Phu Quoc, Vietnam – My first Snorkling experience

I have just reached Cambodia from Malaysia after a 10 day transit and planning a short trip again makes me excited, also the thought of snorkeling is all the more fascinating as I have wanted to do it since long. Had to put in a bit of effort to get the Cambodian visa extended and also get Vietnam visa. On Friday we also come to know that Monday is a holiday as well and we can extend the trip to another day J .

Day 1 – The day of mishapps

So as planned we reached the Cambodian border late night on Friday and took a hotel. Got up early morning to cross the border, this was my second border crossing on land and the first one on foot as we had to walk across and get something to reach Ha Tien. We got the immigration done by 7:30 and were hopeful of catching the 8 O’clock ferry to Phu Quoc, so we got 3 motorbikes and headed straight to the port, as we got down on the port a guy said that the boat has already left at 7:15 today as it was a long weekend and many people were travelling.

This was a blow to us as we were hoping to reach Phu Quoc by 10:30, he also told us there is no boat today and we have to go to Rach Chia to get another ferry, he was kind enough to take us to a bus stop where he said the bus would arrive in 25 minutes and we can go to Rach Chia, we had coconumt water and were lazing around when the bus came, the conductor got down and asked us to pay for the ticket in advance and the ticket was 500,000 d per person, it seemed a bit more but since we were not used to the place and it was put on us suddenly and the bus was honking, we gave him the 1,500,000 d and boarded the bus, within 5 minutes of boarding things started to seem fishy, and when asked about the ticket we were told it was just 30,000 d … and then everything started to make sense, we have been conned on just setting a foot on Vietnam, he also charged us 20 times the ticket cost and almost half our planned money was already gone, all 3 of us were feeling bad especially me and Gladston, and wanted to do something bout it, but the problem for us is we are just going to spend 2 days here and we don’t really have a choice to either njoi and go after something that we might not be able to find at all. Parthi had already stopped thinking and told us that we better forget if we want to njoi the rest of the trip, so we headed to Rach Chia.

The bus dropped us in Rach Chia and we had to walk around 2 Km to the port in the sun which was a bit of a diconcern, plus we were got willing to take help being afraid of going for a ride again. Reaching Rach Chia another scam unfolded as we got to know that the tickets for the ferry were unavailable and we needed to buy them in black, normal price 270,000 d per person and we would get it in 400,000 d per person, we had already been cheated and this really didn’t seem nice, so we decided enquiring everywhere, and finally managed 2 tickets for 300,000 d and one for 350,000 d which was more but not 20 times at least. We headed in the boat and reached Phu Quoc.

We couldn’t change currency in Rach Gia and were almost out of cash when we reached there and the first thing we wanted to do was to buy a ticket back to Ha Tien on Monday afternoon, the ticket Parthi enquired was 190,000 d and we didn’t have enough money to buy it, it was 4 already and we haven’t had much since morning and a bit tired and disappointed we got to the city and Gladston withdrew cash from the ATM, and we started enquiring about the ticket and the ticket to Ha Tien was not available, this made me panic a bit as I had to leave to india on Tuesday and it wouldn’t look nice if I have to delay the ticket for another day. So I tried my best to find the ticket and couldn’t L , it had just not been our day and wasn’t seeming to get better either. It was around 6 and Gladston said better to find a hotel and lets try for the tickets later, I wasn’t sure if I should give up but I had no option, so we rented 3 motorbikes, one was the same guy I was searching the tickets and 2 more to head to Mango Bay which Parthi really wanted to check out as it was only 5$ a night, on the way Gladston’s bike got punctured and me and Parthi carried on to check the hotel, it was a luxurios Bunglow type hotel along the sea and costed 88$ pre day, Parthi was impressed and wanted to stay, but I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily and I knew Gladston wouldn’t either, so we called Gladston and he immediately asked us to come back, since we were on 3 different motorbikes in a new place, it was really difficult to coordinate and wasted another 45 minutes and now I was starting to feel really bad, I still couldn’t forget we haven’t got the tickets back.

