Знакомство с Тайландом Introduction to Thailand

Tai is a place that will not leave anyone indifferent. In general, we were going to Egypt, but the revolution there really broke us off, and the Tez-tour offered us a transfer to Thailand. So we took the risk of flying half the world with our 2 year old son to finally get to know this amazing country. Flight with transaero, as usual, hectic at check-in, crowded in the cabin (we did not recline the arms of the seats and sit normally during sleep - the flight was night, it was problematic), inedible food, tired flight attendants, in general, a scoop! 7.5. hours of dubious amenities and here we are in Bangkok.
A huge airport, moving paths for tourists tired of flights, smiles of the staff (for us, gloomy Russians, a curiosity) and a huge queue at passport control, at the sight of which everything went down for us and which we managed to avoid, since the employee who saw our baby immediately he took us to a separate window, for passengers with children, disabled people and citizens of Thailand, slipped through in 5 minutes! So amazing when compared with our eternally gloomy border guards. At the exit, there was already a crowd of yellow Tezturovites who were distributing us into buses. We got there at 1.40, all the passengers were from our hotel, so there were no stops along the way. On the way staring around, you can immediately see the exotic.
Mountains, jungle, shacks on the sides of the road, elephants! But most of all I was surprised by the quality of the roads, perfect asphalt, just like in the Scandinavian countries. And huge half-empty multi-level junctions. . . We finally reached our hotel, according to local concepts, Jomtien-. . . opa of the world)) The hotel area is huge, consists of 4 workers and 1 either unfinished or abandoned building. Our highest is 42 floors. For some reason, in the description on some sites it is written that this case is a 4-lie, in fact, a troika. Well, now to the description of the hotel: the territory is beautiful, well-groomed and large. Own beach, pretty clean. If desired, you can always find a place near the pools and on the beach. A strange smell in the hotel lobby, some claimed it was mold, I don’t know, I had nothing to compare with. They settled quickly, the Thais at the reception do not know English, but conscientiously smiled all the time) The safe is next to the reception, they used it regularly so as not to stand in line in front of it, it is better not to come up after breakfast and at 6-7 pm when people gather for the evening promenade.

Outraged room service! Let's start with the fact that it was originally dirty, dust in the corners, not washed and leaking plumbing, in general, devastation. Although the room itself is not bad, quite spacious, huge beds, snow-white linen, furniture tolerable. Throughout our stay, the plumbing was never washed, the tiles on the wall around the white friend were stained with suspicious color spots... at least they put a ruff. The carpeting in the rooms is not vacuumed, because they simply do not have a vacuum cleaner in service, they somehow sweep away the walking areas with a whisk, in the corners there is garbage and clods of dust. They clean the rooms late, at 3-4 o'clock, since our baby was sleeping at that time, we asked the maids to come later several times, in which case the room cleaning was ignored altogether. The bed was changed every time they were cleaned, they put water on, but they forgot it a couple of times, they didn’t always change towels, and when they took it away, they might not put clean ones in return. And they don't care if you leave a tip or not, everything will still be careless, dirty and careless. The air conditioner is noisy, but it worked fine, we got used to the noise.
We survived the dirty windows in the rooms calmly, they are not opened, except for small shutters, therefore, industrial climbers would be required to wash them from the outside. Waiting for elevators is tolerable, they waited only once - about 20 minutes. A crowd of Chinese arrived for the weekend, and queues at the elevators immediately began to form. We were a little annoyed by ours, who stuffed like herrings into the elevator, and when it began to crackle that it was overloaded, they swore, finding out who was the last to enter and should free the cabin. I immediately warn you that since the humidity is very high, washing and drying something in the room is useless. But outside the hotel, laundry services are very inexpensive and for 200-300 baht they will wash, dry and iron your entire wardrobe.
The breakfast was good, we were completely satisfied. Coffee and tea - one name, however, and everything is very diverse and tasty. There is a market on the territory of the hotel where you can buy all your beach equipment, in general, you don’t need to take anything with you to Tai, except for the bare necessities, everything can be bought there on the spot and much cheaper. Fruits are also sold there, already peeled and chopped - beauty! There are a lot of cafes across the road from the hotel, where you will be well fed for a very reasonable fee. During our stay, in the evening, in front of the entrance to our building, tents with a variety of food were opened, where for a moderate fee you could choose food to your taste, if you were too lazy to crawl out of the hotel.
At the hotel once dined-inedible! Although they asked without spices, but a couple of spoons and we were forced to leave the restaurant with tears in our eyes. Don't do massage on the beach, it's a hack, don't be lazy, cross the road from the hotel, there are a lot of massage parlors where you can get it cheaper and better! You need to get to the center by 2 white tuk-tuks (costs 20 baht) on it to BIG C and transfer to the blue one (10 baht), it will take about 30 minutes. It may seem to someone that the hotel is located far from the center, but on in Jomtien you can swim in the sea, there is no garbage in it, and there is no such gas pollution and smells of Thai food as in central Pattaya.

We went on several excursions from the tour operator, all our guides (Thais are only assistants) told us very interesting things. The Khao Kheo Zoo was especially impressive. Before entering it, we all bought bags of vegetable food for animals (we would have had enough for a week)) and everyone we met along the way was heavily fed, as it seemed to me, some ate out of courtesy, they were fed there)) All conditionally safe animals they are not kept in cages, they can be safely touched, fed, stroked, photographed with them. We also had to use honey. child insurance. Despite the package-mandatory from the tour operator, we always buy another separate one, from a trusted company, so that if you fly in, then the help is real. Three days before departure, the child caught a rotavirus infection, which, with the general dirt in the room, is not surprising, and with a temperature of 39, we went to Bangkok-Pattaya hospital, and that's where we got the strongest impression of the Thai.
A large, well-equipped hospital with spacious marble halls reminiscent of a museum, comfortable leather sofas for waiting, which, in fact, was not there, with free tea and coffee (the husband did not believe at first and kept waiting for the bill to be presented), well-trained, invariably smiling, english speaking staff. Everything is solved in minutes, we talked over the phone with the insurance company for a longer time. We were immediately provided with an interpreter, the child’s temperature was instantly brought down, diagnosed, prescribed treatment, and all the drugs were immediately given out.
In half an hour, they brought the child in order, but he still did not want to leave from there, 1 o'clock in the morning, and there in all corners of the pediatric department there were children's locks, labyrinths, playrooms and a lot of all kinds of fun, barely pulled him out after another hour. Here is a third world country for you! I wanted to stay here permanently. In general, we really enjoyed our trip minus the dirt in the hotel room. I do not recommend this hotel for stays with young children. For adults, it will do. Pros: good territory, clean and private beach, free sunbeds, local market with low prices, satisfactory clean sea, in which you can swim even at night, although there are strong low tides.