Jomtien Beach

Jomtien Beach, Dec 8, 2010.

83 km

Leaving Bangkok with a bike in a SouthEasterly direction is not that easy.

After five days in big B I was thoroughly fed up with city life. Bangkok is a good place to start a trip in SE Asia, no doubt. You can buy everything, there are lots of hotels and guest houses and restaurants to cater for every possible taste. But there is also traffic ad nauseum and touts driving you nuts with their endless offers. I was most definitely ready to leave town.

But how? I don't at all fancy cycling out of this giant metropolis. It would take a whole day just to reach city limits, if indeed there are any. There is only one train going anywhere near the direction I want, and that one leaves Bangkok at 0655 in the morning. And even worse, it has no cargo car, so you are not allowed to take a bike on it.

I ended up taking a taxi to Chonburi, some 80 kms away, 800 Baht. It was more than worth it.

The guy dropped me off at 0915. I started my cycling at 0930. Meant to ride maybe 40 kms or so. But I had a tail wind and was doing good speed, and kept on going. Eventually I rode into Pattaya. Never been there before, and never thought I would go. It is a disgusting place in everywhich way. Hundreds of hotels and bars clumped closely together. A narrow slithe of beach that is totally unimpressive. Probably hoteliers and restaurateurs built on all available land, and then some got together and bribed whoever to build another row of hotels in front of the original one. And then some landfill to make a road in front of the hotels. Bingo, you have a beach less than 10 meters wide, and steep.

I walked on the promende for a bit and then cycled on. Eventually I got to Jomtien Beach, a bit south of Pattaya. There I found a nice little guest house, with a sweet landlady. Ended up riding 81 kms, way too much for a first day. My butt was sore, legs tired, and I was hot and sweaty. Lovely shower and then a cold Chang beer. Had a pretty decent dinner, did my laundry and was in bed shortly after nine.