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| View of Jomtien beach from the road |
So, by Tuesday and we were all in Jomtien. Well, the weather is beautiful, the water was comfortable - no surf though.
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| Peter & Lek |
We were staying with Peter & Lek in their house which was really pleasant and comfortable, and they were wonderful hosts. The house is contained within a housing complex, both for security and efficient land usage. We had some great meals at home, and the girls really liked the food in their bar - mostly Thai fried rice.
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| Entrance to the housing complex |
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| Peter & Lek's house |
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| The superb outdoor dining area |
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| Frances relaxing by the pool |
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| Charlotte enjoying the pool |
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Another enjoyable dinner - it was
always difficult to take a photo before
the eating started |
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| Charlotte |
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| Travelling in luxury |
The next few days were pretty busy, finding that holidaying is really hard! Mostly going to the beach and shopping, both at local stalls and large malls.
There was also a supermarket that had food from just about every country in the world, similar to the range of restaurants at Pattya. Fancy Iranian, Indian, Mexican Russian, Dutch, etc. Pattya is a popular destination for Europeans, although mainly portly middle-aged men looking for dalliances with young Thai girls.
The main form of transport consisted of converted utilities with rear covers and wooden seats. The fare was always the subject of intense negotiation.
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| The typical converted utility. |
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| Frances & Ric |
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| Charlotte & Frances |
We were looking at what activities we could fit in over the next few days as well as confirming our return flight for the 11th of December, hopefully from U-Tapao airport which is much closer than Bangkok.
Jomtien is only a stone's throw from Parttya, but has a completely different feel. Fewer tourists, and mostly families and young travellers. There has been some development, but it seems that even the short distance from Pattya (just too far for a comfortable walk) is an impediment to attracting the Pattya-style tourist. Just back from the beach is a huge new multi-storey hotel that is largely unoccupied.
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| Shopping in downtown Jomtien |
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| Beach to the left, apartments to the right |
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| Largly unoccupied apartments |
There was also a very nice, but small temple fronting the main street, including a shop where you can buy your offerings by donation. It seemed a little neglected and in need of attention, but that summed up a number of the buildings in Jomtien.
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| The temple entrance... |
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| ...spoiled somewhat by electric cables |
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| Looking back to the beach |
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| Offerings available by donation |
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| Some very colourful mosaic work |
Of course there were a lot of street stalls selling all kinds of interesting foods, some of which we tasted.
