In pursuit of happiness!: A week in the never invaded Kingdom of Thailand!

Crew Members: Jatheesh, Shilpa, Aparna and myself.

Duration: 8 days, 7 nights.

Date: 17th October 2015 - 24th October 2015.

Expense: ~50k per head.

Abstract: Self organised and pretty well executed journey.

Note: This is the first blog post my marriage with Aparna. Thus this can also be called a late honeymoon trip which is applicable to the newly married couple Jatheesh and Shilpa as well. Special thanks to my buddy Manish who helped us plan better based on his backpacking experience in Thailand the previous year.

This isn't an easy go trip. This is like a semi-backpacking trip.

Initial plan of ours was to visit the malayalam movie Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi fame Tawang of Arunachal Pradesh. But, I was always interested in self planned tour than a full guided package tour. And the main reason being the constraints which would get imposed upon us in terms of time, freedom and privacy. Moreover, self-organised trips always present you better memories than organised trips is what I learned from my experience.

Makemytrip suggested Thailand package tour when we were searching for North East India packages. That's when we thought why not! I consulted with Manish and made a rough idea about the country and tourist places there. Details appeared very convincing and not so difficult to plan. In not time, flight tickets were booked or the Dusshera holidays window. Thai airways offered us a good deal. Next step was to book off the hotels and for the purpose, we decided to stay in Bangkok for the first three days and then the next three days in Pattaya and again one day in Bangkok before we return.

Booked Aravinda Living Home, Sukumvit, Soi 65 for first three days in Bangkok, Superbed 'Otel Pattaya in Pattaya and Royal Ivory Nana 4 for the last day in Bangkok.

Preparations:

A week before the trip start date, I started building up a detailed itinerary. That's when I realized, how organized the country is and how accommodating are they for the tourists. Public transport facility in the country is extremely well planned and with good reach. I divided the list of places to visit priority wise and made the best allocation I could do across the 8 days. Plan even included the BTS (Sky Train) and MTR (Metro) based travel plan to each destination.

Major attractions like Siam Marine World, Madame Tussad's, Sanctuary of Truth, Art in Paradise have their own websites where you can book the entry tickets in prior! Apart from the benefit of faster entry, sites like Marine world and Madame Tussad's had online booking discounts! I also found one guided tour organised by the Sun Leisure World to Ayuthhaya to be an interesting one which I thought would do for the 3rd day at the cost of skipping skip Safari World! But Jatheesh and Shilpa wanted to visit Safari World and we decided to take different directions on that day. The same organizers had trip to Safari World as well which Jatheesh booked with post-payment option.

Next major thing is about food for this whole week. Myself and Aparna being vegetarians, we anticipated the difficulty in finding right food for us. Also, counting my China trip experience few years back, we decided to pack some 'Ready to Eat' stuff from MTR. Thus we stuffed in Mutter Paneer, Bhendi Masala, Rajma Masala, Chana Masala, Masala Rice, Tomato Rice, Rajma Chawal and Veg Pulav. Feeling lame huh? You'll see! :D

We also packed other major things to carry like socket converter (Round to Flat), Jam/Sandwitch Spread, Sun Screen, Biscuits, Umbrella, Surge Protector, and so on. And the main thing, the currency conversion was done in prior from UAE Exchange, Marathahalli Branch.

Thus the day of 16th turned up and all our bags were packed two days before unlike the bachelor days! :P

Our flight was timed at 17th morning 12:30 AM IST. And we landed in Bangkok at 5:25 AM Thai local time. It was day break when we stepped out of the flight.

Day - 1

First things first, the on-arrival VISA application! We had the VISA application form filled and the photo pasted already because of which, all we were left to do was to fill the immigration card and the departure card which were minuscule effort. In a matter of 45 mins, all these formalities were completed. Next job was to collect the baggage and then take a traveler's sim card. Almost all the network operators in Thailand provide traveler's sim card at 300 THB. It comes with 1.5 GB of 3G data, 50 THB credit balance and 7 days validity. Once done, we headed to Airport Rail Link which is the cheapest and fastest connection to the city. Makkasan was the station which was supposed to be the closest station to the hotel we booked. Train got crowded in the course but gave us an awesome view of the airport highway and the city. We reached Makkasan in around 20 mins and it was charged 35 THB per head. There was a taxi booking unit in the station from where we took couple of taxis to reach our hotel. By the time we checked in, it was around 9 AM.

