[SS-Traveller]

That's a complicated thread title, what? Those Thai words, which have entirely different meanings as opposed to how they sound to English-speaking people?

Well, it's a complicated travelogue, of a break spanning 18 days, involving a roadtrip to Kolkata, flying out from there to Thailand, another 2350 km roadtrip there, flying back to Kolkata, and the return drive. Before I begin with the travelogue itself, allow me to explain what those words mean in Thai (or Tai, as the folks in Thailand pronounce it).

Wat - Loosely speaking, a (Buddhist) place of worship, or a temple. Had more than our fair share of visiting temples this time.

Chao - The Chao Phraya river is the largest river in Thailand, flowing through Bangkok and southwards into the Gulf of Thailand. The word chao has many connotations, generally meaning grand or royal.

Doi - Thai for mountain. We climbed one Swift-ly, and in the process I learnt something new.

Why Swift-ly? Our rental car in Thailand was a Suzuki Swift 1.2L with automatic transmission.

Mae - Thai for river. The Chao Phraya river is also referred to as the Mae Nam. Figuratively, the AH1 in India is quite a river of humanity itself.

And of course, there's the AH1 - The Asian Highway 1, running 20,557 kilometres (12,774 mi) from Tokyo, Japan to the border between Turkey and Bulgaria, west of Istanbul. A small part of it runs from Delhi to Kolkata (a.k.a. the NH2) while parts of it run through Thailand. We thought it interesting to have driven on the AH1 in two countries on the single trip.

Again? Yes, the fourth time now. The previous travelogues are at the links below:
1.
2.

[SS-Traveller]

PROLOGUE: 2015

Parents of a child in Class 12 are always worried. So were we. Not as much as most other parents though, whose mission in life is to have their child secure a seat in IIT, become a computer engineer, or perhaps a doctor. We knew our daughter was not interested in doing what we did - study 'science' after completing Class 10. The only 'science' she wanted to study was Home Science.

The year leading up to the Higher Secondary Board examinations is nevertheless stressful, for the student as well as her parents. So we decided to forego our holidays for a year.

"But promise me you will take me on a big holiday trip once my exams end?" our daughter pleaded for the nth time.

"Of course. Anywhere you want." I was dreaming of a drive through the north-eastern regions of India, or the Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. She loves the mountains, and I was confident that she would not turn down an extensive Indian roadtrip.

Some weeks later, she piped up, "Can we go to Thailand?"

"Thailand? We've been there thrice already. You want to go to the same places again?"

"But we haven't been to Chiang Rai or Koh Samui, or to so many other places... And we can spend a couple of days in Bangkok too, where you can get me my laptop!"

"And we can fly out via Kolkata. We need to visit our relatives in Kolkata before our daughter goes away for her studies." This from SWMBO.

The penny dropped. On the travel radar was a list of interesting things to do. Eat. Shop. Socialize. Exclusions from the to-do list included mountains, bad roads, habitation-free zones and strenuous travel schedules.

Strenuous travel schedules to be excluded? Well, we'll find out as we go along... ~5500 km of travel by road, plus 2.5-hours of flight each way isn't strenuous if one enjoys it!

[SS-Traveller]

12 April 2016, 4:30 PM

The last Board examination is over for our daughter at 1:30 PM, and there's not a moment to lose, before the holiday begins.

It's been some months since H-4® has taken to the highways, and almost a year since we had been to Kolkata. There's a lot of luggage to be carried, and the third row seat is removed.

Additionally, there's the apprehension about it being election time in West Bengal, when SUVs are targeted for 'election duty'. We do have some small misgivings. The Old Boys' Network comes into play as I call a schoolmate who is currently with the Kolkata Police - his assurance leaves us relieved. Nothing untoward happened, and no one stopped us during our outbound trip.

A significant milestone was crossed by H-4® on the way to Kolkata.

The night drive as well as the stops are more comfortable this time, thanks to a pair of auxiliary driving lamps newly installed - along with LED lights to replace the insufficient puddle lamps H-4® originally came with.

13 April 2016, 4:00 PM

We arrive at Kolkata.

Lovecars21's advice was spot on. The best time to cross the Asansol - Panagarh stretch is between 12 noon and 4 pm. The scorching sun had kept most folks indoors, and traffic was minimal. We entered WB at precisely noon. There's a hot wind blowing. A Sumo barreled past dangerously through the narrow diversions, and suddenly disappeared from sight. The strong wind was blowing fine white dust across the road so intensely, that I was forced to come to a stop and allow my eyesight to adjust. Once on the move again, I found the Sumo parked a little ahead of us. As soon as we crossed it, it started following us, until we were in the clear - when it once again zoomed off at full tilt.

