"Wait - Thailand has beaches!? Islands?! THE OCEAN??!"
Okay, maybe you already knew this, but if you've been reading my prior posts, you may have noticed that I live nowhere near these things and have certainly not visited them. Well, that has now officially changed! Over a long holiday weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel 700 kilometers (450 miles) south to visit the ever-famous city of Pattaya. Grab a swimsuit and some sunscreen, and come along to...
Pattaya & Koh Larn (Coral Island)
I want to preface this post with a note of deep gratitude for the circumstances under which I got to take this trip. The founder of the school where I teach wanted to show me a place in Thailand that he loves, so he brought me, his brother, a Thai English teacher, and her boyfriend to Pattaya. I am so touched by the kindness I have been met with in this country, especially by those at my school. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Big Boss, Na Ad, Teacher Tew, and P A!
•••
Day 1: Pattaya City
The trip began with a twelve hour car ride from where I live, in the northeastern corner of Thailand, to Pattaya, on the southern border of the country. We arrived in the morning and began exploring Pattaya in the early afternoon.
One of the first places we went, we were greeted with this spectacular view.
Pattaya is both a major city and a beach town. It is one of the most popular destinations for foreigners visiting Thailand.
The sea visible to the left is called the Gulf of Thailand, the Gulf of Siam, or the Thai Sea. It is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean that is approximately 8,000 miles away from the Pacific Coast of the USA (specifically, my home, Los Angeles).
Our group of very hungry travellers then went to a very appropriate restaurant, starring seafood, seafood, and more seafood!
On the menu: seafood fried rice, spicy papaya salad, fresh vegetables and dip, sea snails...
...MASSIVE crabs...
...and delicious, huge prawns (shrimps? something else?), unlike anything I've ever seen in America.
This crab was bigger than my head!
Some things we did not consume include these lobsters, which were upwards of 1,000 baht ($30, a lot of money in Thailand!) each...
...and these, baby sharks, which the waiter informed me are cooked to be very spicy. (I cried seeing these in the tank, not going to lie.)
This was our waiter! I jokingly refer to him as my Pattaya boyfriend. Handsome!
My favorite thing about the restaurant: it was right on the beach.
This beach is called Jom Tien. The moment I was able, I practically sprinted down the stairs to be on the sand and touch the water.
The water here is very dirty, so my travel companions did not let me take off my shoes. Once I smelled my hand after touching the water, I understood their concern... ick!
Worth it, though, because I found some awesome little sand dollars.
I was so, so, so happy to be reunited with the beach!!!
Meet Teacher Tew, a Thai English teacher at my school! She was very happy, too.
I could not stop smiling. I love the beach.
Our next stop was the Pattaya Garden Center.
This is one of the most famous Garden Centers in the world, and I understand why!
The area of the garden and resort is so extensive that you need a tour tram to take you around.
There are replicas of many different kinds of animals here, from all over the world!
There are also temple structures, surrounded by tree species from various places on the globe.
One of the coolest features in the center is the dinosaur exhibit.
There were signs by every species, with flags to indicate where the dinosaur was discovered.
This one reminded me of my dogs! Hehe.
A joke of ours from the trip: I learned how to say "sleep well" that morning, and when I saw this display, I said, "He is sleeping well!" (in Thai). It cracked all of us up. Lap sa bai!
The sun neared the horizon over a megalith arrangement by the dinosaur area.
I loved how these golden stupas stood behind the green trees, all in pointed solidarity, as we left the Garden Center.
I loved seeing the more rural outskirts of Pattaya as we drove back toward the city. Look closely and you will see cows in the distance!
We then visited Buddha Mountain, which features a laser-carved and gold-inlaid image of the Buddha. This is one of the largest depictions of Buddha in the world, standing at 130 meters, or 426 feet.
The sun had set, so it was difficult to get a good photo, but it was so beautiful to see in person.
Later, we got dinner by our hotel. Vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables! Happy Roxi!
This wraps up our first day in Pattaya. Here is a video of some highlights from the day:
Day 2: Koh Larn
On day 2 of our trip, we took a boat to the stunning island of Koh Larn, Coral Island.
Boarding the boat!