We got ourselves fresh and had our portion of breakfast that we packed. Spending not so long in the room we decided to get on with our day's schedule. We walked to the Ekkamai BTS which is like 800m away from our place. There are these 7-Eleven shops and Family Mart shops at every nook and corner of the streets which is like the ideal place to get your groceries and do the recharge. We bought couple of water bottles and then took a BTS train to the Siam station. As per the plan our next step was to take a cab or tuktuk to the Grand Palace. Oh wait, tuktuks are the Thai version of our Auto Rickshaws minus the meter. They ask you a random rate for the trip. If one can negotiate them to a nominal price, its well and good. As soon as we got down, a man approached us and asked us about our plan. Upon hearing the whole thing he said he would give us a better plan on visiting the Wat Arun temple that day as it is going to be open only that day of the year and then take a long boat tour. I smelled something fishy and opted out of it and then we took a cab at meter rate to Grand Palace. I couldn't make the driver understand our destination, instead I tried Wat Pho, which he understoof. In fact, Wat Pho and Palace are on either sides of a street. Wat Pho is a huge temple with large courtyard and amazing architecture.

Main attraction of the place is the huge reclining Buddha.

It took us almost 2 hours to see the entire temple space.

By the time, we covered the entire temple, all of us were damn hungry! All our tummy saw since morning was couple of bread slices. When we exited the temple, there were a bunch of street stalls selling pomegranate juice and Phad Thai. Pomegranate juice was mind blowing and Aparna made a pact that she would drink at least one bottle of pomegranate juice every day. We placed order for 2 plates of Phad Thai. One veg for us and one non-veg for Jatheesh and Shilpa. Vegetarian phad thai preparation needed serious directions on what to add and what not to add. And he gave us an awesome dish which would still make me wish for a plate. I decided I would have this as much as possible before I leave the country. Aparna didn't want to eat it as pieces of Tofu and Soya appeared like non-veg for her. So I got her an instant mug noodle pack. We all had our tummy full and then decided to walk towards the Grand Palace which is the other side of the same street. We had to walk along the palace wall to find the entrance. Since we couldn't find the wall even after 10 mins walk, we decided to check with a local guy and he said its Buddha Day in Thailand, because of which palace would be closed during the window 3 PM - 6 PM. He said mean while we can take a tuktuk and visit two temples and an gem based ornaments factory in the area. That appeared a pretty big deal after some negotiations - 120 TB for the round trip.

The tuktuk drivers took us to Wat Intharawihan which showcased a 32 m tall standing Budha.

Nothing great about this temple apart from this view. We sat on the steps in the courtyard for sometime and stepped out. We saw another temple just outside this one and we decided to pay a visit there as well.

This temple was peculiar with three Buddha statues back to back. Jatheesh and Shilpa didn't want to remove their shoes and chose not to enter.

Then we were taken to a gem factory and the driver asked us to spend some time their and he said that day being Buddha day, one can get up to 30% discount on the products. Seeing the price tags, our eyes popped out! There were nothing less than 5000 THBs. We were incapable of judging the quality of the products as well and soon we were taken a similar suite shop. He requested us spend some 10 mins in the shop and no matter even if we don't wanna buy anything. This shop was very similar to the first one and we were kind of embarrassed to walk around with out intention to purchase and we decided to step out soon. This made our tuktuk drivers pissed. They said they'll drop us directly to Grand Palace and pay them the amount, which I objected and asked them to take to the next temple as well which was part of the plan. Thus they took us to Wat Benchamabophit a.k.a The Marble Temple. It was quite a place to visit which was very calm and quite and beautiful.

Interior lighting, The Buddha statue and the glass paintings drew my attention.

We were kind of exhausted already with lack of sleep and roam around on feet done so far. But still we had the Grand Palace left in the schedule. We stepped out and to our surprise the tuktuk drivers had left! I searched for them around and they had disappeared and we couldn't digest the logic as we hadn't payed them yet. Then we took another tuktuk to Grand Palace. Later we learned, these gem factories and suite outlets have a deal with cab/tuktuk drivers. When the tourists spend more than 10 mins in their outlets, driver get a 5L gasoline coupon and if they happened to buy anything, the coupon value gets doubled!

