[vijayols]

It's December 3rd week, and that's our usual family vacation time with the whole world too traveling;-). This time, including the entire itinerary along with the stay places was planned by Kanthi, without any contribution from my end. Her proposal of Vietnam was vetoed by our daughter, and she has given in for Thailand. For me, it was like going on a holiday blind folded. Expect the unexpected was the mantra or was it really! With the trip planned by the girls at home and our neighbour Murugan who was joining us mid way through the trip I was expecting lots of beach time and city time but was it going to be only that?













The tentative plan was as follows

1) 19 December take a late night flight via mumbai to Bangkok.
2) 20th Dec -Fly from Bangkok to Phuket and spend the day exploring the town.
3) 21st December to 23rd December - Head to Koh Yao Noi and spend 3 days there island hopping.
4) 24th Dec- Fly back to Bangkok to meet Murugan and Krithi.
5) 25th Dec and 26th Dec-Paint the city Red.
6) 27th Dec-Head to Hua Hin.
7) 28th and 29th Dec-Explore Hua hin.
8) 30th Dec-Head back to Bangkok and fly vis kolkatta to Bangalore.

A few points if you are planning for a trip to Thailand.

1) Thailand shares the same power specs as India (220v and 50 hz) so all our gadgets work there.There is also no need to carry a convertor as even though they use a square and round plug point our plugs especially the 2 pin ones fit in though you need to push them hard.

2) To drive in Thailand a English language Indian DL is fine even though it seems cops try to squeeze a 500 baht bribe.Didn’t face it though in this trip.

3) Buy a water purifier like Life straw so that you can use it to get filter water. From the tap.Whole of Thailand lives on bottled water costing 30 baht onwards in restaurants and 10 baht in 7/11 or any super market.No water filter water anywhere we travelled.

4) Carry plenty of cash.Cash is king in most locations.Anywhere you spend over 200 baht most accept credit cards and the exchange rate offered by usage of cards is the cheapest you can get even with the extra commission establishments charge for card usage.The credit card exchange rate was 2.41 Rs per baht v/s 2.44 Rs per baht I could get as best exchange rate in India.Cash drawn on debit cards in bank atms carry a fixed charge of 220 bahts so try to draw max cash for each transaction as 220 baht is a flat charge.We withdrew 10,000 bahts in one go but don’t know what’s the max you can withdraw for the 220 bahts fee.Didn’t try the Forex card.Oh not to forget enabling your credit and debit card for international usage of cash withdrawal/online payment and merchant transaction especially if OTP from India is not enabled.

5) Download taxi app like Grab.Helps you check actual taxi rates and also negotiate with tuk tuks for lower prices.

6) If you are travelling domestic with Thailand try to minimise carrying big 15 kgs and above bags instead pack you luggage in smaller suitcases as they allow these as hand luggage without seeing how many you take but all check in bags up to 15kgs are charged 1000 bahts.

7) Local domestic flights security mainly check battery packs so pack them in a single bag for quick exit from security.

8) learn a few Thai words like Khap which is added after any word you say as a man.For women it’s the word followed by kha.It depends on the person saying it and not to whom you are saying unlike in India.So Sawasdee khap or Sawasdee kha -means hello or namaste.Sabai dee -how are you.Khop khun khap/Kha- thank you.

9) Travel insurance which thankfully we didn’t need to use.

10) Fun-fact : If your host/ hotel folks/travel agent arranges a taxi for you, the hosts take your photo while leaving and the driver clicks your photo after dropping. This is for both of them to reconcile that job is done!.

And now let's get on with the trip!.

[vijayols]

The flight was on 19th night with a stop over at Mumbai and onward to Bangkok.The highlight was the first departure from the new Bangalore T2 terminal which was simply beautiful and deserves the many accolades it got.



As is wont with all our trips the will we or won’t we moment was that our arrival in Bangkok was scheduled at 7 am local time at Suvarnabhoomi airport Bangkok and the departure from Bangkok to Phuket was at 9 am from the same airport.We were naïve or stupid enough to think while booking our onward ticket that 2 hours was enough time as both flights were from the same airport.That meant we were hoping the flight would arrive on time.The baggage retrieval would be quick, the immigration process super quick,the commute to the domestic departure terminal lightning quick and if we could possibly get a local sim in the cycle gap time we would have.

