[rajesh1868]

Great travelogue. Enjoying the photos and the narrative

[_raVan_]

Excellent travelogue. Did you go for snorkeling? Also, does the sea bed walking come under scuba diving?

Waiting for your day 3 events.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Night_Hawk

Very interesting narration. Awesome pictures. what camera was used for shooting these pics.

I used a very basic DSLR Nikon D3100 but with the kit lens of Nikon D90(18-105) and another 55-200 lens.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

amazing pictures! If the pictures look this interesting, I can imagine how interesting it actually would have been.

Thank you, It really was great fun.
I felt that people will enjoy much more if they are non-vegetarian.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Thanks, hemanth.anand, for this nice travelogue. Rs 30 k per person with visa was a good VFM package. Now, Thailand including Bangkok is suffering from the worst flood of the decade.

Yes it was the best rate for many days.
Even now, next month one of my family friends is going and has paid more than this rate.
Yes very sad to hear the news of the floods in Thailand.
Tourism is one of the major revenue generator for Thailand and this floods will have its effect on tourism

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Excellent travelogue. Did you go for snorkeling? Also, does the sea bed walking come under scuba diving?

Waiting for your day 3 events.

Although this under sea walk comes close to snorkeling, snorkeling and scuba diving are different.
Snorkeling uses a snorkel to breathe while"swimming", scuba diving uses a full suit kit complete with an oxygen cylinder.
Just for info, SCUBA means Self Contained Under-water Breathing Apparatus

Originally Posted by navan49

Hemanth.Anand,
It is an awesome travelogue. ... Thanks for sharing here with nice images.

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

Great travelogue. Enjoying the photos and the narrative

Thank you guys.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Nice travelogue with nice pics.

Looking forward to Bangkok episode.

[amitwlele]

@hemanth - Lovely TL. Thanks for sharing the package information.

In your second post you have put 4-5 snaps of Snacks. Curious to know what are those?

And no snaps of cars as of now other than the double decker bus?

[joe1980]

This seems like an affordable trip. Less than 30000 Rupees with a completely satisfying experience. Great that you are sharing this with everyone here.

[Durango Dude]

@Hemanth Anand: Nice Travelogue and nice perspective of Thailand as a family destination; after my visit there with my colleagues (all male group), in 2007, I vowed never to take my family there, went parasailing of Pattaya et al but it was the only conducted tour to have porn shows on the itinerary as if it were a cultural event (it was via SOTC); viz the Russian show: I thought of it as some sort of a circus, turned to be a rather "titillating" circus. Chao Phraya cruise, Safari world, various Buddha temples viz the Golden and Reclining Buddha, did you snap it; would love to see those pics in DSLR quality. I still have the feeling there is very less that a "family" can do in Thailand.

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

@Hemanth Anand: Nice Travelogue and nice perspective of Thailand as a family destination; after my visit there with my colleagues (all male group), in 2007, I vowed never to take my family there, went parasailing of Pattaya et al but it was the only conducted tour to have porn shows on the itinerary as if it were a cultural event (it was via SOTC); viz the Russian show: I thought of it as some sort of a circus, turned to be a rather "titillating" circus. Chao Phraya cruise, Safari world, various Buddha temples viz the Golden and Reclining Buddha, did you snap it; would love to see those pics in DSLR quality. I still have the feeling there is very less that a "family" can do in Thailand.

No wonder my friends are heading there often now i know the reason.

@Hemanth - very nice travelogue and narration. Enjoying it.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

@hemanth - In your second post you have put 4-5 snaps of Snacks. Curious to know what are those?

And no snaps of cars as of now other than the double decker bus?

As the saying goes "whats in the name?"....any animal will do
People there eat living being which has two of more legs or any animal which can swim. You name the animal and they serve you that.
While I was cliking pictures, my wife had her nose closed.

I have to admit, I haven't taken pictures of cars as much as I would've liked to.
I'm uploading this travelogue from office and I don't have all the photos here with me.
I'll try to put some though.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

@Hemanth Anand: Nice Travelogue and nice perspective of Thailand as a family destination; after my visit there with my colleagues (all male group), in 2007, I vowed never to take my family there, went parasailing of Pattaya et al but it was the only conducted tour to have porn shows on the itinerary as if it were a cultural event (it was via SOTC); viz the Russian show: I thought of it as some sort of a circus, turned to be a rather "titillating" circus. Chao Phraya cruise, Safari world, various Buddha temples viz the Golden and Reclining Buddha, did you snap it; would love to see those pics in DSLR quality. I still have the feeling there is very less that a "family" can do in Thailand.