We entered palace premises at around 5 PM and it was open!

Heavily crowded place had tourists from almost all nations across the globe. We sat and just watched these tourists flow! Palace enforce some restrictions on the attire of the tourists. Women aren't allowed to wear any short bottom wears and in such cases, they are made to take a wrap around for rent and wear that on top.

We collected our entry pass costing 500 THBs per head and that's when we had the realization. Palace closes at 6 PM and it wasn't closed during the window 3 PM - 6 PM. A lesson learnt the hard way - Never trust the strangers!!

Palace embraces a huge collection of structures and we had to walk hastily to cover as much as possible before they kicked us out.

We were struck with rain in between and that consume 10-15 mins of ours! By the time we reached the Emerald Buddha Temple, it was closed which was disappointing. Even though we were left with Lumphini park for the day, we decided to drop the plan! We were extremely tired and decided to get back. We took a tuktuk directly to Ekkamai station and walked to our hotel. Had bread and Mutter-Paneer for dinner with bread. In no time, we slipped into deep sleep!

Day 2

Our destinations for the day were Madame Tussaud's wax museum, Marine Ocean World and Golden Buddha Temple. Out of which the first two were in adjacent malls Siam Center and Siam Discovery, right were the Siam BTS station is situated. We left our hotel at 10:30 AM and boarded BTS to Siam station. With little difficulty we found the Marine world and we flashed our online booking voucher at the counter. Formalities were quick and we got our entry pass!

The place was more than just mind blowing! The variety of sea/fresh water fishes and other species that they showcased were beyond a count we could keep track of. In a span of 2-3 hours we came across numerous species which were ignorant about.

Excuse me, I don't recollect the names of all the life forms in the pics below! :)

Spider Crab

Sea Dragon

Sea Horse

Jelly Fish

We could also see a fresh water fishes feeding show which was amazing. These shows keep happening there and its interesting. A penguin show was supposed to start in half when we left.

Our next target was Madame Tussaud's wax museum which is a mall apart from our location. We reached there in like 15 mins. That was the second wax museum I visited apart from the one in Innovative Film City in Bangalore. Figures were so alive that we had a tough time distinguishing the tourists around and the statues!

I almost got sick of clicking pics! :D

Our tummies already started craving for lunch as it was almost 2 in the afternoon. Siam Center mall had a good collection of dining places in the ground floor and thus we decided to walk back there. Jatheesh and Shilpa headed for KFC and we decided to explore the place. We ended up entering a food supermarket which had almost all eatables one can imagine. We saw a salad bar and we both being big fans of salads, decided to try it out. We make our own salad and pay for the weight is how it worked. I picked all exotic and never before tried picks and Aparna did the contrary.

That salad topped with sweet mustard sauce made me fall in love with salads all over again. Aparna also enjoyed it.

We stepped out of the mall and took a cab to Wat Trimait a.k.a Golden Buddha Temple. Driver charged us 100 THBs and if we agree to spend 10 mins in a gem factory, he would do the trip for 40 THBs and we agreed on it. Again the same scene repeated as the previous day, except that we were prepared for it. Thus by 4 PM we reached Golden Buddha temple, we purchased tickets only to visit the 4th floor where the Golden Buddha is placed which costed 40 THBs, which other wise would have been 140 THBs including the museum in 2nd and 3rd floor. Buddha statue was shining like anything and we sat inside for quite sometime staring at the statue.

I had learned about a vegetarian food festival happening in China Town, Bangkok during these days of our visit and China Town was like couple of blocks away from the temple. We did a brisk walk through the China town and couldn't find something great, For my good, I could find the same Phad Thai which I was craving for. We also tried a Chinese sweet which appeared like sugar coated sev.

It was a tiring walk to the other end of China Town from where we took a cab to our hotel. By this time, we realized the fact that, we being four can afford a cab at cheaper fare than BTS/MTR.

Upon reaching the hotel, myself and Aparna decided to take a brisk night walk around the area after getting freshened. We reached a mall nearby which had grocery supermarket from where we got a bunch of snacks and stuff almost at the same rate as in our country and got back.

