Tag Archives: family

Thailand Nov 2019-Goodbye Bangkok

With the burning desire to jot down my memories before age takes over, I am hurriedly continuing with my last day in Thailand (Update: this post is 2 months after the earlier one, I’m functioning at age-appropriate pace!). My husband’s extended family and I were all on an out-of-the-blue trip to Krabi, Phuket and Bangkok and were to fly back home in the evening. In true “moi” style, every last bit of a holiday has to be utilized (my sister hates touring with me for precisely this reason.) So, after 2 full days of roaming about in Bangkok (Thailand November 2019-Bangkok), while the rest of the family was sleeping in, I decided to brave the metro and visit the Grand Palace that I had merely glimpsed the previous day.

I’m normally an intense researcher prior to a trip. This was one of the very few trips that I hadn’t bothered figuring anything about. A direct consequence of that was missing the Ayutthaya temple complex. Luckily, after catching a glimpse of the Grand Palace and confirming with my travel support team (Yogesh Shenoy, my one-man team!), I figured out that the Palace was a partial replacement. A quick net search revealed that the easiest way to get there was by metro, that one must be insanely covered up (no knees, shoulders, ankles, face, ears, toes to be bared) and one must get there crazy early to beat the crowds (and the heat, especially when only your eyes and nose are allowed to be seen).

*The glitzy metro station of the Grand Palace is a mere introduction*

So, well-fed and well-covered, I set out early morning to reach the palace well before its opening time of 8:30 am, by metro. It was a quick and efficient ride and I found myself at the Grand Palace metro stop in no time. What I didn’t know was that the entry was a long walk away from the metro.

*Glimpse of what was in store for me as I slowly sauntered along the road from the metro to the entrance*

What I also didn’t know was that the line to enter is ridiculously long early in the morning too, or that there are busloads of tourists all thinking what I was. As a result, I stood in a long queue and got in later than planned and worst of all, had gazillions of people around me. At 8:00am. People really don’t know how to vacation sensibly. Instead of sleeping in their rooms till late, they’re out on the streets, trying to enter palaces!

OK, that is a tad hypocritical. Luckily, the queue moved fairly quickly so I bought my ticket and got in. Since I was suitably over-dressed, I didn’t waste any time (or money) buying cover-ups (note to all future visitors), but sadly didn’t take any guide (audio or actual) as I had no time (and money as this palace cost A LOT to enter).

Huge manicured lawns, gorgeous flowers, intricate carvings and more sparkle than my sunglasses and camera lens could handle stretched out everywhere that met the eye. Not sure of what to see first, I simply followed the crowds who turned towards the spectacular Outer Palace area that houses the bulk of the temples. Unsurprisingly, my jaws dropped open!

The beautiful colored mosaics and intricate carvings were a delight

The Emerald Buddha, the most important Buddha image of Thailand, is dressed in different costumes for different seasons, all made of gold and jewelry. Beautiful murals decorate the walls of the chapel that houses the Buddha.

*Demon statues face the chapel of the Emerald Buddha and guard it from evil spirits*

It was amazing to learn that this palace is more than 300 years old, though it was initially constructed mainly with wood. It has gradually been built to this level of opulence, partly from raw materials taken from the Grand palace at Ayutthaya and designed in a similar fashion.

Too much gilt? There’s no such concept in the Grand Palace! It’s a huge area of sparkle.

*This is a library that houses Buddhist scriptures. Truly regal*

Fortunately there were colors other than gold, but no less stunning. Every single structure had immaculate detail and beauty.

*This structure resembles the Thai crown, with mosaics from China*

Without a family to slow me down, I saw every building in the palace and went trigger-crazy.

Honestly, anyone would have gone trigger-crazy in there. It was impossible not to click a picture every 2 seconds, but I finally put away the camera and just strolled about, staring at the intricate work and dazzling colors. That’s when a kindly lady walked up to me and offered to take a rare non-selfie picture of me.

Walking about, I was truly surprised to see a dull grey but intricate and beautiful structure in the midst of all this amazing mosaic work. As I got closer, I realized that it was a small model of the famous Angkor Wat of Cambodia.

Yesteryear Thai kings wanted to shift the Angkor Wat from Cambodia, which was under their reign in the 19th century, to Bangkok. Unable to do so, they finally got a miniature made within their seat of power at the time, the Grand Palace.

Another delight was a series of stunning mural paintings lining an open gallery, surrounding the temples. Initially, I thought that they were paintings of the palace itself, but learnt that they were images from the Ramakien, Thai interpretation of the Ramayana.

Running short of time, I tore myself away from the stunning paintings, towards the Middle court section, once the residence and seat of rule of the Thai kings.

