A little bit of everything from my thailand trip

Hyderabad/Mumbai/Bangkok dec 11, 2010

The day I had been waiting for has finally came. I was so excited about the trip that I couldn't sleep the night before my trip. I boarded a kingfisher flight to Mumbai and I had a great flight where I met a trader from London. We had a lot in common to speak about. I had a few hours at the Mumbai airport. I got a photograph with the tamil star Madhavan. I boarded a Kingfisher Bangkok flight at 1 PM and I had to forgo my window seat for a newly wed couple who were flying for first time. I had a really nice flight thanks to the generosity of the crew. I had consumed one full bottle of Jacob's Creek white wine 2008 bottle. By the time I reached bangkok I was already drunk. I luckily found my friend Jason from US with out much hassle at the airport. He was furious to see me get drunk already. We boarded the suvarnabhumi airport-city link train to reach the hotel. That was probably the fastest train I boarded till date and it costed us just 15 TB ( Thai Bhat ) each to reach the city of bangkok.

Bangkok 11 dec - 14 dec

I was overwhelmed by the sheer energy of the city. The first thing i liked about the city was the sky train network. It was really efficient, affordable and easily accessible. On our first night in bangkok, we asked for night clubs and we were guided to the entertainment district of Patpong. It was way too colorful with flashy neon nights and girls waving their hands uninterruptedly. I had a doubt, do they ever get tired. A man dressed in a red colored flashy T shirt and jeans with a ponytail approached us. He had a huge grin on his face, suggesting he was up for some business with us. He greeted us and exchanged names with us. He spoke very jovially and he told that he can arrange anyone. We asked 'what arrange?'. He said, thai any age, sexy russian and even hindi speaking girl if we want. We politely told him we were not there for girls. He thought we were gay and he showed pics of some guys :D. We told him we were not looking for guys too. He let out his huge grin again. Then we asked him to guide us to a nice pub to listen to good music. He took us to one, crowded with thai girls who had super slim bodies and hungry looking eyes for business. We knew it was yet another pick up place. We got out disappointed that we couldn't find a proper place to take drinks with out being bothered by pimps. Finally we asked a tuk tuk guy to show us a good pub which is not a pick up place. He took us to a place near rachadamri and it didn't seem different when it came to girls. We had some drinks and danced our asses off to lady gaga and other latest billboard top 50s. We had some road side food late in the night. The food didn't taste any good, it was just to fill our hungry stomachs.


Next day was our visit to Chatuchak weekend market near mo chit sky train station. We took the sky train at about 11 in the morning and reached the weekend market, just before the shops started to open one by one. It was the largest market of its kind that i have ever seen in my life. The first thing that fascinated me in the market is the snack made of fried insects. Name a thing and you will get it at this market. Besides hundreds of food stalls you have tons of places which sell clothes, shoes, antiques, art, plant, local craft, plants and pets too. This place is a good test for your bargaining skills. You need to good at bargaining else you can be at hefty loss. We had some street food and some fresh fruits road side. The fruits in thailand were much sweeter, juicier and tastier than what we get in india. The pineapples and papayas were too good. We took the sky train, roamed around some random stations, got into a random wat and reached hour hotel by 6. Took some rest and hit the road again. I went to the night bazar near saledong street and bought a fake Omega watch for 1600 TB. It was a really amazing site to see hundreds of fake watches with brands ranging from Emporio Armani, Patek Phipple, DKNY, Sieko, Omega, Tag Huer, Mont Blanc and what not. Name a brand and you get it. Surprisingly, there are 3 types of fakes. Fakes of grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3. Grade 1 is the best quality fake. This market is once again a test for your bargaining skills. I realized i was not really good at bargaining. I in fact suck at it.


Didn't do much on our 3rd day at Bangkok. We took our flight to the city of Chiang Mai. We forgot pay for our baggage on a cheap airline called Air Asia and they ripped us off by charging heftily at the airport. I assumed they were going to charge us for peeing on the flight, luckily they didn't.