Day 3

This was the day where decided to execute our split opinions. Jatheesh and Shilpa headed to Safari World early in the morning with Sun Leisure group. Myself and Aparna dropped the Ayuthhaya Safari guided tour and decided to explore the great Chao Phraya river. This big river flowing through Bangkok serves as a main channel for river based public transportation about which I had studied a bit. We headed to Lumphini park at first. The park was extremely clean and green. A lot of locals and foreigners do jogging there in the morning. A wide spread pond adds to the beauty of the park. One peculiar thing about the park is that it is a hub of the reptile named Monitor Lizards! We were astonished on seeing them freely roaming along the walkways and side by side with people at its own pace.

Very soon we got used to it and we actually counted 17 of them just along the route we took to walk around. Park is an extremely wide one and its tough to walk the entire stretch. Sky looked stuffed with dark clouds and it was about to rain heavily. I captured some quick pics and left the place as soon as possible.

We boarded sky train from Sala Daeng BTS station to Saphan Taksin which is the connection to the water ways. The moment we entered the sky train heavy rain started and it was soothing for us from the hot temperature. We had to wait for 20-30 mins in the Saphan Taksin pier for the rains to stop.

Here is a brief description on how the system works. There are Chao Phraya Express Boats and there are Chao Phraya Tourist Boats. Express boats are the ones that the local people use for public transportation. Tourist boat would have a guide in it explaining the attractions on the shores of the river up till Phra Arthit Pier. Express boats travel way longer than the tourist boat.

Our plan was to take a 14 THBs ticket to board the Orange flagged Express boat and explore things by ourselves. For Orange boat, there is only one ticket - costing 14 THBs. Be it the next pier or the last one, the fare remains same. Thus we enjoyed the river travel up till Nonthaburi which was like 30-45 mins long trip. We got down there and decided to take a walk. There was a street market there and we tried something that was never before - Raw mango with sugar and chilly and it was superb.

After 30 mins of walk, we boarded another Orange boat and took the same ticket and decided to get down at Tha Thien pier to visit Wat Arun a.k.a Temple of Dawn. We got down at Tha Thien and took 2 THBs worth ticket for the river crossing boat. Unfortunately, the main tomb of the temple was undergoing renovation. But still the temple looked amazing.

We spent around an hour there clicking pics and enjoying the peaceful ambiance. As this temple was under renovation, not many tourists were around. Once done, we got back to Tha Thien pier and decided to head to Sampeng Market which is adjacent to China Town. And the pier closest to it was Ratchawangse. Sampeng was just a walk away and we moved through the crowded market. Unlike markets in China, here the people were not ready for bargain. I bought few Lego Toys for my friends and we reached the same street were the vegetarian food festival was happening. This time, I decided to step into a vegetarian hotel and try something no matter what. The lady there could understand English and speak something to make us understand. There, a plate of white rice and two choice of curried out of 10-15 of them would cost 50 THBs. I opted a curry which looked similar to Thai veg curry that we get in India and believe me, that was the best Thai veg curry I ever had.

Aparna was reluctant to taste as her eyes decoded the sight of Soya and Tofu as Chicken and Prawns. But once I succeeded in convincing her, she wanted one plate for herself. When we left the hotel after having 3 plates of it, I was carrying one plate parcel as well! :D

We headed back to the pier and our final destination for the day was Khao San road. We witnessed the magnificent sunset at Chao Phraya.

Our next and the final destination for the day was the famous Khao San street and to get there, our go to pier was Phra Arthit. Khao San being the cheap stay location and hub of tourists, one would see a lot of tourists getting off and on at this pier. The moment we stepped out of the Phra Arthit pier, we got a wind of Goa. Jatheesh and Shilpa we supposed to join us at Khao San after their day at Safari world. But, they called us and said they have had enough walking for the day and are heading to the hotel to take rest.

We asked around and finally reached Khao San street and the ambiance there was so vibrant! It was pubs everywhere. Apart from pubs, tattooing/piercing/hair-beading dominated the place. Products on sale were priced damn high and vendors weren't ready for negotiations.

Aparna was very tired and I struck a deal with a cab driver to our hotel. Once we reached the hotel, we went to Jatheesh's room and shared the day's treat! They showed us the videos of various animal shows of Safari World, mean while I showed them the pics taken in our course.

