Pattaya - Expected results
Introduction
The results of the trip were, on the whole, within the expected range. Flight, hotel, excursions, sea - have been described many times on this forum. Upon returning, the attitude to the trip in our family turned out to be multidirectional. So I'll just describe what I saw. I'll try and attach a photo.
Flight, airport.
In both directions flew a charter airline Nord Wind, Boeing-767-300. Travel time - almost 10 hours. We flew through Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India-Nepal-Myanmar-Thailand.
If you fly in a straight line, then Navitel shows 5463 km. The flight altitude varied from 7500 to 10500 m. The average speed was 907 km/h. If you sit near the window, then Navitel on the smartphone is normally caught.
The cabin is crammed with the maximum possible number of seats. It is impossible to lean back - you will rest on your knees behind the seated one. Takeoff and landing are normal. Many children had severe ear pain when landing. Lollipops are no longer issued. The flights went almost on schedule.
Check-in and check-out.
I must note the efficiency of the hotel staff during check-in and check-out.
The tour operator took us from the time of our stay in Thailand in the amount of 1 day - departure from the Russian Federation later by half a day and departure from Thailand earlier by half a day. That is, we arrived at the hotel later and left the hotel earlier. The check-in was fast, because. only 2 families came out of Hayes. The time was 23:55 Thai. They took a deposit, made copies of passports, gave 2 electronic keys and forward.
Departure was moved from 14:15 to 9:00. We found out about it only the day before, at 20-00. This is the practice of TezTur. Imagine our state. Half a day was expected ahead - swimming, folding and buying fruit on the road. And here is such a bummer. All Ufa residents were indignant. While my wife was packing her bags, I rushed around the stalls and shops, buying fruits, etc. - You can't bring 40 kg of fruit at a time. I took the last 2 pineapples in Tesco Lotus Express for 28 baht / kg. I also bought papaya left over for the evening. Then he walked around the nearest stalls. I was hoping it would be cheaper in bulk. But the merchants did not want to bring down the price. I bought mango for 80 baht/kg, longan for 90 baht/kg, pineapple for 35 baht/kg. Once confused, instead of a longan, I bought a langsat. We still eat it.
For wrapping a suitcase they should take 100 baht, and they take 150 - like a BIG suitcase. I had an overweight. I started to take out some of the fruit into the bag. The Thai began to beg to give them to him. My child will eat them with great gusto. Free scales with a limit of 50 kg are located next to the reception.
Half an hour in the morning, I brought to the reception 2 electronic keys and a hotel receipt for a deposit. They called the maids to take the room. After 15 minutes, I was returned 2000 baht. Hayes was already waiting for us. After some time on the track, we were transferred to a large bus and taken to the airport. On the way we stopped at the MotorWay2 souvenir shop. The transfer is well organized.
Someone will be interested only in this block of information. As you know, the hotel consists of 2 nearby buildings (16 and 7 floors) and a separate Pavilion. We lived on the 15th floor. The hotel has 4 elevators. For some reason there is no 13th floor. One day the elevators were off for about 20 minutes. On the 1st floor (Lobby) there is a young Thai in uniform. Knows a set of Russian words. But they are not always used by the way. Confuses morning-evening, etc. The corridors are wide.
I must say that I contacted the hotel in advance and asked for a floor no lower than the 14th and an odd number. Imagine it worked.
Odd room on the 15th floor. A beautiful view of the sea and the pier with the inscription Pattaya City (many have seen this place in the news due to the ferry wreck on the island of Koh Lan). The room was Bali style. The furniture is not new, but intact. Be especially careful with wooden furniture. It swells from water or the varnish turns white from a hot cup of tea. The railings are low. We pulled a fishing line on the railing for drying swimsuits. There she was left there for the next vacationers. The room has 1 double bed and 1 single bed. All beds are on casters. Each bed has 2 large pillows. LCD TV, but we didn't watch it. Central air conditioner. Noisy. But he knows his business. There are 2 paid bottles in the fridge. There are 2 free bottles on the table. We were very thirsty. It is clear that 0.33 liters per person per day is not enough. I bought a 5l bottle from Family for 60 baht and we drank it calmly. Then I found 5l for 30 baht at Tesco Lotus Express. We were with a child. But towels were stubbornly brought to us for 2 persons. I had to go to reception. There is a Russian-speaking Andrey. I made my request to him. Since then, we have worn 3 sets.
