Sawadee Phuket || Amazing PhiPhi @ Mayabay @ Khai Island

This was second time, I visit Thailand. 1st time we only visit Bangkok. So this time I have to go to atleast one beach. Anyway Friday at 4:30pm Subhajit, my husband come back early from his office and said to get ready for PHUKET. I was too much excited. We pack our bags and get ready within 30 minutes. I don't even know what was his plan to go to Phuket. Because It's near about 1000km distance from Saraburi. 

We reached Saraburi bus stand around 6PM. Then booked a VIP bus for 1400 baht per person. As we belongs in middle class family, it's too costly for us. Bus depart at 10pm. So we have to wait more than 3 hours. Aweeeeeeeeeee................. We went to KFC and wait there. In Saraburi our only beloved food station is KFC. After 9pm KFC was closed. 

We went for Bus-stand. After 10pm we started our journey. Bus was really too good and seat was too comfortable to sleep. This was our first bus journey in Thailand. 

After 12 am bus reached at Phuket Bus stop. From that we took taxi to Patong. After having some Indian food from Indian restaurant we Checked In our hotel, Sand Inn. As our time is too short, we went for beach.

Subhajit wants to go for a local view point trip. So we book a tuktuk, and went for Karon Beach or Kata Beach. Wooooohhh.... Yessssssss... That's the place we want to see. Water of the sea is too clear. And blue is all around. And the area is less crowed than Patong.

This kind of tour is something I often suggest to people. This corner of Phuket has a lot to see, and the scenery is beautiful. It's a very nice part of Phuket away from the busier beaches, lots of places of interest, sea views and small beaches.

We enjoyed a lot. 

After 1 hour staying there we go back to patong. It was around 4 to 5 pm. As our dress was totally clammy so we returned back to our hotel. As we had no plan and we had too short time so we consult with our hotel stuff to arrange a tour to go PHIPHI. We booked bellow tour for next day.

At evening time we visited the Bangla Road. Watching the name 'Bangla', I want to know why it's name like this. But I don't get any answer. Its The Heart of Phuket's Nightlife.

The road is too much crowded. I was bit panic to see the culture of there. But after sometime I feel the place  is too safe. 

Bangla Road really comes to life once the sun sets. The road is closed to vehicle traffic and becomes a 400 metre festival of neon lights, loud music, cheap beer and sexy girls. Jammed most nights of the year, it is quite a friendly and lively place to walk around as bars and clubs compete with each other for customers. Click Here to know more about Bangla Road.

We shop some beach dresses from the market and then have some Dinner from Indian restaurant. Next day morning we plan for 7 point tour. So we went to bed bit early.

Early morning a four-wheeled truck picked us up from our hotel at 8 am sharp in the morning and transferred us to the pier to board a speed boat. After a brief introduction by the tour operator, we proceeded to board the boat that carried about 30 + tourists from all over the world. For people who are susceptible to sea sickness, they would strongly recommend to take some motion sickness pills several hours before your trip.
To minimize sea sickness, I would advise:
1. Sleep well
2. Stay hydrated
3. Have a light breakfast

Once everyone is seated in the boat, the tour guide greeted us warmly while the boat set sail for our first stop of the day - Maya Bay. I was too much excited. After some time i feel tired and as because of empty stomach, I feel vomiting. Now I understand how horrific Speed boat journey is.

Our first stop was on a place called Phi Phi Lay, which was a small stretch of beach located on a smaller island. It was so amazingly beautiful, that I do not exactly know how to tell every single details in words. Even my photographs cannot represent such feeling and emotion as I was witnessing the awesome creation of God. The water was so clear, reflecting the greens of the hills and blues of the skies, and everything was just so breathtaking. 

Next stop was Monkey Beach. The ang mohs were quite fascinated with the monkeys but for me it was just meh. I grew up seeing monkeys in West bengal, India and they look exactly like these monkeys so there was nothing special.

Our next stop was Maya Bay in Phi Phi Leh Island, famous for providing the breathtaking scenery in The Beach with Leonardo Dicaprio.I personally have not watched this movie yet, and I have heard that the sceneries from the movie was quite awesome. However, I have also heard that in reality, it did not look anything resembling what was portrayed in the movie. It is inevitable how much digital manipulation can alter the appearance in any form of media format. Nonetheless, we were there at Maya Beach, and I can clearly see why people rave about this place so much.

Coming to the pier. And here it is, beautiful Phi Phi Don! We had lunch at there. Ohh!!! Only things I don't like is Thai Food. It's just Yaaak for me.. So we just need some fruit in lunch and some veg noodles. Ohh... Foods just recharge me a lot... Now I feel refresh.

Next Pier is another Island Named Khai. When we are there weather is cloudy. After some time Rain Begins. The beauty was so natural, so precious. It has come to a point it almost felt dreamlike and unreal !! 

