Koh Kongist Pattayasse

 

The weather started getting a bit rainy here in Koh Kong, and there was no point in staying. I woke up around 6 am, and since the border was supposed to open at 7 am, I took a moto-taxi to the border early. The driver wanted 100 baht, about 3 USD, and the ride began. It was drizzling, and the ride took place under a large umbrella, which I held from behind, while the driver held it from the handlebars with his left hand. It was quite a funny ride. The border was quite a distance away, about 10 km, and on the way, we had to pay a toll for the bridge, which was 1400 real (less than half a USD), but we made it to the border just fine.

The Cambodian immigration officer didn't seem to like my Estonian passport very much and probably called the Thai side to check if I could get a visa at the border, but after another round of fingerprinting, they allowed me to go. It has become quite ridiculous; both when entering and leaving Cambodia, they take fingerprints from everyone, as if they really want lots of terrorists to visit Cambodia. It was pouring rain now, and there was about 100 meters to walk to the Thai side, where a new issue arose. They wanted a copy of my passport, which I didn't have, and they sent me somewhere to make one. By the way, while looking for the place to make the copies on the Thai side, it would have been possible to enter Thailand even without an immigration stamp because nobody seemed to be interested in me there. The problems would have arisen when leaving Thailand. Anyway, I didn't find that copy place, and immigration was then willing to issue a visa without a copy of my passport. The "visa on arrival" cost 1000 baht, and the whole border process took over an hour.

Right there, I quickly got on a minibus that took me to Trat for 120 baht (3 euros), 90 km, which was quite a reasonable price. At the Trat bus station, I got a bus to Pattaya at 170 baht. Buses to Bangkok were leaving every hour, and the price was about 270 baht. The Pattaya bus was supposed to take 4 hours but made stops wherever someone wanted, and it took almost 6 hours in total. There wasn't much hurry anyway because of the semi-rainy weather. In Pattaya, I got accommodation in the familiar place on Soi Buakhao, 500 baht per night, and this time, the room was huge, around 30 square meters.

By the way, in Pattaya, you can also get the cheapest massages, starting at 100 baht, which is about 2.5 euros for an hour. The professional ones charge around 200 baht per hour. Just to change things up, here's a picture from a Go-Go bar on Buakhao street. As you can see, you can also get chicken kebabs and rent a motorbike right there.

Ilm kiskus siin Koh Kongis ikka natuke vihmaseks ja polnud enam mõtet siia jääda. Ärkasin 6 paiku ja kuna piiripunkt pidi avatama kell 7 siis  võtsin varsti mototakso piirile, juht tahtis 100 bahti ehk 3 USD ja sõit võis alata. Vihma tibutas  ja sõit toimus suure vihmavarju all mida mina hoidsin tagant varrest ja juht hoidis vasaku käega servast ja paremaga hoidis motika lenksu.Väga naljakas sõit oli.  Piirini oli päris palju maad, oma 10 km ja teel tuli veel ka  sillamaksu maksta 1400 reali (alla poole USD) kuid kohale jõudsime kenasti. Kambodza immigratsioonile ei meeldinud minu Eesti pass eriti ja ta helistas ilmselt Tai poolele kas ma ikka piirilt viisa saan kuid lõpuks pärast järjekordselt sõrmejälgede andmist lubati minna. Päris lolliks on läinud, nii Kambodzasse sisenedes kui väljudes võtavad kõik sõrmejäljed, nagu tohutult terroriste tahaks hirmsasti Kambodzat külastada. Vihma hakkas nüüd päris kõvasti sadama, Tai poolele oli umbes 100 meetrit jalgsi minna, seal tekkis uus jama, taheti passi koopiat mida mul polnud ja saadeti mind kuhugi seda tegema. Muuseas seda koopiategemise kohta Tai poolel otsides oleks olnud  võimalik siseneda Taisse ka ilma immigratsiooni templita sest keegi minu vastu seal huvi ei tundnud. Probleemid oleks tekkinud muidugi Taist väljumisel. Nojah, mina seda koopiakohta igatahes üles ei leidnudki ja immigratsioon oli siis nõus viisat tegema ka ilma passikoopiata. "Visa on arrival" maksis 1000 bahti, kokku läks piiril üle tunni aja. Sealsamas sain kiiresti minibussi peale mis 120 bahti (3 eur) eest viis Tratti,  90 km, päris normaalne hind. Trati bussijaamas sain  bussi kella 12-ks Pattayasse 170 bahti. Bangkoki bussid väljusid sealt iga tunni tagant ja hind oli ca 270 bahti. See Pattaya buss pidi sõitma 4 tundi kuid tegi peatusi igal pool kus keegi tahtis ja kokku kulus pea 6 tundi. Tegelikult kiiret ka polnud sest selline poolvihmane ilm oli. Pattayas võtsin majutuse  tuttavasse kohta Soi Buakhaol,  500 bahti öö, ruum oli seekord megasuur, oma 30 ruutu. Pattayas on muideks ka kõige odavam massaaz - alates 100 bahti ehk 2,5 eurot tund., proffide hind on siiski 200 bahti tund.  Vahelduseks ka pildike Go-Go baarist Buakhao tänaval. Nagu näha saab sealtsamast chicken kebabi ja ka motikat rentida :)