Day 169

We are still in Pattaya for a few more days. I (Cameron) found a Muay Thai gym near by and checked it out. When I walked in, it was clear this was a no frills experience. It was open air (read no AC). There was a ring, a row of heavy bags, and that was it. After I took off my shoes, the older Thai guy at the front laughed and picked one of them up. Holding it next to his forearm which was the same length, he said I should be able to kick somebody from the other side of the ring. After explaining I wanted to do a training session, he shouted in Thai and a lump I hadn’t even realized was a person sleepily shouted back and rolled under the ropes into the ring. My trainer, Big, so named because although he was a head shorter than me he probably outweighed me by 50 pounds, got me hand wraps and gloves and strapped on pads. We went five rounds running through punch and kick combinations and speed sets. I had a great time with the guys there and enjoyed the workout, even if the pic below is more indicative of how bad I died in the heat.

After Cam’s workout we went to the beach together. We enjoyed watching the water and then watching sunset. The water was still crowded with boats but the sunset was beautiful.

Check out the signs about the fines for riding your motorbike on the sidewalk. These don’t really deter folks and you need to be aware constantly of bikes zooming past you.

Terminal 21 is on our way home from the far end of the beach, so we stopped there. The first thing we did was get a snack at Konos. It’s like a cone of pizza and we have had our eye on it since our first day. It was good but the idea of a cone of pizza was more fun than the actual product.

We got drinks and played cards for a while before we were hungry again. Sometimes it feels like all we do is wander around and/or chill between eating a lot.

We went back to the Thai food court for dinner. We tried new things that were both good and the sauces were amazing. The pictures don’t really do the yumminess justices.

 

Day 170

Big C is a Thai grocery chain that we have been going to while in Pattaya. It’s kinda like a Walmart, if Walmart was inside a shopping mall. It has literally everything from normal food goods, to imported foods, to clothes, to kitchenware to toys and more.

We enjoyed sunset from our balcony today. We are really loving having the outside space to be able to chill when we need a break from the world. We tried a new pizza place for dinner and also tried their wings. Both were good and the wings were especially saucy, which Cam enjoyed. The pizza came with ketchup which is eaten with/on pizza by a lot of Thai people. Even Cam, who is a big fan of ketchup, couldn’t get behind that one.

Day 171

We walked to the beach for sunset and it didn’t disappoint. At first we thought about skipping it because there were so many clouds but we were glad we didn’t because the sky just kept getting prettier even after the sun was down.

Today was Father’s Day in Thailand. So at the mall there were lots of people wearing yellow. With a quick google search we learned that it was to honor the King for Father’s Day. The King was born on a Monday and based on astrology yellow is the color of Monday. From this we then learned that each day of the week has its own color. #learnsomethingnew

Day 172

We are finally leaving Pattaya. This is one of the first places that we are not really sad to be leaving but we are super excited to get back to Bangkok. On the way to Pattaya we took a mini van, (check out last weeks post if you missed that saga) but for the ride back we decided to try the train. There were mixed reviews online but we knew we didn’t want to do the mini van adventure again.

We had coffee at the flower shop place again and then walked to the train station. It was a little bit of a journey to get there, especially with bags but we made it!

Side note: We saw these footprints in the concrete on the way. This is something that we have seen all over Thailand and we finally figured out why. Yesterday, we saw some wet cement and the only thing stopping you from stepping in it was a single cone on one side of the cement. We almost stepped in it unknowingly and we assume that is what has happened with all these other footprints.

The train was FANTASTIC! We stocked up on snacks before we left and had a short wait on this cute railroad tie bench.

We got good seats in a train car with a woman selling other snacks too. On the train we saw so much of the countryside that we would have missed on the highway. We also learned about new sweat glands that we never knew we had because we had never sweat this much in our lives. But overall it was great!

Back in Bangkok…sort of. So we made it back to Bangkok but we still needed to get to the hostel. The directions had said to switch trains so we got off and literally walked across the tracks to get to the City Train Line. After a bit of a struggle, figuring out the machine, we got tokens to get on the train. We rode the train, switched again, and finally got off at the stop that was closest to our hostel. We thought about getting a taxi but then decided to walk to save money.

Eventually we got to the hostel and it seemed pretty nice and had great AC! The hostel also had a sense of humor with their signage. After getting settled we went out for dinner. We stopped at a street cart for noodles and then stopped to play pool because we noticed they had a Titos table. #TexasShoutOut

Day 173

We are at a new hostel that is in the same Khao San Road area as our last hostel. This hostel seems like more fun and has great spaces to hangout with other people, which is always good. We went back to The Family restaurant for lunch because its delicious. If you’re in Bangkok you should go there. After lunch we walked to a nearby park and watched the river for awhile.

After dark we walked around and enjoyed all the Christmas lights that were put up while we were in Pattaya. We then went to a little restaurant close to the hostel. It turned out to be amazing. Its down a little side street, the tables are on the opposite side of the street and the food is prepared right there on the street. It was simple and so good.

Day 174

We had big plans for today which included getting new shoes from the TOMS store while we are in a city that has one. The day started off rainy though so we waited for the weather to get better.

After the weather cleared up we started walking towards the mall area. Its a far walk but we knew we would see a lot of interesting things along the way. In general we choose walking over taking a taxi or tuk tuk because of how much more we are able to see while we are walking.

Today didn’t disappoint! On our walk we came across the Golden Mount. We hadn’t planned to go there but we walked in and checked it out since we were already there.

Since we left for Pattaya the malls all decorated for Christmas. They put our decorating at home to shame. There were so many trees, Santas, and lights everywhere.

The mall complexes start with MBK that we visited before. Then there is mall after mall after mall all the way down the street following the train line. We stopped at one to have lunch. Checkout the process for getting money on a purchase card that you then use at the restaurants.

In one of the many malls we walked through we found a Garrets Popcorn. Katie enjoyed that a lot because it reminded her of home. Upstairs in that same mall we saw some traditional Thai dancers putting on a show.

We finally arrived at the mall with the TOMS store. Katie got her new shoes!

Then we decided to go see the Terminal 21 in Bangkok, since we had spent so much time at the one in Pattaya. Sadly, the one in Bangkok is not as good as the Pattaya mall but there were a few good statues.

Check out the bar across the shop. We have seen this a bunch of times when a shop/store owner steps out for a moment and no one is there to watch the store.

We were finally exhausted from wondering around malls and headed for the train home. After struggling again to figure out the system we got passes for the train. Check out the sign we noticed, it says to give up seats for monks.

Day 175

More wondering around and looking at neat temples. We went back to The Family restaurant for lunch. They do an amazing job loading up all of the dishes with lots of veggies and they are super nice. (Oh! And there are cats roaming around as entertainment!)

We walked around more and then watched sunset at the park by the river. Being at the park at 6:00pm allowed us to hear the national anthem for the first time. We didn’t understand what was happening at first but figured it out quickly when everyone was standing. A work out class started promptly after the anthem at 6:00 and we were super impressed by the dance skills of the people in the class.

We did some Netflix watching in the dorm room, played cards and wandered around the rest of the evening. Checkout the cold towels we saw for sale at 7/11. That’s how warm it gets here. 😮

More from SE Asia next week!

Thailand