Stopping at Shaktigarh is much like a pilgrimage for us, every time we travel to Kolkata. The lyangcha, makha sandesh, singara and tea in little earthen cups are energising must-have stuff. In the stifling summer heat, the shopkeeper had turned off the fans. As I asked for them to be turned on, I received startling advice:

- Pakha chalaley aaro beshi gorom lagbe. (You'll feel hotter if you turn on the fan).

It took some pleading to convince him to switch on the fan. The hot breeze was better than the oppressive, choking heat inside the shop. Splashing on some water to the face and arms, we settled down for a while to enjoy the gastronomic delights.


13 April 2016, 7:00 PM

Now that we are in Kolkata, it's time to catch up with friends as well as stock up with provisions for the home. So there we were, meeting up beside the Spencers supermarket with BHPians himadrimondal, SanC and tacho9000 - we had such a good time that the earth shook with our laughter!

[SS-Traveller]

14 April 2016, 7:00 AM

It is the first day of the Bengali New Year. A time for celebrations, and the primary focus of Bengali celebrations at every festival is food. Non-vegetarian food. Because a vegetarian Bengali is probably an excommunicated Bengali. And we are certainly not vegetarians. It is also the time for new clothes, and renewing relationships. So the Bengali dresses up in new clothes, and goes visiting his relatives (and hers too).

When it comes to visiting relatives, not all live on wide roads and avenues. And it would be sacrilege if the eccentric folks who have driven down from Delhi, did not visit their relatives because the road in front of their house isn't wide enough to drive easily. Not one to be easily daunted, I plunge right in where BMWs fear to tread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvuJ2utwrq

There are more relatives to visit throughout the rest of the day, and the locations are relatively easier to access, but the details can safely be skipped - except the one in the next post...

[SS-Traveller]

14 April 2016, 12:30 PM

It is also the Ashtami day of Basanti Puja, also known as Annapurna Puja, and here we are, attending a private ceremony at a relative's home. The customs and rituals, the 108 flickering lamps, the beat of the dhaak and the tolling of the gong and bells stir many old memories.

The Bengali New Year needs the blessings of multiple divine sources, so here we are, seeking sacred deliverance from all the negatives in our lives at College Street, at the hallowed Thanthaney Kalibari.

[SS-Traveller]

15 April 2016, 5:00 PM

Yesterday was a special day for meeting relatives. This evening is reserved for friends. Friends of the Team-BHP fraternity, who gathered at a pre-arranged location. While our daughter and her cousin went off to watch the newly-released movie, Fan; wife scheduled a get-together of her schoolmates at the same time, and at the same venue!

15 April 2016, 9:00 PM

If it is Kolkata, food is certainly the numero uno point of happiness. And Kolkata biryani, chaap and a variety of other mouth-watering, artery-blocking, to-hell-with-the-lipid-profile kinds of dishes are to be indulged in this evening, at this heritage eatery.

[SS-Traveller]

16 April 2016, 12:30 PM

A college-mate invites us to lunch at Barasat, and we are overwhelmed by his hospitality. From fresh green coconut water to a half-dozen home-cooked dishes on the menu, even our stomachs are almost overwhelmed. You see, a Bengali does not take "No" for an answer very kindly, when serving refills on your plate. This necessitates a prolonged siesta for the rest of the day - but unfortunately that is not about to happen.

From the extreme north of the city, we head out after lunch to the extreme south - where we are to meet two more friends. Obviously, they are both well-prepared to contribute further tasty calories to our already overloaded gastric systems. We are treated, among many other things, to baked rosogolla, a delicacy that evolved quite recently, one which we had not had the luck of tasting earlier. And equally obviously, a Bong does not relish his rosogolla after just one helping.

I am already worried about whether my trousers would fit round my waist once we return home from the holiday, given the consumptive overdrive we have got ourselves into.

And then again, in the evening, we backtrack to Rajarhat for another loving invitation to a lavish and delicious home-cooked dinner, that we are unable to do full justice to. This has been a Saturday of delectable adventure for our palates.

Tomorrow is another day...