Day 4

Thus the first batch of days at Bangkok was done and it was time we travel to Pattaya. We asked our hotel receptionist to arrange a taxi for us and we reached the Bangkok Bus Station, Eastern Terminal, Ekkamai in 20 mins. In fact, it was walk-able from our regular BTS Station if we were free of luggage. I could see a bunch of counters and out of which a guy wearing blue shirt came to us and asked if we are headed to Pattaya. Up on confirmation, he took us to a counter asked us to pay 150 THBs per head. As per what I read in the pattaya government bus website, the fare was supposed to be 115 THBs. Before paying I asked the guy to show us the vehicle and he showed us a Toyota mini van. I told him this vehicle won't have enough capacity to hold our 5 luggage bags. He said he'll make space and started making the people inside (appeared to me like Chinese) shuffle around. I decided not to go for it and asked Jatheesh not to pay. We then found the govt bus ticket issuing counter where it was priced 115 THBs for Benz AC bus. Our bus was to start in 15 mins. Driver and his asst. helped us load the baggage and we settled in our seats.

It was elevated highway for long distance and we passed by the airport. Somewhere in between, I slept off. Aparna woke me up when it was about to reach Pattaya. The moment we started seeing 7-Eleven outlets, we were kind of relieved. Just like Bangkok, Pattaya also has 7-Elevn outlets in every 100m. We got down at Pattaya AC bus station at around 1:30 PM and decided to take a cab/tuktuk to our hotel. Unlike, Bangkok. tuktuk has different form in here. Its a truck converted in the rear with a roof and can accommodate up to 8 people sitting and 2-4 people standing at the foot board. After couple of negotiations, we struck a deal to our hotel. We checked in and decided to step out at around 4:30.

At 5, we woke up and stepped out soon. We walked towards the beach road and found the entrance of the renowned Walking Street. We thought we will sit by the sea shore for some time and found an empty spot. Unlike our Indian beaches, waves weren't strong in here. Sea was very calm and way less windy. We could see the boats and sea hotels light up gradually and it was a awesome sight. Pattaya grew into full fledged city as the night got darker. We decided to visit a mall right behind our seated space - Royal Garden Plaza Mall. There were sales going on inside and the ladies ended up purchasing a bunch of necklaces, tops etc. We walked towards Walking Street and visited almost all the street side tuck shops. Finally, we entered the mighty walking street for which the Pattaya is world famous for. The walking street I am gonna talk about here is what not you would find every where else. That apart, Walking Street is something that is extremely energetic and vibrant place of Thailand. There are Indian hotels, Pubs, live fish counters which had live Lobsters and Crabs in tanks which would be cooked upon your choice, Turkish Ice Cream shows and what not! You must have come across videos featuring a Turkish guy with thick mustache doing ice pranks on the customers. That guy is a part of the Walking Street! Even though these things exist in the street during the day time as well, the way it would look during the night fall is spectacular.

All three except me were craving for Indian food. Jatheesh and Shilpa wanted Chicken Biriyani and Aparna wanted Roti and some subji. So we found one Indian restaurant walk-able from our room. Chapathi costed 20 THB, Paneer curry 195 THB and Chicken Biriyani was priced at 190 THB! Hell of a dinner! :D

Day 5

We talked with our receptionist and hired couple of automatic bikes at 300 THBs for 24 hours. Also, we opted for a 3 Island Tour Package for the next day costing 1900 THBs per head. This included visit to 3 islands Koh Larn, Koh Krah and Koh Sak, Banana Boating, Undersea Walking, Snorkeling, Parasailing and Fishing. It appeared convincing for us and pretty good replacement for our initial plan on visiting the island by ferry.

We drove straight to Sanctuary of Truth, presented our online booking vouchers. It was boiling hot then and we were sweating like anything! The place hosts a bunch of activities like horse riding, air rifle shooting etc. We walked straight to the view point of the structure. The architectural marvel was beyond words!

After clicking some pics with the structure in background, we headed towards the entry. Here, the entry is done batch-wise every 45 mins as the program includes a cultural show as well. Fortunately the gates were open for us. It was an awesome stairs to go down.

The show for the batch was already on, and were told to rush to the gallery. A funny sword fight show was going on.

The characters were proficient sword fighters who were equally skilled in being humorous. It was fun watching then play around.
Then came the 4 beautiful ladies in their cultural attire and performed the dance. It was slow and calm with soothing music.

