Peeghle Neelam sa behta hua ye samma,
Neeli Neeli si khamoshian..
Na kahin hai zameen na kahin asmaan,
sarsarati hue pattian..
Keh rahi hai ki bus ek tum ho yahan,
Sirf main hun, meri sansen hain aur meri dhadhkane
Aise gahraiyan, Aise tanhaiyan,
Aur Main Sirf Main,
Apne hone pe mujhko Yakeen aa gaya...
So..
The reason for this post is simple.. My Lost Camera :( And how much ever I reason with myself I cannot come to terms with the loss ... I had lost my first oil painting while moving house in Bangalore, a magnificent one of the Sun and its seven horses and I still feel the pangs.. My simple point and shoot Nikon camera was no technical marvel but well it was my blurred rosy vision of the world..
Me and my husband left for our honeymoon,to Phuket on July 3rd,2011 after a very wonderful and tiring wedding. And to cut a long story short, after spending 3 adventurous and eventful days in Phuket , my camera disappeared from sight with all the super pictures that I had taken and memorable moments I had captured.
Everyone told me that there would be a time when we would love to look back at all the "sweet" honeymoon moments we spend together and enjoy the pictures.. Since I don't have many of those pictures any more I thought I would recount the honeymoon in my blog.. ...Words are all I have :)
Started with Hubby and me rushing for the airport in our quintessential style and yet managing to get checked in etc! There is really not much to say about the very nondescript Kolkata international airport. It is a nightmare for an international traveller but is better than the domestic airport as the air conditioning works and the queues are much much shorter!
Fly the good times from Kolkata to Bangkok en route to Phuket. Nice flight/ Horrible food and we were getting pretty grumpy and tired by the time the 2 hour flight landed in Bangkok!
The suvernabhumi bangkok airport was however a sight to behold and absolutely awesome! I feel the airport shows a lot about the identity of a place. The Bangkok airport reflected the famous Thai hospitality and efficiency.. We were very impressed with the rows of orchids all around and the lovely gardens and loaded duty free shops!
We had to get our visas on arrival and that cost us 1000 Bahts per person..Hubby said he didn't have a passport size photo and the official said in that case you gotta pay 1000 Baht extra for ONE passport size photo.. Hubby promptly did a more thorough search of his luggage and came up with a photo (which was hilarious) but would do very much for the 15 day visa. Lo and Behold ..in 10 minutes we both had the 15 day Thailand tourist visa.. Voila!!
Now was the tougher part of searching for our luggage at the airport.. because we couldn't see it anywhere and no one of course spoke any English.. after a lot of sign language we were able to decipher that our luggage would be sent directly to Phuket.. So far so good!
We went ahead and exchanged some of our dollars and Rs for Thai Bahts.. And then very excitedly went for Thai Airways flight to Phuket.. We had both heard a lot about Thai Airways and being airline enthusiasts were curious to see what the flight would be like! .. We were not disappointed at all!! It was an out of the world experience.. A huge Boeing aircraft for a domestic flight!! :O And super delicious food. clean aircraft ..nice blankets .. and very thoughtful service!! Thai Airways is indeed one of the worlds best!
It was pitch inky black dark by the time we reached Phuket.The airport was small but had helpful staff and we were quickly able to locate our bags(after several nailbiting moments!). And to our delight a gentleman from the resort we were going to stay at "Kata Beach" was present with a nice car, cold water bottles and cold towels!! Yay!
After an 1 hour ride through nice roads.. we reached the Kata Thani resort. We had really liked it when we had looked at the picture gallery online and were looking forward to see if it really matched what the site advertised.. The resort took care of our bags and the front desk after completing all the formalities informed us that we had been upgraded to a suite in the Ocean wing!! They also gave us coupons for a complimentary dinner and drink and some for the spa. Me being Me.. I was miffed at not getting my choice of room that I had asked for.. And said "why did you upgrade us"! My hubby was kind enough to say its okay,. we trust your choice and we are very happy etc! Finally when we went out and reached the room I felt like an absolute idiot to have even protested against the room!!!!