Chiang Mai 14 dec - 19 dec


The first thing i liked about the city was the canal that runs around the city and the ruined walls that run adjacent to the canal. The ruined walls give an ancient look to the city. We stayed at a guest house called Mojitho. It was a sudden transition from a five star in bangkok to a back packer place in a small street. But, it was a much needed transition. We had some of our best moments in the trip in Chiang Mai. I met some really wonderful people. I met a japanse canadian guy Wesley, an italian swiss girl Carolline, a spanish girl from turkey by the name Sinem. They were a really nice company. We shared our experiences and a snap shot of our lives at the first meeting. They were not first timers in Chiang Mai. They were in love with the city and they keep coming to this city often. The city has some charm that attracts lot of young back packers. There were endless discussions between the young and the expatriates everywhere in the city.

The city had a wonderful night life. It had more pubs than the entire city of hyderabad. The city offers wide range of options to have wonderful nights. It had a reggae bar, a blues bar, alternative rock pub, an irish pub, a trance music pub and a pub that plays everything which hosted a guy from US playing jamaican and south american music. Besides these specialized places there were tons of places to just sit around and have drinks. My favorite place of all was the reggae bar and i loved the huge veg burger they gave at the irish pub. They even had tabasco hot pepper sauce at the irish pub.

I spent my time on a rented bicycle in the city on the first day. It was a pleasant experience to roam around the city on the bicycle. I took stops by at the benches placed by the canal, breathe some fresh air, take some rest and go cycling again. Jason spent his time in the mornings on his 4 mile runs. I tried to push me to come run with him but i was way too lazy for a run. Once we returned from cycling and running we made some food at the kitchen at Mojitho. We used the baked beans and veggies to make baked bean rice in tomato sauce. It was really tasty and we had much needed break from thai food. It was in Chiang Mai that i started to develop some taste for thai food. Chiang Mai offered much wider choice of vegetarian food, which was quite different from bangkok.

On the third night at Chiang Mai on our way to reggae bar we discovered a really good restaurant in the street adjacent to Mojitho. They played live country music there. The ambiance at that place was just too awesome. They had a lady boy as a waiter in the restaurant. He was smart to understand our requirements of vegetarian customised to suit our taste buds. I always ordered food with a little more spice, no sugar in the rice and curries and less of coconut milk. Jason went back to the guest house and i rushed to the pubs. I joined Wesley and Carolline at the reggae bar. I had loads of drinks and after the reggae place was closed we went to the trance music place. It was really fun to dance there in the red shades of the pub with dazzling multi colored lights on. Carolline was leaving for her bike trip next day and her friends wanted to give her a farewell. It was 3 in the morning and Carolline drove both Wesley and me on her bike to a roof top top restaurant. She was quite brave, i need to admit. The only stuff i could have on the menu was an omlet. I ordered that along with a chang beer. The ambiance of the place was simply awesome. It had arrays of blue lights that formed a hemisphere hanging in the air. I walked down to Mojitho at around 4 in the morning with Wesley. We were the only two people on the pavement by the canal with an occasional bike or car on the road.

Then comes the day of 'flight of the gibbon'. It was the best adventure sport i have ever participated in my entire life. It was flight on the aerial zip lines that connect platforms constructed between treetops in a dense tropical forest. It was lush green with tall trees. One zip line was constructed just next to the tallest tree in thailand. The most amazing and thrilling aspect of the trip was the ride on the longest zip line. Imagine moving at a speed of 60-80kmph at a height of 400mts-700mts over a valley all alone. There was a rush of adrenalin on each of the twenty two rides. We had lunch at the resort next to the entrance of the zip line arena. It was one of the best lunches i had in my whole trip. It was freshly cooked authentic thai food with live thai instrumental music in the background.