*The vases with shrubs were fascinating too*

Once the main residence, this building is now used for state banquets. It was supposed to have 3 domes on the top, which were substituted by Thai spires. That explains the contrast between the main façade and the roof.

I don’t know if its possible to enter these official buildings, where today, heads of state and summit leaders are invited, but I loved walking about admiring the buildings and gardens.

My time was long up, yet I had to drag myself out. As I walked out of the last doorway, the blazing sun lined up with the spire, a final sparkle to round off a sparkling morning.

It was blazing hot and I was tired and thirsty, but as I stepped out of the Palace complex, a wonderful sight beckoned.

Ice-cream is always welcome on a day like this, but it was actually the glistening spire of Wat Arun that caught my eye. A mere short boat ride across the Chao Phraya river, Banti mama’s pictures and raptures about this temple of dawn, tempted me to rush, ice-cream in hand, to the pier and catch a boat across.

I think I alighted at a stop a short distance away, so I walked through some pretty gardens before I reached the very crowded temple.

Glistening in the sun, the temple looked even better up close. I quickly bought a ticket and headed in, hoping I could climb all the way up for a view over the city.

Sadly, the steep stairs leading almost till the top were closed and I had to content myself with a small viewpoint.

Right at this point, my sister-in-law called me to join her for a last minute shopping spree. As that seemed like fun, I hurriedly clambered down the steps (and so missed seeing the extensive gardens around), struggled to get a boat in the correct direction and finally reached the Grand palace again.

I tried to figure out the quickest train route, but it involved changing 3 trains and a long walk to the nearest metro station. The nearest Uber would take 30 minutes to arrive and another 45 minutes to reach the mall where my sister-in-law was. That’s when I saw a sign for motorcycle rides and I quickly hailed one, forgetting that I’m terrified of motorcycles and Bangkok is really not safe to travel by bikes.

The driver handed me a helmet, that I didn’t know how to wear. The driver cursed, put it on me, clipped it shut, shaking his head and continuously abusing me in Thai. Once I got onto the bike and held on for dear life to the back rest, he took off at a pace that would have put Max Verstappen to shame! After a truly harrowing bike ride, I reached the mall on a totally different road and entry point than the place I was to meet her, leading to a crazy run around the place.

Needless to say, we did meet and we did shop. Was the shopping worth the crazy drive? No. Would I do it again? Most certainly!

Having had the most power-packed day of my entire trip, I finally headed back to the hotel and then to the airport for our flight back home. Being part of a punctual family meant that we had plenty of time at the airport so we merrily roamed about and bought last minute chocolates and gifts.

*I have a thing for pretty shop windows*

*The Johnnie Walker GOT fire and ice collection*

This was a truly outstanding trip. Totally unplanned and unexpected and absolutely wonderful. Many many thanks to Banti mama and Renu masi for this superb holiday and to the amazing extended family I was with. I will always remember this trip with the utmost happiness.

P.S. My apologies for the huge number of images. They are partly for Banti mama, as he couldn’t come to this palace and would have loved to see it (he went to the beautiful Lumbini garden instead) and partly because I couldn’t choose which photograph not to put up.

Thailand November 2019-Bangkok

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When my friend and travel guide Yogesh Shenoy told me to finish writing about my trips within the year I travelled in, I laughed at him. Now I realize that he understood me better than I understood myself. Covid-19 turned into Covid-20 and now Covid-bloody-never-ending, has ensured that we cant travel anywhere except locally, and that has sadly pushed my desire to write into a very tiny corner of my head (and a reminder on my phone!) I actually have 4 drafts saved because I cant get back to writing about memories of a different era. Even mask-free photographs of the past seem surprising to me now.

And yet, one year down, here I am, scrolling through pictures of my past trips and having vivid memories of wonderful vacations. Maybe this is what I need to get myself off my current Europe-deprived state, to revisit previous trips and pen them on this blog. My last long vacation was a surprise unplanned trip to Thailand (courtesy Banti mama and Renu masi, my husband’s uncle and aunt). I will carry on that story with our flight to Bangkok after a lovely day out on the beautiful waters of the Phi-Phi islands (Thailand 2019: Phuket and Phi Phi islands).

*We found massage chairs to while away the time before the flight*

A short and bumpy flight through heavy rain-filled clouds took us to Bangkok, the city of chaos in Thailand. As my brain played “One night in Bangkok” on loop, I couldnt help but remember the movie “The Hangover II” and hope that we weren’t going to lose anyone.

Driving past this billboard to our hotel, I wasn’t too sure about how much I would love it, but I was pleasantly surprised there. Bangkok is very easy to travel about in, has great food, decent temples to see, decent shopping and a vibrant night life. It’s pretty much like Mumbai, just cleaner. And of course, everything seems better on a holiday. So, all in all, Bangkok was a great end to a great trip.