We gave them some tips for their performance and headed for the 105m tall mighty wooden structure on the shore of the sea. The structure was formulated as an embodiment of Buddhist and Hindu mythological art forms in finest possible details. We were given safety helmets as the construction work has still not completed. The idea was initiated in 1950 and the expected date of completion of the work is 2050. We roamed around freely inside the structure admiring the wood work details.

The center of the structure has a podium which showcases tooth of lord Buddha which remained after he burned into ashes.

We stepped out and returned the helmets. And we sat by the stream outside. The place was cool after the walk through red hot sun.

Next, we headed to Art in Paradise 3D museum. Every single person visiting Pattaya is expected put photos taken from this place in FB! :D

400 THBs per head ticket would take one inside and be ready to get fed up of taking pics! :P

Wanna try guessing the trick here? :P

And then we decided to go have lunch. By this time, I had realized about the frozen packed rice items available in 7-Eleven and decided to give it a try. Aparna bought boiled white rice and a yogurt and I bought couple boxes of 'Stir-fried Basil Vegetarian Protein with Rice' which was yummy.

By evening 4:30, we decided to ride to Pattaya Floating Market and Phra Tamnak mountain. 12 kms ride through a wide highway took us to Pattaya Floating Market and it required us to pay 200 THBs per head as the entry fee. We didn't want to pay an entry fee to a market and it was time for sunset already. Phra Tamnak mountain was supposed to host an awesome view of the sunset and the Pattaya Bay. Google maps took us wrong way and we had to rely on locals to reach the place. The place was marvelous. I would cast this as one among the must visit place in Pattaya.

We waited till the night fall to see the city light up.

We decided to head back to the room and get freshened up and then go for roaming around as the bike is to be returned next day morning. Jatheesh and Shilpa had left 10 mins earlier than us as they were hungry. When we left the hotel I saw people riding around without helmet and I though why bother wearing. The moment we hit the first signal, cops caught us! Thus I was lucky enough to get an International traffic ticket! :D

He asked me for driving license, and I only had a laminated there goes the second violation. He gave us a violation form filled and asked us to get the fine receipt from the station and then collect the bike. We boarded a tuktuk to the station which was like 5-6kms apart, paid 400 THBs for 2 violations and took a tuktuk back. In the tuktuk there was this Russian guy with whom we interacted. We exchanged our views about Pattaya, places we visited, our next plans and stuff. Then I happened to tell him about the traffic ticket thingy and he laughed and said, he is also returning to the same traffic signal to collect his bike after the same violation! Lol! :D

We collected our bike, visited Pattaya Night Bazar which was on the verge of closing, bought some souvenirs for friends and family and returned.

Day 6

This was a big day with with the 3 Island tour we opted for. We reported at our hotel reception at 8:45 and by 9, a tuktuk showed up to pick us. An old American and his Thai girlfriend, an Australian guy and two Chinese guys was already sitting in it. A middle east guy from Oman also joined us. We were taken to the beach road shore and gave us reclining chairs with shade to wait. Once every one turned up, our speed boat cruised into the waters.

We could see hundreds of people doing parasailing in the stations in the water and Adrenalin started kicking inside me. Our first activity was fishing. Fishing with proper fishing gear was something I wanted to do right from my childhood and the opportunity knocked me only that day. Even though I am a vegetarian by choice, I decided to do fishing and contribute to the meal of the non-vegetarians in the boat.

I ended up catching 8 fishes, Jatheesh caught 4 and Shilpa caught 2.

Aparna went into a shock seeing the fishes die and she almost cried. :P

Our next activity was under sea walking. We were moved to a bigger boat stationed near to an island . When we entered, the previous batch who did the activity was leaving the boat. We got our instruction on doing the activity, a heavy helmet with vacuum inside and oxygen pump connected from the boat would be placed over our head and one is expected get a feeling of suffocation upon entering the waters. And in such cases, you are expected to insert your hand inside the helmet, hold their nose and forcefully breath out. Also, you are not supposed to look down in any case as it may cause water to rush inside the helmet.

Jatheesh and Shilpa went it first, Aparna's turn came and she went inside and when I was half way through, Aparna got back up and her helmet was removed! She couldn't stand the vacuum pressure at first and secondly to see the steps downwards, she looked down and the water seeped in! I had no choice but to go down as there were people waiting to get in. I felt the vacuum pressure with a terror and I remembered his instructions which made me live. We were made to stand in a line and Aparna came in back as the last member. We were made to walk around holding each others hands.

