Незабываемые впечатления Unforgettable impressions

Rested in this hotel with the family (we are 44 years old and a child, a girl, 6 years old). For the first time in Thailand. The choice of country was spontaneous. Egypt and the UAE were considered as options, but then the director of our travel agency returned to Thailand from the promotion, stunned by the impressions (she even published a wall newspaper called "Thailand is my love"), and the choice was made.
We flew from Kiev, "Aerosvit". A complete mess: the flight was delayed for an hour, and then another hour before takeoff they were sitting in the plane, they were still finishing something there. Nine hours in the air and here he is - Thailand. The huge airport in Bangkok seemed uncrowded, maybe because it was early morning or maybe because of the large space inside. However, there was a queue at the visa tables. Filled out questionnaires, changed money $ 100. -3300 baht (exchanger nearby). The rate is slightly understated: 100-33450 baht in Pattaya. Defended the queue - received visas (1000 baht one). The whole procedure took about an hour.
Then we took our things and went to look for the meeting party according to the plan given to us by the travel agency.

About the meeting - the company "Sayama" - only good: a meeting with flowers in the form of garlands around his neck, traditional Thai smiles and now, after a short wait for other tourists, we (only 6 people) in a big comfortable bus with a Russian-speaking guide go to Pattaya .
Somewhere I read about the smell of Thailand. There really is a smell: a mixture of moist air with aromas of flowers, spices and something else incomprehensible. I liked it. But back to our journey. Everyone on the bus was in a state of slight euphoria. It is understandable: from the cold, slushy winter and after a long flight to get into this summer, in the company of nice smiling people is very nice. So an hour and a half of driving flew by quickly, especially since the roads in Thailand are good. And here he is - a hotel.
Located outside the city and this is only a plus.
We liked him right away. Built in Thai style with covered passages and very green. We are not a spoiled people yet, we were in Turkey last year, and before only Crimea. Well, there is nothing to compare with the Crimea, but the Turkish HV-1 was no better than this Thai 3-ka. Here the territory is bigger, the rooms are better, the pools are more comfortable and even with a jacuzzi. The hotel consists of one three-storey building, bungalows and villas.
We lived in a building. The room is large, comfortable. The room furniture (two large beds, bedside tables, two tables, two wicker chairs, wardrobe) TV (two Russian-speaking channels: RTR Planet and local), minibar with refrigerator (standard set: alcohol, beer, nuts, sweets), air conditioning (no enjoyed: and so it was comfortable), shower, toilet, washbasin. A cot (good) was provided for the child. Balcony: medium in size, comfortable, with a view of the territory, a bit of the sea.
The room was cleaned every day, linen and towels were changed daily. The only drawback to the room - a little poor sound insulation but not critical. Left in the room 20 baht tips and did it with pleasure. In general, it's nice to leave tips in Thailand, Thais, they are like cats - and I want to stroke.

The hotel area is not small (though not very large). Very green. Pretty clean. There are two pools: one large near the sea and one smaller and away from the sea. The second pool is made in the shape of a fish and is more suitable for children, although in the first they feel good. Chlorine in the water a little, almost not felt. .
Beach and sea. Up to eleven o'clock everything is fine: the water is relatively clean, no waves, garbage, too. But after eleven the ebb begins and the wind begins to blow from the sea. Waves rise, the water becomes muddy and garbage appears on the shore.
We usually went to the beach in the morning and then moved to the pool. The water temperature in the sea was like summer in the Crimea, just right for me. The pools are a little warmer. The weather is great (warm but in moderation). There were no problems with sunbeds, beach towels are free.
Meals - only breakfast. Tasty, varied, lots of fruit. Natural juices, though diluted. Surprisingly good coffee. A small minus - relaxed staff, sometimes had to wait a bit.
A few more words about the hotel. The safe is free at the reception. The Internet too. There is a shop where you can buy groceries and necessities. Scooter rental and, of course, massage. From the hotel to Pattaya and back every hour there is a bus - 60 baht one way.
Now about our stay in Thailand. I'll start with food. Cafe on the beach, about which much is written. Were, and even risked eating. Pretty tasty, cheap, but scary. You can catch some kind of infection.
Then we went to the hotel restaurant, the German Uwe and the cafe "Australia" (located next to the hotel). I liked the latter the most. They ate there from time to time. Sometimes they took shrimp, corn and fruit on the beach. The food is delicious and inexpensive. At first we tried a lot out of interest (it was worth it) and then we decided on our tastes. Advice for those who are new to Thailand - try all the dishes first. If very spicy - order rice and eat with it. Helps. Be careful with sauces! There are very sharp.