After a short rest, our huge gang of 18 split ways (less to keep track off!) Banti mama and Anup masa headed off to the pristine white Wat Arun, that Banti mama was so desperate to see.

Bangkok is known for cheap shopping, so we followed our more knowing cousins’ advice and headed to a mall, while our husbands slept and watched TV (ideal shopping trip!) What we didn’t realize though, was that the cheaper malls don’t let you try on clothes, and are more like street shopping under a roof.

Street shopping is fun, especially when interspersed with food, and that’s actually what we had more of. Unable to shop much, we got frustrated and headed to the well-developed waterfront with plenty of food options for all of us. After all, 18 people just cannot have the same food choices.

Spacious and well designed, this large open air mall was at the banks of the Chao Phraya river. We enjoyed standing along the waterfront and watching the barges and ships go by. Unsurprisingly, my friendly out-going brother-in-law found some interesting company.

*It was an Insta-friendly place for sure!*

There was a carnival at the very end, with a ride through a haunted mansion. My extremely arachnophobic teen suddenly decided that she was brave enough to venture in, and did so alone.

Not surprised that this is how she came out!

Exhausted by the long day, we slept as soon as we got back to the hotel, with a plan to visit a few temples the next day. I was keen on traveling to the Ayutthaya complex, but no one else was interested in heading so far out from the main city, so I had to give it a miss. Instead, we ended up visiting a few temples in the vicinity, that were fairly beautiful. Buddhist temples are quiet and peaceful, or so I had thought, till I went to Bangkok, and realized that tourism could kill the peace just about anywhere.

Our first stop on this temple-hopping day was Wat Traimit, which houses the world’s largest solid Golden Buddha and was just a short walk from our hotel.

*This weird hand-like structure somehow reminded me of GOT*

One can’t help but be awed by this splendor (and possibly need a pair of sunglasses). Apparently, this grand statue was covered by stucco and plaster for many years to protect it from Burmese invaders, and was accidentally discovered when the covered statue fell and a bit of plaster chipped off, revealing the sparkling gold within.

*There’s no end to the amount of gold in this temple*

**Ornately decorated door at the side of the temple**

The next destination was Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. We had to drive for almost an hour to get there. Most everyone fell asleep, but I kept looking around excitedly at the city. That’s when I saw the Grand Palace, just behind the very temple we were going to. As no one else wanted to see it, I went alone the next day and truly loved it.

*Glimpse of the stunning Grand Palace while driving past that tempted me to go back for more*

However, everyone did want to see the huge reclining Buddha. So, on that hot sunny afternoon, we were lined up at the magnificent complex of Wat Pho, greeted by these warriors guarding the entrance.

This huge complex was too large to see at a go and we had a set of irritable and disinterested teens with us, so we ended up rushing through it. We didn’t even take an audio or book guide to help us through it. Yet, it remains entrenched in my memory as a marvelously constructed complex.

Naturally, our first stop was to see the huge reclining Buddha. This was crowded as could be and we really struggled to get close but we finally got our chance to see the colossal structure up close.

It was stunning enough for us to take a full circle around it and marvel at the workers who must have slaved to put it together. But more sights awaited us and we stepped back out into the heat to see the ornate architecture.

*My brother-in-law was my only model on this trip*

*Beautiful colors and carvings decorated the numerous chedis placed all over the complex and got me trigger-crazy*

*By now, it was intolerably hot and Magnum was our only savior*

More and more of the same got too much for all of us (even architecture-loving me), and we were pleasantly surprised to find some really quirky statues and some shade.

*My sister-in-law was a very good (and flexible) sport to pose the same way*

*Thank goodness the hubby didn’t even try!*

*There are many statues of Buddha in this complex but this one caught our attention the most after the reclining Buddha*

*I think I liked the flowers and the quirky yogis the most*

By the time an hour was up, we were bored as hell and desperate to get out and have some food. There didn’t seem to be Indian food nearby (the preference of seniors of our group), so the hubby found an appropriate restaurant not too far away and we promptly hailed Ubers to that destination. Unfortunately, a very very long cab ride took us to the wrong area and we were left lost and confused on the streets of Bangkok (but fortunately together.) Luckily, some enquiries led us to an Indian part of town, with a gurudwara and shopping complex very reminiscent of Bur Dubai.

*A resident cat claimed the wares as his bed*

*An oxymoron, but that’s what you get in Indian areas in Thailand. It certainly was delicious*

We were all very tired by the end of lunch and hurried to our hotel to sleep. In the evening, we went to another favorite Indian haunt to shop for bags, purses and gifts for family, items that we haven’t yet used, thanks to the pandemic. As we were ready to leave, it started pouring cats and dogs. We were to meet the rest of our gang at a restaurant near our hotel, but there was no cab in sight. We finally had the best possible Indian dinner right across the mall and then headed back to our hotel, arms bursting with bags.