The bangalore to Mumbai flight got delayed by an hour and we had to run along with 13 more co passengers through immigration which had huge serpentine queues and the commute from the domestic to the international departure which we made by boarding the flight 30 mins beyond the scheduled time.We were seriously cutting the time lines fine.

The flight however landed near on time at 7.15 am, we breezed through immigration in less than 7 mins with the free visa rules. We were asked for the boarding pass, both the girls promptly presented wherein i was struggling to find mine, but the immigration guy allowed me without pulling me aside!. Seems like Bangkok has a well oiled system with many counters with people operating with logical efficiency. And luckily the baggage didn’t take more than 15 mins when we got there after immigration.
We had to get out of the exit and rush to the 4th floor for domestic transfer.We managed to buy 2 local sims while waiting for the luggage.the 15 day pack costed 499 bahts and the 8 day one 299 bahts.Super quick process to install the sim and get you connected.

The Vietjet airline counter billed us 1500 for extra luggage and we made it on time at 8.15 am reaching the counter within the 45 mins window before take off time at 9 am.Thank goodness for Thai efficiency.

Day #1 ( Dec 20th): We were in Phuket by 10:30 AM which has a lovely airport by the ocean and all set for the fun awaiting us.Stay was in the Marriot near old Phuket town.

We had a quick lunch at Vegan Reach which was near the Marriot and enjoyed some Veg Thai pad rice and some grilled vegetables.Later caught up with some sleep and were all ready to paint the town Red.

The aim was to just explore the streets of old Phuket town randomly and if possible visit a market here.When in Thailand visiting a market is a must do activity to truly enjoy the vibes of the city and soak into their culture.One such Chillva market was a popular night market here in old Phuket.A few of the markets are weekends only but you are likely to find a market on all days with thousands of stalls selling everything from food to clothes mostly but not limited to these only.It was fun to try a few of the dishes on offer like a dessert called Burnt butter Toast which was actually pretty good with a choice of add ons.We chose the Madagascar Vanilla ice cream which was on top of a loaf of buttered burnt toast with dollops of liquid caramel sauce.Extra sweet but the burnt buttered toast moderated the sweetness and gave it a unique flavor.Though most of the dishes on offer were to palate the taste buds of sea food lovers and were tilted towards the non veg eaters there were a few veg and vegan options too.

For shoppers looking for cheap clothes and souvenir’s to buy this was pure heaven.Smrithi my daughter had a blast exploring the various shops selling casual clothes and trinkets like cheap jewellery mainly aimed at the teenage crowd.The gaily coloured buildings and the color themed shops all were a delight for the young crowd offering varied Instagram able photo opportunities.

Time just flew by exploring the streets.It was also amazing to see so many cannabis shops in practically every street.It was being sold in every form from cookies to cakes to ice-cream and of course rolled. In the mean while, Kanthi decided to get a head massage at Kims, and Smrithi and I roamed further. She was raving about the massage and the rate was 400 bhat for one hour, which was super cheap for her compared to blore rates!.
We savoured some yummy pizzas and home made ice creams before finishing off dinner with a tortilla and calling it a day.So unlike my usual schedule, a day spent just chilling out with no destination!


The street corner where the market begins.


Street Graffiti giving all shops a unique identity.


Shop selling artificial flowers.Had a color theme and was a photo point.


The roadside cannabis shop


There is a royal Enfield to be found in any corner of the world.


Now That's a Novel way to deck a sea Food restaurant.


The Burnt butter toast Ice-cream which was so yummy.


The Mexican Food place where we had dinner.


Sweet Shop.

Stay Place: Marriot old Phuket.Appx cost inclusive of breakfast Rs 11k for 3.Being a Marriot cleanliness was a no brainer.

[vijayols]

Day 2 (Dec 21st) : This was when we took the ferry to Koh Yao Noi.We picked the long tail boat which took an hour to reach the bay at Koh Yao Noi. This island was chosen by Kanthi as a base,to do island hopping and chilling out, as this was not frequented much by tourists and we looked to be the only Indians in the island full of locals and Europeans.We seemed to be the true foreigners here. There is another one called Koh Yao Yai which is a little bigger, more popular and a little bland, is what we came to know later.


