Thailand is said to be one of the best travel destinations in the world. It is home to relaxing beaches and a very unique culture. I’ll explain sometime why I find Thai culture as weird and amazing at the same time. Since I named this blog as ‘epistleofadventures,’ let me share our Pattaya City adventure.
First off, I am a budget traveler, I go to the cheapest place ever because I am more invested in spending for adventures than luxurious accommodation or fancy food.
How did we manage going to Pattaya, the Sin City of Asia with a budget of 1000 baht?
- PLAN
If you’re a budget traveler, it would be good to plan your trip ahead so that you won’t spend too much. We were a group of five and so expenses were divided, and that helped a lot. We searched for the cheapest means of transportation, how to save on food, and places we can go to and all those other stuff.
2. PACK YOUR FOOD
A day before our trip, we went to the grocery, pitched in 150 baht each and cooked. We don’t speak Thai so it’s hard to look for a restaurant that’s cheap and yummy. Believe me, some food here, looks so appetizing on the menu, and when you taste it, you might be surprised, it’s usually too spicy or has a lot of herbs. If your taste buds are not accustomed to Thai food, better yet, bring your own food. We cooked all time Filipino favorites ‘lumpiang shanghai’ and ‘adobo.’ We also made egg sandwiches and brought our own 1.5 liters of water. Just a reminder Thailand is a tropical country so you can’t just leave the house without water.
Here’s our itinerary:
- We left Bangkok at 5:30 AM via taxi from our condo to the van terminal. The van left at around 6:30 AM. It cost us around 200 baht. You can also go to the bus terminal in Ekkamai to go to Pattaya. I think that’s a better option. It was an almost 3-hour trip from Bangkok cause the van kept on switching passengers with other vans. Finally, we got to our destination, at Pattaya Pier.
From Pattaya Pier, we went to our first destination, the Buddha Mountain. You can ride a blue songthaew or what they refer to as a taxi in the area. One trip to Buddha Mountain is worth 500 baht.
BUDDHA MOUNTAIN
The Buddha Mountain is located in Khao Cheejan, it’s about 30 minutes from the pier. It’s an amazing thing to see. I can’t even imagine how they were able to carve the Buddha image there.
It was created in 1996 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession in the throne. The Buddha image was carved out of the cliff using laser technology. It is 130 meters high and 70 meters wide, hence it’s one of the biggest Buddha images in the world. (https://www.renown-travel.com/daytripspattaya/buddhamountain.html)
Tip for travelers: bring shades and a hat. Wear sunscreen too.
SILVERLAKE VINEYARD
If you want some Europe feels in Pattaya, you can head off to Silverlake Vineyard. We were able to negotiate with the driver, so for 600 baht, he took us to Silverlake. The 600 includes our return trip to Jomtien beach.
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Silverlake was a breath of fresh air. It’s a relaxing place and has a magnificent view. The plantations and tiny houses plus the flowers were so beautiful. It has a coffee shop where you can buy their products. My friend bought a blueberry jam, which according to them tasted so good.
They also have available vineyard tours with wine tasting. There were two kinds of tours. We were actually in a hurry so we decided not to take the tour. It was a huge place so if you have the time, you can take the tour. The front gardens, fountains, and statues were enough to make us happy. On our way to Jomtien, we stopped at a new place, Upsidedown Pattaya. It was still in construction but I bet this place is gonna be packed when it opens. 
ACCOMODATION
There are a lot of hotels along the Jomtien Beach. We got the backpacker dormitory for 300 baht. It was a nice place. Since there’s five of us, it was just like we rented the entire room. There are three double decks, a common dining area, and kitchen. Everything was there. We just heated our food in the microwave and we were all set.
JOMTIEN BEACH
After getting a few hours of sleep, we went to the beach, rented a reclining chair and just relaxed. It was a very sunny afternoon, perfect for listening to good music and lying down.
The beach is good for walking and eating food. It’s perfect for a quiet afternoon while watching the sunset. However, it’s not a good place to swim. I’m from the Philippines, so when I say beach, what I imagine is a very breathtaking view. Sad to say, you can only enjoy Jomtien Beach if you will go on banana boat, or go kayaking. Swimming is a no no. There were so many dead fish and jellyfish that I almost cried. I soaked in the water for less than five minutes and decided that it was not worth it.
WALKING STREET
Well, well, this was the highlight of our trip. The walking street is famous in the whole world for its peculiar night life. I’ve read somewhere that you can’t go to Pattaya and not experience being in the Walking Street. The songthaew from Jomtien to Pattaya is 10 baht. We left at nine pm and when we were there I was in state of shock.
I haven’t even imagined that places like that exists. I won’t bore you with the boring details. What I can just say is, the stories are true. We went to a bar, ordered a few beers, and danced our hearts out. At 1 AM, we rode a songthaew to Jomtien.
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That was our Pattaya escape. We stayed in the dormitiory for a night and went home first thing in the morning. There’s a songthaew in Jomtien Beach that can take you to the city proper and you can ride a van to Bangkok. It was just a quick getaway and for travelers who want to experience Pattaya, it’s very easy and doesn’t need to be expensive.
Don’t forget to have fun from time to time. Yes, we should have goals, but what’s life if we won’t enjoy it?
kate samaniego 