Retail therapy has never hurt anyone.

This was our last night in Bangkok. The next evening we were to head back home. But we still had the next morning to go sightseeing and shopping, an entertaining story that needs more time to be told.. Hopefully, that will happen in this year itself!

Thailand 2019: Phuket and Phi Phi islands

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Covid-19 is still having a free rein in 2020 and so the travel-deprived moi shall be content with memories of past holidays. My recent-most trip is almost a year ago, to Thailand with the hubby’s extended family, thanks to Banti mama. I find myself back in time on my second day in beautiful Phuket, continuing on from my last post (Thailand November 2019: Phuket).

The highlight of Phuket is the stunning coastline and the islands just off its coast. This day, we had a pre-booked tour to the well-known Phi -Phi islands. Ideally we would have chosen to stay a couple of nights instead of just doing a day trip like we did this time, well you learn something every day! Fortunately for all the older people in our group, we were booked on a huge boat and not a small long-tailed boat or speed boat, which had been a pain for the poor seniors. After waking up unreasonably early and driving almost an hour to the pier, we stood waiting for the boat to be loaded for another hour. Needless to say, we were (as in Krabi Thailand November 2019: Krabi 4 island tour), completely disgusted by the tour operators; all except Babu masi, who utilized the time to shop. (In retrospect, it might have been the smarter thing to do)

Ever-smiling Babu masi spent the wait time fruitfully

When we finally boarded the boat, we were even more disappointed to find our seats in the lowest cabin area that had tiny cubby-hole windows way above seat level. There goes the view! “Thomas Cook never again,” was everyone’s furious decision!

The ride to the islands is 2 hours and the airconditioning in the claustrophobic cabin ( unthinkable today!) was the only saving grace. Oh and the “Gujju” food bag! With no food service on board, we thanked our lucky stars for our smart vision in carrying the food bag everywhere (and for finding it at Bangkok airport!). Once you are stuffed silly, even a dull ride can seem less painful! Of course, there are mobile phones to while away the time.

Kids can always entertain themselves. Look at the bored/ sleeping adults behind!

The hubby needed no device, the kids had a blast playing with him and jumping over him!

However, even mobiles, running and jumping about could get boring and after some time with no beautiful sea scape to wow us, everyone slid into a slumber.

Finally, they allowed us to go onto the deck and there was a mad scramble to get out into the sunshine.

Karst islands rising from the deep blue sea and the stunning clear blue skies ensured that we never went back down

Banti mama enjoyed a chilled beer while the kids had icecream

If you travel by speedboat to the Phi Phi islands, you can get off at the island where the Leonardo diCaprio starrer “The Beach” was filmed, but the big boat tour only takes you to an island where you can snorkel and then on to the Phi Phi islands themselves. So a bunch of us and the 2 teens got onto another boat to snorkel while the senior citizens and the kids went onto Phi Phi directly.

It was my first time snorkeling and I really enjoyed it. Not having carried an underwater camera casing, I have no pictures but this is something I have to do again for sure. It was fascinating to see the pretty yellow and black striped fish and marvel at a rare blue one, and fun to be bobbing in the ocean, trying to stay within the ropes.

Tiny fish in the clear waters off the pier at Phi Phi

Phi Phi island is quite large, very crowded and touristy. And yet, it has a certain charm to it. Maybe it’s the beautiful color of the waters, the delicious food available, or just the chilled island vibe, but I felt that this would be a lovely place to stay at, especially after day trippers like us were gone.

Our tour included lunch at the main beach area, so we rushed through the market without stopping and had a very average lunch (the only 2 bad meals on the trip were those included in the tour). It probably was for the best as we quickly wolfed down the food and dove in to the best beach I swam in on this trip. White sands and clear blue waters, absolute bliss!

Sadly, we didn’t have enough time to enjoy our seaside bliss, as we had to head back pretty soon. We walked back through the market place, grabbing some slush and icecream on the way, wishing we’d stayed here instead of at the mainland. On the boat ride back, the seniors and kids had a bit of shut-eye, but we had a great time on the deck in the blazing sun, watching the beautiful scenery rush by.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law getting very tanned on the deck

Back at the hotel, we roamed around our hotel area, making a mental note of places to eat at. We were surprised to see the large numbers of massage parlors in the area, and a little doubtful about what exactly was on offer. We finally decided to actually see for ourselves instead of slandering them without evidence & dived into one. I am happy to report that I had the best foot massage ever and nothing else happened. At least I think so, as I fell asleep!