On the Long Tail Boat to koh Yao Noi.

Koh Yao Noi (Pronounced as “Khoyo Noi”) is part of the Phang Nga Bay on the Andaman sea side and the best claim to fame was the James Bond Island and Similan Island believed to be one of the best places to snorkel.It is a 90% muslim dominated island and they are proud to maintain the island village so well.The party scene here is muted and the island goes to sleep by 9 pm and wakes up to the cacophony of hundreds of hornbills chattering away.


The Koh Yao Noi Beach overlooking the Homestay.


The Hornbill on the island.

We were booked at Tabeak home stay run by Pramod and his Japanese wife.The island was so small everyone seemed to know any place and person we wanted to go to.

The homestay overlooked the ocean and we had a separate beach home which was as expected neat and clean with a comfy bed.
However only breakfast is served here and we had to head out for our meals which were all within walkable distance.Pramod had emailed us the restaurants which he recommended and we had a chance to taste food there and a lovely Italian pizza joint 420 where we enjoyed a host of multi cultural cuisines including the Mango Sticky rice and the coconut ball.


The Balcony view from Guest House


Coconut Ball a street food sweet speciality.

We hired a couple of scooters from the rental shop down the road and set out to explore Koh Yao Noi.This was after checking out a scooter with a side car so that all of us could travel in a single scooter.But boy are looks deceptive!Used to seeing this in movies of yonder like sholay I thought having driven bikes for so many years I could handle this easily.But the side car puts an extra dimension in the scooter and in an unknown terrain of ups and downs and no insurance for the scooter offered toned down my expectations, with the scooter rental owner (a lady) literally scaring us, that any error, we will fall into the ocean(!), we opted for separate scooters.Negotiated rates cost us Thai Baht 300 per scooter for the half day instead of the quoted 600 baht per day rates.


The scooter with the side car.


The cute scooter picked.

Smrithi wanted to go to the local market and we thought we would head North and then return back as the market was closer from the south side.Little did we realize that the island roads were circular and took us through nearly the entirety of Koh Yao Noi.We stopped at Six senses beach ,Koh Yao Noi beach,Tha Khao beach,Thakow water falls and checked the Tha Khao Pier on our fabulous scooter ride.It is so much fun driving into the unknown and meeting strangers like this young English couple who had stopped by the roadside to spot a hornbill couple and recommended us islands to enjoy including a kayak to monkey island and also the best masseurs in town Arat Thai Massage run by an old experienced couple in a village.


The Tha Khao Beach.


Kanthi Enjoyed Her Drive on the scooter.


Time pass at Six Senses Beach.

Kanthi had a lot of fun driving the cool scooters aimlessly through the green forest as we stopped at any place we found interesting one such being Tha Khao beach.I had to literally pull the girls out from the warm beach waters to go ahead.The light drizzle added to the fun.The weather was just perfect like it was curated just for our vacations.We stopped to pick up stuff from the 7/11 stores and do a bit of local shopping when the heavens opened out as we were caught in the cloth shop.The bargaining for the final payment is part of the experience in Thailand as we usually settle for about 30% lesser than initially quoted rates.Modern day online shopping and shopping in malls have killed this part of the experience we grew up with haggling with the local shopkeepers and chatting away with them as we part with satisfaction of having got the best deal and she with the satisfaction of having a happy customer as well as her desired profit margin.A true win win interaction for both.


Sharp Downpour.



Post dinner we reached the home stay to be greeted by our cat who seemed to have adopted us and demanded getting pet every time we saw her.A good nights sleep later we were set for our morning breakfast and the plan Pramod would suggest for the day.

Pics: Ferry ride, Pickup truck, Map of the island,Scooter rides, Side-car scooter with Vijay

[vijayols]

Day 3(Dec 22nd): After a simple breakfast and a chat with Pramod we figured out the plan for the day after selecting option 1 between the 4 options and the 5th one of going to Similan island which was a haven for snorkelling.