We did not use bathrobes and slates. They looked very sad. Yes, and I did not want to pick up the fungus.
Beds and towels were changed every day.
Noise isolation in the rooms - zero. There is a gap under each door. The door is opened with an electronic key. To reduce the noise from the hallway, we rolled up a warm blanket and placed the doors at the bottom. Our room had one peculiarity - we were separated from the neighboring room by a wall with an inter-room wooden door. If you open this door, you can walk from room to room directly, through the wall, without going out into the corridor. When the South Koreans settled nearby and began to walk back and forth in a herd, there was a feeling that there was no wall between the rooms. I had to go to the reception and ask the hotel administration to reason with the neighbors. On the trail. days it worked.
There are no complaints. The Thais did their job well. They left them 20 baht every other day. The first time (after 20 baht) they brought a pot of fresh flowers.
Rude boys. On the day of arrival, they brazenly began to beg for 100 Russian rubles. Like for a collection. Although I offered them 20 baht at once. I did not squander, gave each of them 100 rubles and asked them to bring the third set of dishes and linen to the room. They said 5 minutes. I didn't see them again. As the guide later explained to me, this is called a sabai. In Russian, do not care at all. Thais are rarely in a hurry to do something. I ran to the reception 3 times to fix the toilet. Generalizing the Thais at the hotels, I must admit that they are very spoiled and lazy. Other Thais are hardworking people.
Restaurant.
In the morning we ate at the restaurant (it was paid). Working time 6-10 hours. There is a tayka at the entrance and strikes every morning on a food card. You don't eat twice. On the last day, she just took this card. If you are careful, you can take something for a snack. We usually took fruits, cookies and meat something. I recommend doing it on the terrace. Thais are more difficult to control there. The list of dishes is stable. True, it was not always possible to find fish. We basically did not take potatoes and spaghetti. This good and the house is enough. Counted on seafood. But, they have a hard time with it. There are always sliced lemons, watermelons, papaya, etc. Tea coffee. The inside of the restaurant gets very cold. On the terrace - as in the street. The closer to 10, the less free space in the restaurant.
As such, the territory is almost non-existent. I don't mean Pavilion. Was not there. A decorative swimming pool was built in front of the main entrance to the hotel, lights are turned on around it in the evening. Behind the hotel, a 2-level pool begins, smoothly turning into the beach. To the right and left of the main building is a narrow concrete road.
Unfortunately, we must admit that the water in the sea leaves much to be desired. For 7 days of our stay, the water was more or less clean for only two days. Moreover, in the morning the water is always cleaner and calmer than at lunch and dinner, especially in the evening. Toward evening, various bags, cigarette butts, and so on began to swim. With an enviable frequency, a dead small fish swam past our hotel.
The beach has fine sand. The bathing area is surrounded by buoys. Basically, all vacationers trample near the shore. The water is very warm. Sunbeds are usually released after two hours. They are heavy and made of wood. A waterproof mattress is thrown on top of them, on which we lay towels. Towels from 7 am to 7 pm are given out by the boy against signature in the magazine. At the same time, they must be returned. You can always raise or lower the round canopy on a group of sun loungers. This will protect you from rain and sun. After swimming in the sea, you can rinse in the shower, wash the sand off your feet. There are about 5 rows of sun loungers on the beach. There are 10 sunbeds in each row.
Swimming pool.
Between the sea and the hotel building there is a two-level swimming pool. The purity of the water in them is different. The water is clearer at the top. The size of the upper pool is smaller. Further, in a cascade and partially through pipes, water flows into the lower pool. The main mass splashes here. Figures as in the lower pool. There is also a small bridge here.
