Drove the motorbike to Jomtien Beach, on the opposite side of Pratumnak Hill for the better part of the day.  Then meandered back to Pattaya Bay via the top of the hill where the Big Buddha calls home at Kao Phra Yai Wat temple.  Then a lookout point and back to the beach… only this time in the center of crazy Pattaya.

And… well, holy shit, what a crazy place! Sorry for cursing, but it truly was all those words described, one of the party places on the planet. If you think Vegas or Amsterdam or Ibiza or whatever is crazy, well then you haven’t travelled far enough!  Put Pattaya on your to-do list.

For me, there was no better place to welcome in the year 2012 the following night………………

Located 145km from Bangkok, the trip is easily taken by bus or van that leave hourly, we actually took one straight from the airport.  Pattaya itself has some decent beaches, not as nice as the ones in Phuket, Phangan and Samui, but certainly a step up from home.  The city itself is located mainly around Pattaya Bay, divided into two parts by Pratumnak Hill (where the Wat Khao Phra Bat temple is located; pics to follow), north of which is Pattaya proper and to the south Jomtien.  Jomtien is where we spent our days, lounging on the more family-friendly beaches, away from the mayhem that is Pattaya proper.  Our hotel was also located about a 10min motorbike ride from the center, which was definitely a smart move.

Pattaya.  Allegedly the second most visited city in Thailand (after Bangkok), it is a hotspot for Bankokians seeking a weekend retreat from the big city.  It is mostly known for being bananas.  The Walking Street is, as the name should suggest, is a walking street literally littered with ALL KINDS of bars (some had mini boxing rings inside, where you can watch or join kickboxing fights), clubs, gogo bars, massage parlors and some restaurants.  It is a complete sensory overload.  No pictures can do it any justice, especially if ‘no photography’ signs adorn pretty much every establishment.  And for good reason.

Pattaya, oh holy hell, what a crazy place!

View Koh Samui trek in a larger map

Beaches, waterfalls, elephant trekking… what more could I possibly ask for in day… everything was so beautiful.

…oh yeah, and it should go without saying that the night was met with more street food (from yet another night market!) and Long Islands Ice Teas!!

Luckily the trip from KP to KS was pretty easy… we took the fast ferry too, because someone got a little sick on the 3hour slow ferry from the mainland to Koh Phangan some days before.

Koh Samui… I didn’t really know what to expect.  I know that, second to Phuket, it is the tourist hot spot Thailand.  That being said, we were staying in Mae Nam, slightly away from the mayhem of Chaweng (which in my opinion should be avoided).  Once again, right away rented a motorbike and hit the road… which was a nice paved one, with a fair amount of traffic (although, not at all that bad), very much unlike the past couple days on Koh Phangan.  KS has one major “highway” that circles in the island, doable full-circle in a couple hours, to give you a rough size of the island.   But yeah, I had expected way too many tourists and that I’d be apalled by the ran-sacking thereof… but I actually fell in love with the place.  As great as a Koh Phangan was (it really was), for a city-boy like me, I can’t be too remote, Samui offered a nice mixture… easily a place I could live for years.  Although I wouldn’t get much done.

This first night we tried to go inland up into the mountains to take some night photos, but the roads got really bad… pretty much impossible for 2 people on a small motorbike (piles of bright red mud… and it had recently rained, a lot), so that idea was scraped.  Instead, we went to the area between Mae Nam and Bo Phut, where to our great surprise there was a lively street market going on.  I bought some t-shirts, stuffed myself with mystery street food and 50baht Long Island Ice Teas, after some evening photography of course… easily one of the most pleasant nights I’ve ever had.