This was to take us to koh hong/koh Pak Bia/Koh Rading/Koh Nok and Koh Rai of which Koh Hong was highly recommended to us by the English Couple we had met earlier.

Pramod arranged the tour with packed lunch, long tail boat drop and pickup to the T. The typical clear blue -green shade of the sea was so beautiful during the boat ride, I found it difficult to put the phone down from clicking away.







We then reached an island which was called monkey island/Ko Ka Mit where the boatman threw chunks of pineapple and the monkeys swam all the way to the boat to eat them. First time, saw monkeys swimming in the sea. Sad that we were in a way responsible for this circus they had to endure for the sake of food.


Monkey swimming to get the pineapple.


The Tastefully Cut Pineapple.

The silver lining though was the amazing way the Thais cut their fruit and in fact present their food in such an aesthetic way.
We then docked at Koh Pak bia Island and spent some time frolicking on the beach. The beach was rocky though which hurt our feet. Of course, the water and beaches were so untouched and beautiful.


The Koh Pakbia Island.



Around 3 PM , From there we headed to Koh Hong which was such a lovely lagoon with a shallow water.Smrithi did some snorkelling and could spot a few fishes.It was difficult to pull her away from the water but I did want to do the short 600 metre hike to the most vantage point of the island.A amazingly built steel walkway to the top of the hill which was touted as the only 360 degree view in the Andaman Sea islands.







It was a little tough to climb but maybe 3/4th way up the rewards were visible.We could get a 270 degree view sea with many of the islands dotting the horizon.Egged on to reach the top of the stairway we were pleasantly surprised to see a tree being allowed to grow right in the middle of the metal stairway.



The top of the platform gave as an unhindered 360 degree view of the entire sea line and a glimpse of the green-blue sea and the shore of the lagoon below us.The strong winds blowing added to the fun as we were treated to a visual sight which cannot be described by words.Made us just so happy to just be there and fortunate to have got this chance to see such a sight.How beautiful is this world.






Life is just a collection of such lovely moments and with our hearts full of joy we went back to the boat to embark on the next island Koh Lao Lading visit.We then entered through a cave like entrance in another island which opened up to a virtual knee deep pool where we all jumped in. Time flew by as we frolicked in the blue green waters till sundown and then had to return back to Koh Yao Noi.





A quiet dinner with our first coconut sweet to wash it down was a closure to a lovely eventful day. The plan for the next day was a visit to the nearby island of Koh Nok Island.The final act before calling it a night playing with was our cat who was waiting to greet us and demanded her share of petting.

[vijayols]

Day 4 (Dec 23rd): Morning woke up to the calls of hundreds of horn bills flying the garden outside our balcony.Had never seen so many of them together before.We had a 9.30 am start and this time with a smaller budget of 600 baht we were taken by a motor cycle with a carrier instead of a car.(smile)Was fun taking this unique ride.The journey to the island was again with a small tail boat and took us about 30 mins to reach there.There was a small family there besides us and we practically had the whole portion of the beach to ourselves.






The sand here was a bit rough and the waves a bit stronger compared to yesterday but what an enthralling beauty! The girls immediately jumped for a swim while I tried to get the drone running to capture a few aerial photos.
Joined the girls for a swim and we made most of our “exclusive” time enjoying the waters which were uniquely blue green and changing colors as the sunlight shone on us.Then after a while tried to explore the trek up the hill on this island which unfortunately didn’t have a stairway but had ropes to negotiate the rocky path to the top.





Climbing to the top of the hill.

Some acrobatic stunts by Smrithi

By now a few more boats had also docked and more Europeans streamed in.We continued swimming and enjoyed in the water till sharp at 1.15 our boatman arrived to pick us back for the return. That's another thing we noticed, everything was on time and people were inherently punctual. The drop and pickup at piers were on dot as arranged by our host Pramod.



Kayaking was also an option to get to the island.

Once again a bike ride back to our homestay and a quick lunch letter we hired a scooter to explore some more beaches on the island.Just the 2 of us this time as Smrithi wanted to chill out on the beach front . And the lady who ran the scooter rental became friendly and also gave the scooter for 200 baht for half a day.


The Island Petrol Bunk.



