Touring with Tann

Tuesday 16^th Feb 2016.

Breakfast is a bit disappointing and shades of Singapore all over again. The hot food isn’t hot because nobody can be bothered shutting the damned lids on the warmers when they’re finished getting what they want. And the butter comes in little hard rolls that we think Have actually been frozen because they shatter when you finally manage to get your knife into one. On the upside, they have a dedicated tea and coffee man, so our cups are kept topped up. Breakfast tactics will need a review to keep frustration at bay. At least there’s plenty of room to move around and we don’t feel like anyone is walking over us to get to the food.

We’re just about ready to go downstairs when the phone rings and Reception tells us that our transport has arrived. 0945 hrs. We’re very impressed and now can safely say that we recommend Tann’s services. Right from the start of our communication, she has been prompt with replies and so easy to deal with. She’s a single mum, maybe 30 years old who has built her service up from nothing 5 years ago and since getting a website up and running 2 years ago, she now has 4 other people working for her. It cost us 1500 THB to go from Bangkok to Pattaya and it’s going to be 1800 to go back, dearer because we’re flying out of Don Meaung, which is a little bit further.

Our arrangement for today includes visiting the Buddha Mountain, Silverlake Winery (a little bit of Tuscany in Thailand) and the Chinese Buddhist Temple, Viharnra Sien. This takes us about 20km out of town and we have a lovely time driving through some areas and seeing how the locals live.

After taking a necessary detour due to roadworks, we arrive at Buddha Mountain, which has to be seen to be believed. I feel like I’m saying that a lot! The side of the mountain has been carved away and a big golden outline of a Buddha image has been attached to the rock. It’s huge. Admission is free but there is a donation box, which we gladly drop some coin into. Tann dropped us as close as she could to the entrance and then went to park the car. She’s taking very good care of us. 

Silverlake Vineyard is just a short drive up the road and Tann tells us that there’s a lot of walking involved, or we can pay 100 B each to be driven around in a tuk tuk. That sounds like a good plan and Tann gets to tag along for free. The price includes a bottle of grape juice, creating at an early stage of the wine making process. It would be a nice place to ride a pushbike around, easier than walking but slower than the tuk tuk, which was (not surprisingly) huge! The gardens are extensive and keep quite a few people busy keeping it all looking it’s best.

The Chinese Temple charges 50B per person admission and there’s lots to see. Thankfully it’s not a really hot day, it’s overcast so it makes it easier to climb to the 3^rd level and see all that there is to see. Tann has a coffee while she waits for us. If we’re interested, there’s another big Buddha on the way back to town, she’ll throw in a visit, no extra charge. We agree but are worried about the storm clouds which seem to be gathering over Pattaya. Tann is sure it won’t rain, it’ not rainy season, but no-one told the rain! Down she comes! Tann says she’s sorry, but we can’t visit the last Buddha in the rain. Oh well, never mind, but the closer we get, the less it rains, so we decide to quickly pay a visit. This is the Buddha we visited when the Superstar Gemini cruise stopped here. Still looks the same, but the surrounding skyline doesn’t, many more tall towers have been built, some of them for sale and quite pricey. The rain stops just long enough for us to climb the easy stairs to the top, take some happy snaps and get back down to the car. It rains a little more on the way back to the hotel but stops again for us to get inside.
We were heading towards the lift when there is a noise around the corner that leads to the toilets that sounds like someone dropping a small tray of glasses, then there is a much bigger crashing and a male staff member comes scurrying out of the area. The top rows of tiles have fallen off the wall and shattered everywhere and he was lucky to have only been hit on the legs by a few small bits and even luckier not to have drawn blood. If any had hit him on the head it would have been much worse. My theory is that somehow, water has penetrated behind the tiles, although Trevor said there wasn’t much glue there from what he could see. Does make you wonder what else is bodgey around the place…………..

The plan for this afternoon was cocktails by the pool for the obligatory photos to make everyone at home jealous, but the storm has literally dampened those plans. Maybe tomorrow!