Excursions. Of the fourteen days of vacation, only six were in the hotel, the rest on excursions. Everywhere I wonder where more, where less, but never regretted that we went. The general list is: crocodile farm, Nong Nooch garden, Samed Island, Bangkok, Kwai River, tiger farm. All from Sayama, on comfortable buses with good guides (I especially want to mention Olesya).
We went to the center of Pattaya once by bus which goes from the hotel. We walked along the waterfront, went to Volken Street, went shopping. One time was enough.
Transport. It is best to get to the center of Pattaya by bus from the hotel. If you are on a tuk-tuk, then you need to make a change, you can get lost and you will not win much in terms of money. Taxis are more expensive. In the nearby stores "Lotus", "Outlet Mel", "Big Sea" is definitely on tuk-tuk. This is such an indoor pickup truck with shops (like our minibus). We left the hotel, waited 5-10 minutes, sat down, and in ten minutes you are near the Lotus. About that
that you have already arrived will tell you a huge shield with a green inscription "LOTUS". And to stop the tuk-tuk, you need to press one of the buttons that are all over the body. And of course don't forget to pay the driver 20 baht per person.
Shopping. The money was exchanged at the Lotus shopping center in the bank. I have already written about the course. The rate also depends on the bills (take $ 50, $ 100 and new).
There are no problems with the euro either. Lotus bought products. There are clothes there, but very low quality, worth a penny. On the second floor - a cafe with a strange payment system. First you need to put the money on the card, and then pay with this card. The prices there are the lowest we've ever seen. Next to the Lotus is a large Outlet Mel store and a number of small shops. There you can already buy good things at a fairly low price. Souvenirs were bought in a large specialized store "Luk Dod" - we visited it during one of the excursions. Also during the tours we were taken to the latex (pillows, mattresses) and jewelry factories, tried to frown. We didn't take mattresses, but we had to shell out for pearls for my wife. During the excursion to the river Kwai we stopped at the royal teak factory. They make very beautiful things out of wood, but the price is not small.

Maybe they would have bought something and there was not much money with them - no one warned. Some bought in Bangkok, by the way, prices are lower than in Pattaya.
Now a little about my subjective feelings in Thailand. Acclimatization was very fast - immediately fell asleep in the evening and woke up in the morning local time (when he returned - a whole week could not sleep after 3-4 nights). There are no problems with food either. I noticed one strange thing - I always want to eat at home after beer, not in Thailand. During the trip to the River Kwai we spent the night in a hotel, which is located on the water. Out of habit, he slept very poorly, but the next day he almost did not feel tired. I really liked the elephants. Such smart animals! The sand on the coral island is not sand at all, not a mineral but rather organic, very nice and does not heat up in the sun… You can write a lot more but who will read such a long review?
That's it. I will not describe the way back. Everything went well.
Aerosvit did not allow itself liberties, as in Kyiv, in Bangkok. We took off on time, only flew for an hour longer for some reason. Probably due to the rotation of the Earth.
It was a nasty slushy weather in Kiev, which caused melancholy, but the meeting with relatives smoothed it out a bit. There was a long habituation to winter ahead and one unresolved question - where to go in summer? Maybe back to Thailand?