Pattaya Day 1: Pattaya Night Bazaar
(19/12/2016) On our second day in Pattaya, we go touristy and went for city tour. The city tour was a last minute decision with no plans or bookings from travel agents, we hopped on songtaew or mini bus for THB 2000. The tour is about 2 hours and we get to choose where we wanted to go. Our first stop was at Wat Phra Yai also known as the Big Buddha Temple. Greeted visitors that are on their way up the hill is Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin statue. It is astonishingly beautiful.
Image courtesy from Google
We bought some birds to release at the entrance of the temple. I am awed to see such a big Buddha statue. The scorching noon sun did not stop us from admiring the serenity of the place. In such religious place, it is important to dress respectful. As this was an impromptu visit, we were all dressed in shorts. There are sarongs provided. The two golden colored dragons that flanked the stairways at each side give an extremely grand atmosphere. It said that it takes 1000 steps to reach the top.
At the bottom of the staircase, 7 headed mythical snakes emerged from the mouth of the dragons.
On the top of Pratumnak Hill, the enormous 18 meter high big Buddha, built in 1977 is surrounded by 7 smaller Buddha images. Here, we released the birds and hoped for a good karma in return. There are about 3 birds in the small cage so we released a total of 18 birds that day. Bigger cage that cost THB 60 would have about 7-8 birds.
Each of us holding onto our birds.
My brother all grown up
I hope as he grow older, he would understand more principles in life and be more understanding.
I am hoping for a smooth sailing 2017.
Better health, luck and some love
A quick shot of Danny and Ma
We were taking shade from the scorching afternoon sun
Notes of 20 were inserted into containers according to zodiac signs
Brother solo shot by me
We had our late lunch at Pattaya Floating Market. I have always wanted to bring my brothers to the floating market. Mommy and the girls including me had visited Bangkok Floating Market last few years but not the boys. The entrance fee into the market comes with few options. Tourists can either opt to just walk which is THB 200 or THB 800 to take a boat ride to see animals and the floating market. This floating market is more commercialized that it looks fake with only few boats around. Most shops are accessible by foot.
This place is packed with tourists from China
An authentic boat noodle for THB 40 right from the floating market
After lunch, we headed back to our hotel to get dressed for island tour. We booked a private speedboat at THB 2500 for all 11 of us. Towels and snorkeling gears are provided at extra cost. We
were out to the sea at 3 pm. Waves are bigger at noon time making our
ride bumpy yet exciting. We stopped by Coral Island where it is the
famous for sea walking. We did not manage to try this time round as some of us were not interested. The sea walking cost about THB 2500 per person for 20-30 minutes. We will
definitely come back for this to check it off our list.
The area with float is where you will be doing sea walking
There will be guides around all time. Our tourist guide also assure us that there are no sea urchins around. Corals here are very much less compare to the ones we seen in Krabi.
Sights of parasailers greeted us at Koh Larn Island.
We stopped here for a dip in the therapeutic sea water.
Heading back to the mainland.
The sunset here cannot beat the sunset in Krabi.
I miss Krabi already!
At night, we visted the famous Walking Street.
Over crowded with tourists looking for bars and entertainment.
There so many bars along the street. Here's one.
Pattaya has been a wonderful getaway before the shopping craziness take over in Bangkok. There are actually many attractions in Pattaya that we yet to discover. Frankly speaking, going to Pattaya is an eye-opener. Quoting from my lecturer, "Be careful if you have spouse or boyfriend that is going to Pattaya. If they do, you must accompany them". We left Pattaya for Bangkok the next day by renting a mini van that cost us THB 1800. The journey to Bangkok was 2 hours. This ends our trip in Pattaya.
Thank you for reading.
See you guys in 2017!