The water is chlorinated in the evenings. On the first day of our arrival at 18:00 they tried to close the pool for cleaning. In the following days, the Russo-tourist was repulsed by the desire to clean the pool. While ours are being kicked out from one side of the pool, they are already climbing from the other. There are sun loungers on both levels. They are busy in the morning and afternoon.
Towels are issued from 7 to 19. You write the room number and your last name, date and time of issue. No documents are required to be shown. In the afternoon or in the evening you sign your line. The receiver also puts a squiggle, says thank you.
With me, a man was looking for his towels, with which he staked out sun loungers. Then it turned out that they were taken by another vacationer, from whom someone also stole towels. A vicious circle is obtained. For the loss of 1 red towel, a fine of 500 baht. Red towel for local rest. If you have a trip outside the hotel (it is possible for several days), then you need to take blue towels at the reception. They can be rented around the clock.
In the evening we ate at the restaurant Aroy or Our place. They are opposite each other across the road - at the corner of Naklua16 and Naklua14. Prices and range are about the same. For three of us for dinner, we spent about 500 baht. +20 baht tip. They took seafood in different forms + juice for a child. Interesting seafood soup for 150 baht, rice soup with shrimp for 80 baht. I brought beer with me (35-40 baht for 0.33l). especially pleased with the super-spicy gravy in a small bowl. Outwardly, it looks like a Russian horseradish. The people were. But there were always places to be found. While fulfilling the order, it was possible to take a look at the evening and night life of Thailand. I already wrote about the Internet in OurPlace.
I had 3 phones with me. We used a combination of local Thai cellular and Russian MTS. The first one is for calls within Thailand (2 phones). The second - for communication with family (third phone). Further details. Representatives of TezTour meet at the airport. They give 1 TrueMoveH travel sim card or 2 for free. Its validity period is until 11/25/2013.0 baht on sim. I put aside 50 baht for myself and my wife the next day at FamilyMart. Forcibly spent the time limit on Thai SIM cards already at the airport on the day of departure. If I'm not mistaken - 1 minute 1 baht.
Now about conversations RF->Thailand. On the day of departure from the Russian Federation, I connected the Zero Without Borders service to the MTS number. This gives "free" incoming 200 minutes per month and a subscription fee of 25 R/day. You need to keep within 9 minutes of a conversation. Then you can continue communication with a new incoming call for the next 9 minutes. It is easy to calculate that we could talk for 26.6 minutes a day with relatives and friends on MTS. And it cost 1 ruble per minute. For those calling from the Russian Federation, the billing was the same as for an internal call (to a neighboring house). It is clear that we ourselves did not call - it's expensive. They called us.
In the hotel and next to it there are 4 types of Internet. 1 account for 24 hours. Issued free of charge at the reception. I signed up for the magazine, received a coupon with a password / login and forward. Valid at reception and on the beach. Personally tested and used. The speed is medium-slow. 2- paid wifi. Works in rooms. Expensive. 3- business center. Expensive. 4- restaurant "Our place". You ask for a password. Point with WPA2 encryption. In an hour, I leaked a 70 MB photo. I used options 1 and 4. I saw people skype in the lobby of the hotel. There are several Free WiFi from the balcony. But they are all password protected. Require password/login.
Now a little about excursions.
-fourteen-.
On the twenty-ninth of October we went to the zoo. The weather was very hot. A minivan pulled up behind us at the hotel. There were eight of us in this minibus. Already at the entrance to the zoo, we were joined by two more minibuses of the same travel agency. We bought a big mix for 100 baht to feed the animals. These included bean pods, small bananas, and pieces of corn. After a while we moved you open a mobile platform. On it we traveled around the whole zoo. We stopped near various little animals, photographed and fed. Why was there a show? Very well professionally delivered. Suddenly, a large parrot flew out, flying over our heads about a meter away. Also whether you were tigers are ordinary white tigers. The entire performance took about 15-20 minutes. After the performance, we fed the elephants. Then we got into the mini bus and went to the hotel. But it turned out that we still had to wait for the arrival at the honey factory. Bee factory. The tour was not at all enjoyable. It resembled the process of vtyuhivaniya goods. minutes 4.50
10/30/2013 Overview
Departure from the hotel is very early - on a big bus at 6:50. Everyone is given a branded badge with the bus number. Our hotel was the first one we visited. We returned back at 14:00.