The ride thru' the resort was very nice.. Swimming Pools, Jacuzzis , quiet lawns, a roaring sea..croaking frogs.. and ah the nice tropical flowery smell all around.. And the best was the room.. Since the hotel knew we were on our honeymoon they had beautifully decorated the room with rose petals and towel swans etc.. The room looked out straight onto the sea .. the hills and the very starry skies.. We Felt so relaxed just looking at the room! The bathroom was beautifully done and had an open viewing screen with blinds.. So that you could relax in a foaming bathtub and gaze out at the sea!
The hotel also had arranged for these pastries and fruit for us.. which we immediately finished off sitting on our sea facing balcony! Yumm Delicious :)
And then we mauled our beautiful rose petalled bed and snored away to glory!!
The next morning, hubby woke me up and showed me what a delightful view our room had... the endless blue sea and the endless blue sky!! We quickly went down to Chom Talay restaurant for our breakfast.. The day view of the resort was so pretty.. landscaped gardens with a variety of tropical flowers, white orchids and small splashy fountains.. quaint bridges .. Soul Filling :) .. The Breakfast was a huge buffet and we ate to our full.. Chom Talay is the largest of the restaurants in Kata Thani resort and has lofty wooden beams and a very pleasing architecture.. We then went and looked the tours we could take the next day and decided on a Maya Beach and Phi Phi Island snorkeling and general lazing around the beach tour!
The rest of the day we spent bathing in the sea... well my hubby is a swimmer and he loved the very large waves that the Kata beach had and all the surfing and swimming action there. Me being a non swimmer.. my enjoyment of the sea is mostly breathing in lungfuls of clean sea air.. and not gulping a lot of salt water :D We also enjoyed the swimming pools and jacuzzi and all the general bonhomie around the sunny resort! Very Pleasant.. We had forgotten to get all the sunscreen we had bought earlier and so we had to but some very expensive sun screen at the resort.. :D But the Thai sun and Sea combination can turn one into a fried lobster so a good sun screen is an absolute must!
Oh and I almost forget to mention that my suitcase lock had to be broken by a mechanic at Kata Thani because it simply refused to budge open much to my exasperation! Hubby of course was appalled at this state of affairs.. But well what had to be done had to be done!
In the evening we left to Promthep Cape after a good long rest .. we are a very sleep loving couple.. And almost managed to miss out the sunset .. The topography is very hilly so the ride to Promthep Cape was very nice..
The scenery was lovely and we noticed a number of these small hilly islands dotting the deep blue Andaman sea. We took our customary couple sun set pictures.. And then hubby also took pictures for some other couples.. Who again returned the favor.. Promthep cape also has a nice Elephant Temple.. The elephant is very sacred to the Thai and there was this small arena where there was a variety of these elephants in all sizes .. Stone elephants I mean! :) Grey ones, White ones, Blue ones, Dancing elephants , some with huge trunks and tusks.. and I took quite a few nice close up pictures.. (which of course are lost :( )
After coming back from the Cape we decided to go for the Thai buffet dinner and Thai traditional dance program that our hotel had for that night.. We had a small misadventure of loosing my left earring and me being in tears and completely broken hearted.. but we did enjoy the program and the food..Thai Dancing is extremely graceful and since I am a Kathak Dancer myself I was absolutely smitten by their lovely poses and variety!.. There was also some nice and soulful Thai singing by a couple .. We took a walk around the resort and revelled in the longing silence of the place with the sea whispering naughty nothings :)
AND on our way back to the room by dear hubby actually spotted the gold earring lying right on the corridor where I had dropped it.. I was really ashamed of myself being such a nincompoop.. but unfortunately I feel i am a complete Mis(s)Adventure sometimes :(
.... So on the corridors in the resort it says "No smoking " and "No Durian".. My Hubby asked me if I knew what the Durian meant and I happily explained to him the story of the foul smelling tropical fruit which is worse than a shunks smell.. and how it was totally banned in resorts and hotels.. but is a much cherished local fruit!