The Chiang Mai night market is one of the biggest attractions of the city. Amid a lot of bars, pubs, burger king and mc donalds lie hundreds of shops squeezed on the pavements on both sides of the road. This market offers antiques, shoes, fake watches, silk items and lot of handicrafts. This market offers most of the items at cheaper cost than bangkok as it is closer to the handicraft villages. Walking down the streets in the night for hours was a truly wonderful experience.

I found a lot of smiles on faces of people in Chiang Mai. It was less commercial and more laid back when compared to bangkok. Everyone, the guest house care taker and her little son navin, the massage house guys next door, the street vendors, the bar girl at Mojitho all had true smiles on their faces.

Koh Phangan, dec 19-26

After taking two flights we took a ferry at Donsak pier. The ferry ride was one of the most fascinating experiences i had in the entire trip. It was a nice ride in the company of a new zealand girl called Kim and her friends from UK and US. They all worked as english teachers in Combodia. We all were quite excited about the island and the beach parties it was famous for. After a 3 hour ride we could see the lights on the coast get closer and closer and our excitement levels were just pumping up. We finally made it to the party island.

I am so grateful for my friend Jason for choosing Coco Hut at haad rin ( the tip of the island famous for beach party ). It was a lovely place with a really lovely place with a nice private beach, swimming pool, 24 hour wifi and a nice volley ball court. I met two dutch girls Sussane and Daicy, isreali guys Idi and Ben and a bunch of swedish just out of college guys, all staying on the same floor as mine.

We reached the place and took a shower and hit the beach for the party. The beach was about 2 kilometers long and easily 150-200 mts wide. It had hundreds of tiny bars and a hand full of big bars playing different kinds of music. We loved the Cactus the most. They played hip pop and odd bits of alternative rock. Cactus was the most happening place on the beach with a huge wooden platform where people dance to death. The bar guys lit up a huge rope and the drunk party goers jump over it. It was fun to watch various kinds of fire sports on the beach. I did try and jump from a fire ring successfully. I could do that only when i was fully drunk. I'm sure i would not have done it when i was sober.

On my first day at the beach i met Sahand and Britanny from US and Jan from germany. They were great people to hang around with. I gave them an idea of making a train and running through the beach. I was the train driver. We started the train and in a few min the strength gained to 50. I had no idea how the train broke down. Anyways, i got my new name, train guy from india. It is good to be an indian in the beach, i suppose i was the only one for first two days. Many people come down to greet, 'hey you from india? i love indian food man, chicken tikka masala'. Second day was mostly the repeat of first day.

Then comes the full moon day. The day i have waited for a month. The evening started with a cocktail party at Coco Hut. The menu had wide range of veg and non veg thai and international cuisine. I had a few drinks to kick start the day. We reached the beach party at about ten. The largest and the craziest party of my life. I started the party with a bucket of vodka, redbull, soda and ice. A typical bucket was too strong for one person. It had about 200 ml of alcohol in it. The party had the best music i can ever imagine, and the djs there were best in thailand often international ones who come specially for the full moon party. I spent first one hour with Brittany, Jan and Sahand at Cactus and finally lost them. We then met Kim and her friends at the other end of beach. Then i lost my friend Jason and spent my time at the trance place dancing my ass off. My dance skills certainly improved at Koh Phangan. I left the beach tired at 3 AM and then reached the hotel and headed to the beach at the other end of the resort. It reminded me a few lines from Che guvera's motor cycle diaries 'The sea has always been a confidant, a friend absorbing all it is told and never revealing the secrets; always giving the best advice- whose meaningful noises can be interpreted anyway you chose'. I was all alone in that part of whole beach. It was very silent and peaceful and i got some time to be alone. I slowly slept peacefully on the desk there and woke up at about 9 disturbed the noises of sun seeking beautiful isreali girls.

I spent the next 5 days at the resort with the same routine. Wake up, eat break fast, swim for a while in the pool, play volley ball, go out for lunch into the town, then head to the beach by the night. The last day at Kho Phangan finally came. I just didn't feel like leaving the island.

