An encounter with Ladyboys.....

Day 4 After all of the activities yesterday we all agreed that we really needed a day to just chill out and let life catch us up. We had a quiet morning and then spent the afternoon relaxing on the sun loungers. We had booked onto the 5.30pm shuttle bus to go into Ao Nang which is the nearest town with all the bars, restaurants and shops. Dave was excited to get the chance to go back to Wanna's Place, a Swiss/Thai restaurant he loved last time. After a few days of Thai food, Dave, Colin and Jayne were all happy for a break and so they opted for the house special of steak which you cook yourself on a cast iron hot plate. They absolutely loved their meals, my Pad Thai noodles were ok but nothing special and such a tiny portion I was contemplating having a dessert! After dinner we strolled along the main shopping street, browsing through shops and people watching. That's when a gaggle of three Ladyboys approached us and you should have seen both Colin and Jayne's faces! One of them in particular was absolutely stunning and I would defy anyone to say that you could tell that she'd been born a boy. Colin and Dave had their photos taken with them and as we were tipping the ladies another group came down the road promoting their cabaret show. There was another stunner in this group, immaculately made up, fantastic dress on - they left Colin speechless! He kept shaking his head and saying that he couldn't believe it! Poor Jayne has been struggling with a chest infection over the past couple of days do while we were in Ao Nang she popped in to speak with a pharmacist. Fortunately she could speak perfect English and was able to suggest a few medications that would help. Thankfully Jayne began feeling better quite quickly and could breathe a little easier. The guys had their first experience of Thai street food tonight, Colin was drawn to a pancake stand where the lady took pre-made balls of dough and stretched them out super thin before popping into a hot pan. It almost instantly cooked and produced a super thin and crisp treat, especially when smothered in Nutella! Later on we watched a guy cook Pad Thai to order using two enormous pans on raging burners. He was flipping and spinning his spatulas putting on quite a show while cooking fab smelling food. At just 30 baht a plate this was a real bargain and I was still hungry after my tiny dinner so I decided to give it a go - bloody lovely! The sights, sounds and smells of Ao Nang are very different to the quiet chilled atmosphere of our hotel and we all loved the change of scenery for the evening. Colin even found an Irish bar that may well be showing the rugby later in the week!