Pattaya and Hat Jomtien (EN)
Door: Caroline
08 Februari 2010 | Thailand, Pattaya
Pattaya
Travel-troubles
We now find ourselves in Pattaya – yes, the city that sex build – after a trainride of over 13 hours in a 2nd class sleeper instead of a firstclass cabin. That was a bit of a dissapointment, especially after having been spoiled on the way to Chang Mai and having booked 1st class ticket for the trip back to Bangkok. Unfortunately they forgot to bring the 1st class car from Bangkok... Fortunately we got a refund of 1000 baht. A nice little profit which was eaten up by the fact that we left our Planet in Bangkok and had to by a new one...
Pattaya
We accepted the fact that we are flashpacker and are staying at Woodlands Resort – a posh place with nice rooms and two pools. Just lazing about for a day! The pool may only be as deep as 1,5 meters, it is laid out nicely, with lots of plants around it, several jakuzi-seats, a poolbar with crocodile benches in the water and a 'beach' area made of smooth brown pebbles where you can play beached whale or dolphin, depending on your size. As a finishing touch they've added some fountains. One of which is oddly chosen: a kangaroo (?!) that seems to be emptying its bladder into the pool. Till you look closely... There's also some birdlike one, which looks positively uncomfortable with a hose very visibly going up its bum and sticking out of its mouth the other end.
Pattaya has a bit of a reputation as you might know and one sees 'quite a few' older men with Thai girls less than half their age. We walked through the notorious 'Walking street' yesterday for about 5 minutes. After that you've seen enough 'sales' signs to last you a life-time (and they are not selling shoes).
We went to see Tiffany's show. Thailands glitziest transvestites show. The costumes and sets are amazing with lots of sequins and glitter, but with three shows a night there's not much enthousiasme coming from the performers it seems. They merely do their job. Also having seats right at the side of the stage didn't help. Somehow you feel like you are watching quite literaly from the side-line and not having the 'overview' of what happens on stage made it impossible to really submerge in it all.
Eating out is another event over the weekend. Most restaurant cater to both male and female with english football on a large screen on the one hand, and live music on the other hand. simultaneously. And though I am no football fan, I wish they would have turned off the live music instead of the tv! If singing off-key was a crime... And they absolutely love the Carpenters over here!
Hat Jomtien
Two nights of luxury was all we allowed ourselves to indulge in, so we moved to a questhouse about 6 km down the coast in Hat Jomtien. 'RS Seaside' is only meters away from the beach and we have a balcony with a seaview. Hat Jomtien is a lot quieter than Hat Pattaya and there's a lot less of 'in your face' pole-dancing going on too.
The beaches here are nothing special, the sand's not white, the water not blue or clear. Not surprising with all the jetskis and speedboats. Allthough it is much quieter now, what with the weekend being over. That said we still spend a nice day at the beach in the sunchairs made for Thai-sized people, and it is quite a good to have your lunch served right to you on the beach. Also most are beachguests are Thai here, which gives the place a completely different atmosphere. You see, another thing about Pattaya area is that past visitors have moved on to more genteel Thai resorts, whilst first-time travellers from Russia and Eastern Europe now air their new passports with a fling in Asia's first and foremost Sin City. We can now form our own opinion of the city that sex built.
Today we spend some time at the pool (which is lovely, and has sun until noon) and I spend some time at the beach late afternoon, which was nice. This morning I watched the fishing boats return to shore, now they were getting ready to go out again.
Being close to the sea and with a substansial breeze blowing around here, I had hoped to have to deal with less mosquitos. Unfortunately they seem strong flyers over here and I am getting more lumpy everyday. There's one on my shoulder the size of an '80's shoulderpad... Tomorrow we leave for Ko Samed, with even more of the little buggers I reckon it will be wise for me to use buckets of repellent.
Countdown has begun I guess, with a week left time will go fast now. Hope the beach and sea at Samed are more up to our expectations...
