24th-30th March
We decided to venture away from Bangkok and go south. Pattaya is a coastal city known for coffee and ladyboys! Using Go12 Asia's website we booked a bus. 2 hours from Bangkok to Pattaya - a very easy and painless bus journey considering the (rather funny) reviews we had read prior:
- 'For the entire 3 hour trip there was a VERY LOUDLY snoring man it was such a head ache.'
- '‘Food included’ it was just a piece of cake.' (Quite satisfactory for both Beth and Dan).
- 'During the ride, the TV in front of us almost fell off onto us. The bus also reeked.'
We took an open-backed truck/taxi to our AirBnB where we met our host Daniel. Discovering the advertised 'free shuttle bus to the beach' was non-existent we asked Daniel to drive us to the beach and ferry dock. Whilst travelling we have realised the phrase 'if you don't ask, you don't get' is very valid.
Jomtien Beach is the most popular on Pattaya's southern coast and Daniel took us to a more secluded area. After noticing most people had these woven picnic mats Beth was on the hunt and ended up chasing a local seller quite a distance down the sand (the seller's surprise confirmed that probs didn't happen very often).
We had some really hot days here, some as much as 40 degrees C. The kind of sun suncream struggles to protect against. Commence Dan's Day of Burn #2. Walking back into unnatural light after the beach day was rather a shocking experience. Dan had changed race to the Ompalumpa kind. After slapping some good ol' makeup on Dan's radiating face we headed out to Fraser's Sports Bar where we had burgers. Perfect bit of grub after all the curry spice.
One day we took the 40 minute ferry over to Koh Larn island. It was a little cloudier (the big man above was obviously concerned for Dan) and we found a spot on Tien Beach close to the sea. We don't know if we'd recommend this island. It was nice for a few hours but the noticeable amount of litter (and the smell that came with it) and the lack of inviting restaurants meant we didn't stay as long as planned.
On the Wednesday we went to famous Walking Street for a bit of nightlife. Embodying some characteristics of Amsterdam's Red Light District, we passed countless half-dressed Thai girls trying to coax us into curtained clubs. We settled on an open-plan bar and had a beer and cocktail. A prime people-watching location, we laughed at the amount of tours that bustled through the street ("look everyone, here's the typical drunk") and maybe became a little intrigued as to what was behind the curtains (but we don't admit that).
We bussed back to Bangkok and once again stayed at the psychedelic Podstel Hostel. The evening of Friday 30th was scheduled for our flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In the morning we set up camp in the hostel reception and watched an interview take place with a lady who all the staff seemed completely starstruck over. Dan asked the receptionist who it was, turned out she's a very famous Thai movie star!
After the longest bag check-in queue we've EVER seen (took us an hour) and a 30 minute flight delay we were off to Cambodia! We arrived at our £9 a night room in a residential area of Phnom Penh ready for Beth's famalam to arrive the next day!!
Funniest thing that happened :
Going through security at Bangkok airport, Dan was in the middle of being one-on-one searched when a (rather obvious) ladyboy ran in and took over the search snatching the detector from the other staff member mid check!
What we've noticed:
- Older British men with young Thai females. A lot.
- The street dogs are much more lively here! That rabies jab was a good shout.
- Christmas decorations are a popular choice for restaurants and supermarkets.
- Lots of cars have video recorders positioned on the road in front. Maybe a lot of accidents happen.
- Huge pickup trucks are VERY popular here (e.g. Ford Rangers).
Hope you're all well boys and girls. Become members of the blog (super quick to do) and leave us a comment below!! We'd love to hear from you.
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Love,
B&D
- Podstel Hostel 1 night 700 baht (£15)
- AirBnB in TC Green Apartments - 5 nights (£111)
- Ferry to Koh Larn 30 baht each (68p)
- Sunbeds on Jomtien Beach 40 baht each (90p)
Thai Green Curry
Happy Hour!
In our bunkbed!
The rooftop pool for our AirBnB
Eating out