First of all, we went to the Temple of the Golden Buddha near the observation deck. We listened to the tour and took pictures. For twenty baht, the monk gave a blessing and tied an amulet rope around his hand. Boys on the right hand, girls on the left hand. Their purpose is protective or "for good luck. " This tradition is very ancient and is rooted in the Thai idea of the dual nature of the forces that control life and death of a person (kwan and vinyan).
Bells hang at the foot of the golden buddha. You need to pick up a piece of wood and walk through all of them, tapping.
After that, we get on the bus and go up to the observation deck. From there you have a view of the bay. You can see a bunch of boats sailing to the island of Koh Lan.
Then we are taken to the snake farm. You can buy medicine from snakes, eat their meat. The performance with cobras and other poisonous snakes is very interesting.
Following this, a promotion begins - we go to the Vitamax pharmaceutical factory. Here we are trying to sell expensive drugs. Finally, we go to the aquarium. Unfortunately, there is very little time for this. We only saw half of it. At this time, the guide came running to us and hurried us to go to the bus. Finally, we were brought to the jewelry museum, where we could choose our jewelry according to availability. There were trinkets for 400 baht, and there were also 500 thousand baht.
In general, I liked the tour. The tour guide is also well spoken.
31.10. 13 crocodile farm
we went on a free tour from TezTour under the general name "Crocodile Farm". Check out was early. First of all, we stopped at the Park of Million Years Rocks. Fished for crocodiles. Feed the giraffes. We took a picture next to the big kitties. We watched the crocodile show. The guide on the way back revealed almost all the tricks of the Thais in this performance. For example, why did he drag them on the tail, etc. Elephants were fed bananas for 50 baht. Then we bought an elephant ride for 350 baht per nose. It should be borne in mind that a child above 120 cm among Thais is considered an adult. The ride took about 20 minutes. At the exit we were given a plate with a photograph on an elephant. This is included in the cost of the trip.
01.11. 13 Nong Nug + Blue Lagoon
I think these 2 excursions are the most interesting. Excursions were taken in NikaTravel. It's around the corner from the hotel. Next to the green exchange. The guide's name was Andrew. We left at 7-00 from the hotel on Haise. Cost each 1200 baht. What is the focus. The first is the proximity of the park and the lagoon (military beach). Time to move to the beach is saved. The water is clear and the place is beautiful. Military base of the Navy. The price includes sun loungers + water + a plate with lunch.
Nice and clean place. After Nong Nooch, we were taken to a pharmacy, where we bought various teas and ointments for souvenirs. From here, the three of us were taken by a Taoita passenger car. The group went to hotels. Our path lay in Laguna. 25 minutes and we are there. There were places to swim and relax.
During the excursions, we were brought to 2 jewelry centers: "Gems Galery" and "World Gems Collection". We were also at the Healthy Sleep Factory (latex factory). This is for the amateur and the connoisseur.
- eighteen -
Summing up, we can say the following. All events were within the expected range. Here are the main positions. The water in the sea is impure and opaque. If you want clean water, go to Koh Lan (1.5 hours one way + 20 baht tuk-tuk from the hotel to the pier + 40 baht ferry + 20 baht tuk-tuk around the island + 100 baht sun lounger). The furniture in the rooms is worn, but solid. The flight is long and tiring. Settlement is fast. In order not to get fined at the hotel, you need constant monitoring of what you brought, took away, handed over. Most tourists go because of interesting excursions. There is nothing to do with children there.
If you ask me if I will go to Thailand again, I will answer like this. In the hotel and Pattaya - no. And the flight is not worth it. Perhaps the UAE, as an option. I did not experience puppy delight and was not very upset because of the reduction by a day of our stay in Thailand by the tour operator. This country is for an amateur and a connoisseur of its values. I am not one of those experts.
