Visit Pattaya's Grand Island, taste local food, and go shopping at Central Festival

Pattaya's itinerary is two days, Koh Larn + Central Festival on the first day, Pattaya Terminal + back to Bangkok on the second day. After the twists and turns of taking the bus, we finally arrived in Pattaya the night before. Today is the first day of our official stay in Pattaya, and we will go to Koh Larn. It takes 45 minutes to take a boat from Pattaya to Koh Larn. The ordinary boat costs 30 baht. Buy tickets on the bus. From the hotel to Koh Larn Pier, you have to pass Pattaya Walking Street. We first change to a tuk-tuk to the intersection of the walking street, and then take a tuk-tuk from the intersection of the walking street to Koh Larn Pier. A total of 20 baht per person.

There are so many people at the pier, and there are so many types of boats. I really don't know which car to take. We just followed the crowd. We only knew that the boat to Koh Larn was at Pier A, but we didn't know where it was. We followed the direction with the most people, and we really got to the pier, the 30 baht boat. The boat is divided into two floors, and we chose the upper floor to see the sea view more directly. The sea water is indigo blue and indigo green. This is the first time I have seen this kind of sea water, the kind that can make people feel good.



We took some photos of the sea view and chatted on the boat. We arrived in 45 minutes. We arrived at Gran Island. The sun was strong and the sea was not lazy. There were many people swimming in the distance. We followed the group and walked in that direction. I was very hungry, but I forgot about my hunger the moment I saw the sea. I don’t know if it was excitement or something. I didn’t dare to go into the water at first, but Qianqian showed me her swimming skills for the first time. She was not good at swimming, but better than me. I didn’t dare to go into the water at all. First of all, I was carrying my luggage and wanted to take beautiful photos of Qianqian in the sea. Secondly, the little swimming skills I had were accumulated from swimming 5 meters in half a semester in college and never swimming again after the class. I dared to step in the water but didn’t dare to put my head in the water and swim away.

The sun was shining again at that time, so I chose to watch him swim on the beach. The sand on the beach was so fine that I thought it was the kind of putty used to whiten the wall at first and didn’t care. Later, I found that putty is very sticky to feet, but this one is not sticky? I grabbed a handful and looked carefully and found that it was sand. It’s amazing, Gran Island sand. Not only is your seawater emerald green, but the sand is also so good? Foreigners occupy most of the beach, and the women are all in bikinis, while the men are in shorts. Oh my god, this is the real foreign country, this is a free and unrestrained life, okay? No one cares about your bikini figure, no one cares about your aging skin, and no one knows you, so what is there to be restrained about? I admire their confidence and unrestrainedness. If I had a bikini at this moment, I wouldn't dare to wear it. I don't know what I'm afraid of! It's sad! Although I know the reason, I just can't wear it.

It's really boring to stay on the beach, and my heart is itching to go into the water. Would it be a shame for me if I don't go into the water once? With Qianqian's repeated encouragement and guidance, I went into the water. The things are stored in a store, 100 baht, and the deposit is 100 baht. I felt frozen when I just went into the water. Qianqian said that you can splash some water on your body and wash it, and you won't feel cold. Sure enough, I took Qianqian's hand and walked deeper into the sea. The seawater was about up to my chest. I said I didn't dare to go any further because I was scared. Qianqian taught me how to swim. I went diving three times, but I couldn't hold my breath for five seconds each time. I found that I couldn't hold my breath well, so I didn't dare to walk more. I was choked by the seawater. The water was so salty that I felt like I had eaten a mouthful of alkali and salt. I said I didn't want to play anymore. I played in the sea by myself and walked back, and let Qianqian continue swimming there. It was the first time I saw him so attached to the seawater. I had never seen him swim in the sea as big as Yantai, and I didn't know how many hours he had been swimming here before he went out to sea.

I was so hungry on the shore that I called him several times before he heard me. We went to a slightly cleaner shop and sat down and ordered fried noodles, watermelon juice, French fries and chicken nuggets to eat. At that moment, I suddenly felt that life was like a vacation. Blowing the sea breeze and looking at the people in the sea in the distance, life seemed so beautiful at that moment, but it was the first time I felt it in more than 20 years.


Their portions are so small, 40 baht in the city, but 150 baht here


200 pigs are still acceptable!
  


After dinner, Qianqian went swimming, and I sat in the restaurant and continued to watch the people swimming in the sea. The coastal road here is full of shops selling beach clothes. They are so good at making money and have developed it into a real Tourist area. Why can't such an industry be developed in China?

