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Showing posts with label thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thailand. Show all posts

25 June 2020

Travel Ready - Let's Go


Table Mountain from the V and A Waterfront Cape Town South Africa

My own love of travel started in 1992 with my first trip to UK and Europe. This must be the only "bug" bite that I have ever welcomed with total abandon and never regretted. Although I am certainly not an adventure traveller, preferring the more leisurely options of photography, food, hiking and enjoying the various cultural aspects of each country, I do remain in awe of all the incredible feats witnessed on TV/uTube etc by so many amazing folk who seem to have a fear of absolutely nothing!

Nonetheless, a traveller I remain on my own small scale. Just watching Ben Fogle talking from his garden hut in his UK home, about his enforced Covid-19 Lockdown and his memories of his Atlantic Canoe crossing, makes me want to hop on a plane and head off to photograph somewhere different and new to me. Or maybe just to see somewhere with fresh eyes again?

Travel can be whatever you want it to be - no matter how sedate or how adventure driven it ends up being. The odd travel mishaps will occur - mine have been fairly few and far between.

In Argentina, I fell down some uneven steps and ended up in agonizing pain. With only 1 staff member who could speak English in the resort where we were staying, we were eventually assisted to a local hospital. The waiting room was full, dogs playing between patient's legs, breast feeding mothers, kids looking wide-eyed at everything around them and patient, resigned folk prepared to wait and wait for their turn. To this day, I don't know what the lady told Reception but I was brought a wheelchair and taken straight through to a doctor. The X-Ray equipment appeared ancient but functional and I truly got the best care. The injection that I received must have been a truly magic potion as my pain started easing within a few hours. I was told to rest for 6 days - really? In a country I had never seen before and would most probably never see again? I spent one day in bed and then braced myself to sit in the back seat of the car, with my leg extended, so that we could venture out exploring. We continued on our journey and I was able to walk again after a few days. Hats off to this small hospital in Argentina! A heartfelt thank you.

In Zanzibar I ended up with severe gastro the night prior to our departure. It appeared that I had been drinking too much mango juice - lesson learned - stick to beer! The doctor gave me the correct medrication and the hotel staff were amazing - offering me whatever I felt like eating - which was not much besides toast, tea and some soup. Our flights were postponed and I got to recover sitting on my lounger watching the dhows sailing by.

In Thailand, we started a hike into a forest and within minutes I was itching like never before. It was insane and I was jumping around like a grasshopper from one foot to the next but with no relief from the little blighters (whatever they were)  Needless to say, that ended the proposed hike. So stock up on cream BEFORE heading into these forests!

For our trip to India, we stocked up on loads of medication for the dreaded  "Delhi Belly"
Although we spent 4 weeks eating only local, delicious Indian food, we escaped unscathed and I eventually threw away the medication a year later! However, this was a very necessary precaution so do take care if travelling to this incredibly interesting country. The food in Southern India is truly yummy - the best ever!

These were all fairly minor mishaps and just add to the travel experience.
Travel opens once's eyes to so much and although, most of us will never get to all the places on our Bucket List, there is no harm in trying.....start planning!

Despite being an avid traveller worldwide, my own country South Africa, has incredible beauty and variety to offer. We travel as much as we can locally every year. For anybody, who has not yet travelled to South Africa, start planning. You will not be disappointed.

                            South Africa is "Travel Ready" 
                                Start planning your trip 
                                    www.bradclin.com
                                    #proudlycapetonian


Table Mountain from Signal Hill Cape Town South Africa




                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa
                                      www.bradclin.com


#iamtourism


30 July 2019

Thailand - Pattaya


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!!

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.

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!
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.
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.

A Hard Days Night in Pattaya Beach Thailand


Pattaya Floating Market - Thailand






Pattaya Floating Market Thailand




Temple of the Big Buddha Pattaya Thailand
Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand

Water Sports available - Jomteim Beach Pattaya Thailand
Busy Main Beach Road Pattaya Thailand

Swimming Areas Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand


Family Marts are all over Thailand


Love the hair! Pattaya Thailand
Thailand King is everywhere



For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa
www.bradclin.com

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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
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
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
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