My inspirations for writing my first travel hub about Thailand

This is my very first travel hub ever and it was influenced by three factors. Firstly, it was influenced by my mother. I wanted to show her these beautiful pictures of Thailand. Secondly, it was inspired by the Cat Steven's (now Yusuf Islam) song, Streets of London, where he sings "Let me take you by the hand and greet you through the streets of London - I'll show you something to make you change your mind". The third inspiration was a hub I came across yesterday called Great Wall Marathon where this wonderful Hubber named CindyVine tells the story of raising money for charity with her daughter in China and puts up a beautiful gallery pictures of the Great Wall of China.

Pattaya City - Beautiful tropical travel destination about 2 hours from Bangkok

Anyways, I have the pleasure and honor of being able to reside in this beautiful tropical city called Pattaya, Thailand. Pattaya is about 1 hour and 45 minutes south-east of Bangkok and is situated on the Bay of Thailand. The city is famous for its beautiful beaches and outlaying islands, friendly people and fun entertainment. Every afternoon (and mornings when I can shake myself out of bed early enough!) I like to get away from the computer and take a nice long walk along Pattaya Beach.

Let me take you by the hand through the streets of Pattaya!

So, Let me take you by the hand and greet you through the streets of Pattaya, Thailand. And, maybe I'll show you something to make you change your mind!

The first place I'd like to show you on this tour is Mike's shopping mall. In side you'll find AMAZING deals on lots of clothing including t-shirts, shorts, silks and other Thailand collectibles. And, a little known secret is that on the roof of Mike's you'll find and excellent swimming pool. For 80 baht (just over US$2.00) you can swim for as long as you want - be careful of the sun though!

I must not forget - Just before we arrive at Mike's Shopping Center there is a nice little fruit market. It's often frequented by tourists from all over the world. Thailand offers a HUGE selection of delicious tropical fruits. Hopefully in a future hub we'll discover more about Thailand's delicious fruit!

Okay, now - I don't know the exact name of this street or alley but I've nicknamed it Pattaya City Art Alley. It is located right next to Mike's Shopping Center. In this area you'll find a line of artisans' shops, including both painting shops and tattoo shops. Personally, I have zero artistic talent for art and I'm always so amazed by the Thai artists who make the most beautiful paintings in this little way. Come by yourself and you'll see that the Thai artists truly are talented!

At this point our tour we arrive right on Pattaya Beach. The beach is long - maybe about 2 kilometers - and is lined by Pattaya's "Beach Road". Here you can rent a chair for just a few US dollars and relax for as long as you'd like. The Thai people working here are extremely friendly and will always greet you with a smile. Often you'll hear "jet ski, jet ski". Renting jet skis has become very popular here in Pattaya City. I have yet to try it as I prefer water skiing. Below you'll see my pics of Pattaya Beach.

Let's conitnue our tour of Pattaya and walk along the Beach Road sidewalk. I don't want to rub it in for my friends in family who suffer the cold winters in the North Eastern United States but this is where I walk on the coldest days of the year when you have two feet of snow and it's freezing at home! This is the side walk along Beach Road in Pattaya. As you can see it is lined with palm trees - very nice!

Our next stop on our walking city tour of Pattaya is the new Central Shopping Mall. Are your feet getting tired yet? This new mall was just opened around February 2009. It is huge and rivals any nice mall in the West. You'll find all the popular shops like Levi's and Ed Hardy. On B1 level there is a wonderul super market selling loads of imported foods (eg, cheese which I want to buy but cannot afford!). On the top level you'll find a new bowling alley and movie theater.

If you take the elevator to the upper most floor of Central Shopping Center you'll have an AMAZING panoramic view of the sea and city below. The view will soon be even better as Hilton is building a hote on the top of the Central Shopping Mall.

For "die hard" Hard Rock cafe fans you won't be dissapointed in Pattaya, Thailand. You'll find a great Hard Rock cafe here offering a restaurant with unrivaled burgers, a huge swimming pool and wonderul hotel.

Here we've finally arrived at the end of Beach Road along Pattaya beach. The view here is absolutely stunning. You'll often find people here jogging and doing various forms or Tai-Chi.

At a certain point on my walk I saw a lady holding a really cute dog and just had to get a picture of him (or her!!!). The dog was some sort of poodle dressed up in designer doggie clothes. Actually, I only got two shots of the dog. When I moved in too close with my camera it started to growl at me! Still cute though, right?

As we near the end of our walking tour of Pattaya I thought I'd be sure to include a picture of Pattaya's iconic "Pattaya City" sign. This sign can be seen from almost every angle along Pattaya's Beach Road.

The last stop on our walking tour of Pattaya is the Royal Garden Mall. Before the new Central Mall was built the Royal Garden was Pattaya's leading mall (along with Big C of course!). Although the Central Mall is bigger and newer the Royal Garden is still a wonderul place to shop and dine.

After a long walk in the hot sun in Pattaya on a weekday afternoon what's a Hubber to do? Sit down in the Royal Garden mall and indulge in a size medium DQ Oreo Blizzard of course! I know - bad habit - too many sweets. But it sure beats smoking!

I hope you have enjoyed this walking tour through Pattaya City on Thailand's beautiful south-east coast and look forward to reading and learning from your comments below!

-Dawei888