First trip to Thailand
Good afternoon! I hasten to share my impressions of the first trip to Thailand.
We traveled from September 22 to October 5 for 11 nights with the tour operator ITM group.
I must say right away that, reading and hearing numerous rave reviews about this country, I also dreamed of visiting there, but it so happened that we went to this country unexpectedly, because we waited a long time for a new passport and did not have time to get a visa to where we wanted to initially . And vacation was on the nose. But I did not regret a bit that I chose Thailand.
So, 10 days before departure, I started to explore the Internet and quite by accident I stumbled upon the tour operator ITM group. I did not find a lot of reviews about this tour operator on the net, but I liked the variety of combinations in Thailand that the ITM group offered.
And when I realized that the Thai airlines operated by the ITM group are considered to be among the best in the world, and the price for the same combination as that of Pegasus turned out to be much lower, there was no doubt that we would only go with the ITM group. And I must say that this is a great tour operator! We met, took, placed, saw off - everything was on time and without overlays. No complaints.
Flight. Departure at 18.25 from Domodedovo, which was very convenient for us both in terms of the airport and in terms of time. I note that the most frightening thing on this trip was the flight - 9 hours in the air, I could not imagine that you can do so much time on the plane. But it all went surprisingly fast. Thai Airways is a great company: nice flight attendants dressed up like actresses in national costumes, blankets, pillows, an individual monitor located on the front seat with a bunch of movies (in English).
lang), music and games, relaxing alcohol, hot napkins and really worthy two meals a day with a delicious dessert - the time flew by and at 06.00 local time we were already in Bangkok.
There we were met by a Thai representative of the ITM group - a girl, she hung a flower necklace around our neck, handed us souvenirs - purses, put us in the car and we went to the hotel (in Thailand, the ITM group is called Ilves Tour). I couldn't believe that we had flown to the other side of the world (at least for me it was) and finally in Thailand - in the country where I so dreamed of visiting!
Koh Chang Island, KoChang Cliff Beach Resort. We had a tour of the island of Koh Chang + Pattaya, so we immediately went to the island from Bangkok airport. It so happened that of all those who arrived with this tour operator, we were the only ones who went to the island, so we went there with a Thai driver in Tayota, here is such an individual transfer.
From the airport to the pier Trat drove 4 hours, then 30 minutes waiting for the ferry, then about 1 hour on the ferry, in total the whole journey took about 6 hours, of course tiring after the plane. But the island was worth it! ! ! When you swim up to the island, it seems that it is a mountain overgrown with forest, and there are no roads and people there. But of course it is not. A single road stretches along the perimeter of the island, which, however, does not close into a ring, and along this road, on the one hand, hotels and the sea, and on the other hand, shops and cafes. Finally, we got to our hotel, where we were met by the Russian-speaking guide Maxim, handed a Thai SIM card and a description of the excursions, and we tired went to the room. From the first seconds, I was enveloped in the atmosphere of the tropics, the jungle, incredibly beautiful nature, there was so much greenery, trees around, it turned out to be raining at night and all the paths were wet, the feeling that you were in another reality.
We booked a Pool View room, it is exactly the same as in the photo on the hotel website, we got the 2nd floor. The room has a tea and coffee set, two umbrellas, which are very useful and a fairly large balcony.
It seemed to me that the Pool View rooms are the best option for accommodation, because Mandalay is located somewhere outside the hotel and across the road and people who booked a mandalay paid extra and moved to other rooms. The Cliff rooms, which were about the same price as the Pool View, are high and far away. Maybe the view from the room to the sea is more gorgeous and more secluded there, but I would not want to go up and down every time. Lotus bungalows are located closer to the reception, along the river with bridges, they seemed pleasant, but were already more expensive.
The hotel itself, or rather the territory of the tropical garden on which the hotel is located, really liked it. Full relax. Eyes, mind, body - everything rests. Since we arrived in the off-season, it was raining, and even what!