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I wondered if I could rent a motorcycle to go around the island. The guide said that you can rent a motorcycle for up to 200 baht. I called Qianqian away from the children, and we went to the place where we rented motorcycles. Someone pulled us and said 300 baht directly, and showed us a big sign that did say 300 baht. I didn't believe what the person said, and she didn't want to be cheap, so we didn't rent it. Later, we met a group of about 9 Indians watching, and they also surrounded the solicitor to ask for a cheaper price. Later, I heard that it was 150 baht per motorcycle, but at that time we had decided to take a tuk-tuk to the island. Later, I saw that they didn't rent a motorcycle and took the same tuk-tuk as us.

Because of the communication problem, I always thought that the tuk-tuk was to go to the top of the mountain and go around the island. In the end, 20 baht was just the price from one pier to another pier on the island. It was a bit of a loss. The motorcycle on the island was also 300 baht a day, not a penny less. Forget it, let's go around and see! The residents and alleys on the island especially have the feeling of Gulangyu Island. The houses and buildings are painted in colorful colors, which looks beautiful.









I was so tired from walking that I decided not to go shopping anymore. It was almost five in the afternoon. Let's go back to the island and Pattaya! I got on the tuk-tuk again from where I got off and went to the pier to buy a ticket back to Pattaya. The view of the sunset reflected on the sea water was still great on the boat!





I went back to Pattiti and passed the pedestrian street again. I arrived on the island at around 6 o'clock. There were still few people and many shops were closed. I went home to rest for a while! I couldn't resist the urge to go shopping. I went out to Central Festival at around 8 o'clock. I didn't want to leave. I passed the night market and arrived at Central Festival soon. The first floor of Central Festival sells luxury cosmetics and perfumes. I looked at the price of SK2 and it was still more expensive than the price on the duty-free shop app. The second floor sells clothes and underwear. I bought three pairs of Wacoal underwear for 260 RMB. There is only a 5% discount for tourists. Above the third floor are children's, restaurants, etc. Forget it! When I spent about 2 hours to complete the entire mall, an interesting thing happened here: Xiao Yang didn't want to go shopping with me. He was waiting for me at KFC. I always thought he was at McDonald's. After two hours of shopping, I went to McDonald's to find him, but there was no one. I panicked. He didn't have internet, so I couldn't contact him at all. It was past 10 o'clock. I looked for him all over the mall. I went to McDonald's and showed the waiter pictures, but he said he had never seen him. The waiter took me to the mall front desk, where I stayed for more than 2 hours while they contacted the mall security and surveillance cameras to help me find him. After more than 2 hours, he told me that the surveillance cameras didn't have this person, and asked me to go to the nearby police station. I went to the police station with tears in my eyes to ask for their help. The officer told me not to worry, and that they would not file a case without waiting for 24 hours. There was no car accident death or anything like that, otherwise we would have received a report long ago, and it was a foreigner's case. His words made me feel much more at ease, but I was still scared that I couldn't find him. I didn't know what to do. The concert outside the mall didn't match my mood at the time. I returned to the hotel in embarrassment, praying that I could find him in the hotel. I took a tuk-tuk, but it didn't work for half an hour. I was so hungry and thirsty at that time, but it couldn't stop me from missing him. The hotel was empty, so I sought help from the front desk, even though I knew they were powerless. Just when I was sitting on the sofa at the front desk and didn't know what to do, WeChat called. He waited in KFC until the mall closed and I didn't see me. Finally, there was a message.

Our business stopped there. I was also impressed by the efficiency of Thai people. They were very enthusiastic and very eager to help others. The waiter at the mall information desk also had a good attitude, but they were inefficient and unhurried. It was a bit difficult to understand the anxiety of foreigners who lost their companions here. That's all I want to summarize. The matter passed like this, and it also reminded me: when you go out, ensuring the safety of your friends is more important than ensuring your own safety.

This matter was handled until 12:30 in the morning. At that time, Pattaya began to be congested, and the nightlife began. There were so many people along the road along the coast. We sat on the beach for a while. It has never happened that two people go to the beach to enjoy the sea breeze at such a late time. In the distance, cruise ships, yachts, and ordinary ships are quietly floating on the sea, which is out of tune with the bright lights, car horns and crowds on the roadside. There were a lot of mosquitoes on the beach, so we sat there for a while and then headed back home. It was a wonderful memory!

Good night, Pattaya, good night, world!