[SS-Traveller]

17th April 2016, 11:30 AM

We drive into the club and park. Apart from another car there, the parking lot is empty. Waiting for us as the ever affable host is BHPian Babuda.

This is a very big day for me. I am going to meet with my past. Friends from my past, many of whom I have not met in 30+ years. Schoolmates who reconnected through technology. In ones and twos, we grouped together on Facebook, and migrated to chatting non-stop on WhatsApp, filling in all the missing information about our close friends' progress through life.

This lunch meet was planned months ahead. Planned to the minutest detail, including the menu. A menu designed to make us salivate.

Yet, there are those little butterflies in the stomach. How would the meetup go? Have our attitudes towards our school buddies changed?

As they trooped in one by one, some with their families and some alone, suddenly we were 16 years old again. The veneer dropped almost audibly, the language changed faster than your DSG transmission, the hugging and back-slapping was more forceful than necessary, the ribald jokes and memories of our shenanigans at school made us laugh ourselves silly, and it was a beautiful world for a few hours.

The food was really, really good, but the gastronomic experience was not the focus of the afternoon.

[SS-Traveller]

18 April 2016, 7:00 PM

We have gone past immigration and security check at the sparkling and modern Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, and wait for boarding to be announced. In the process of filling up our immigration forms, I loan my pen to a fellow passenger, who now insists that I also fill up the form for him. I help him, pocket the pen, and am about to walk away, when a boorish lady wants my pen - I politely tell her we are done, and cannot wait for her. Perhaps she can ask another fellow passenger. Her anger surprises me: Aap aise kaise kar sakte ho? (how can you do this?) she shoots back at me. Don't know how, but I certainly did what I did - walked away with my pen in my pocket!

Logged into the airport Wi-Fi, which allows 30 minutes of free internet access. The mobile screen is far more interesting than observing our fellow travellers.

There are these two Buddhist monks, wrapped up in woolen caps and mufflers, and I wonder what kind of punishment this is. When they pull out tablets from their bags and start scrolling, I am amazed at the modernity of religion. An aged couple are about to ride the walkalator. The lady is terrified, yet the gentleman loudly insists that she get on. In the end, he managed to step on to the belt and get carried away, hollering all the while: Uthe poro! Otho bolchhi! (Get on! I say, get on!). Separation anxiety is higher among aged couples, I suppose. The lady bypassed the walkalator and walked the distance on her own steam.

Overpriced shopping outlets are common at airports, but this one called Biswa Bangla is unique.

The rush to queue up as soon as the flight is announced, is usual behaviour - in retrospect, when boarding the return flight, we realized that people can be well-behaved and board in an organized manner in a foreign land.

The Indigo flight is smooth, and touches down at Suvarnabhumi International Airport a few minutes before the scheduled time. Applying for the Visa on Arrival is fairly painless, except for the queue, which takes close to half an hour. The receipt for 1000 THB that I receive is in the name of one Harvinder Singh, so I approach the VOA counter again to get my own. The counter staff are flustered - how could such a mistake happen? Mercifully, Mr. Harvinder Singh turns up in a few minutes to exchange his receipt too, and we are on our way out of immigration, to pick up our bags and walk past customs. Time to pick up a SIM card and the car.

The SIM costing 299 THB is activated within 5 minutes, and calls to India cost 3 THB per minute.

19 April 2016, 2:50 AM

We cannot access the Avis counter at the airport, where we are supposed to pick up our Group O car for the next 6 days. There's floor cleaning in progress, and the ladies at work do not understand English.

We wait for 15 minutes, and then I revert to pantomime. I pull out my Avis booking printout, point to the Avis logo, then towards the Avis counter. After doing this a few times, the cleaning lady gets the message. She plods across to the Avis counter in her gumboots, and the lady behind the counter promptly takes a back exit and comes around to meet me. She already has my name on a printout, and calls up someone on the mobile.

In five minutes, there's a big red Toyota Hiace wearing Avis livery at the exit gate. The driver hops out, helps us load our luggage into the back, and we are promptly whisked away to the Avis office-cum-parking-lot about two kilometers away. I have been here the last time, and things are familiar.

- You have an International Driver's Permit, Sir?

I am taken aback by the question, because Avis has never asked before.

- No, I don't. Would it be a problem?

- Sir, we'll give you the car - we don't have a problem. But Bangkok Police are insisting that foreign drivers must have an IDP if you are caught for any violation. Otherwise they make trouble for you as well as for us.

