Thailand trip

10/6
First thing you notice is the warmth in the people around. Very cordial and expressive. Once we stepped out, it looked so much like kerala. The weather, the place, the vegetation.

10/6
We were blown away by the resort. Amazing setup and ambience. Nothing like what we had thought of. We went to the Patong beach. It was not something that will impress you in one go. Sit on the beach and settle down and then you realise that you are in Phuket.

The shopping area draws your attention immediately by its color. You find everything that the US has offer. We sat on the beach, lurked around the street, drank and had amazing food. We were tired by then but excited at the same time thinking of our island hopping ride the next day. We had booked a trip to the Phi phi islands. We went off to sleep watching a show on muslim radicals and terrorism on CNN.


10/7
It was a day to look forward to and it lived up to its expectations. We woke up early, had an American breakfast and got picked up by the tour operators. We started off to Maya beach where the movie BEACH was shot. It was a stunning place. The experience did not end. Right after maya beach, we were off to monkey beach. It was interesting to see monkeys on the beach. We moved on to see the viking cave. A rocky island with a cave which opens up in to the sea. Apparently tourists are not allowed to enter the cave. From the cave the ride took us snorkelling. It was not the best place to do it but for first timers it is an experience. Well, my leg hit a rock and bruised. I came to know of it only when fish started gathering at my feet. :-) Snorkeling did not last for long as we were rushing towards Phi phi don for lunch.

The location was mind blowing and the lunch even better. Then it happened!! The boat ride from Phi phi don to another island 45 mins from there! It had rained during lunch and it was a cascading effect of the typhoon that hit Taiwan and Vietnam. I have heard about the effect of typhoons on the sea but we had a first hand experience on the boat. The waves were as high as the boat. It was a scary, bumpy ride. We reached a lonely island just for relaxing. The beach was a bit painful to walk on because of the remains of the reef on the beach. Suddenly we noticed few Indians staring at us and one of them was dressed like he was in the Hawaiian islands. And then we found that it was Ravi Teja, the telugu filmstar. :-) Off all the places, we found a telugu person in the smallest island in Thailand and that too a movie star dressed enough to embarass us in front of the people sharing our ride.

10/8
A day to relax. Nothing but relax. Had a lot of food. A bit depressing towards the end because we had to leave Phuket.

10/9
Reached Bangkok. Reached Amari atrium. It is advanced, technology-driven and the life is more like in India. Far better night life than the west (it's pathetic there). We shopped!


10/10
Birthday :-)

We went to the grand palace and Wat Phra Kaew. The Buddha there was amazing. Looking at it makes you feel like that is the topmost thing in the world. There is nothing above it. No videography is allowed inside the chamber. We could not see Wat Pho. It was wednesday and the temple was closed for some ceremony. Uma was very upset. Seeing the reclining buddha was one of her biggest wishes. We went shopping later at MBK again and did good amount of buying. We were getting the knack of bargaining in thailand. And it was time to leave.