They clicked our underwater pics and took a video of the whole batch in no time. We were given half bread loaf each to feed the fishes. The moment we turned them into crumbles and let go from our hands, we were surrounded by fishes from all directions. Its was an awesome feel to have so many fishes that close to you. Then our diver guides passed us a red ball as much as the size of a beach volley ball to play around. Once I had it in my hand, I realized, it was a star fish!! It must have turned into a ball like shape as a defense mechanism. We again did some fish feeding and got back into the boat.

Our speed boat was tied to this big boat and once the whole crew got back, we boarded our boat to the Koh Larn island. Where we were taken for lunch to a sea food restaurant. A big table was arranged with various fish items. We said our guide about us being vegetarians and he was kind of shocked. He arranged a separate table for us and asked us to wait for 10-15 mins. In that time span, they arranged a delicious soup, a fried rice, a sauce based gravy and baby corn and carrot bajji kind of snack. We had our tummy filled. The sea food dishes served for the rest of the crew were without spices and salt! Jatheesh and Shilpa couldn't eat anything properly form there. Mean while, our International friends were all hogging! The beach was almost crowded with Indians and in fact, we came across a lot of families from Kerala.

Aparna couldn't resist the calm blue sea and the white sand. She just wanted to jump into it. We left our bags with the captain and he gave us 20 mins of time to get drenched all over again. In 20 mins, he called us back and we boarded the boat to the next island for snorkeling. Once we got down from the boat, captain told us, we have banana boating as well and I didn't want to yell out the truth that we never payed for it! :P

We were given life jackets and the seated on the banana boat in a row. We were asked if we want the boat toppled during the ride, since Jatheesh and Shilpa didn't know swimming, they would have voted against. Since all of us had life jackets on, I gave him a thumbs with out any one noticing. It was an awesome ride and he toppled us at the end of the ride near to the shore and it was just amazing! :D

Soon after the activity, we were given snorkeling gears and showed us the direction to swim for. Jatheesh and Shilpa being unaware of swimming had a tough time doing it and they decided not move beyond a particular point where it got deeper. Myself and Aparna went way too far. It was serious fun. We spotted many fishes, sea urchins and corals. The sea bottom had way too sharp reefs and stones. We were the last ones to get into our boat.

Thus we were left with one activity - Parasailing! I was waiting for it since morning; mean while the remaining three were having their hearts in their hands! :D

We enjoyed the speed boat ride back to the parasailing stations situated close to the Pattaya shores. Unlike the morning scene, there were nobody doing Parasailing at that time, which was around 3 PM. We reached the place and I was almost jumping out of excitement. I was second in line to do the activity. Within seconds, the staffs tied all gears on me and asked me to run as the speed boat rushed and I was in air! Whoa! It was brilliant. One round around the station, I almost wished if he never stopped! :D

I was followed by Aparna, Shilpa and then Jatheesh. Once the activity was completed, all of us shared the same thought! It should have lasted longer.

By the time, we returned to Pattaya shores, the staff had framed few of our photos taken during the trip and was kept for sale at 100 THBs each. I bought two of them bargained down to 150 THBs. We were dropped back in hotel by 4:30 PM.

We got ourselves fresh and decided to step out for a walk. Took a tuktuk to Pattaya Night Bazar. We didn't have much to shop from there. As Jatheesh and Shilpa were doing some shopping, we told them to continue and he headed to Central Festival Mall opposite to it. Nothing convinced us there as well. We stepped out through the other side of the mall to the beach road and bought couple of things. Jatheesh and Shilpa left their phone in the hotel and had their wallet in our bag. Since they couldn't get a proper contact with us, they had to return to the hotel. We roamed around shopping till 11:30 in the night and walked back to our hotel.

Day 7

Our days in Pattaya were over and we were to leave for Bangkok this day. We checked out of our hotel by 10 AM. The tour organizers had delivered our photos and videos in some CDs at out hotel reception. We took a tuktuk to Pattaya AC Bus Station and boarded Bangkok bus for the same fare - 115 THBs. I went into hibernate state in no time. We reached Bangkok at around 12:30 PM and from Ekkamai Bus Terminal, we had to travel to our new hotel in Nana. We got a normal taxi and he agreed to stuff in all our luggage in it. This new hotel - Royal Ivory Nana 4, was located at a much better place compared to our first hotel. It was very close to the Nana Metro station, and the road, Soi 4 was one of the most alive streets during Bangkok nights.