Travel-troubles
We now find ourselves in Pattaya – yes, the city that sex build – after a trainride of over 13 hours in a 2nd class sleeper instead of a firstclass cabin. That was a bit of a dissapointment, especially after having been spoiled on the way to Chang Mai and having booked 1st class ticket for the trip back to Bangkok. Unfortunately they forgot to bring the 1st class car from Bangkok... Fortunately we got a refund of 1000 baht. A nice little profit which was eaten up by the fact that we left our Planet in Bangkok and had to by a new one...
Pattaya
We accepted the fact that we are flashpacker and are staying at Woodlands Resort – a posh place with nice rooms and two pools. Just lazing about for a day! The pool may only be as deep as 1,5 meters, it is laid out nicely, with lots of plants around it, several jakuzi-seats, a poolbar with crocodile benches in the water and a 'beach' area made of smooth brown pebbles where you can play beached whale or dolphin, depending on your size. As a finishing touch they've added some fountains. One of which is oddly chosen: a kangaroo (?!) that seems to be emptying its bladder into the pool. Till you look closely... There's also some birdlike one, which looks positively uncomfortable with a hose very visibly going up its bum and sticking out of its mouth the other end.
Pattaya has a bit of a reputation as you might know and one sees 'quite a few' older men with Thai girls less than half their age. We walked through the notorious 'Walking street' yesterday for about 5 minutes. After that you've seen enough 'sales' signs to last you a life-time (and they are not selling shoes).
We went to see Tiffany's show. Thailands glitziest transvestites show. The costumes and sets are amazing with lots of sequins and glitter, but with three shows a night there's not much enthousiasme coming from the performers it seems. They merely do their job. Also having seats right at the side of the stage didn't help. Somehow you feel like you are watching quite literaly from the side-line and not having the 'overview' of what happens on stage made it impossible to really submerge in it all.
Eating out is another event over the weekend. Most restaurant cater to both male and female with english football on a large screen on the one hand, and live music on the other hand. simultaneously. And though I am no football fan, I wish they would have turned off the live music instead of the tv! If singing off-key was a crime... And they absolutely love the Carpenters over here!
Hat Jomtien
Two nights of luxury was all we allowed ourselves to indulge in, so we moved to a questhouse about 6 km down the coast in Hat Jomtien. 'RS Seaside' is only meters away from the beach and we have a balcony with a seaview. Hat Jomtien is a lot quieter than Hat Pattaya and there's a lot less of 'in your face' pole-dancing going on too.
The beaches here are nothing special, the sand's not white, the water not blue or clear. Not surprising with all the jetskis and speedboats. Allthough it is much quieter now, what with the weekend being over. That said we still spend a nice day at the beach in the sunchairs made for Thai-sized people, and it is quite a good to have your lunch served right to you on the beach. Also most are beachguests are Thai here, which gives the place a completely different atmosphere. You see, another thing about Pattaya area is that past visitors have moved on to more genteel Thai resorts, whilst first-time travellers from Russia and Eastern Europe now air their new passports with a fling in Asia's first and foremost Sin City. We can now form our own opinion of the city that sex built.
Today we spend some time at the pool (which is lovely, and has sun until noon) and I spend some time at the beach late afternoon, which was nice. This morning I watched the fishing boats return to shore, now they were getting ready to go out again.
Being close to the sea and with a substansial breeze blowing around here, I had hoped to have to deal with less mosquitos. Unfortunately they seem strong flyers over here and I am getting more lumpy everyday. There's one on my shoulder the size of an '80's shoulderpad... Tomorrow we leave for Ko Samed, with even more of the little buggers I reckon it will be wise for me to use buckets of repellent.
Countdown has begun I guess, with a week left time will go fast now. Hope the beach and sea at Samed are more up to our expectations...
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11 Februari 2010 - 16:53
Shon:
what were they selling if not shoes
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