I spent a couple nights in Bangkok, after escaping the floods in Hat Yai. The remainder of my two weeks trip was on the beaches of Ko Samet and Pattaya.
While I was in Bangkok, they began to put up lots of Christmas decorations. Seems like there are even more than back home.
Here is a beer bottle Christmas Tree found along LK Metro, Pattaya.
I again took the big bus from Bangkok on November 28th for a four-hour ride down to Ban Phe where I again visited and got a massage at the Laksika Massage Shop owned by Chollada Naka. I first met her four years ago on Ko Samet where she was a massage therapist at the Sirion Massage Shop. Da had Lily, one of her massage therapists, give me a ride to and from Nuanthip Pier on her motorbike.
Da told me she decided that she wasn’t going to move to the place where the big hotel was going up because the construction was considerably delayed. Instead, she’ll stay where she is as she is gradually building up customers.
I stayed a week at the Runa Runa guesthouse, which was close to the center of Ko Samet Village and where I had stayed before. It was a comfortable simple room and very clean owned by a Thai woman and a Japanese man and cost $23 per night.
Throughout the village, they were doing some majory utilities construction which was pretty labor-intensive and used small concrete mixer trucks and lots of workers.
My usual routine was to first have some coffee, banana and pastry in my room and then head down to Chili’s restaurant where I had a full American breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, shredded cabbage, and coffee.
After that, I would get an hour massage at the Sirion massage shop where Da used to work, and then stop by the smoothie shop owned by Da‘s brother, Wut. Their mango smoothies, and other smoothies were pieces of art and for just ฿80 – –$3 USD.
Avocado and Chocolate
I would then get in my daily 3 miles of walking along the beach, followed by relaxing in the lounge chair under one of the sun umbrellas with occasional dips in the bathtub-warm water.
On one of the evenings, I would go to the Reef Restaurant for their outstanding filet mignon with mushrooms, oniond, garlic, roasted potatoes, and tomatoes along with another mango smoothie at a cost of ฿850--$28 USD including tip.
Other evenings, I would stop at a variety of restaurants to enjoy the music and the ambience of dining by the Gulf of Thailand. Far out in the sea, I could see several boats with their green lights, searching for shrimp throughout the night.
Several of the restaurants offered entertainment as well as nightly fire shows, and the biggest one was the Ploy Talay with an 8 PM nightly performances.
My favorite dinners were the Penang curry dinners at Buddies Restaurant found right along the White Sand Beach.
After a week, I returned to Ban Phe, on the mainland, and was met by Lily on the Nuanthip pier who took me to Da's shop on her motorbike. I got another massage at Da’s shop before catching a minibus to Pattaya where I spent my final week in Thailand.
This bus was decked out on the interior with lots of gold, almost as though President Trump had designed it.
It was just an hour and a half bus ride to the Pattaya Bus Station where I stopped to buy my final bus ticket to the Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to catch my flight back to Seattle via Incheon on Korean Airlines on December 13th since it books up quickly.
From there, I caught a ฿50 bus ride that got me close to my hotel, Harry’s Restaurant, Bar and Guest House, for $39 per night. This place was located near LK Metro, a popular night spot with many bars, go-go bars, and music venues.
After a cheap breakfast ฿95 ($3 USD) – – eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, sausages, toast, and jam, and orange juice – – I would walk down to the beach and do my one-hour daily 3-mile walk before settling in on a lounge chair, reading another pocket book while sipping on a fresh coconut or mango smoothie. During my time at Ko Samet and here in Pattaya, I read about eight books— mystery, cop, and spy books.
After passing by this facial shop in Mike’s Shopping Mall, I decided to get the ฿499 special—$20 USD including tip. it was quite a one-hour treat to get pampered.
Here is what my facial included:
Complete Takashi Facial cleansing
Facial scrub and foaming cream
Ozone steaming, unclogs blocked pores
Remove blackheads and impurities
Facial massage in Takashi style
Acne mask light
Takashi nourishing treatment.
I also enjoyed getting oil massages and foot massages at the Nemos Massage shop. Here I am getting a foot massage. These one-hour massages including tip are just ฿350--$12USD.
I enjoy strolling along the crowded “Walking Street” where tourists mingle with several women and ladyboys advertising their restaurants, discos, go-go bars, beer bars, and other entertainment and food venues
.
At the end of my trip, I took a motorbike—฿100— to the bus station where I caught the 1 1/2 hour bus to the Survarnambhumi Airport (BKK)—฿190 ($6 USD)—for my midnight flight on Korean Airlines to Seattle with a 7-hour stopover in Incheon, South Korea. While there, I had my last Thai meal of shrimp soup, cashew nut chicken with steamed rice, omelette, and mango smoothie at ฿830--$28 USD.
I enjoyed the Incheon Airport entertainment with traditional garbed performers singing the KPop Demon Hunters favorite—Golden—-and martial arts group carrying out some amazing moves.
They had some great quiet lounge chair areas where I was able to nap about 4 hours before my flight. I also enjoyed the heated-seat toilets with warm water butt spritzers.
My 10-hour flight was uneventful with some tasty Korean meals to break up the flight when I wasn’t sleeping.
I arrived with a break in the atmospheric river hitting the Northwest weather, with massive flooding in the low lying areas. Our home in Duvall had become an island with all roads closed because of the flooding. I took the light rail into downtown Seattle. So cold here with a second atmospheric river on its way. I am looking forward to returning to Thailand and Laos mid-January and its hot and sunny weather.
