Thailand

We started on the Thailand trip on Saturday morning.It happened so sudden that the fact sunk in only on Friday I think. We have been planning a trip with Vimala & family from Nov I think.We almost decided the middle east trip in Jan when Tanchu had winter hols. Then PV got ill & we postponed it to Mach.To cut it short that too didnt happen.

Before Tanchu's vacation began Vimala kept saying we should go somewhere. She wanted to go abroad. Ashish's passport was about to expire & he didnt renew it, so we thought Bhutan( where we may not require passport-not sure). But V ch was not keen. Then we thought Sikkim(I am the only one who has not gone there, others liked the place). She searched" Make my trip" site & the places they were taking were the same place that they went last time. So she started searching for a 4- 5 day trip they have( PV could take only 3 days off). Then she saw the Thailand package. After that it was  hectic with calling them up every now & then to book, get all documents etc . She spent her birthday like that. Ashish couldnt come because of the passport issue.

On 16th night they came here to sleep as our flight was at 5,30am on 17th. We left the house at around 2 am.By the time we had our security check I was hungry & had iddlies from the airport. We went by Indigo flight.

Reached Bangkok at 9.20.A lady from Make my trip was there to receive us.Had to wait for the coach for some time. (The entire tour was done in the coach- about 10 could be seated).Unlike the Thomas cook tour people were in different packages & staying in different hotels so couldnt make friends.

They took us to their office & we had lunch  there- Indian food.

Then we were taken to Pattaya. We reached at around 4 pm- local time.They had booked in Citin Garden resort for us.Got a welcome drink.The hotel was good. Only problem was language. Devika's fwd" thanguberrymutt" was helpful.That day they were taking us for Alcazar show. We had to be ready by 8.15 so decided to have an early dinner.Their menu had a few Indian items in veg so I opted for samosa( missing the icons of whatsapp). They had some thai curry with rice.

The show started at 9.30 dot. I was afraid if it will be like the Lido show in Paris for which we had to pay extra & i slept most of the time.( Found that boring). This we all enjoyed. They danced to the Hindi song Nachle....nachle mere yaar tu  nachle also. this show was free( about that later).

The package had breakfast included & they said lunch & dinner we will have to have on our own. But on all days except one they gave us lunch too.

On 18th we started at 8.15 to go to coral island. We had to go in boats & they anchor them a little away. We had to wade through knee length water to reach the boat. They had told us to wear shorts & since i didn't want to try it out they said wear salwar kameez. It was fun wading through the water. We had to wait for the boat in the water as the 1st one got full. When our turn came I just couldnt climb on to the boat as the step was too high for me. All of them got inside & I thought I will stay back. Somehow they all( other tourists including) pulled & pushed me inside.In the bargain my slippers came off & somebody caught hold of it from the water The ride was fun .

1 st they took us to an island where we could do para sailing  & do under water walk. Tanchu wanted to try para sailing but backed out as she felt she may feel like coming back midway:-) Then there was underwater walk & she wanted to do that. Vimala also wanted to try as coming all the way should try something. She had to buy a swimming costume as they had not instructed us properly. Both had it in their bags in the hotel. They went for that & took all others to coral island. there we relaxed under the beach umbrellas in easy chairs. Appu was happy as he got coke & chips from muthachan.I had some lovely ripe mangoes . They cut & sell in plastic packets with salt & red chillies. The mangoes were ripe & good so I didnt use the salt. It tasted like our Priyur.Then took appu to have fun in the beach. PV was relaxing in the chair.

After sometime Vimala & tanchu joined us. It seems Tanchu got scared when she went under water & so she came up & sat in the boat. Vimala walked a bit but then she also felt its enough, more so as tanchu was alone( no family member with her I mean).

They then took us to Veeda an Indian restaurant. We had bouffet lunch( Indian food ) there.

After lunch they took us to Bangkok. We reached bangkok by 4.30 or so. They had booked in Howard square for us.