The guy took us to a hotel called the Moon Resort which was ok and also by the beach,
we liked the place and took it, tired and hungry I really needed to take a bath and eat something, a bath was really refreshing and we headed to the Indian restaurant across the road for dinner, the food was really good and it calmed me down a bit, and Gladston admitted that the Hotel and the food were the only 2 good things that happened to us today, we had also enquired about the snorkeling tour and the motorbike guy fixed a tour for 15$ per person for the whole day and that looked reasonable. His name was ‘Wow’ as pronounced. He also took us to the night market and we walked our way back. The day had finally ended.

Day 2—New Day New Beginning

We got up early and got ready for the tour, we had to go to the An Thoi island and it was a long van ride to reach there. On our way we stopped at a pearl farm where they saw us how they extracted pearls. We had a look around the place and the pearls seemed overly costly, but Parthi seemed obsessed on buying oval shaped pearl necklace for his mom and if it was not for Gladston he would have got something really overpriced.

Soon we boarded a boat and were ready to head to the sea, it was a long boat ride before we stopped at a small fish farm and I had my first encounter with the Puffer fish, it looked really cute, with the help of Gladston I understood how to hold a crab as well, and also posed to get a click with a sea turtle.

It was 11 and we were still on the boat and I was beginning to feel if the day is going to be as bad as it was yesterday. And then the boat was stopped and we were asked to jump in to snorkel, Gladston had already told us how to wear the equipment and how to use it as well, so as soon as he got the signal he was off, but me and parthi were noway entering the water without his help. I was not comfortable jumping and Parthi doesn’t know swimming at all. After some time we jumped with the help of a rope, but still weren’t ready to let go of the rope, Gladston called and said he will hold hand and take us along, so I was the first to go, he took me along and I put my head down and as I started see little fish around my eyes went wider and there was a huge rock right infront of us and I was thinking that we will crash into it :P .. Gladston stopped near it and told me to stand on it while he gets Gladston, he also told me that I can swim around and come back to this rock, but I was pretty scared standing there and did not want to move an inch, but the current of water and the flippers weren’t helping a bit and I was getting really scared. After some time Gladston got Parthi on top of a rock as well and came around me and we swam for a bit together and I did not hold on to Gladston that time, Gladston dived a few times and showed me a few fishes and sea urchins, I was amazed to see them and my interest was growing, now I was feeling more comfortable with the life jacket and decided to follow Gladston wherever he went, the whole world was so mystical and I really wished that I hadn’t stayed so long in the boat, I really wished we had an underwater camera to capture all the beauty. Soon it was time to head back and I swam all the way to the boat on my own, I was growing in confidence and was just waiting to get the next swim.

It was time for lunch and it was served in the boat, the lunch was really royal and we had fish, tofu, rice, noodles, crab ( Gladston had bought em at the place we stopped ) and we had a plentiful, I also dared to eat crab which was actually quite nice and I did not get the rashes I thought I would cause of the allergy. Soon it was time to jump and I did not wait for Gladston and jumped alone, swimmed across till the beach and looked for corals, this place wasn’t that good and there were all dead corals, we ended from here soon and left for another place, now I had no problems jumping in the sea and doing snorkeling alone.

The third place was supposed to be really good and it was a nice place where we saw a lot of fishes some I know were the zebra fish, sea urchin, a variety of clown fish and many more, I wish I could dive and not just snorkel, the water world was drawing me towards it and I wanted to be a part of it, Gladston said he wants to go around the small island and look for some big fishes and if I wanted to come along, I was up for the challenge and we swam together across it, as we reached the other side the water was really deep, felt a bit scared for a moment but then realized I need only 7 feet to drown and the depth doesn’t matter, so kept swimming without any problems, the whole round did not yield much but just added on my confidence in the life jacket and we headed back to the boat.

This was our last snorkeling stop and now it was time for some fishing, it was not as inventive as in Cambodia but was pretty much the same, and the boat guys took us to the right place and I manged to catch a fish soon enough, the locals were catching a lot of them and I seemed to be the only one else to catch as well, Gladston and Parthi did not manage t catch a fish L and I managed to catch 3 :D .. but the star was the british lady who caught one fish that was 3 times bigger than what anyone else had caught.

From there we headed back to the port, meantime Wow had called and told that he couldn’t get the tickets and I really feel happy that I didn’t let that ruin my day. We headed to the Sao beach from there which was a beautiful white sand beach, and all I wanted to do there was sit and relax. The tour was over and the guy dropped us back to the hotel, we tried to arrange a squid fishing tour but were unable to find a gud rate so decided we would go kayaking instead. Wow was present at the hotel and we decided to go search for the tickets again, Gladston volunteered and Wow said that he will return in an hour be ready by then.