- And what about on the highways and the rest of Thailand?

- We don't know about that, Sir.

Well, it's too late to procure an IDP, and Avis will give me the car without it, so we'll just be a little extra careful and not break any traffic rules, shall we?

The paperwork is quick and painless, and our car, a red Swift, has been brought around to the front while I sign the documents and credit card charge slip. I am a little dejected, since the expectation was to get a Toyota Yaris with some more boot space - but they said 'Toyota Yaris or similar', so there's not much to argue about. All the suitcases don't fit in the back, obviously, so with the three of us on board, the fourth passenger's space at the back is occupied by another suitcase and sundry bags. All set to roll - butt he driver insists that I verify the existing dents, including broken clips on the rear bumper. I am carrying SCDW (super collision damage waiver) in Avis-speak, so any dents or body damage is not of concern to me, and I would not be charged a penny.

Time to roll...

[SS-Traveller]

19 April 2016, 4:15 AM

The odometer reads 10,796 km. We park on the side of the road, hop out to the 7-Eleven that is open at that hour, and grab some sandwiches, burgers, soft drink bottles and a plastic cup of hot coffee. We are ravenously hungry, having had nothing to eat since dinner.

We are on the outskirts of Bangkok, following the GPS on our way to our hotel at Chiang Rai. We follow the Route 32 and Route 1, parts of which form the AH1 through Thailand.

https://goo.gl/maps/avoHhKTS3GR2

The Swift had 10,778 km on the odo when we got it, and is a 1.2L petrol with automatic transmission, I managed to hit the brake sharply with the left foot once, while driving out of the parking lot, and have now settled in comfortably in a familiar seat. The coffee and the warmed-up sandwiches (crab and mayo, shredded pork and baloney, tuna and shredded pork, ham and cheese) are refreshingly filling. I fish out a cigarette, only to discover a little problem that would bug us throughout the journey:

My wife is elated - this will be the incentive to curb my smoking habit. Except that we'll need more breaks on the way. There are smoking stations, 7-Eleven stores and clean toilets at every petrol pump, and I decide to take a break every two hours or so.

Our first stop on the highway

The loo and the smoking station - note the innumerable cigarette butts stubbed out in a sandbox

Whatever misgivings we had about this being a petrol vehicle, disappear very quickly as soon as we see the prices of fuel in Thailand. Our car will happily run on E20 (petrol with a 20% mix of ethanol) or 91 RON. E20 being roughly 42 INR to the litre, we are actually paying less than the price of diesel in India.

I maintain a gentle and steady 100 kmph, the engine turns over at a relaxed 2000 RPM, and the MID display shows an average fuel economy of over 22 kmpl. The permitted speed limit is 120 kmph, but there is heavy truck traffic, including trailer rigs, maintaining 90-100 kmph, and I feel comfortable at this speed, driving on dipped beams. The temptation to flip to high beams is constantly there, to look for the imaginary cow or cyclist - but there is nothing beyond the reach of the dipped beams. The lanes are marked, everyone sticks to them, and at crossings there are bright sodium vapour lamps to light up the road brilliantly. And the best part - not a single vehicle has a blown tail light or headlight that we noticed.

And a new day dawns...

[SS-Traveller]

19 April 2016, 11:00 AM

As the day progresses, the mercury rises. It is quite hot, the ambient temperature is 39-40 degrees C by now.

The Swift was fueled up around 2 hours earlier, at Kamphaeng Phet, one of numerous towns along the highway that foreign tourists have either not heard of, or don't remember the names of.

Here we meet the friendliest cat and dog I have ever seen.

We had wasted a quarter hour a little earlier, by taking a wrong road at a Y-junction (well, I wasn't paying close attention to the GPS!), and found myself on another road without a U-turn till the next three or four kilometers. These U-turns are well-marked and appear at regular intervals on the highways, and closer to Bangkok, many of them are actually quite wide, elevated roads that loop over the main carriageway to allow even trailer trucks to make a U-turn.

Back to cruising on the AH1, the traffic has been building up since then. There's the occasional street vendor selling garlands...

...and there are plenty of these vehicles, that other countries identify as 'utes', 'bakkies' and 'pick-up trucks'. Truly multi-purpose, these vehicles carry everything from passengers to farm produce to farm animals and poultry, and are driven by Thais in a manner more befitting a race-car than a small truck. Many have FFE, lots of chrome and alloy wheels - but none carry auxiliary lights, LED bars, bull bars, or even dare drive on high beams.