While in Phuket, one must sample the nightlife, and so we headed off with our younger cousins to Bangla road, the neon lit, pedestrian-only vibrant center of night life in Patong Bay area. The party here is not only in the bars, but all along the road. The long day caught up with us, and we, the older lot needed to call it a day by midnight, which is actually when the ‘day’ begins in Bangla.

Since the last 4 days had been crazily hectic, we decided to just rest the next day and have really no plan but local sight seeing. The kids were desperate to swim, so they leapt into the hotel’s tiny pool, while we walked around our hotel and then headed for a long lazy lunch.

We simply took over the entire restaurant!

That evening, we planned to visit the local beach that was a mere 1.5 km walk from our hotel. As we set off, we were pleasantly surprised to come across the Phuket Patong Bay parade, with beautifully decorated floats and people dancing in their local costumes.

The kids joined in the parade and merrily danced along. The rest of us walked ahead to the beach to catch the sunset, the only sunset we saw at the beach on this trip.

My sister-in-law loved the chilled coconut water at the beach

As it grew dark, the floats lit up, and the dancers put up quite a show for us. This unplanned evening turned out to be the most fun filled evening for us!

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law posed with the prettiest lady in the parade

My niece spotted a Starbucks, and dived in. Kids and their fads! FYI, back in India, my house is 500m from a Starbucks! So much for trying the local cuisine, the curse of globalisation! All in all, it was worth getting in simply to enjoy some air-conditioning actually.

The entire beachfront ahead was lined by beautifully decorated shacks, selling drinks and a huge variety of food. But we already had our share of overpriced corporate cake & coffee so we could only gawk at it!

Filled to the brim, we walked back to our hotel. The next day, we had an early morning flight to Bangkok. Phuket turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable place. Food was outstanding and despite the long distances, this large peninsula had enough to keep everyone entertained. And I slept happily, dreaming of this gorgeous sunset.

P.S. Many many thanks to Yogesh Shenoy for editing my very lacklustre post and making it a post worth a read.

Thailand November 2019: Phuket

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September 2020 is when I thought I would be able to take my postponed North Italy trip. Of course, I’ve been living in fool’s paradise with hopes that just cannot materialize. With all plans of travel in 2020 dashed, it’s nice to revisit a wonderful, unplanned and unexpected trip to Thailand almost a year ago, courtesy hubby’s uncle and aunt, Banti mama and Renu masi. I’ve already relived the Krabi trip in previous posts, it’s time to move onto Phuket.

On the third day of our trip, we woke up early (again) for the long 4 hour drive to Phuket. I didn’t know the 2 places were so far apart, and was lucky that I had enough music stored on my phone to keep me company as we drove past groves of trees with no water in sight. Tired by the early morning, everyone else fell asleep but Coldplay managed to keep me up till we finally reached Phuket and planned a long day of sightseeing before reaching the hotel.

As always, included city tours are boring, with visits meant to lure the unsuspecting occasional traveler to overpriced lousy stores and over-touristy destinations from where the drivers get kickbacks. Luckily, we had our own list of places to visit that the kids would enjoy and were spared half of the unwanted destinations that the guide tried to make us visit. After a slow (but delicious) Punjabi lunch at a “dhaba” styled restaurant run by a Sardarji, we went straight to Tiger kingdom.

I really hate the idea of drugging an animal for letting kids and adults pose with them, but we had little kids with us who were too young to understand such concepts and were all charged up about touching a real tiger. Surprisingly, our teens were just as charged up and despite my entreaties, joined the kids in the tiger cub “meet and greet”.

Some day, they will realise their folly, till then, they will be happy with this memory

Delicious mango slush with mangoes while waiting for the kids

Any trip with kids has to have enough for them to do and Thailand certainly provided enough. Straight from Tiger kingdom, we went to Dolphin bay to see a seal and dolphin show. Even with my anti-animal torture sentiments, I loved the show. Dolphins are my favorite sea animals and it’s relieving to see how much their trainers love them, even while making them perform in ways they really shouldn’t be doing.

The highlight of the show was when we could actually touch the dolphins. Having never gotten close to a dolphin, I was the first to rush ahead this time and was shocked by how rubbery their skins were and still amazed by the beauty of these graceful sea animals. Sigh! I really don’t have the right to talk about kids’ folly!

From there, we were whisked away to a temple, only to have our teens groan away at that thought. However, Thai temples are beautiful and peaceful and we enjoyed posing outside and inside the temple.

I was impressed by the photography skill of the driver, who captured all of us with the temple

Like all Buddhist temples, the architecture was ornate and detailed, but not a shade on those in Bangkok. We climbed up all the levels to the terrace with a beautiful view of the huge Buddha statue on top of a hill and the surroundings.

