We left Koh Chang and headed to Pattaya, which is actually a place we never planned on staying. Our plans have had to change a bit on the fly. We had wanted to do 2 weeks by the ocean, and then head up north to Chiang Mai area for most of the month of October. Unfortunately over the last month, Chiang Mai has seen the worst flooding they’ve had in over 30 years. Their monsoons have been especially bad and the Ping River overflowed. As of this week, monsoon season is coming to an end, water has receded and cleanup efforts have started. We still plan to head up there, but that’s why it’s been a bit delayed. On this map, I’ve circled all these places we’ve been, for a better view of how much further North Chiang Mai is.
Pattaya has been really fun, there is SO much going on compared to the slow island life we just experienced. We are staying in a great hotel in a prime location, right near the beach and markets and malls. The markets are just a whole different hilarious experience, but I am curating pictures for a separate post about that 😂
We made the trek up to Big Buddha! It was a 9.4 km round trip journey. The temperature outside was 29 degrees, but with the humidity that day it said “feels like 37”. Phew! We are just getting used to being covered in sweat all day every day 🤷🏼♀️
We were hustling up the steps to see the Buddha because it was threatening to thunder storm. Let me tell you, when it rains here, it RAINS. We have been unexpectedly caught in some serious downpours while we are out adventuring, we have no choice but to embrace it and get absolutely drenched.
Sound on for the thunder…(and also some firecrackers in a barrel 🧐 I have no idea why).
We rode out the worst of the downpour under a shelter with some kind temple groundskeepers, who didn’t speak one word of English. Then hiked back down once it turned back into a drizzle. Videos can’t do it justice, a thunder storm on top of a mountain is no joke! ⛈️ It was a fun experience!
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