We opted to do something different today from the port of Laem Chabang. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy our day in Bangkok just over a week ago. We did, very much, and would have loved to return to see a few more sites. But we simply didn’t look forward to another five hour round trip bus ride to reach the city. Instead we chose to go the other direction, to the beach town of Pattaya about 45 to 60 minutes south of the port, and booked all day Princess excursion Pattaya Poolside Retreat.
Beach town of Pattaya under the cursor
Where in the world are we?We were in the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast just before 7am, when the passengers going to Bangkok were already on their way and the buffet wasn’t at all crowded. Our tour met at 7:50am, and by 8:30am we, too, were on a bus driving out of the freight port. We were in a different port than we had been last time, because there wasn’t a berth for us at the cruise ship port. We drove past about 5000 Mitsubishi vehicles awaiting shipment by sea; there is a large assembly plant in Laem Chabang.
At least the shape and color are familiar
Selling phuang malai by the roadside
Phuang malai are Thai flower garlands placed on shrines and statues to show respect, and also worn by individuals to indicate importance, such as a bride and groom in their wedding day.
Once we arrived at the Siam Bayshore Resort, we were shown the resort’s two pools, one on the water and the other in the resort’s courtyard, given a coupon for a soft drink to redeem at a pool bar and another for a soft drink, beer or wine with the lunch buffet that would be served from 12pm to 2pm, and allowed to settle in wherever we wanted to. We chose to lay on a sun bed by the beach pool, with full shade. Bath sheet-sized towels were brought to us and we spent our morning alternating between there and the beautiful pool. The day was sunny, without yesterday’s haze and humidity, and around 90F.
Beach pool area of the Siam Bayshore Resort
A beautiful lunch buffet was set up for us inside the hotel, featuring several local dishes, salad, fruit and lots of desserts. Everything was quite good, and not quite as spicy as we would have experienced in the southern part of Thailand where we were yesterday. As soon as we finished lunch, we went next door where we had seen traditional Thai massages advertised for 200 Baht for an hour (about US $6). We both enjoyed deep tissue massages (divine) and then returned for one last dip in the pool.
Lunch buffet was included with the excursion
Beautiful desserts
The papaya was AMAZING!
Lots of Thai dishes
Pad Thai made to order
My lunch
Pad Thai
Not on a beach per se, but on the water with views
At 3:30pm we left the resort and stopped on the way back to the ship for 30 minutes of souvenir shopping (Princess seems to include this on nearly all their excursions). Honestly, we had 1140 Baht (about US $32) left over and I was willing to spend it on almost anything that small and light, but there were just the same tacky souvenirs we can find anywhere. Instead I returned to the ship with the money and traded it in for US$ at a money charger at the ship.
Our parting gifts (scented cloths)
We love the Thai people!
It just wouldn’t fit in my suitcase ;-)
Note the Phuang malai on the elephant, Thailand’s national symbol
Today’s winner of the overhead lines chaos award
(G takes choosing the best/worst very seriously)
Mannequin in the souvenir market.
You just can’t make this stuff up. ;-)
We showered quickly and made it to dinner at 6pm. We ate lightly, still full from lunch, and were in the Piazza for Christmas caroling at 7:15pm. That is always one of our favorite Christmas cruise activities, and on the Sapphire Princess it was accompanied by artificial snowfall. There were two shows to choose from tonight; the bubble boy is back in the Princess Theater, and pianist Bradley McCaw was back performing in the Explorers Lounge.
We were wiped out tonight (or perhaps just feeling mellow after the massages) and instead went up to the Lido Deck to return to our cabin. On the way we spotted a Christmas concert on MUTS and stopped to watch the end of that. At 9pm we are tucked into bed watching Home Alone on TV, but I suspect we won’t stay awake until the end, nor make it to the midnight interdenominational church service in the Princess Theater. Tomorrow is a sea day and the Do Not Disturb sign is on the door.
Life is good. :-)