If in Koh Yao Noi don’t miss to get a massage at the “Arat Thai '' massage where the husband and wife combo who are certified by everyone around do an awesome job. relieving body pain and any issues you mention. Of course, it was a real deep tissue massage resulting in pain:-) Kanthi mentioned about her migraine, the lady chanted prayers before starting the massages and targeted exact trigger points. I got the full body massage from the husband, when Kanthi asked why she didn't get it, she answered with a smile that one hour was over. Even if she wanted to extend it by another 30 minutes, they were clear, they were done with their work. What we consistently observed with the people of the island was, they were sincere, correct and polite with a smile and said “No” wherever required.

Stay Place at Koh Yao Noi- Tabeak Home stay- Neat and clean.Awesome location.Costed appx Rs 5k per day for the 3 of us including basic breakfast. Contact : tabeakviewpoint@yahoo.co.th, this is the only way to book !. they are prompt in responding.

Overall, we had such cool and nice experience in the island, anyone going this part of thailand, can spend all their time there, exploring many islands around by boat and just chill in Koh Yao Noi itself. We met many europeans zipping in those sidecar scooters with kids, who have been staying there for months. The roads are buttery, clean, dotted with nice, clean, cool restaurants and shops mostly run by women with their ever welcoming smiles and greetings. And it was completely safe for Smrithi to hang around on her own, while we both were scootering around. The island is not cheap but not expensive, and we understood the locals make good money from tourism and maintain the island serenity so well. Our host was mentioning, 70% of Thailand is middle class, the wedge between poor and middle class is not much. Made us wonder whether that could be the reason for such uniformity in the quality of service offered everywhere. Would love to go back again and spend time there.

[vijayols]

Day 5 (Dec 24th) : Took the speed boat to Phuket around 11:30 AM (The frequencies between the island and phuket once an hour almost with variations of long tail and speed boat and they are on time) where we had a 3:50 pm flight to Bangkok. So we had a couple of hours to kill. Our driver initially mentioned, he can only drop us directly at the airport. With a google translator (this really helped us all through the trip), we conveyed to him that we would love to see a temple if its nearby airport, he obliged us nicely. well spent exploring a wat (Temple ) near the airport Wat Mai khao which was near Mai Khao Beach. No surprises, the Wat was spec and span. Being Sunday and officially closed, the premises were still open to the public and it was so very well maintained. Beautiful roads with great green cover. We also spent some photo shoot time at the airplane landing spot located on Mai Khao beach from where you can see the planes landing at the airport. As we walked, we spotted a beach shack of sorts to eat, and conveyed to them that we were vegetarians with a translator. Had an amazing pineapple fried rice, pizza and coconut drink. We reached airport on time, flight tool off exactly at 3:50 PM, and reached Bangkok ahead of time around 4:50 PM,


The Wat.




The yummy Pineapple Rice in a roadside shack.








It was now City time. We were staying at a Hostel called Tamni and meeting up with Murugan and Krithi(his daughter - Smrithis classmate), our neighbours cum friends from home.


The Tamni Hostel.

The party had already started for Krithi and Mrugan as they went shopping at Chatuchak market (much to the envy of Smrithi ) and met us at Tamni where we were all set to Rock and Roll !

We walked to the Chinatown food market and explored a lot of local food including the cannabis ice-cream which was hardly a “High”-light .(wink). Kanthi didn't like much of the market and she is not the one for shopping . She started already complaining, she is going to stay put most of the time as we were planning to visit few “Wat”s and other city activities.

[vijayols]

Day 6 (Dec 25th): Being a christmas day, the kids asked us to color code and they dressed up with enthu. Kriti has already mapped station names and route in her mind, and she was leading the way to catch the train for the palace. She is a chandramukhi of thailand for us as she seemed to know all about local routes as if she had spent a (past) lifetime here:-) . First on the plan was a visit to the Palace after which we had lunch and then took the ferry to Wat Arun. The palace and Wat Arun were filled with people as it was a holiday but nevertheless, a good experience. Post that, We took a quick trip back to Tamni for a break, where we also started a small painting exercise at the attached art studio and nearly completed a “Masterpiece” water Painting.(Laugh)


A Miniature Replica of the Angor Wat.




Wat Arun.