We continue to drive. Enjoy the scenery going by, before we start to drive through what the Thais respectfully call 'mountainous roads' after Lamphang...

[SS-Traveller]

19 April 2016, 3:30 PM

The undulating road through the forested hills (by any standard, those are hills and not mountains, though Thais are awed by their size) is well laid out, with minimal traffic in the afternoon heat.

The Swift's engine snarls on its own even on a mild gradient, even as the CVT gearbox downshifts and bumps the revs up to 3500-4000 rpm. This car has a mind of its own, and I don't like it. The directness of manual transmission is something I am missing sorely. Add to that the fact that this top-end car with a key-less start, central locking system, ABS with EBD and a fairly snazzy ICE does not have cruise control, and I am a little irritated all right. The average fuel consumption display starts climbing down to settle at around 18 kmpl.

A pall of smoke hangs in the air as we approach some of these sections where the vegetation is being systematically set on fire. Quite often, there are lane closures and diversions, but traffic flows in an orderly fashion. Some of the forests alongside the road are charred after fires, and almost constantly, the vegetation along the side of the road has been burned down. We later find out this has to do with preventing accidents if stray animals such as deer run on to the road - unfortunately, we do not spot any animals in this area at all, either on this journey or on the return leg.

Obviously, there is no NGT in Thailand! Up in the north, in the hills around Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, in the areas bordering Burma, the local populace practise slash-and-burn cultivation, setting fire to vast tracts of vegetation every year between February and April. At the time of our visit, there is an advisory put out to expats and foreigners about high levels of pollution in that region, but we assume that it cannot be much worse than Delhi's air, and decide to continue with our plans to visit the area nevertheless. Luck is on our side though, and every evening that we stayed there, it rained heavily for a short spell and the pollution level was well under control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szW61YExa24

[SS-Traveller]

19 April 2016, 4:30 PM

Baan Jaru, Chiang Rai

"Baan means house in Thai, and Jaru is my father's name," said Todsawat, the most affable 29-year-old host with whom we are staying for the next two days. He is immediately likeable, and makes you feel very welcome. His family also has a few desirable cars, quite well-maintained despite their age, and soon he finds me appreciating these parked out front.

We have discovered during the last trip that the true charm of Thailand is found, not in its glamorous and glitzy five-star hotels (that don't cost a bomb, but are not exactly cheap either), but in its little homestays, bed-and-breakfast joints and family-run hotels and resorts. We had discovered one in Kanchanaburi, and another in Phuket during our last visit - and on this trip, we found three.

The little place has one large cottage, which can accommodate 3 - the other rooms are not large enough to take a third cot or mattress, I am told. The cottage is the one right in front. Toddy and his family live on the premises itself, above the office. The bicycles and scooters parked there are to be let out to guests who want to explore the surrounding areas on their own.

The cottage is interestingly named Khanom Krok, which are the names of Toddy's dogs who are no more.

The sit-out area in front of the cottage faces the road, and is a cosy place to occupy, watch the world go by in the narrow lane in front, read a book, and shore up on nicotine. In the evening, the breeze makes the strategically placed bells tinkle, while the surrounding neighbourhood stays silent, making for a dreamland experience in the middle of a city. The umbrellas are for guests to borrow during their sightseeing trips around the town, be it to protect from the rain or sun.

The room itself is spacious, with the bed being on a raised concrete platform. Well, I like to swing my legs off the bed first thing in the morning, and this setup didn't allow me to do that - but that is a minor niggle.

Here's Toddy with his broad smile in the morning, at breakfast. A not-very-elaborate breakfast of eggs, toast, fruits, coffee, fruit juices and condiments, but it would be a good idea to ask Toddy to rustle up an omelette in Thai style - he is an accomplished cook (as well as a computer wizard who studied in the UK, but then decided that sitting constantly in front of a screen was not what he liked). But then, he is quick to give us printouts of local maps, and a sheet containing the GPS coordinates of all the major tourist attractions in and around Chiang Rai, which was a big help.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing

This is a very interesting one, SST. Please don't take too long to finish it

[Samba]

After reading till here what i can say is - To gather knowledge on a place, one should read your travelogue! The read till here was really interesting and the pics made this read more lively. It gave a feel as if the reader is traveling with you and the icing on the cake is, the reader is travelling at your expense! Rated 5*. Waiting eagerly for the rest to come up !