If its an all-male group, I agree with the impression you have got.
But if you know what to expect, then even a family trip can be really good without any of the russian show kind of things

[hemanth.anand]

…Day 3 Part 1

Today we were to go to Bangkok where our 2 deluxe rooms were booked in Ramada hotel.
Since the taxi guy was to come at 9 to our hotel, we had a nice sleep overnight and got up leisurely at 7am
We finished our complimentary breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
I stuffed myself with 2 omelettes, poha, idly, pineapple juice. The ladies were already fans of the giant Thai Guavas.
They ate guavas for breakfast and just as a formality took the Poha and idly
We got ready with our luggage and told the hotel guys that we will check out. We settled the bill and other paper work by 9:00am.

This time, the taxi guy made us to wait. He came to our hotel by 9:15 with a 10-seater vehicle (it was some local manufacturer vehicle looking like the VW bus)
This time he also picked 5 more Indians (some were from the boat trip the previous day we were already friends) from hotels nearby and by 10:00 am we bid goodbye to Pattaya

I can say only one thing about Pattaya…it is Goa added to Goa and then the sum multiplied by Goa

The 10-seater vehicle was very slow and it took 4hours to Bangkok compared to the 3 hours on day1
We were dropped at our hotel and when we went to the reception desk, the lady told us that all rooms were full.
Before we could even react, she told that instead of our deluxe rooms, they will give us executive rooms without any extra cost.
Even in that, only one was available and the other one would take two more hours.
So it was a mixed bag experience till now.
We agreed to take one room since a half-day city tour was planned from 15:00.

She gave us the keys (or rather cards) to our rooms and when I saw the room number I was happy it was 2505.
Yes the executive rooms were in the 25th floor. I was looking forward to the rooms and man, what comfortable rooms.
But the view from the 25th floor was still better. This tower was overlooking the Baiyoke Tower which is Thailand’s tallest building.

We prepared some MTR ready to eat packets which we had carried for emergency and we were ready for the city tour.
Our guide came to our hotel with a Toyota 10-seater UV and the tour started.


Our guide

She took us through the main streets of Bangkok and showed us all the royal palaces, flower market (very similar to Gandhi bazaar of Bangalore), offices of the kingdom, town hall and other buildings.
On that day it was the Queen’s or something similar to that (I really don’t remember thanks to the guide for mentioning too many dates and their importance)
These buildings and others were not so interesting and since it was shown on the move, not many good photos taken here. Anyways, here are some...


One of the royal emblems


Railway crossing


A government office building


Her highness


Royal emblem- Brahma on an elephant


Palace Entrance


Colourful tuk tuks

The first stop was Wat Traimit (temple of the golden Buddha), Wat meaning temple.
The present temple was recently completed (she said 2010) housing a 5500kg solid gold Buddha.

At some point of time it seems that it was completely covered with plaster.
Many years earlier, reconstruction works near Chinatown required the destruction of an old abandoned temple that housed this plaster statue of Buddha.
But the destruction of the statue was not an option. It was decided to move it to Wat Traimit in Bangkok.
Since the temple didn't have a building big enough to house the statue, it was kept for 20 years under a simple tin roof.
When a new building was built and the monks decided to install the statue inside it.
A crane was supposed to move the statue carefully, but a cable broke and the statue fell.
When the damage was being evaluated, it was observed that the plaster had cracked and under it was a statue made of solid gold.
It is thought that the statue was disguised under plaster to hide it from the Burmese, who were besieging the city.

The latest temple had an elevator, a forex counter also apart from small shops around it.
I exchanged some rupees because the exchange rate was the best for the month on that day it seems.
At the souvenir shop we bought a Thai Umbrella and Thai farmer’s hat made from palm leaves.
After some refreshments, we went to the next temple…Wat Pho…The reclining Buddha temple.

Time for the pictures...


Ceiling of the Wat Traimit


Solid...


Oh my gold...


Meditating Buddha


Temple Portico


Softee ice creams


Peaceful...


See the Calm expression...


The bell of justice


Lotus


The new temple


another temple in the same campus


Enlightened


The tower


Wat traimit


Incense...