Evening we went shopping at Pratunam Night market where we had our first Indian meal in Thailand at Madras Darbar, the taste was too good. For the first time in Thailand, we found the toilets not being clean. What is it with us and cleanliness?!

[vijayols]

Day 7 (Dec 26th): This was a day where me and the kids had our own thing to do.Murugan had plans to go Museum hopping and Kanthi wanted some quality “her” time and to put the final touches on our Joint “Masterpiece”painting. Was it going to be our very own claim to fame with a hidden talent unearthed??



But meanwhile our team booked tickets online to the Aquarium and Madam Tussauds Museum. And what fun it was. Would highly recommend this if in Bangkok as the combo was truly mind blowing. By far the best Aquarium I have seen till date and posing funnily with the celebrities at Tussauds believe me is loads of fun.Post this was the main event for the girls.Shopping at Platinum mall, which is a kind of old times type of fashion mall, where you get stuff cheap. Typically pick any item for 10 baht shops and the like.

Murugan had his share of fun visiting a museum and a unique cafe, Kanthi had her leisurely walks along the canals opposite to station near Tamni.







Kanthi and Murugan joined us there, dragged us to the central world/mall, which was decked up nicely for Christmas and way bigger than our phoenix/VR mall.We rounded up the action packed day eating some street food and it was time to head back to Tamni.



Tamni Stay : Located just behind Hua Lamphong underground station and accessible to the downtown by train, bike-taxi, autos. It's at the edge of a slightly shady alley we felt, but faced no issues. Extremely clean hostel with wonderful clean and comfortable beds. Each room had 4 beds. Only one of us had to sleep in a room with 3 others, and Murugan had fun giving tidbits about his roommates. Each floor had 3 shower rooms and 3 Toilets dedicated for ladies and gents. We were amazed that, at any point of time, it was clean and spotless in spite of being shared. Kids loved the place, it had a great vibe with art stations, relaxing TV watching space(we watched trevor noah shows), with a nice restaurant attached. Murugan and I made use of the (common) kitchen very well, it was stocked with milk, juice, bread and eggs. They had kept fruits and cookies on the tables for people to munch on anytime. We met solo travellers, backpackers, who were transiting via Bangkok and amazed by westerners' quest for exploration of remote islands for beaches and mountains. Cost wise, it was around 25K for 3 nights for 5 people. Had a very good stay overall.

[vijayols]

Day 8 (Dec 27th): We booked a taxi, a luxury one the Toyota Velfire to our final destination of the trip Hua Hin. It was 3880 baht for 190 KMs for door to door (Hua hin airbnb) The train was an option we missed as the iconic station was actually bang opposite to the hostel, which we misunderstood as not operational.

Stay here was in an apartment Palm Pavilion near Hua Hin airport. We had a quick lunch and then Murugan and I headed downtown by using the local share taxi. First was a visit to the iconic Hua Hin railway station.


Hua Hin Railway Station.



Post that we walked to the Tourist Center to get some information on where we could hire a car(costed us 1300 baht per day at Budget cars)/Watch some Muay Thai(Thai Kick boxing) if possible and check on hiring a scooter.(Cheap here at appx 200-250 baht per day).We then headed home to the apartment and all of us headed to the City Hua Hin Beach, in a taxi.

The beach located just opposite the Sheraton was lovely in the full moon night and the girls had fun building a nice sand castle. Dinner was at a local Indian eatery. The street leading to the beach was dotted with shops for Smrithi to mark them for “immediate future” shopping as they were closed when we headed back.

[vijayols]

Day 9 (Dec 28th) : Murugan and I started early to the city center to pick the Automatic Altis at 8.30 am. We planned to hire for a day but later extended it for another day. The plan was a trip to Sam Roi Yod National park where the Phraya Nakhon Cave was located. We tried waking up the girls via phone with little success:-). As per Murugans plan, we had a quick breakfast with toasted bread, cereals and eggs from the previous day 7/11 and bakery shopping.

The cave from which we had little expectations having done several caves earlier was actually a surprise package and was pretty cool. Cave had an amazing earthly feeling and the buddha temples looked so serene. The sunlight darting from the gaping hole from above was surreal. It was indeed a beautiful cave experience. The trek up wasn’t too tough going up and took about 45 mins to reach. There was on option of going by boat till a point though. On the way down we stopped to have a dip in the sea at Lamsala Beach.






