Monday, June 29, 2009

Vacation Adventures Part 4- Thailand

We were at Suvarnabhoomi Intl. Unlike my -thinking- this airport was HUGE too!! , it literally had no walls and it was only glass panes all over. And this was when the message of Swine Flu was spreading like wild fire. At the terminal I could see various sign boards put up requesting passengers from the Americas to go for a medical Check-up. The immigration process went on smoothly and quickly. Wherever you turned you could see thai women dressed in thier crisp costumes giving you a simle of hospitality!. A sight which you could not see anywhere which makes it real comfy for people from other lands. We were trailing at the airport pushing our really- heavy trollies ( from the amount of shopping we did in S.pore and M.asia) and almost went out and in untill we found the person who was waiting for us. After we found this guy ( My dad’s PhD student he was!) we found ourselves in a BIG GIANT car towards our hotel. Thailand was full of greenery. wherever I turned I could see Green, green and Green.

The hotel was at ” Bangkok University”, yet this hotel was too luxurious. I never have imagined that a University would have a hotel of this sort. The University itself was full of greens. Our room was at the 11th Floor. The room was Big with a Huge window and a dozen interchangable curtains. Everything was automated. wow!

We set out for lunch at some popular mall there. And the thing was that we were served with our food within 2 minutes. And surprisingly, when the waitress placed our orders, it was alll raw meat!! And thats when i realised , u have to cook ‘em all by yourself in the tiny induction stoves at your table! good technique!! This also included my failed atempts at eating rice with chopsticks! :P . A lil’ bit of shopping was enough to make every one realise that everything were a lot cheaper than the former places. A hair iron for 600 baht ( around 1000 indian rupees) whould prove it. We got on the cab back to our hotel ( one thing that really amazed me was the cabs, bright pink, orange, purple! they looked lovely!) .

The time we were suppoed to be resting, I spent the whole time researching (?!) the automated controls. ( and yea, I once locked out the bath door when no one was inside!). In the evening, one of my dad’s student had come to recieve us followed by a sumptuous dinner ( which I didn’t lke, the reason being the fish was raw!!)

The next morning we had to travel a-lot! and visit a lot of places.

The first one was the Arun-Wat, a traditional thai temple like thing, with architecture ,words cannot describe( so next vacation head straight here :P ). We had to leave there by a auto like thing which was specially for tourists out there. The next was the Grand Palace. It amazed me, TOTALLY!!. Where ever you turn, it was all glittering gold! gold, gold and more GOLD. And those small shining, sparkling gems out there were something worth shelling out your bucks for. It was the most perfect scene. The colours, sparkles were truly a bliss. I just have to upload the pics here, cuz u know, pictures speak a thousand words! :P

My dad was particular about a Thai massage. He did get one ( His remark being ” may be i should come here once a month to get a massage done!”)

Our lunch was at a place amidst the lake alongside the waters. It was the Chao Praya ( I think i got the spelling wrong) river. We had to get across for another landmark. And the best site there was the purple lotus and the flower which had something like, a Snake over a Shiva -Ling.

There was a place called India- Mall, which was in a place called Little -India ( My dad’s like ” see, Indians are every where! there is a Little-India almost everywhere!)

We had dinner with my dad’s friend that night.

The next day, as we had to leave that evening, we just opted to have a short trip around the University ( Which went on till evening, much to my amazement) . There was a Thai-Cultural House there. A really beautiful one on Thai Traditions. A great experience!!. Just when we were at one block, it started raining. Raining heavily. Really heavily.

And we were stuck there when it was just a few hours before our flight. It rained, and rained and seem to be never ending. And that was when the people there told us that it was the onset of Thai Monsoon. It was still raining with lightning and thunder adding to it. Finally we reached the airport just an hour and a half before our flight.

Surfing throught the Duty-Free shops were great. Infact, it just breaks the fact that they-are-so-very-costly!

We boarded the Srilankan airline flight, And I was sleepy, It was a 3hr 20 min flight back and the good thing about it was I got to watch Bride Wars! ( which was not even released in India by then)

We had a transit at Srilanka for about 9 hours, and decided to go on to a hotel , inorder to avoid waiting at the airport!.

The hotel was YUCK! with an Ac which doesn’t fill it’s purpose, and I spent the entire time swamping mosquitoes!. It was obivious that I didn’t get to sleep. On the other hand, i was really shocked to see mom and dad fast asleep!!.

We got up as soon as possible and there was a vehicle waiting for us. Ta-da we reached the airport so quickly and I can feel my heart beating fast ” hurray, I am going to be back home”*

We reached the airport which was now familiar ( hey, I’ve already been there once :P ) . Dad was so particular in getting Ceylon Tea . And we ended up buying packets and packets of tea. It was early morning and we didn’t have anything since the early dinner at the flight, and ended up experimenting with fish rolls, chicken pies….bla…bla

Getting back to chennai was a wonderful feeling.

Look out for it next :)

* I know, I’ve hated the place I live, I’ve always wanted to get out somewhere. But it is only when I go out of my place for a couple of days, I realise the value of home. I was excited on the onset of he journey, but I was more thrilled and happy to get back home!! Love you Chennai!!

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