The next morning we left for the Phi Phi island and Maya island tour.. albeit a little late than our very punctual Australian friends.. :D The tour guide was a very interesting man and cracked a lot of silly/funny poor jokes! At the start of the tour the company took a nice picture of each family and me and hubby took a really smart ones in our tourist garb and the flippers that were given to us.. We looked like a pair of very experienced sailors!
Okay .. so the boat ride was extremely exciting.. Initially I sat with my Hubby inside the boat and then after a while went to the front.. The view was so terrific.. and the speed with his boat moved on Andaman Seas Choppy waters was just bone chilling and I held on to the side for dear life but enjoyed the wind slapping me around!!
The first island we reached was Maya island and this has a nice secluded spot for some snorkeling.. The sand was lovely white and sea was a deep turquoise blue! Hubby was all excited to try on his snorkeling gear and fins and went for a swim.. while I lounged around looking at all the nice scenery.. Oh Yes! both Flora and Fauna and took some nice pictures of Hubby trying to snorkel.. I went into the water after a while and there were these schools of pretty pretty colored fishes which swam right past our legs!! After a while it was time to go and all wet and dripping we sat in the boat to enjoy some nice cold orange crush juice!!
From here the boat took us to Mosquito Island.. The tour guide said it is shaped like a Mosquito and hence the name! ha! This was a place for some serious and heavy duty snorkeling .. All the folks with us including my hubby seemed to be avid swimmers and jumped off the boat with their equipment.. I did put a few ginger steps into water but being more of a drowner than swimmer I decided to save my life for possibly better things!! Hubby however had a pretty vigorous and long swim around in the Andaman sea .. and some of it was pretty scary too!
And now it was Luncheon Time on another island! La La.... The lunch was spread out in this nice wooden bungalow which was surrounded by huge trees and the sea !!Very Nice.. The food specially the chicken was good.. and writing or thinking about it makes me really want to go back to the place again.. The place was spic and spank and hygienic and everyone was in really good spirits!! There were a lot of Australians around and it seemed like peak tourist season for them..
After lunch we did a tour of some other islands like the Monkey island which has monkeys hanging around.. Though we could anchor the boat there or see the beach as it was high tide.. We then went to the Viking island which had the Swift Birds nests. Thai Fishermen take down these nests very carefully with long bamboo poles and then they are exported to China as a much sought after and expensive delicacy .. Swift Nest Soup!
The landscape and rock formations were lovely.. Maybe my pictures over here wouldn't do justice.. cause my camera was really not able to capture the ethereal detail of the soaring sea cliffs..And the deep blue green sea waters..
We passed thru several lagoons and small coves and in one the of these we anchored our boat.. and every one took a dip in the lovely water.. everyone except me.. :) There were tiny colored fishes everywhere and the waters were very clean.. We had taken some memorable pictures of us and all the other folks .. there were these guys (really handsome hunky ones!) from Oman who were diving of the boat and an Australian family which were enjoying the swim.. The green waters reflecting the sunlight.. Absolutely surreal!
Next was the famous Phi Phi Beach.. Yes the one with Mr Leo Di Caprio in the movie "The beach".. This was a lovely island too and hubby did some skinny dipping and I did some dumb paddling.. Hubby was pretty much upset with my fear of the sea and drowning and tried to coax me into "deeper" waters.. But I was quite content with the lovely sand beneath my feet sea level :)
After spending some time on this beach and looking at all the beautiful beach babes.. I felt like an absolute beach bum and decided that the next time I would at least make an effort to be more babe like and less bum like!
Time to get back to the mainland.. And to the hotel... The ride back is always much quicker and we were back to Phuket soon..
In the evening we went to the very lively downtown of Patong and quite enjoyed the sights and sounds there.. Travelling around in Phuket is very expensive due to the very large distances between various destinations..
In Patong.. there are all these street side shops and nice live bands playing at various restaurants.. I bought a lovely ethnic Thai blue bag which Hubby selected for me... with these silver elephants made on it.. Then we had dinner in a hotel.. I took a pineapple rice ..and Hubby took a red curry.. The food was very good and the flavors were amazingly complex.. Yummm And of the BIGGG fried ice cream tantalizingly cool coconut water!
