower and the incense and then pray quietly.

There are many beautiful statues and other buildings to see. The landscaping is beautiful as well. People refer to it as Buddha Hill. The Buddha is believed to be watching over Pattaya, having been installed atop the hill since the early days when Pattaya was still just a small fishing village .

There are signs around the area explaining what the various images represent. The different images tell a story written in the Buddha books. One represents a monk that took 3 followers with him to retrieve some holy scripture that Buddha had left. Others represent other legends and myths from the Buddha faith.

You can head further down the hill where a garden is located. At the foot of the hill, with an area of about 6 acres, a beautiful garden dedicated to the memory of His Majesty the King’s 60th birthday can be found. There are many kinds of flowers and plants and walking and jogging trails are also there.

This is an unusual temple because there are no monks staying here. Usually there has to be monks living in a place for it to be considered a Wat. This is only a place for respecting images of Buddha.

I learned that the serpent-like things I have been seeing lining walkways and bridges are called nagas . You see a lot of them at temples, and all around town, too. The naga in Buddhism is depicted as a snake or a serpent-like creature. It is a guardian figure that keeps away bad spirits and is a big part of Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

There is a lot of ceremony in Buddhism it seems. I see them lining up and a monk ties a cord around their wrists and says some type of chant or blessing. There are rows of bells the people walk along and they ring each one as they go. Also, you can buy some birds for a few dollars and release them from the Wat. I think they take away your problems or sins or something like that. They also give some money and then use a dipper to get water from a pot to pour into a bowl. Another thing I've seen them do is place coins, standing on edge in a certain area.

After leaving the Wat I walked down the hill and at the bottom there is another hill. It goes up sharply and I am sure there will be a good view from there .

I notice on the sidewalk there is a little rack with glass bottles of gasoline in them. If a motorbike needs gas they can just by it along the road in a coke or pepsi bottle.

Once I get to the top I find out it is where the monument of Krom Luang Chumphon Khet Udomsak, the Father of the Royal Thai Navy, is located. It turns out the locals come here to pay respect to the prince and to offer prayers. There is a stunning panoramic view of the Pattaya bay from here. The climb was worth the effort. The Thai Radio Station is also located on the hill. I know the views at night from here would be something to see.

Late in the evening, as I was returning to my hotel, I stopped at a food cart for some soup. It was a vegatable and chicken soup. I sat on the curb to eat it and relax. As I neared the bottom of the soup bowl, there was something that looked like a foot in it. As I looked closer, it indeed looked like a chicken foot. I thought maybe it was in there by mistake. I walked over to the vendor and showed him the foot. I tried to ask what it was. He thought I wanted another one and put one more in my bowl. Back at my curb, I decided to give it a try. You suck the meat off the toes. It's kind of a strange sensation. I wouldn't pay extra for a chicken foot in my soup, though.