One foreigner taking pine apple juice. And It was served in real Pine apple. Every Moment is too precious for life time. We arrived back at the Pier some time before 4pm. We had to check out, and head back to the main Phuket Island via a ferry ride. By the time we got to Phuket main island, it was already near dark. Our luggage was in our hotel. 

I must say Our hotel stuff was too friendly.  They charged nothing for keeping our luggage.  Our flight was around 12:30AM mid night. Taking some food in Indian restaurant we book a cab for Phuket Airport.  

The Thrills in the Hills ~ Part II

30th Dec, we wake up late morning. We took a car to see #Gangtok City. Tour is called 7 point tour of Gangtok. It includes : Rope Way,Flower exhibition center, Ganesh Tok, Bakthank Fall, Tashi View Point, Gunjam Monastery,

First we went out for a ride on the ropeway. This is just a joy ride and it gives a top view of Gangtok City.As the weather was too clear we catch a glimpse of the mighty Kanchenjunga...

There was a place or view point besides the ropeway. We spent some time there. Maximum travelers were Bengalis in gangtok.

After that we visited flower exhibition hall. The hall is too crowded. So we skipped that and enjoyed outside the place. Garden is too clear and well maintained.

Our next was Ganesh Tok. View of  Kanchenjunga from there is clear. We get a magnificent view of  Kanchenjunga from there. We take tea and popcorn from there. Beautiful Ganesh temple located at 6100 ft height and this is the best place to see the Ariel view of Gangtok . Serenity of Ganesh Temple made us fresh.

Tashi view point is very next to Ganesh Tok. So we immediately reached the spot. We climbed a bit up to reach the view point. From here we saw the mountain range and snow covered mountain peaks.

Next is Gunjam Monastery. Gunjam Monastery is situated near Tashi View Point in Sikkim.we gets a beautiful view of Gangtok from the Monastery complex. Its good to see a monk rattling the prayer and it was so soothing that one felt like sitting for more and more time. After spending few minutes, we moved to our next spot Bakthang Fall.

We reached the spots, Bakthang Fall around 2PM . This a beautiful place to spend, breathe the fresh airs, and feel the freshness of falls. But alas!! I can't take photos because of low battery of camera.

As our next target is Rumtek, But before that, we have to take lunch and recharge the battery of camera. So we back to our hotel.

 It's 3:10, we started our journey to Rumtek. This is most famous monastery in Gangtok , it is 24 Km away from the City of Gangtok . Ohh!! there was another security check. We have to show individual identity proof. After that we walk uphills near about 1km. Then we reached Rumtek... 

It's afternoon. There was very little visitors at this time. So the place contains peace. 

We have seen the beautiful sculpture and dresses, masks and lots of Books inside the monastery. On the backside of the monastery, we have seen Golden Stupa .This is really a good place to feel the spiritual aura of Buddhism.

Hurries may kills the pace of travel and joy .We enjoyed a lots in our whole day trip and enjoyed every site in Gangtok .

To be continued in next blog...

The Thrills in the Hills ~ Part I

It was total unplanned tour. My husband arranged ticket in Tatkal. It was 28th Dec. We reached NJP around 11 a.m. We took jeep to Gangtok, the capital of the state of Sikkim which is nestled between China (Tibet), Bhutan and Nepal. Through the chaos of the town NJP,we started our drive up hill. On the foot hills of the Shivalik ranges, Gangtok welcomes you with it’s pleasant weather,peaceful roads and drool worthy chicken momos.

By the time we arrived in Gangtok at around 4 pm, the temperature was around 10-12 degrees. We checked into our rooms at Hotel POTALA. It is pure vegetarian hotel. After taking lunch and taking some rest we moved towards Mahatma Gandhi Road, the main hub of Gangtok, for scrolling. It is the main attraction of Gangtok for evenings the days you are in Sikkim.

The Gangtok is a clean and environmental friendly city with no traffic on M.G. road and is reserved only for tourist scrolling. The entire stretch is dotted with quaint little eateries, sweetmeat shops, gift stores and shops selling woolen clothes. It is a great place to spend an evening, enjoying the cool weather.

As it was unplanned tour, so we have to plan everything in a day. So planned Tsomgu, Baba Mandir for 29th Dec. Nathula is closed between Sunday to Wednesday. One important thing to remember, you need a permit to visit the Tsomgo lake as the lake is very near to China Border and is in a restricted area. There are couple of places on the way where photography is prohibited because of Army camp. Your guide or driver will make you aware of the same.

Next day morning, we took a shared jeep for Tsomgu and Baba Mandir. The roads are mostly bad and there is a lot of construction going on all through the way. Add to this the complications of fallen boulders, landslides etc and it was a slow journey.There were military establishments on the way..

As our car snaked its way to higher regions, the temperature dropped, an influx of picturesque sceneries appeared at regular intervals.