Banti mama and Renu masi really enjoyed the temples

It wasn’t just humans and drugged animals who posed nicely for us that day, some animals were naturally forth-coming for their turn on my lens.

It was getting late and dark as we left, but our driver was keen on taking us a viewpoint over Phuket bay, so we drove and drove up a long winding slope to reach a beautiful terrace with a great view.

As we watched the sun set and the city light up, the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with us. Having emptied out the Gujju snack bag, we drove to the hotel past glittering streets and high end boutiques. After some rest, we indulged in some street food (the best street food of the teen’s life, she’s drooling even as I type) and visited a night market for some unique food options.

I have never seen so much sea food at one spread

Our teens went off with the hubby’s younger cousins, one of whom was once a chef in a 5 star hotel, to try local cuisine. And did their horizons broaden! For a change, my daughter stayed off pizza and pasta and tried something different, including even octopus and clams!

My sister-in-law and I, much less adventurous and vegetarian, had a blast sampling the exotic fruits and desserts available.

Ice creams and slushes made using delicious fresh fruit

Having had such a hectic but exciting day, we were happy to crash into bed early as we had another long day ahead of us, a full day trip to the famed Phi Phi islands. However, the exhaustion of writing has crept up on me just as the exhaustion after that long first day at Phuket, and so, the story will continue on yet another “locked down” day.

Thailand November 2019: Krabi 4 island tour

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There are some places that one describes as impossibly beautiful, and they stay fixed in one’s mind as impossibly beautiful forever. For me, one of them is Krabi, more specifically, its islands. The soft golden sands with stunningly clear turquoise-green waters and deep blue skies have captured my heart. I have always loved beaches, but Krabi’s beaches are a class apart and I would love to go back.

It was our second day at Krabi and of the unexpected trip to Thailand courtesy the hubby’s uncle and aunt Banti mama and Renu masi (Thailand November 2019). We had to wake up ridiculously early (for a holiday) to go on the pre-booked 4 island tour. Thanks to the rain, we had rested enough the previous day and could wake up on time for a scrumptious breakfast and head off on time, sleepy but very excited.

A sneak peek of the day ahead, shimmering through a gap in the trees

It is a different matter that once we were unceremoniously dumped by the car driver at the meeting point, there was no one to meet. We went to the waterfront, to the few shacks around, then back to the drop-off point, but found no one. Banti mama struggled to call the local travel agent, who didn’t take the calls. After more than half an hour of getting frustrated, we met someone who told us to wait near the waters.

Everyone was grinning at having found the tour organisers

Happy to find a point of contact, we walked right back to the beachfront, cheerfully stood under the trees, admiring the waters and wondering how there was no one around, while the kids shrieked for beach toys. As their mother went back towards the road for the toys, she noticed a large gang of people and approached them to ask about our tour guide. It turned out that we should have been waiting right there, by the road, instead of being misguided by one of their own people!

As we trudged the long walk back, the tour guide actually yelled at us for having wandered off and making everyone late. That was the last straw, considering that we had reached way before anyone else.

However, it was impossible to stay angry for too long, as the tour group was led by an extremely entertaining woman. She proceeded to “orient” us for the better part of an hour. She had us in splits, not because she was funny, but because she was really silly. We could only thank our stars that she was not our boat guide.

Traditional long tailed boats

We set off almost 3 hours after reaching the beach from where the tour started, and it was very hot by then. Still, we were very excited as we approached the line up of long tailed boats, till we struggled to clamber in. Note to all elderly and physically challenged travelers, approach these boats with caution. You need to wade into thigh deep water and hoist yourself over the edge to get in. Luckily, with a lot of effort, all 18 of us managed to get in safe and sound and settled in, and then we set off.

This neat orientation took half an hour to set up and was undone in 5 minutes!

Soon, the beach was a tiny speck on the horizon and beautiful blue-green waters surrounded us. A gentle breeze blew into the boats, cooling those of us not covered by the shade. Fortunately, the Gujju food bag had made its way onto the boat too, and we cheerfully chomped on theplas and chili pickle, interspersed with biscuits.

Once your tummies are full, everything appears more beautiful. The sea appeared greener, the skies bluer and the sun seemed sunnier!

Even the clouds seemed, well, cloudier.

Even the grins were toothier!

Happily, we leaned over the side of the boat and let our fingers trail in the water. The kids squealed as the spray flew over their faces, and we had to hold them down as they jumped about. Tall karst islands protruded from the waters, some with entertaining shapes.