The first night it started to rain - it didn't stop all night, it was so scary! It seemed that we would be flooded, I thought with horror, where did all this water go? ? ? God, where are we going? I never thought that the rains could be so strong and so long. But in the morning the rain stopped, the paths (precisely the paths! ) Were wet from the rain, and how fragrant nature was, all around the orchids, how subtly they smell! ! ! there was a feeling that you were in the forest and there was no asphalt in the hotel or concrete paths, the air was so saturated with moisture, our skin breathed! And it was also funny when we went for a walk around the shops and cafes, it started to rain, and we naively wanted to wait it out, as in Russia. It's useless! It rained without stopping and only slightly weakening for several hours. I had to splash through the puddles! But I want to say that the rains did not spoil our vacation, but rather made it more peaceful, relaxed, contemplative.
Because of the rain, there was a storm on the sea and we did not swim every day, but when the sea was calm - God, how warm and clean it is, such a pleasure! Didn't want to leave! By the way, sunbeds and beach towels (brought to the room every day) are free and without any deposits. The hotel has its own beach, quite clean and comfortable with good white sand. Another advantage of the hotel is the upper Infinity Pool. If you stand facing the sea, then on the right side near the boat rental there is a staircase leading to this pool. The Cliff Rooms are just down the road to the pool. You need to climb these stairs, go past Thai Houses, go through a kind of courtyard, then there will be a wide road, go up the stairs again and the long-awaited Infinity Pool. This is one of the most beautiful places in the hotel, the pool line merges with the sea line, such a visual illusion - a trick, it seems that from the pool you immediately get into the sea. There is also a jacuzzi, a button near the shower is located.
Despite the fact that in the hotel, besides us, there were still people (all Russians), it seemed that we were resting alone - our stay was so secluded.
Excursions on the island. Of the excursions on the island, I took only elephant riding (600 V per person), the elephant farm is located very close to the hotel. To be honest, I was scared. I rode alone, it started to rain, it’s good that the farm workers gave an umbrella, the paths in the jungle were slippery, the elephant sometimes, as it seemed to me, as if he didn’t want to go or was afraid to step into the liquid mess of the earth, stopped and lowed or ate grass, then the driver slapped his foot on the ears and the elephant continued to move. I prayed that this hour would end soon.
We also went to a store of Thai medicine, cosmetics, leather and silk (free transfer, Russian-speaking seller), bought Thai Plai balm, coconut oil, a golden face mask, rice soap with collagen, silk for hair, Magostin powder to strengthen immunity and much more. The prices are reasonable, everything seems to be inexpensive, 100-200-300.500 V, but in the end it ran decently. Then, in pharmacies in Pattaya, they saw similar products much cheaper, but they didn’t have exactly the same ones that we bought, so we didn’t regret it.
Food on the island. We only had breakfast at the hotel. Several options that are not very different from each other, such as scrambled eggs + bacon + sausages, scrambled eggs + bacon + sausages, hard boiled eggs + bacon + sausages. Or rice with chicken, rice with shrimp, rice with squid, rice with pork. Or pad thai instead of rice. They also served bun, butter, jam, cookies, tea/coffee, Jupi type juice.
There are enough cafes on the island, but we chose a few that we liked and ate there. Basically, everyone gathered in a restaurant, where fresh seafood was laid out on boats every evening, which you can choose and order to cook. A small fish, ordinary, low-grade, 300 V. When we arrived in Pattaya, we were surprised to find that the prices on the island are 1.5-2 times higher. This is understandable, the island, after all. Unfortunately, I was not delighted with Thai cuisine, maybe we ate in the wrong places, but the fact is, although we tried to try both Tom Yum and coconut soup. Unusual. I really liked the fruits, of course: mango 35V, pineapple 30V, passion fruit 10V, mangosteen 35V per piece. And every evening, near the 7/11 supermarket, they ate delicious pancakes with fruit at the top - with coconut and vanilla is the tastiest.
After 7 days on the island, we went to Pattaya.
This time there was a group transfer in a comfortable minibus, we left the island at 12.00, we were in Pattaya at 18.00. We arrived and were accommodated at the Phy View Talay hotel.
