BACK to the Beach!
Trip Start
May 31, 2011
1
17
27
Trip End
Sep 06, 2011
Pattaya, Thailand
Sunday, August 21, 2011
One of the first places we went other than the beaches and the pool was the Sanctuary of Truth. This is actually right outside of Pattaya and it was actually built quite recently by a billionaire who wanted to keep both the history and old world craftsmanship of Asia alive. It was started in 1981 and won't be finished for another 20 years. It is carved entirely out of wood by hand and it is incredibly impressive. It is a very spiritual place with Hindu and Buddhist influences present.
Another thing we did in Pattaya was go to one of the coolest movie theaters I have been into was called "The Porch" where one whole wall was open to the ocean on the 6th floor of a mall. While we were watching Final Destination, a storm rolled in and seeing and feeling the rain come across the sky while we were watching the movie is something I will never forget. They also didn't use standard seats but instead had a number of different beds you could buy tickets for. So awesome!
We also went to the Pattaya floating market, which, as the name suggests is a large, floating market! Here we found clothes, fish spas, bizarre foods, zip lines, pet goats, jewelry and more! It was a bit touristy but the prices were actually quite good!
The majority of our time in Pattaya was spent relaxing by day and bar hopping at night though which was as it should be. As I mentioned before we found a spot that offered 1 hour massages for 99 baht (like $3.30) so we added that to our routines as well. Wake up about 11 to Danielle whimpering "I'm Hungry", go have a 50 baht American breakfast near our condo, head to town and get a massage, shop some, and then hit a bar or 4 if we felt like it. It really was paradise.
However since Danielle hadn't really travelled much I wanted to make sure she saw a lot of Asia so we planned a bunch of side trips as well. Interesting story behind our first one. I had done a visa run to Cambodia right before Danielle arrived which had given me an extra 15 days on my Thailand tourist visa but I needed to go to another country before the next 15 days ran out. I had also been on a forum online and had come across a post that was called "Post the best photo you have ever taken." As I scrolled through many of the pictures, I came across one that took my breath away. "I want to go there!" I exclaimed. And when I found it was just a few countries away it was decided: We were going to Halong Bay, Vietnam which is about 2 hours east of Hanoi.
So I told Danielle to grab her new passport and pack the color red because we are heading into the heart of communist Vietnam!