Soon, it was time to reach our first island of the 4 island tour, Phranang Cave on Railey island. As we moved in, we could see that this part of the island was packed with people and boats. Our driver expertly maneuvered between 2 boats, and hurriedly 2 adults, 3 kids and 1 teen jumped out and ran onto the beach. Before any more of us could hop out, the waves started tossing our boat towards the neighboring one. Our driver struggled to control the rocking boat and we to keep our balance. Unable to secure a safe docking spot, he finally moved away, planning to dock a little ahead.

But he hadn’t accounted for a new set of boats coming in. Before we could reach the shore, the landing area was full and we had no way to get off. Feeling panic stricken about being separated from our group, we considered jumping into the water and swimming to the shore, but the driver and guide wouldn’t allow us. Finally the boat had to back away, turn around some rocks in the water and stop on a part of the island far away from the rest of our family.

We spent a lot of time just trying to get to the shore

My sisters-in-law at the tail of the boat

The guide told us that we could only spend half an hour here as he had wasted a good chunk of the allotted time trying to get the boat to the shore. My mother-in-law waited back in the boat as it was a huge struggle for her to get on and off (actually she spent the entire day on the boat till the tour was over).

We rushed to find our children, who had thoroughly enjoyed playing on the soft sands and the clean waters. They dragged us into the waters for a good swim.

The only picture I took with my SLR on this day. I shouldn’t have carried it at all

We had so much fun in the water that we didn’t want to leave this island, despite the scorching heat. But time was short, and leave we had to, so we clambered back onto the boat, to get to the next island, Chicken island.

The boat pauses at the place where the chicken’s head is best seen

While the name got everyone hungrier, this island had no beach to land on. There was a small cove at one edge where snorkeling could be done. Our younger cousins cheerfully hopped into the deep green-blue waters, but the in-laws were too frightened to allow us (and mainly our teens) to get into the waters, so we couldn’t experience that.

Bharti Sodhi, who came up with the brilliant family tee shirts

It was a very still part of the ocean, sheltered away by the island, with very beautiful shades of water.

Once the snorkelers were safely back in, we headed off to the next island, the Tup island. This island is connected to another by a sand bank that you can walk on when the tide is out. I had really hoped that we would be there at such a time, but that was not the case. Instead there was enough water to stand in, and the sand below made it a gorgeous shade of green.

We got off the boat directly into the warm waters

We spent a lot of time in this shallow stretch of paradise. The kids had picked up the snorkeling gear and were practicing with it.

What fabulous shades of color are these waters!

The rest of us swam about, marveled at this place or just floated along.

The hubby’s favorite island

Print-worthy vistas

Had we not been on the tour, we wouldn’t have left this place, we loved it so much. But we were on a tight time frame and we really had to move onto the next stop.

Did I forget, lunch was calling?

Our last stop was Poda island (lunch island for me), where we disembarked and rushed for food, turning our backs to the alluring sea. Lunch, however, was a terrible disappointment. After standing in a huge line, we got some over cooked unsalted vegetables and mushy glass noodles. It was basically food for a fussy toddler and we ate to fill some bit of the crying stomachs, but really hated it. So, we wasted as little time as possible on lunch and rushed to the sea instead.

We just sat and stared at this view

Before we could swim to our heart’s fill, we were called to the boats as the waters tend to get choppy in the evenings. We hopped from boat to boat as there was no ladder on ours, feeling very happy indeed that my mother-in-law had stayed back on the boat. Here, we had a wonderful surprise, finally something to eat to our heart’s content, delicious fruit!

Needless to say, we wiped out the boat’s entire stock of fruit in seconds. The long ride back, the full stomachs, and the exhaustion of the day caught up with us and nearly everyone slept off.

We were very tired once we got back at the hotel, so we made good use of the pool (and its cafe) to recover and catch up with dinner and slept soon as we had an early morning drive to Phuket the next day.

We had had a wonderful albeit short time in Krabi. I would certainly call it the best part of my Thailand trip and would love to go back. However, I wouldn’t take the 4 island tour again and wouldn’t recommend it either to anyone. The islands are doable on their own and its better to choose the island and amount of time you have there rather than be at the whims and fancies of Thai tour operators.

Yet, nothing, not even the mass tourism of Thailand, can detract one from the abundant natural beauty of Krabi and that’s why I loved it. And till I go back, this is what my dreams will be made of.

Thailand November 2019

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Some holidays are unplanned, unaccounted for and served on a platter. You have to be lucky to get one of those, and lucky we surely were when the hubby’s uncle decided to plan a holiday for the extended family to (hold your breath) Thailand for his 60th birthday. Thank you Banti mama and Renu masi!