Pattaya. Phy View Talay Hotel. In the photo, the rooms look large, spacious, in reality they are, but I did not feel the comfort and charm, as it was on Koh Chang. And I didn’t understand why the semblance of a kitchen was made in the rooms, because fruits are not allowed in the room, there is no tea and coffee set either. The hotel itself is so-so, it is clear that they saved on everything: the reception, the lobby and the dining room in one bottle. That is, under a canopy on the right side there are tables at which people have breakfast in the morning, there are also trays with food, here they wash dishes in front of you, they rattle tanks, on the left side there is a reception desk. No aesthetics, rather primitive.
When we bought a tour, this hotel was automatically included in the tour, we could not choose it, we could only choose a hotel on Koh Chang, apparently, all package travelers are brought here, I myself would never choose such a hotel. Breakfast is very primitive and tasteless - scrambled eggs, rice, sausages, bun, butter, coffee / tea. There is no territory at the hotel, there is a small pool, but we didn’t swim there, somehow we didn’t want to at all. But all this did not play a special role, because we tried not to sit in the hotel. There was no rain in Pattaya.
Tours. We went to Nong Nunch Garden and Bangkok.
Nong Nooch was taken from a tour operator, 500 V, the price is the same on the street. On the way, we were taken to a jewelry center and a real estate exhibition. The garden is simply amazing: orchids, palm trees, cacti, a national show and an elephant show. Guide Andrey told everything very interestingly, we liked it.
A ticket to Bangkok was bought on the street, 1650 V per person, from a tour operator 1900.
The program is standard for everyone: the Royal Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, skiing on the Chao Phraya River and lunch at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, a dolphinarium for those who wish for a fee (we did not go). There are two guides in Bangkok - Russian and Thai. On the way to Bangkok, the Russian guide told us about the country, culture, traditions - very interesting and entertaining, on the way back - about the royal family, it was really interesting to listen to him, the most important and fascinating facts.
On the territory of the Royal Palace, according to the law, only a licensed Thai guide can lead an excursion, so we did not understand everything what a Thai named Kai told us about. It can be seen that he knows history and language well, he has no grammatical errors, but he has phonetics! , he does not know how to articulate Russian sounds at all ....
they couldn’t make out anything, they caught only familiar words and guessed the meaning, but it’s hard to strain your ears, so at some point they simply stopped listening to him.
On the territory of the Royal Palace it is forbidden to appear in open clothes that do not cover the shoulders, knees, chest, they warn about this before the tour. If your clothes don't fit, you will have to rent clothes that cover your body, clothes that are never washed and used by people of different nationalities. We knew this and tried to dress accordingly. I was wearing long trousers and a blouse that covered my shoulders but had no sleeves. Imagine my amazement when the employee did not let me in and made me go to rent clothes! I had to go back far enough, to the main street, while the group went forward to the territory of the palace for an excursion.
Luckily, we had a Thai guide with us - a girl who deftly led us through the crowd, back to get clothes and took us back to the group so that we could join the tour. Therefore, my advice is to dress as close as possible so that the employees do not have any complaints against you or immediately rent clothes so as not to fall behind the group, there will not always be a guide who can help.
We had two days in Pattaya free, and we wanted to dedicate them to the sea and the beach. The beach is not very far from the hotel, you need to go down the street past all the shops, cafes, pharmacies, massage parlors, walk for 7 minutes and then down the stairs to the sea. I read that the beach in Pattaya is dirty, but when I saw our beach, I was shocked.
There was nothing floating in the sea - cigarette butts, paper, cellophane, bottles, scraps ...it stank of mud, the sand was dirty, dull, it was not even sand, but earth with sand, there were a lot of people, all around merchants who pester to buy cheap trinkets from them. It was very unpleasant to be in this place, people from other hotels also go to this beach to swim - Cozy Beach, Mountain Beach. I concluded that Pattaya is only good as a launching pad for excursions, or you have to go to the islands.
In general, our tour is a good combination of a relaxed beach holiday with a sightseeing one, for the first time there were quite a lot of impressions and new emotions, we managed to get an initial impression of the country, of surprisingly friendly people (I was amazed that no one bothers you in stores, you can measure, review, touch everything, leave and not buy anything and no one will say a word), I recall with rapture the jungle and the warm sea and I know that I want to return to Thailand again to one of the islands .. .