Ayuttaya dec 27-29th

I was all excited to visit the city of ruins. Ayuttaya was the capital city for several centuries in the past. It was described as Venice of the east by some western travelers. The city had a canal that flows through it and the city is surrounded by 2 rivers on 3 sides. Since i was a kid i had fascination for old stoned structures like forts and temples. The modern architecture doesn't excite me much and hence i longed to visit the city. We stayed close to the UN heritage sites. I spent my first day visiting the ruined Wats on my own on a rented bicycle. I loved to ride on the wide roads of the city. Wat Chaiwatthanaram was my favorite of all. The main structure was are pretty wide at the base and gets sharp at the top and i like circular symmetry which is different from triangular symmetry observed in western castles and churches.

Bangkok dec 29th-02 jan

When we got back to bangkok, we have promised ourselves that we would shop our asses off and we did keep our promise. We booked a hotel room that was pretty close to the shopping action. It was right outside National Stadium BTS station. We were at a walkable distance from the best shopping malls in the city like MBK shopping center, Siam paragon, Siam center, The Emporium, Central World and not far from Pantip Plaza and Platinum Shopping mall. Each of the malls is good for one particular type of shopping.

MBK and Platinum malls are the best for people on a small budget. Both these shops have hundreds of small retailers spread on several floors selling wide range of stuff. There are shops which sell footwear, bags, shoes, sports goods, apparel for men and women, exclusive belt stores, watch stores, eye wear stores, electronic gadgets and what not. These two places are once again need very good bargaining skills. Platinum mall is for girls and women. 4 floors out of 6 sell stuff that cater to females. It is the best place to meet some thai girls and strike a conversation. But, unfortunately i barely knew any thai. The food court at Platinum was very impressive with good vegetarian outlet. Most of the shopping i did was in these two malls MBK and Platinum.

Siam paragon, Emporium, Central world and Siam center are exclusively for the rich. They all had stores of intrenational brands like gucci, prada, louis vuitton, dior, vercase etc. They were certainly not for me, but i did go to these stores and checked up the prices. I was just wondering who buys these stuff.

We were done with our shopping by 30th and i went along with my friend Jason to the best roof top bar in the city. It was the moon bar at banyan tree hotel. The view from the top was just breathtaking. The bar was on the 61st floor and we reached it on a lift that took us in under 25 sec from the ground floor. The lift was the fastest i took till date. We had an erdinger beer each. Again the beer tasted the best. I'm not a very great admirer of beer but i loved the taste of erdinger.

Jason had his flight back home at 12 20 AM on the new years day. I went along with him to the airport at around 8 pm on 31st and got back to the city by 10 30 pm. I loved the roof top so much that i went to that place for the new years. After a couple of erdingers, i left to central world. That was the craziest new year celebration i have seen in my whole life. There were atleast a hundred thousand thais were on the streets that day. The crowd on the streets was predominantly young and they were cheering their favorite thai pop star. Though, i couldn't understand the music i enjoyed the celebrations.

I didn't do much on my last day. I spent most of the time in and around the hotel room. I had a tough time packing my stuff in the bags. I crossed all the weight limits imposed by the airline. The best trip of my life where i experienced many of my firsts had finally come to an end.

Bangkok/Mumbai/Hyderabad 03 jan

I was about to board the Kingfisher flight to Mumbai in an hour and i went to buy some pokys and chocolates to some kids back home. I bought huge quantities of them and packed put them in my laptop bag. I ended up using all the space available in all the bags by then. A cute little thai girl was watching me struggling to arrange my stuff and she smiled. I smiled back. It was indeed a land of thousand smiles.

I had a lot of time in Mumbai and i met my friends at IIT mumbai. It was good to meet my college friends 3 years after leaving college. We had great time in those few hours. We had food at the college canteen in IIT and it made me remember my college days.

Met a real estate developer by the name Raj next to my seat on the flight to hyderabad and he dropped me home on his car from the airport. The trip comes to an end.