My goal was to take the 9am bus to Pattaya from Bangkok Airport. While I was trying to connect my card to the Bolt and Grab apps, it failed multiple times. Since I had no cash, I had to walk about 15-20 minutes from the hotel to the nearest ATM. The day was so hot that my face was completely covered in sweat.
When I arrived at the ATM, I almost had a mini heart attack when I saw the withdrawal fee was 250 baht. I was desperate to get to the airport as soon as possible and did not have time to process it. There were two ATM machines next to each other, and both charged the same fee. I had no choice but to withdraw the money.
I probably should have exchanged Australian dollars to baht before I came here. I felt stupid, but it had already happened. No point turning back time.
On the way back, I bought some breakfast from a hawker. She sells one of those coconut pancake ball which I did not have photo of because I was in a hurry. Then I quickly rushed back to the hostel. My backpack was large and full of things. I regretted bringing so much so early in the trip. Packing was a pain. The backpack was heavy as hell, and I had already started worrying about how I was going to get through this trip with all that weight. I finally left the hotel after 10am, after so much packing.
The Bolt driver arrived within eight minutes. It cost 124 baht. Loading and unloading the backpack into each new vehicle is exhausting. I will probably need to get rid of some of my stuff later during the trip.
When I arrived at the airport, the driver used Google Translate to ask me where to drop me off. I had done my research about getting from Bangkok to Pattaya. The ticket counter is number 8 on Level 1. Getting there was easy. To my surprise, there were two counters. The line was short. I asked if I could get to Klang Pattaya because that is where I needed to go. The lady pointed at the map and said something in Thai. I asked another question about whether any of the stops were close to Klang Pattaya. She laughed angrily and yelled something in Thai. I decided not to engage with her attitude and went to another counter.
The second staff member seemed more robotic, just repeating the same thing over and over again. They did not really listen to customers. Maybe they are just tired of their job and answering the same questions all day.
I bought a ticket to North Pattaya for 124 baht. After about one and a half hours, we arrived at the bus station. A local man on his motorbike waiting by the roadside kindly lent me his hotspot so I could book a Bolt. I took a Bolt directly to the dental clinic, which cost 78 baht.
After my visit to the dentist, I found what would later become the nightmare of my hostel experience on Agoda. I chose the first option on the app, which cost AUD 7. It was called European Hostel. I decided to take a Bolt there and paid 65 baht to get to the hostel without making a booking in advance. I had not made a reservation, but I was still able to get a bed (which is unlucky, I wish I didn't had stay here).
song tel is the main means of transportation in Pattaya.
Travel has a funny way of compressing chaos into a few sweaty hours. Heat, money stress, language barriers, heavy backpacks. It is almost like a rite of passage. The world tests your patience a little, then hands you a kind hawker or a stranger with a hotspot to balance the equation.
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