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| We overlooked these "Lego" Buildings - Pattaya Thailand |
When driving in Thailand, check for Buddhist holidays! We found this out to our cost when we drove from Kanchanaburi (Bridge over River Kwai) to Pattaya. It was OK until we reached the outskirts of Bangkok .....as always getting past this city takes forever but we had no idea what awaited us on the highway south. A 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 120 kms was slowed down to a crawl of less than 10 kms per hour. Bumper to bumper with even the shoulder lane being used, the traffic was insane and crawling along. The trip took 5.5 hours!!
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| Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand |
Pattaya beach offers virtually no parking so we headed off to swim at Jomtiem Beach. This beach is 6 km long, much quieter than Pattaya beach, the swimming areas are cordoned off and the water is blissfully warm! The beach chairs were not very upmarket but as we only wanted a long walk and some swimming, this was not an issue. Although the humidity was high (as always!) it was a fairly cool day so I was most surprised to see how sunburned I got from the walk.
Giving my sunburned body a rest the rest day seemed like a good idea so we headed off to the coll, air-conditioned comfort of Terminal 21. This shopping centre is a must visit. Each floor has a different theme and the shops and decor is stunning. London, Paris, Italy, Tokyo and San Francisco are all represented. The top floor has an immense food court which was bustling with customers.
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| Big Buddha Pattaya Thailand |
The Big Buddha is worth a visit...please be respectful.
An 18 meter tall gold painted statue of the Buddha graces the top of Big Buddha Hill Pattaya. This magnificent image is in the centre of Wat Phra Yai (Big Buddha Temple) – Pattaya’s most important Buddhist temple.
Wat Phra Yai was built in the 1940s, when Pattaya was just a small fishing village. The Buddha statue was constructed in 1977.
One cannot leave Pattaya without a visit to the Floating Market!
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| Pattaya Floating Market - Thailand |
Get the feel of a traditional Thai floating market watching vendors wearing rice hats paddling slowly down the water at Pattaya floating market, a large place with entertainment, shopping and dining.
Take a walk around the market on the wooden walkways or see the market from the water taking a boat ride in a longtail boat or amphibious boat. Most of the market is under cover, except for the wooden bridges crossing the water.
The floating market consists of four sections, each one representing the culture and architecture of one of the four regions in Thailand. In each of the four sections you can see wooden houses built in the style of each region, Central, North, North East and South.
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| Pattaya Floating Market |
We opted to walk all around; there are hundreds of colourful stalls selling all sorts of goods plus rather delicious looking foods.The vendors in the water were interesting as some looked bored, others were busy selling food, and some were dozing! A fun experience all round.
We were determined to get a parking spot at Pattaya beach so we headed off at 07.30 one morning.
We nabbed one of the last remaining spots - yeah! We had to brave the school run of motor cycles to get to the beach unscathed. This beach is great, decent beach chairs and a very long beach. The boats line the beach and hordes of tourists were lining up for the excursion of the day. The beachfront road is lined with very posh hotels, many shops and restaurants. Feeling like a was just about to enter a "Miss Wet T-Shirt" competition due to the extreme humidity, we decided to partially hide inside a lovely breakfast spot. At 160 Baht it was excellent value and I dried off somewhat, enough to brave the pavements again after this hearty breakfast.
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| A Hard Days Night in Pattaya Beach Thailand |
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| Pattaya Floating Market - Thailand |
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| Pattaya Floating Market Thailand |
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| Temple of the Big Buddha Pattaya Thailand |
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| Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand |
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| Water Sports available - Jomteim Beach Pattaya Thailand |
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| Busy Main Beach Road Pattaya Thailand |
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| Swimming Areas Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand |
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| Family Marts are all over Thailand |
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| Love the hair! Pattaya Thailand |
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| Thailand King is everywhere |
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A long stairway flanked
by two golden colored naga snakes leads to the main statue. From up
there, the view is unfortunately not so clear.
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
Located on Khao Phra
Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha
(or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet
little fishing village. Called Phra
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
Located on Khao Phra
Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha
(or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet
little fishing village. Called Phra
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
Located on Khao Phra
Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha
(or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet
little fishing village. Called Phra
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com