Once the team was at the beach it was virtually impossible to prise them away.I was hoping to make it to the nearby KuiBuri National park which arguably had the best wild elephant viewing in Thailand but we were late to make it by closing time. All of us had a blast in the waters and the beach which had swings, which was challenging to climb. We had loads of climbing the swings and clicking pics.







We headed back to Hua Hin and spent the evening exploring the town and having dinner at a vegan restaurant. I was planning to explore solo, both Kuiburi National Park and Pala-U waterfall at Kaeng Krachan National Park, so I went ahead and hired a scooter for the next day's plan.

[vijayols]

Day 10 (Dec 29th): Today was the last day. All of us wanted to sign off with memorable experience. Rest of them planned to go to Pran buri mangrove walk, followed by Khao Tao beach.

I started off solo by 7.30 am to the first Pala-U Waterfall. It was actually safe and cool to ride the scooter on the highway and the route reminded me of the many trips we had from Bangalore to Bandipur with the plus of people following rules and super butter roads.

The waterfall though touted as one of the highest in Thailand was actually in comparison to the numerous waterfalls we had seen in India seemed pretty over hyped.

Completed the short trek to all the stages of the waterfall by about 11.30 and then decided that trying to make it to KaiBuri and then back to the hotel by around 5 was going to be dicey as we had to start for Bangkok by around 9 pm to catch our flight back.





So I took a ride to the Kaeng Krachan dam.Decided against the boat ride to the islands and instead just walked on the suspension bridge and headed back to Hua Hin by around 4 pm.

Called up the rest of the gang and they were still at the Khao Tao Beach near Pranburi merrily playing away in the softest waters and sand, after a great lunch at “Mr. Jokes” which happened to be one of the best places offering veg food on the way to the beach. Kanthi narrated that the Pranburi Mangrove Forest walk was such a cool one, so I decided to tick off that too instead of joining them on the beach, hoping they would still be there.





A quick tour of the mangrove walk and a short visit to the beach(the gang has already left) before I headed back to the apartment where we completed our packing, had a shower and headed downtown to have dinner .I returned the bike and met the others at the restaurant. The gang had finished shopping at the marked beach street!.






Our family was heading back tonight but Murugan and Krithi had an early morning start so they were staying back.They dropped us to the apartment in the rental car and we were then picked by the taxi which drove directly to the airport for our return journey. As usual we cut it so fine for the start of 9 PM.

Stay place: Palm Pavilion beach condos, Huan hin. 23K for all five people for 3 nights. It was usual Airbnb booking, nothing great shakes, but a big and clean apartment, with a kitchen and other features. served the purpose. On the main road, with 7-8 KMs to the main beach. In hindsight, we could have booked something cozy near Pranburi national park.

[vijayols]

Day 11 (30th) : Pretty smooth return back to Bangalore Via Kolkatta and we landed in bangalore airport by around 11 am. Murugans returned via direct flight and reached home around 6 PM.

We were full of stories for our friends, and we ushered the new year with a house party to bring an end to the amazing trip and a good year. Wishes for 2024 to all here.

Highlights for us:

Clean and clean. Great roads, all cool cars and bikes on the road
Warm and nice people
untouched islands and beaches
Affordable long stays if one wishes to just chill.
Taxis on the road were cool high end sedans or Izuzu pickup trucks.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[14000rpm]

Nice thread. So Thailand is not only Bangkok then. lol.

Originally Posted by vijayols

untouched islands and beaches

With the constantly increasing tourism in Thailand, I am a bit surprised to see a lack of crowd in the beaches. I had imagined all the beaches to look like crowded Goan beaches. Now I know better. Thanks

[vijayols]

Thanks to some meticulous planning from kanthi and going through many blogs before planning the trip.We generally like to go to less crowded places and like I mentioned the place was devoid of Indians and Chinese and only had Europeans and in some beaches were practically the only ones there and that too in peak vacation period.

Koh yao noi is yet to be popular in the tourism circuit.Enjoy till that remains so.