The Elephant's Embrace of Thailand (Part 2)

It's never cold in Thailand. From March till May it's hot, from June till October it's rainy and the best time for a vacation is from November to February. The sea water temperature during these months is never under 22°C. 147km southeast from Bangkok is situated the worldwide known resort Pataya. It's very brightly here - beaches surrounded by palm trees, beautiful islands in the Siam bay. You can swim, lie on the sand, dive in the sea, go surfing, fishing and even catch a shark. Even more friendly for beach lovers is the island Phuket. The best resorts are located on its west coast. The tourists here can swim in small and quiet bays, dive in crystal water and watch the life in the coral reefs, take advantage of different entertainments or shop in lots of stores. In Phuket you can visit 29 Buddhist temples, the Center for sea biological researches, a show with local traditional dances.

The regions of the golden triangle are a real jungle. The tourists are sleeping in tents and listening carefully to every noise around them. You can meet even tribes that live very primitive, women-giraffes with rings around their necks or women with ears coming to their shoulders - just everything we call exotic. Person who has seen all this will never forget it. It's hard to forget another impressions from Thailand as well - the original massage, the transsexuals' show, fruits, flowers, flavors and sounds. Thailand is the world's center of exotic fruits. You can find here jackfruit, lamut, longan, custard apple, dragon apple, mangosteen, rambutan and the most expensive fruit in the world - durian. Europeans are first shocked by its smell, which is like mix of the smell of spicy cheese and roasted onion. But the durian's taste is incredible, magic - this is the taste of Thailand. The cuisine is very spicy, but for foreigners here people are cooking with ten times less spices. Sea food is used a lot, the dishes are very tasty and diverse. And the most important thing is that's really cheap. A big dish of live fish or shrimps in a good restaurant won't cost more than $10. The customer service in Thailand is the best in the whole east Asia. During 1998 - 1999 people here made for tourists a special program under the motto "Amazing Thailand". It was dedicated to the 72nd birthday of the king of Thailand - Bhumibol Adulyalej.