I Had A Bit Of A Lie In This Morning,

I was not meeting David until 10.30 for brunch,

 

so a walk to the money exchange, just opposite Turkish Corner on Second Road, 

it was Sunday and for Pattaya early, so a fairly quiet Second Road, 

past Ripley's Believe It Or Not, 

I was making my way here, the Robin Hood Tavern,

looking back across the road,

and underneath, 

I meet up with long time friend David, we had so much catching up to do, so many memories of friends and family, the time just flew past, after our brunch,

a farewell, 

I decided to walk along Beach Road, 

coconut trees, (palms), lining the road and pavement, 

the stalls on the shady part of the road not yet open, 

in the distance,

the Pattaya City sign,

in front of the sign, the Pattaya Beer Garden,

as I walked towards my hotel, the Walking Street sign, not illuminated until the evening, 

lanterns over the street, 

a very quiet street at this time of the morning,

 but in the evening, 

it is all go as the lights are turned on,

I decided on my evening meal in the Pattaya Beer Garden, yes a garden over the sea, but in truth not much of a garden, but there it is,

the Pattaya Eye in the distance, 

a walk along the alleyway passing a few beer bars, 

and I was here, I choose a banana shake along with a pork chop and baked potato, 480 baht and I was on my way, 

back to Walking Street,

 with it's lanterns illuminated, then walking past one of the seafood restaurants I noticed this, Diana and myself often watch Deadliest Catch, the few times we have eaten the prize catch, it was so delicious, Alaskan king crab, 

and here is a fresh one, every year I keep seeing some here in Pattaya and I keep saying I will treat myself to one, and I did not, perhaps this year I will weaken, although this year there was no price, last year, 3,800 baht a kilo, and I am guessing most of that is shell! As an aside an adult Alaskan king crab typically weighs between 2.7 to 4.5 kilos, (6 to 10 pounds), so a couple of legs if it is average size, I put that decision to one side and walked to Dang's bar,

where one of the bars cats had taken a seat after a hard days mousing, 

a quick change of position, and that was it for the rest of the night I was there, after a few vodka soda nightcaps, it was time to head back to my hotel and I was off to bed.

Nambiar Continues, Up Early Again,

to visit the abandoned mining town, 

of Kolmanskop, situated only 15 km east of the harbour town of Lüderitz where we were, 

Kolmanskop used to be a small railway station in 1908, when the railway between Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop was built,

a single diamond was found, 

in 1908 the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a shiny stone, he took it to chief railway foreman August Stauch, who recognised it as a diamond, keeping quiet about the find he and future partner Söhnke Nissen, a mining engineer quit their jobs and secured claims of 75 km² at Kolmanskop,

 they successfully continued their search for diamonds, as you might imagine soon word got out about the find, diamond fever spread, resulting in the town at one stage in a few years time becoming the richest town of Africa and one of the richest towns worldwide, 

from 1911 the town had electric power, luxurious stone houses, a casino, a school, a hospital, an ice factory to produce ice for fridges, a theatre, a ballroom, a sport-hall, a bowling alley, a salt-water swimming pool and much more although less than 400 people lived here, 

 but nothing stays the same forever, the diamonds started to run out, in 1928 profitable prospecting sites were discovered south of Lüderitz all the way to Oranje-mund and as the deposits around Kolmanskop were nearing depletion the mining activities were discontinued and until in 1938 all machinery was taken south, 

the town was left to its own devices and the desert claimed its lost territory back. The last inhabitant left Kolmanskop between 1956 and 1960, many leaving just taking clothes and a few possessions and left the rest of their belongings there, 

now a few buildings have been preserved, this one of the main buildings,

now houses a restaurant,

for visiting tourists, 

also a shop inside the building,

with all manner of curios inside, 

I had a look around, 

and found a really nice genuine Kolmanskop diamond, but when I converted the price to UK pounds at £3,800 I gave it a miss, sorry Diana!

the sports hall is still here, 

and some of the original power boards have been saved, 

in the main hall, 

the stage,

and the main power board, 

still here, I went outside to take a few more photographs, 

on the ground a bug, 

and then there were 2!

into some of the other buildings,

and out again,

the sand slowly but surely, 

making its way through the buildings, again I am so looking forward to start playing with the photographs from the big camera in December, 

before I left a final shot of an abandoned what? I have no idea,

out of the area, 

and past the entrance, 

well I just had too!

goodbye to Kolmanskop,

back in the cruiser, 

we were on our way,

passing huge mountains of stone and boulders, 

it was that time again,

we parked opposite here, 

in the distance a mountain range, 

nearby, trees, clearly lacking water, 

and then a car went past, 

there is just no traffic here, 

and then to prove me wrong, another car went past!

I mentioned it was that time again,

time for sundowners, 

and a few snacks, 

as Will gave a sterling performance of a lizard that lifts it legs to cool them as the sand is so hot in the desert, 

I was intrigued by this, 

what ever lives in there had placed twigs over the entrance, 

all around so many plants living in such a hostile environment,

 

I am not sure what they are, 

but a tad more successful than this creature, 

the cruiser was so neat, well done Howard!

a pull a round cool box and a slide out refrigerator, made sundowners a real pleasure.