Pattaya: seas & more

First impression lasts forever. Arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, we were ready for our first destination in Thailand - Pattaya. Essentially a fishermen's village, Pattaya has over the years grown to be one of Asia's leading beach resorts and the most visited city in Thailand after Bangkok. We certainly hoped that the rustic charm of this beach city would do enough to sweep us off our feet.

Having already made the arrangements for hotel and transport, we were pleasantly greeted at the airport by our local Thai guide with the traditional "wai" Thai greeting, accompanied by a very pleasant 'Sawadee Krap' (Hello). Surprisingly enough, she spoke good English. A good start indeed. Our transport arrived and soon we were on our way to Pattaya. Our driver, Loesan tried his best to explain us some of the landmarks on the way. Though we were mostly on the highways (Sukhumvit Road and Motorway 7) for better part of our journey, we could feel the high rise buildings and huge billboards of Samsung and Sony slowly giving way to the natural surroundings. Man-made jungle of the busy city life slowly yielding to Mother Nature. Over on the hill tops, amidst the trees we could make out tops of sanctuaries and monasteries. Thailand has a majority of Buddhist population and the entire country is dotted with monasteries - starting from some simple ones to the ones that invite a million footfall every year (The Emerald Buddha or the Sleeping Buddha).




Pattaya Street food

Parasailing

With a quick shower and a change of clothes at the hotel, we were ready for our evening walk. To know a place its important to know its people and their culture. And what better way to accomplish this than to take a walk down the busy Central Pattaya Road in the evening. Shops in Pattaya stay open till midnight enabling the tourists to savour the local flavour after a tired day at the beach. Street food is as exciting as it gets - from fried chicken to sea food to the ones you never thought could land on your plate. If you are prepared to shed your inhibitions and get adventurous, it can be quite a culinary experience for you. Souvenirs shops are ample in number and with a bit of haggling over the price (something we are pretty used to), you can really get a good deal. However, you have to be patient to listen carefully and then negotiate the price as Thais are not good in English, unless you land up in some big supermarket. To solve this problem, they have found out an interesting way out. When you enquire the price of an article, a calculator comes out and the price in Thai Bhats (local currency, 1 Thai Bhat ~ 1.6 INR) is typed into the screen. To negotiate, you have to retype the price and this process goes on till both parties are in agreement. Necessity, indeed is the mother of invention.

The following day we had our plans ready for Coral Island, also known as the Ko Larn. Our guide arrived at sharp 8 in the morning to pick us up and gave a heads up of the day ahead. Dressed in beachwear, we were more than ready to jump into the crystal clear water. Reaching the beach, a speed boat was waiting to take us to the Coral Island. Before us lay the Gulf of Thailand and its vast expanse. With water splashing on our faces, the bumpy speed boat ride was an adventure in itself. Once on the island, we were offered a choice of the various water sports available - each one as exciting as the other. There were people parasailing - wherein you are tied with a parachute to the end of a speed boat that moves at a considerable speed. Once the speed-boat picks up speed, the parachute gathers enough air to pull you up in the sky giving a sensation of flying like a bird. Then all a sudden the speedboat slows down and you hit the water, drenching yourself upto your waist. This process goes on quite a number of times. Some other common rides were - Banana boat ride - where a group of people sit on a banana shaped boat tied at the end of a speedboat, the normal gliding, snorkelling - wherein you are provided an oxygen mask and you dive deep into some selected areas of the sea to see the coral and the marine life around it. Choosing much safer options we went for the submarine ride and a under sea walk. Vimantaitalay tourist submarine offers trips underwater to see corals and marine life just a few kilometres offshore. As the submarine sank gradually, we could witness the colour of the water slowly going darker due to lack of sunlight penetration and the count of fishes increasing. Reaching the sea bed, the view of the coral was just awesome. Shoals of fishes surrounded our vehicle from all sides – something you would get to see in the pages of National Geography. However, the best was reserved for later when we went for the sea walk. Armed with a heavy oxygen mask and guided by an expert diver, we went down 5 metres into the sea. The fishes we saw a few minutes back on the other side of the submarine window were now all over us. When we offered them food (bread crumbs), we could literally feel them nibbling from our own hands. Walking over the sea bed was a new experience for us altogether. What we had so long seen on television screens and magazine’s glossy pages was a reality. Now we could definitely walk the talk. We were sea divers!



On top of the submarine

The later part of the day was spent in relaxing at the beachside and enjoying the sumptuous lunch we were offered. Sea food, chicken – you name it and we had it all. Pattaya is truly an international destination and that was pretty evident from the people we could see around us – Americans, Europeans, Russians, even a few from the middle east and not to forget the Chinese. Also got to meet a few Bengalis too. The fishermen’s village was now a global village.

Coral Island