The Pattaya sign bade us farewell as we departed the shore.
Our destination: the island closest to the mainland, about a 40 minute boat ride away. Notice the sea color change from green to blue as we got out into deeper waters!
Still green...
...now blue! Looking back at the city, getting closer to the island.
The wind was fun with my hair!
Koh Larn, we have arrived!
We stayed at the beautiful Pause Resort and Bar.
Every room was a separate structure! Here's mine, with a huge bed, a semi-outdoor bathroom, and an outdoor seating area with trees!
After checking in, we rented a touring vehicle and driver for the night and began exploring Koh Larn.
Ready for adventure, with Teacher Tew!
See the mainland, way off in the distance past the sea?
The natural beauty of the island is astounding, with hills that roll into water in all directions.
Our first stop: Nual Beach. (The signs say "monkey beach," but there were no monkeys here today.)
Rows of umbrellas and chairs obscured the initial view...
...and this is what was on the other side.
I immediately did away with my shoes and giddily ran into the glorious teal water.
Can you feel the warm sea on your toes?
The water was something like 85 degrees Fahrenheit, a perfect temperature for the 100 degree day.
This is what you call a happy Roxi!
This is me with Tew right as I felt the water for the first time. Can you tell I love it?
Meet Big Boss! He is my wonderful boss, the founder of the school where I work. He is the best!
We did not spend too long at Nual Beach - the next stop was our true destination.
Welcome to Had Tien, Tien Beach (not the same as Jom Tien that we visited before!).
This beach truly took my breath away.
The bright green hills on the crystal blue water looked like heaven.
I could hardly fathom how clear the water was.
We walked the path to the left to get to the beach.
Have I mentioned yet that we had a photographer in our midst? Tew's boyfriend, P A, took such beautiful photos on this trip. They are threaded throughout this post. Thank you, P A!
First step once we got to the beach: get a coconut! I had never had a coconut in its raw form like this, before. YUM.
We then had a big beach-side seafood lunch.
These sweet babies were by our feet, hoping for fish morsels.
When we were finished, we spent some time relaxing under umbrella shade by the sea.
It was not long until we were ready for a swim. Tew and I went out in the water for a long time, and then her boyfriend so kindly purchased swim trunks (what a sweetie!!) so that he could bring the camera and take photos for us in the sea.
Tew does not know how to swim, so she rented us floaties! I flipped when I saw that she got one for me, too. This swim with Tew and the floaties was the highlight of my trip.
The water was the perfect temperature, the kind that you feel like you could stay in all day - warm enough to not be a shock from the super hot air, cool enough to feel refreshing and peaceful. We stayed in for a long time.
I think that is another island, on the horizon behind us. I tried to swim to it, but it was just a little bit too far!
We kept drifting off, so P A had to pull us back into the swim zone. Wee!
We were being so silly and having so much fun. Major thanks to Duck and Flamingo, for their support!
Solo-shot on my floatie. Maximum vacation vibes!
After making an accidental heart with my flamingo friend, I bid him adieu so that Na Ad could have a turn.
I went on to impress everyone with my supreme underwater-handstand skills!
I used to do these all the time in swimming pools growing up. It was such a kick to do it in the Gulf of Thailand as an adult!
Right-side up, and just so happy.
A Rox in her natural habitat, with a discreet Thai flag on the hill behind.
Loving life.
I am still so grateful that I had this experience. Not only did I get to be in the warm Thai sea for hours with good friends, but I have photos to remember the time by. Thank you, P A!
This is the only photo I took on my phone while we were here. I love being in the water because it encourages such presence, as I don't have the urge to "capture" what I'm experiencing when my phone is not with me. It is telling, how freeing that feels. This was also thanks to P A, who did much of the capturing that day.
Finally, it was time to get clothed and move on to our next destination.
Looking back; this was the restaurant where we ate, with our chairs directly out front.
The sun was beginning to get close to the horizon, at this point.
The crowds of tourists had thinned so much by the time we left, so it was a delight to cross the mostly bare beach.
A few more people played in the water under the still bright sun.
Goodbye, gorgeous Had Tien.
We now got in our vehicle and headed up, up, and up the island.