On the way, we saw energetic view of snow clad view and a small beautiful market place where we borrowed ice shoes. We finally completed the tiresome 35 km ride in approx 3.5 hours and arrived at Changu Lake. This lake is situated at a height of 12,000 ft & we were awestruck seeing the lake. Heaven on Earth!

The driver suggested we visit Baba Mandir first & then come back and visit Changu lake, as the Mandir was further uphill and road repairs were going on in that area. We agreed and without getting down from the cab proceeded further to Baba Mandir, which was 15 kms from Changu lake.

Way from Tsomgu to Baba mandir was covered with snow on either side & it was a pleasant drive all through and took about an hour. On the way, we saw lots of beautiful lakes, some of which were frozen.We had finally drove through the Himalayas.

Baba Mandir is situated at a height of 13,500 ft. This Mandir is built by army in memory of Baba Harbajan Singh who went missing from this place. At this place there were many water bottles & accessories of other soldiers also.

Everything Around Baba Mandir are completely covered in snow. It was my 1st time to see snow. So I was too much excited.

I was feel slightly exhausting because of the low oxygen. To get over I was eat Popcorn.After spending some time there, we headed back towards Changu Lake.

OOhh!!! it's just amazing. I was waiting for that moment for a long time. I remembered the song

Yeh Ishq Haaye Baithe Bithaye

Jannat Dikhaye Haan...

As Changu Lake was not totally frozen, driver halted near another frozen lake. Lake was looked like crystal. Snow is too deep around the lake.After playing in snow & taking numerous snaps, we had to leave the place.

We then drove to Tsomgo Lake, which is at 10,500 ft.The weather was sunny but cold wind blew through out. TSO means lake and MGO means head in Nepali language. Upon arriving at the lake and getting out of the jeep. As it has less high than Baba Mandir, so we feel the freezing weather.

Yaks were available for riding here. The lake is quite scenic. After some more photos, we went down to the very tiny Market of Tsomgo to see what the lunch options were. Momo was so yummy at there!!!

We then proceeded to return back to Gangtok. The return journey almost took the same time & by this time the clouds had begun to engulf us.

Next day we wake up late morning. We took a car to see Gangtok City. First we went out for a ride on the ropeway. As the weather was too clear we catch a glimpse of the mighty Kanchenjunga...

To be continued in next blog...

The Thrills in the Hills ~ Part III

31st Dec, my mood was not okay, because of the thoughts of returning. I wake up early around 7am.

I was keeping my fingers crossed so that the day doesn't pass away quickly. But time has never stopped for anyone. It's check out time.

That day, we planned to visit South Sikkim. Eaaahh!!! It's last day of this year...and we are going to celebrate this in Sikkim. I am simply crazy about the Himalayas like many other mountain lovers.My husband seemed to call the previous day's driver. He just gave us another driver for this trip. Luckily we got very well behaved driver.

Our new driver, Ashoke belongs from Soreng. Our journey started with visit of Do Drul Chorten Monastery. Uphill pathway leads to the stupa,a short walking distance from the Research Institute of Tibetology , Deorali area, Gangtok .Basic education for monks , preaching center in the same premises.

Through Ranipool and Singtam we reached Temi Tea Garden around 2pm. It's the only one Tea Garden in Sikkim. Its hardly 60kms from Gangtok. It was a smooth journey and we reached on that place with a clear sky.

What a start of day trip. The scenic beauty of the place itself is a treat to the eyes.The Temi Tea estate was established in 1969 covering an area of 177 hectares (440 acres). The lie of the land shows gentle slopes that originate from the Tendong hill range. It is quite a big tea garden and with a gradual slope down the side of the hill. There is a stepped path running right through the middle of the garden to make roaming around the place easy. It was lunch time,so we had some lunch. Lunch is prepared by dhone hide. We took snaps, roamed here and there, lastly have tea from the roadside café and started again towards Namchi.

Our next destination was a place called Char Dham consisting of replicas of four famous Hindu pilgrimages – Rameshwaram Dham, Jagannath Dham, Dwaraka Dham, Badrinath Dham. There is also a beautiful temple featuring a huge statue of Lord Shiva sitting on top of the temple. Though the architecture was good, I could hardly concentrate on it. The surrounding was breathtakingly beautiful and I was completely lost.. It was evening time when we reached there.

After few minute The Sandhya Aarti was going on and it was being transmitted through the small speakers all around Siddhesvara Dham creating a cascading echo all around.

Sitting by the stairs of CharDham and listening arati was completely refreshing us. Those few minutes were unforgettable. I wanted to spend more time at there. But it was already 6pm. Our trip to the dreamland came to an end.But as it is said “end is a beginning”. So my search for a new dreamland begins…

And We had to catch train at 12:30am. So my husband was bit worried. So we move on towards NJP.
Ohhh!!! the way was obvious that this road was less frequented by vehicles because there were certain patches on the road where there was actually no existence of any road. Only pebbles and boulders stretched a kilometer. Gradually night came to cover the valley in its dark veil and light went off.