Day3 part 2 to follow…

[hemanth.anand]

…Day3 part 2 continued

When we entered Wat pho, it looked like an ashram with small buildings spread all over.
Later we saw tall towers built in memory of kings. One tower per king.
The towers had intricate designs on it and it looked really beautiful.

Then we were taken inside what seemed a small temple after we removed our footwear.
What I saw inside left me spell bound.
The magnificent size, the golden colour, the focus lights to add to the sheen and the tingling sound of coins all had a mesmerizing effect on me.
The statue was so big that only from the foot side of the Buddha; we can capture the whole statue.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking here.


Wat Pho


one of the temple entrances


Towers for the kings


The wat campus


Towers


Intricate details


Imported statue from china


Black and white


Temples


Naga Buddha


Photo frames


Chinaman


External wall


the tower again


One more view


Roof tiles


He is resting


Aaaram...


Small buddha with the golden buddha as the background


Still can't get it in one frame


Almost got it in one frame...blame the number of people for this


Flowers


More softee ice creams


Design


Roofs

Ah, and the coins…They are actually alms for the monks. We have to buy them for 20 Bahts (approx. 30 rupees)
We are given coins and we have to put it in many bowls kept by the side of a wall. The monks make their food out of this it seems

In this temple there was also a Shiva lingam. This is some powerful Lingam it seems…it grants you baby if a childless couple approach and pray.


Shiva Lingam

After this, we were again taken to the jewel factory in Bangkok and the ladies were really happy.
This time we didn’t have any reason to take them out of the factory.

We left the ladies to shop while I was busy calling my colleague and enquiring about the shopping malls for buying electronics.
After 2 hours of shopping, we were ready to go. Much of the gifts for relatives were bought here.

Then we went to check the prices of TV in a mall called MBK.
We noted down the prices for short listing but didn’t buy any. But what options man, I should have taken much more cash I felt.

Now it was dinner time…one hell of a task if you are looking for a vegetarian meal.
The MBK had international food court with the Indian shop closed.
I found octopuses, worms and many others that we had never seen.
The ladies were cursing their husbands for having bought them to such a place.
We were tired after roaming around the mall so were not in a mood to go out.
Luckily we found a pizza and burger shop and we had to settle for that.

After this we went to our hotel in a tuk tuk.
This hotel had some English and Hindi channels. The ladies got busy in watching their daily soaps which they had missed while we headed out with the camera.

We got some night shots of the city which was looking more beautiful with the lights on.


Baiyoke Tower..my dream is also BMW


Night sky view from our room


Isn't this view awesome???


The flyover during night

We were lost taking the photos when our wives came and showed the time…it was past midnight…We went to bed looking forward to another wonderful day where a trip to Safari world was arranged. It’ll come up pretty soon.

Day 4 to be continued…

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Then we went to check the prices of TV in a mall called MBK.
We noted down the prices for short listing but didn’t buy any. But what options man, I should have taken much more cash I felt.

One noob question. What is the need now to buy TV from outside India? I understand it was a craze 10 or 15 years ago. But are we now not getting enough choices in India of reputed brands with not so much exorbitant prices?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

One noob question. What is the need now to buy TV from outside India? I understand it was a craze 10 or 15 years ago. But are we now not getting enough choices in India of reputed brands with not so much exorbitant prices?

When you get a model for 30k which would cost you 75k here,
When you get it with worldwide warranty,
When you have more choices,

Would you not buy it??

My friend and one more colleague had asked for TVs and by the 3rd day I had got all the prices of the TVs. I'll narrate what happened with the TV later

[NPV]

Superb Travelogue, thanks for sharing, Hemanth !
Lovely pictures to support your awesome narration, it's like ball-by-ball radio commentary of a cricket match

Best of the pictures are the ones titled "Isn't this view awesome???"
"Night sky view from our room" - these would make very nice wallpapers.

[aryasanyal]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

…Day3 part 2 continued

What I saw inside left me spell bound.
The magnificent size, the golden colour, the focus lights to add to the sheen and the tingling sound of coins all had a mesmerizing effect on me.
The statue was so big that only from the foot side of the Buddha; we can capture the whole statue.

Attachment 836118
Almost got it in one frame...blame the number of people for this

Thanks for the beautiful travelogue, Hemanth!
Thailand now seems doable and a must-do after reading your log.

One question - isn't this the famous Mahaparinirvan position of the Buddha - the reclining statue, I mean?