The
van from Bangkok to Pattaya - direct hotel to hotel - arrives at 11:30
am (it showed up just before Noon though). Before this I'll get to breakfast, pack, take
a short walk about town seeing some sights, exchange some currency
and get back to the hotel to wait on the van.
The van was decent enough -
four parties on board plus the driver. The A/C worked well enough and
the van driver made good time - passing many and only being passed by a
few. The GPS showed a max speed of 114 kph (70 mph) so it wasn't really
that fast. About half way through the trip he stopped at a rest stop
and everyone got off for a snack to eat. Not figuring on that I ate
just before getting onto the van so I just sat inside with the A/C.
Down
in Pattaya, checked into the hotel (which the LP book listed as
mid-range I'd call it mid-range pricing, 950 Baht / night (US$25), with
borderline budget quality facilities). I did some PC work, took a nap,
then went out for a walk - the hunt is to see about finding a
motorbike. I was told that the rental places weren't really listed on
the Internet and that I just had to "go there" to find one. On the
drive in - where I saw something of interest - I hit the waypoint button
on the GPS - I have a Honda shop and an insurance company listed.
Taking a walk from the hotel I passed by a couple Internet cafe's - the
LP book listed this hotel as having Inet but the check-in counter guy
said "no".
The maps show that the bike rental places are on the
two main drags - one is a southernly one-way street hugging the beach
and the other is the northernly one-way one block from the beach. I
walked west, hit the beach, and turned left. The "rental shops" are
nothing more than a row of bikes parked along the curb. It is sometimes
difficult to tell if a bike is a "private" bike or a "rental"
bike. Seeing a row, perhaps 80% of the bikes
are smaller automatics - scooters. These scooters are not like the ones
in Taiwan - these are more "conventional" bike in configuration and
would not be as multi-purpose as those in Taiwan (not having the
step-through area to place packages, dogs, kids, etc).
Each
would have some "big bikes" - 400 cc units on up. One or two sport
bikes (R1, R6), some cruiser bikes, and some standards. Vintage Yamaha
V-Max's are common (the V-Max is Yamaha's equivalent to my Honda
V-65 Magna). Somewhere nearby there would be a guy or lady "in charge"
of the assortment. I was quoted, for a three week rental, anywhere from
20,000 Baht (US$540) down to 11,550 Baht (US$312) - and each was
willing to negotiate from there. Even at 540 US I think the pricing is
reasonable for three weeks - but that looks like it would be worst case
(though I still need to check on insurance from a third party source).
There
were maybe eight or ten "rental" places in this less than one mile
stretch of road. Some being right next to each other or right around
the corner. A consumer's advantage in shopping.
I'm now wavering
between a V-Max and a Honda Super Four. Priority #1 on a bike, aside from trying to "get a reliable
one" is that it must have 1" round handlebars - for the GPS and camera
mounts. That kicked out all of the smaller automatics (which I was not
considering anyway), most of the sport bikes with their aluminum bars
and some cruisers that had large diameter round bars.
Leaving
the renta areas I stopped by a mall to enjoy some cool air and some
something uneventful to eat. Back out on the street it was now after
dark and the night life was ramping up. Pattaya is a bit of a
hedonistic town and there were "beer bars" with lots of "single girls"
sitting about looking rather board until a prospective customer would
walk by. Fortunately I didn't have any guys "ask me out". Though I'm
not quite sure all of the "girls" were true females. On the
way back to the hotel I wasn't bothered too much for clothing
offers, surveys, or girls but it was getting annoying. Oh to be on a
bike and be able to see things and not be bothered.
So today, 17
May, I'll see about posting these prepared pages, finding a bank for
some Baht, and seeing about some insurance - then back to the rental
area to make a decision on a bike - helmet in hand.
Here's to finding a 'good bike'.
Direct shot down the highway from hotel to hotel. |