2019-2020 was the year of minimal travel as the teen was in grade 10 and behaving as though she were giving the IAS or CA exam (the toughest Indian exams). We had already enjoyed a small trip to the golden beaches of Tarkarli (Tarkarli-May 2019) and a wonderful holiday in Bangalore with my sister and adorable niece in May of this year. I was busy researching destinations for the long holidays post-Grade 10 exams and having the hubby reject them all (sad face). That’s when Banti mama’s 60th birthday party got shifted from a Lonavala farm house to Goa to Phuket and Krabi. Great jump I say!

Banti mama plans trips at 10x the pace I plan them. He promptly hired Thomas Cook for a 5N Phuket and Krabi package and added 2 extra nights in Bangkok for good measure and booked the tickets before we could even get our heads around the idea. Leaves were sanctioned and the teen coaxed and cajoled to miss her precious classes. The Thomas Cook UK collapse certainly added a big set of flutters, but of course it all worked out.

It only helped that I had colored my hair blue and teal a month ago for my 45th birthday. I was all set for Thailand! Frantic thepla and Gujarati and Punjabi snack shopping, and desperate downloading of songs and movies on mobiles took us to D-day where 14 adults, 2 teenagers and 3 kids assembled in matching tee shirts (courtesy Bharti Sodhi) at Mumbai airport.

We had a stopover at Bangkok airport, where we walked almost 2 km and stood in a crazily long queue for visa on arrival and then another long walk and queue for security check before the domestic flight to Krabi. In all the sleepy haze and mayhem, we forgot the food bag at the counter and only remembered it at the gate, when we were very hungry.

Luckily, Gujju food bags have a sense of belonging and stay true to their owners. We rushed back to security, retrieved the bag and hogged and hogged before the flight. While on it, the teens and the kids were too excited to sleep, but the adults merrily caught their 40 winks.

Beautiful palm trees at Krabi

We loved Krabi best of all the places we visited. If I ever go back to Thailand, I will spend a full week relaxing in Krabi. Lovely beaches, clear waters and great food are all a direct flight away from Mumbai. However,I have no idea when that will happen, given the current mess the world is in and the many other places yet unticked on my bucket list.

Krabi airport is a long drive from the beachfront, but the lovely hotel with its huge rooms and pool livened us all up.

My coffee terrace

We freshened up and headed for a quick lunch, planning an afternoon trip to climb a thousand steps to the tiger cave temple with a great view. Hungry as could be, we ate and ate, while it suddenly started pouring, effectively cancelling all plans for the hike. I was so relieved as I wasn’t sure that I could climb a thousand steps!

The long walk back to the hotel in the now-gentle drizzle was very enjoyable, past the market area. We had fun peeking into the tiny shops with their charming wares.

While the older people enjoyed an afternoon of shut-eye, the rest of had a great swim in the huge pool and delicious French fries, pizzas and cocktails.

Too tired to walk to the beach, with a long day ahead of us the next day, we relaxed in the pool till night, where we headed to a night market right beside our hotel.

I love quaint market places with their myriad artefacts, wares and food. The different colors and smells, the hustle and bustle, all appeal to me. If there’s a night market where I am visiting, I will land up there. Luckily for me, this one was too close to miss and all of us went to see what was on display.

The hubby’s aunts, Babu masi and Renu masi, are great fun and super enthusiastic

This tiny market was filled with stalls of tacky clothes, handbags, jewelry and souvenirs to carry home. As always, I was too busy clicking pictures to even pick up a fridge magnet for my sister, who loves them. That ended up as a repetitive pattern on this trip.

There were lots of food stalls with small tables laid out and we wandered through all, hoping to finish dinner here itself. Sadly, most of the food was seafood, and most of us were vegetarians. There was even a Bavarian beer garden here and that was tempting for a few in the group but they held on for now!

Sushi

I have never seen fruits look more delicious!

Even though there was no food of our choice, there is always the universal favorite – icecream! A couple of cold stone ice-creams and delicious fruit slushes later, we headed off to the main Aonang beachfront for dinner at a multicuisine restaurant so that everyone could have food of their own different tastes.

The signboard was enticement enough and those that had held off earlier gave in now!

Banti mama with the love of his life

With a heavy meal in our tummies we walked back slowly, listening to the waves lap along the beach, deciding that we’d wake up early the next morning to walk along the shore at dawn.

Needless to say, only two people went on that walk, Banti mama and me! Used to the solitude (Did I leave Banti mama behind? I really don’t remember!), I enjoyed the fresh breeze and the sun lighting up the entire beach.

What a great place for breakfast. Sadly, nothing was open

Cute knick knacks outside a public restroom

Having started the day on a happy note, I headed back to the hotel for a delicious breakfast and later, headed off to the waterfront to some of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever been to, as part of the 4 island tour. But that tour deserves a full separate post, so here I sign off, happily dreaming of turquoise waters and golden sands.

Travels of the self and the mind

my trips, my thoughts, my dreams

Tag Archives: family

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