On the way back the hotel shuttle took us thru' the Patong Streets were we got a quick and very very very short glimpse of the night life at Patong. We felt pretty disappointed that we were not able to enjoy a lot of Patongs night life cause we had heard so much about it and we both love to get out and party! I could almost hear hubby groan in misery!! :)
Awww now it was time to pack up and leave .. The breakfast at the hotel everyday was of course very very good.. And this time we also raised a toast at the beach bar to our short sweet and sour honeymoon! We also enjoyed the smaller pleasures of the hotel a lot like the magnificent bathtub! ;)
Hubby went sea swimming for a bit and I joined him after ..what else.. breaking the lock of another of my suitcases! Crap!
The swimming pool was so relaxing .. Blue , Deep and almost melting with the sea..
But I had to rush later in the afternoon for my spa appointment.. And here is when it happened.. I suddenly saw that my camera was missing and all hell broke loose.. Beyond this point it was pretty much a straight guilt ride to hell and back.. The hotel was however very cooperative in their search.. but even after a lot of searching we simply couldnt find the camera.. We had a 7 Pm flight for Bangkok and so I decided that since Kata Beach had decided to devour our Phuket memories we might as well leave for Bangkok...
This time around we took a Bangkok airways flight.. which was not quite as good as the Thai airways.. but nonetheless we reached Bangkok safe and sound with our luggage sans the camera! Hubby went to an internet center at the airport and booked us into an amazing hotel at Ratchaprasong. The Renaissance Bangkok, which is also a Mariott. And we were transported right from a laid back scenic sea beach resort to a raving glitzy and uber modern 19th floor penthouse suite overlooking a glittering Bangkok city! Our spirits were very low due to the loss of the camera.. but the "in your face" beauty of the hotel did some wound healing..
The room service dinner at the hotel was also pretty good. (Pad thai in the middle of the night,What else!!)
The next day we got up at our usual time :) to explore bangkok. Since we were leaving for Kolkata the same afternoon we didnt have a lot of time on our hands.. And this is another regret we had.. Because the city around was thriving! The brilliant shopping malls and nicely dressed people.. street hawkers and all of Bangkoks chique got to us! We went for some window shopping and had lunch at the food court there.. We also indulged in some supremely delecious haagen daas ice cream.. And roamed around the streets for a bit..
I silently resolved to come back someday and enjoy the city again.. And I know Hubby was feeling the same way too!
Time to go ! Time to go.. We quickly packed up and made a mad dash for the airport in our usual style.. And managed to catch the very eventful flight back to kolkata.. After some rushed shopping at the duty free shops.. Hubby wanted to buy a nice Thai elephant and luckily we got these sweet Mother and calf pair!
The Kingfisher flight to kolkata... Well that is another story all together for another day!!! ;)
Some of our very eventful moments of our "holiday" was the beautiful Kata Thani resort.. And am really glad that Hubby booked us in here! We were very touched with the service and beauty of the place.. Hubby was also extremely excited to wear his new levis shorts, new cool sunglasses and sketchers shoes in Thailand! And he also had this brilliant green beach towel which he proudly took around to all the beaches! I am sure he is also gonna remember his adventurous swim in the Andaman sea for a long long time!
I .. well I .. just enjoyed.. every bit of the holiday.. The Loss of my camera included!! But my favorite moment was sitting in Starboard of the Speedboat and the wind whipping thru my hair and the choppy Andaman sea rocking us around and just being thankful that I was alive and kicking to enjoy the supreme beauty of it all!
Thailand is a lovely place with an amazing mix of things to indulge in.. For the leisurely to the adventurous..the spas to the surf , and we definitely had a taste of it all!! Cheers to all that Thai Food!
Last but never the least ..3 Cheers to us!! :)
With Love,
Ria
PS: It is pretty simple to guess who the post is dedicated to :)
