February 18, 2020
Day T14: Si Racha to Pattaya
Today was going to be an easy day for sure, so with a relatively early start I got going. Conditions were amazing and I got into Pattaya before lunch. I found a superbly great deal at Marika Residences and checked in there for 3 nights. The order of the day would be chilling and that started easily enough by meeting another friend stranded in Thailand under the same circumstances as me.
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We sat down for lunch at the Queen Victoria restaurant. As we ate and chatted, we took stock of our situation and tried to digest the reality that work wouldn't start indefinitely back in China. We were both getting all depressed about this, but then it suddenly dawned on me. Why? Here we were in the middle of Pattaya living the dream and having an extended vacation while those back in China were locked down and living the nightmare. With no signs that things were going to reopen and that work would resume, why not just live it up?
While I put forth this argument, it somehow wasn't shaking the vibes of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression. It made zero rational sense that we would be on such an extended holiday and worried about going back to work. But that was obviously on my mind since I had accumulated a ton of stuff over the years and of course my fiancee was back there.
Somehow my argument won out and we decided to forget all this and just enjoy Pattaya for the next few days while figuring out what to do. In the end, he went back to China about a week later despite everyone saying not to. By that time, quarantine was just starting up and not enforced very regularly. He was unlucky in that his compound took it seriously and forced him to stay in his room, not just the compound. He said the hell with that and flew back to the UK where he was from. After that point, China closed the border and he was effectively stranded for months.
Eventually though, he changed tack, abandoned China for good and found a new job in Malaysia where he is to this day.
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 359 km (223 miles)
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