We decided to leave room as soon as we are done with our lunch so that we could cover Pratunam Market and Platinum Fashion Mall with the half day remaining. Ideal time to reach Pratunam Market would be 5 PM because, Pratunam stall close by around 7 PM and the adjacent Baiyoke Night Market get setup by then. Moreover Platinum mall is like 400m walk from Pratunam. We took a cab and alighted at Pratunam. There were last minute sales happening at Pratunam from where, I got tshirts for 50 THBs! We walked around, buying stuffs and markets gradually closed and Baiyokke came alive by then. Even the foot path to walk to Platinum is rich with street shops. What from what I saw, stuffs at Platinum mall and MBK Mall were cheaper than the street shops. Platinum mall is a huge one. I would rather call it a A/C Shopping market than a mall. We actually started from the top floor and walked downward. After the day's shopping, we went back to Pratunam and did a last minute walk there and took a cab to our hotel.

Upon reaching hotel, myself and Aparna decided to do a late night walk in the premises. We didn't want to spend the last night in Thailand lazy. We walked almost 2 kms and returned. The Soi 4 street almost appeared like Walking Street to me by then. :D

Day 8

The last of our Thailand days thus arrived. Our plan was to visit MBK Mall and get back to room and head for Makkasan station to board Airport Rail Link. We had extended our room vacation by 4 hours. Jatheesh wanted to visit Chatuchak weekend market as well as that is quoted as one of the biggest in the world spreading a vast area of 26 acres! But I felt that would be impossible and MBK being a recommended visit for shopping across various blogs and sites, we dropped the Chatuchak plan.

We reached MBK by around 11 AM and directly went to the 6th floor which is the place for Souvenirs and gifts. The floor had very cheap products and the vendors were ready for negotiations. We went floor after floor and our pockets got lighter and lighter! :D

By the time it was 3 PM, we had a good number of covers in our hands and Jatheesh had bought a suite case to accommodate the purchased stuffs back home! :P

We reached back in our rooms by 3:30 PM and we had to have lunch, pack our stuff and vacate room in just 30 mins. We vacated the room by 4 PM sharp and the cab driver charged us 300THBs for Makkasan drop. At 400 THBs, he agreed to drop us at Airport. And that was like an offer we couldn't refuse! :D

He took us to Airport by 5:30 PM and we paid him 300 THBs in currency notes and the remaining 100 in coins to get rid of them! He greeted us farewell and thanked us for visiting his country. We roamed around the airport for long and boarded our flight at 9:30 PM!

Our group pic:

Things to remember:

1. Carry ready to eat food if you are a 100% vegetarian.

2. Carry the socket converter.

3. Plan an itinerary before hand and thus all you'll have to do is execute it.

4. Never trust a local person there. Any advice given to a tourist would be a source of income for them.

5. If someone says a temple or a place of visit is closed, believe me, it's a lie.

6. Make sure you are wearing attire with in the constraints for Palace visit.

7. Bargain! Bargain and Bargain!

Do's:

1. Walk from top to bottom in MBK Mall.

2. MBK Mall has free cold coffee for tourists. Make sure you carry your passport while visiting the mall.

Don'ts:

1. If you are renting a vehicle in Thailand, don't honk! That's how their culture is! They just wait patiently and never honk!

2. Never drive a two wheeler without helmet. If you have pillion, have one more helmet. Experience talking here! :P

3. Don't buy Chiang Mai Silver wares in MBK/Platinum malls, those aren't actual silver! Again, experience talking! :P

References:
1. Sightseeing Tours (which we referred):

http://www.sightseeingpattaya.com

2. BTS Fare Chart:

http://www.bts.co.th/customer/en/pdf/Fare_Table_SJT.pdf

3. MRT Fare Chart:
http://www.bangkokmetro.co.th/ticket.aspx?Menu=13&Lang=En

4. BTS-MTR-Rail Network:
http://www.bts.co.th/customer/en/images/Master_RouteMap.jpg

In pursuit of happiness!

Its your life! Live it!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

A week in the never invaded Kingdom of Thailand!

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