October 22nd, 2006 – Travel to Bangkok from Pattaya
Travel from Pattaya to Bangkok by Taxi
Meet with Explorer Group at Hotel
“Lost Cities of Angkor”
Haven Hotel (Pattaya) – Royal Hotel (Bangkok)
Expenses for the day:
Breakfast at Hotel
140 Baht = $4.37 CAD
Hotel Rate is 960 Baht a night for 5 nights
4800 Baht = $150.00 CAD for 5 nights = $30.00 CAD per night
Taxi back to Bangkok, city center.
1900 Baht = $59.38 CAD
Lunch in Bangkok
90 Baht = $2.82 CAD
Dinner near Hotel – Seafood Salad with Large Beer
310 Baht = $9.67 CAD
Bar – 2 Large Beer
180 Baht = $5.63 CAD
I had a little time this morning for some breakfast at the hotel and a short walk along the beach before checking out. I expecting an hour of free time for some reading after my check out before my taxi arrived but he was all ready waiting for me down stairs by 10:00 a.m. So it was the long trip back to Bangkok enjoying some of the local scenery along the way. Most roads in Thailand are of less quality of what we are use to in Canada but this road was fine once we got out of Pattaya. There are a few toll booths along the way and the traffic was good and we got to my hotel in Bangkok in less than the expected 2 hours.
My home for the next 2 nights is the Royal Hotel (Room #237) which is situated within walking distance of the Grand Palace. It is an older hotel but is very spacious and affordable. For the next 7 nights my hotels are all ready paid for with my package deal through the Explorer group. I go for a small lunch after checking in and again I do a little walking around just to see how things are in Bangkok. The pollution here is much more than I thought. Even though I was told what to expect, it was still an eye opener. Or I should say an eye burner! All the times that I will be in Bangkok on this trip I will find that my eyes and skin are burning to some degree.
I meet up with my group in the hotel lobby at 6:00 p.m. There were postings on some of the walls in the hotel and it was easy to find the information that I needed for this. It turns out that it will be a smaller group than I have had before. 7 others will be in my group and they are all from England. Eleanor Wright, Darren Wilson, David Jenkins, Anthony Robinson, Jon & Heather Fieldsend. After a short introduction we all decided to meet in the lobby once again where we decided to go for dinner.
There is a street just a few blocks away with many shops and restaurants and our tour leader, who called himself “AE” helped with a selection before leaving us on our own. I decided on a sea food salad that was “Thai Hot” but not off the scale hot as my waiter assured me. I am not sure what “off the scale” would be like but this dish was too hot for me to handle. After trying to eat a small portion I found myself unable to speak for at least 20 minutes! Trying to talk and eat such food is not recommended by me after this episode. I could even feel it the next morning; it was like I had a throat infection when I tried to swallow. Like the old saying goes “Live and Learn”. After dinner we stop for a few beer before heading back to the hotel.