Journey to the World

February 4 to 10, 2007

I left a bag in the luggage storage in the train station of Bangkok. The price was a little high for an extended period of time (20 baht a day for a small bag).

 

A minibus which goes straight from the train station to Pattaya at 11:00 AM is supposed to get there after three hours, but instead arrives after five hours. One hour of picking up people from hotels in the city, and another hour in the heavy traffic jams turn the minibus (350 baht) into an unworthy option.

Pattaya

Pattaya offers a long beach, water sports, scuba diving and lots of pubs and clubs. There are no guest house but mainly hotels. I found a small room close to the beach that includes air conditioning and hot water in the showers for 300 baht. As you get further away from the beach the prices go down, but it’s difficult to find a room for less than 200 baht. Most of the rooms which are close to the beach cost at least 500 baht.

Renting a motorcycle in Pattaya

Motorcycle number seven was Honda Wave 125cc. I rented it on the street. This was the first time I’ve seen people renting motorbikes on the street and not in offices. Many people stand on the main street near the beach and offer a wide variety of automatic and manuals motorbikes whose prices start from 200 baht. You should be aware that there is no insurance offered and the renters have no organized office. Therefore you should check pretty well the motorbike you’re going to rent, and ask how much you will pay in case it gets stolen or damaged. My motorbike stayed in one piece while I was staying there, but you can never know. There are better places to hire a motorcycle in Pattaya but the prices are higher.

The Walking Street

A walking street opens at 7:00 PM in Pattaya and closes to vehicle traffic at the same time. The sign “Walking Street” shows where it starts.

In this street you can find clubs of all kinds, restaurants, pubs, bars and everything else in every corner. Some of the clubs have snooker tables, various shows and some even have a Thai boxing arena showing nonstop fights. After each fight the winner goes through the crowd to shake their hands and… to collect a tip for the last battle.

What can you do in the city?

Since Pattaya is mainly for vacations, I spent my days in it for resting from the busy month I had. You can find in the city a professional karting track along with another one for beginners. The price is 300 baht for ten minutes. You should not do any shopping in this city because the prices here are very high. Clothes, souvenirs, and everything else but basic products, simply don’t buy here. Even the prices for food in restaurants is double or more than in other places.

My plan was to continue from Pattaya along the coast of the Thailand Gulf until I get to Koh Chang. From there directly to South Cambodia. This plan was disrupted when I found out there is no government bus to Koh Chang. The only way to get there was a five hours drive in a minibus which costs 900 baht.

A bus that leaves Pattaya toward the city Mukdahan in East Thailand (Isan) is much cheaper. That bus stops in Aranyaprathet (in short: Aran) which is located five hours drive from Pattaya. Aran is located near the border of the center of Cambodia. The price for that bus, 220 baht, made me change my plan and skip scuba diving in South Cambodia. Instead I decided to do the diving in Pattaya. That change gave me three more days for my plans, and a little bit of space.

Scuba Diving in Pattaya

One day of scuba diving in the islands Koh Lang and Koh Lang West through the dive center owned by Russians and called Ihtiander, costs 2800 baht. It’s a little expensive, but considered cheap in comparison to other dive centers. The price includes two dives, sailing on a boat, lunch and free drinks. Of course you also get full equipment.

Scuba diving in Pattaya is nice. I learned how easy it is to dive from a boat. The two dive turned into three when we returned from the first dive too quickly, after only 34 minutes. That way I got another dive for my log book of fifteen more minutes. I should mention that I have a dive computer which approved this at the time.

Most of the divers had only one star and spoke Russian, and so I got private dives with Oxana who was training to be a Dive Master. The visibility in the Gulf of Thailand was not very good (about ten meters). Generally the best time of year for these dives is November and December, but for refreshment dives after six month with no dive at all, they were nice. We’ve seen many types of corals and small fish.

Luxurious bus from Pattaya to the Cambodia Border

The bus to Mukdahan was a pleasant surprise. This bus had two floors, comfortable seats with plenty of space for your legs. Each floor has a television. On the bus was a toilet as well. For 220 baht you usually don’t expect much, but right in the beginning all passengers received a pack of waffles and mineral water. Later on they we were given blankets. This was the best bus I’ve ever been to. It’s much better than buses in Israel or other countries I visited (such as England, France and The Netherlands). Don’t forget it’s a government bus.

Aranyaprathet near the border

I arrived at Aran very late. At 1:00 AM a female tuktuk driver drove me to the border (100 baht). This is where some guest houses are located, only five minutes from the crossing to Poipet. Room prices are a bit high (300 baht) and it was late, but after a quick search I found a simple room with a fan for 200 baht. You don’t need more than that, just pass the night.

 

 

This article was originally written in Hebrew. It was translated to English at a later time.

 

This article was published at 10-02-2007 Time: 20:00 and belongs to categories Motorcycle, Bangkok, Beach, Far East Travel Journal 2007, East Thailand, Central Thailand, Pattaya, Diving. You can follow comments to this article using the feed RSS 2.0. You can post a comment, or trackback from your website.