The destination was a sacred viewpoint, which serves to honor this monk as well as treat viewers to a divine landscape.
You could see so far in every direction from up here.
The presently occurring sunset resulted in skies and seas of many colors.
I loved it here.
You could also see far in the other direction, but photos did not do it as much justice. There is Pattaya and the mainland, past the water!
Sunned, watered, and renewed teachers.
We still had one more stop to go, so we got back in our vehicle and descended the island.
The final leg of our journey took us to a beach on the northern tip of Koh Larn.
The sun had set, and the nearly full moon shone bright.
I felt the need to take a moon and island tree appreciation shot.
I found a super cool coral that I thought looked just like...
...a brain! Do you agree?
It was beautiful on the beach, after the sun set. The heat of the day began to break, and the island took on its nighttime form.
Tew and I have an inside joke that we have a TV show called, "The Adventures of Roxi and Tew," with a new episode for each adventure. This trip was episode 2, hence the "ep. II" Tew drew into the sand. Many episodes to come, stay tuned!
It was time to leave the beach, so we boarded our adventure-mobile and drove back across the island to the resort.
We were one of the only four-wheeled vehicles among a sea of motorcycles.
We were very clearly in the way on these narrow island roads. Sorry, biker friends!
Back at the resort, we got dinner while a live band played. Big Boss and Na Ad love that I'm from California, partly because they love the song "Hotel California." They requested the song, and the band actually played it! They wanted me to get up on the stage and sing along, but I don't know the words so I sat that part out.
Dinner was delicious, and very spicy! Notice the green and red peppers floating in my seafood curry bowl. Those are extremely hot and I ate them whole. I may have been getting a tad cocky with Thai spiciness.
I sat in my outdoor room before falling asleep, watching the clouds dance over the moon while listening to the music of the resort.
Here is a video of day 2, all things Koh Larn:
Day 3: Return Home
Day 3 of our trip was our return to Nong Khai, which involved a tram ride to the boat, a boat ride to the mainland, and a twelve hour drive from Pattaya back to the northeastern corner of Thailand.
Day 3 of our trip was also the day that I got incredibly sick. I woke up that morning feeling very unwell. I threw up the breakfast I could get down, an event that occurred before even boarding the first tram of the journey. I also threw up on the boat, after taking medicine, and the others were really concerned. They decided to take me to the doctor once we reached the mainland.
I felt well enough for a few seconds to take a couple photos, but generally I really did not feel good on this boat ride. It was a bit torturous to know that the only way to get home involved major amounts of travel, especially including some on water. Oof.
I was actually very happy to be returning to the mainland, due to the circumstance.
After what felt like forever, we disembarked the boat and headed to a medical clinic.
I saw a wonderful doctor, who gave me a shot in my butt (!!!!! that felt weird !!!!!!) and four prescriptions: acid reducer, anti-vomiting, pain reducer, and a digestive enzyme. The doctor did not know what was wrong, but I believe it was a combination of a bug, the extremely spicy food from the night before, brushing my teeth with the brown island tap water (I did not realize it was brown when I brushed my teeth with it... oops), and sun sickness from getting sunburned the day before. I am so grateful for my travel companions, who took me to the doctor, bought me cool towels, and took care of me.
The day then consisted of four more sessions of throwing up, including futile attempts to take my meds, to eat, to sip water. The heat made me throw up pretty much immediately if I got out of the car, so for a long time I just stayed in the air conditioning and tried to sleep. Many hours into our drive, I woke up and felt slightly better. I was able to keep down a slice of bread, and then my meds!
Huge victory! I felt awesome, can you tell?
My dinner of champions was steamed white rice, and boiled white rice. Glamorous!
The next day, I captured the state of my eyelids after my six vomiting events. Can you see the spattered red dots, marking burst blood vessels? I took about a week to recover in full, but now I am fine and I look back on the event with deep appreciation that I am healthy and well, and not throwing up on a boat!
This marks the end of my Pattaya trip! Aside from ending in sickness, I had such a wonderful time exploring the gorgeous city of Pattaya and island of Koh Larn. Thank you to Big Boss and the whole Pattaya crew!
And, thank you for reading, and for joining me on my Pattaya trip!
See you soon for our next adventure...
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