I got to capture yet another beautifull sunset while Gladston and Parthi headed on a kayak, I felt really happy clicking some nice shots as I haven’t been able to in the last 2 days, and soon it was my turn to kayak. I know Gladston is already suffering from tennis elbow and did not want him to make too much effort rowing and I wanted to do the most of it. So we began and Gladston as always pushed us to reach another far point and we did it with ease, with the boats coming in from everywhere and the light fading it was best to head back and so we did, and I rowed like crazy to make a good speed and it all ended up well.

We took a shower and Wow was here to take Gladston along and we headed to the Indian restaurant, I knew Gladston wasn’t optimistic in getting the tickets, but I knew he would not put any less effort though, we had just ordered a starter and Gladston was back , as he approached he signaled a thumbs up and I was delighted to see that, he had managed to get the tickets and it was a great relief, we tipped Wow and his first reaction was “ Are you sure?”, he was so surprised to get the tip and we asked him to pick us up early morning and take us to the harbor.

We couldn’t stop discussing as to how different people are as we got conned on the first day and everyone trying to take extra money from us and how Wow was trying to help us save every bit without any regard for money whatsoever. The day was a real opposite to yesterday, and everything fell in place, I thanked god for a great day and went to bed.

Day 3 --- we head back

We got ready and Wow was on time as usual, he was elated by yesterdays tip and was buzzing with energy. We had decided to rent a bike and go around the island and we never got a chance, so I gave my bag to Wow and asked him to ride, I drove till the harbor and was ready to leave, he left us in the boat and said goodbye.

The boat ride as we had stool tickets that means not the regular ones turned out to be on the back seat, but we had no regrets and njoied it to the optimum, we reached Ha Tien at 10:45, but had to wait for the bus till 1 and finally reached Phnom Penh at 6.

All in all it was a great experience of some good things and some lessons to be learnt. I njoied the trip and ended it on a high note.

Lankawi, Malaysia

I have been excited all through the last month as I have hoped to travel to Malaysia and everything did fall in place at the right time. As I got out from the flight the first surprise was to see Ranbir Kapoor who was also waiting for the inter terminal train, I waved from a bit far and he waved back seeming really happy that someone did recognize him J.

As I was took the taxi I came to know that Rupal stays near the Petronas towers and the excitement grew, the towers were actually visible from a distance and the early mrning mist made the high rise buildings seem like mystical castles. As I reached the hotel I met up with Rupal and then the rest of the day was pretty ok.

After dinner we took a round around the petronas towers and it did look beautiful, but the more important thing we had to catch the bus to Lankawi. The bus ride was good except the fact that the AC felt like I reached Moscow and it really didn’t let me sleep all night. We reached Kuala Perlis at around 7:30. From here we had to take a ferry to Lankawi (Kuah), the boat was faster than what I had experienced but I slept through the most of it.

Langkawi – Day1

With a bit of a struggle we finally reached Pentai Chinang, the beach area of Lankawi, took a decent hotel and started exploring the place. We saw a lot of Jet Skies and parasailing from a distance and thought that would be the best way to start, so we headed straight for parasailing. After I put on the gear, there were some instruction given and I had to run a little before it lifted and as it lifted it just pulled me high in a flash, it was an experience on its own and then the view from high up was really nice I wish I got the camera up there L … I landed pretty safely and it was an end of another adventure ticked off the list.

We had lunch and were not sure what to do next, so we visited a touridt office and found that the only thing possible to do was to Island Hopping, so we thought to give it a go next. The tour started on a boat with around 15 people, a relatively small boat, but moving really fast, it seemed like going on a speedboat, the first stop was a lake between the mountains, where we could dive in or go for a paddle boat, instead we decided to stay at the shore and just appreciate beauty, there were a lot of monkeys who more not hassling the tourist much.

From there the next stop was Eagle feeding, I had seen so many eagles up close for the first time and it felt really nice, and again the urge in me to take a good picture of a flying bird crept in, but I was still unsuccessful L .. I did manage to take a gud video but unluckily deleted it as well L.

The third and final stop was a really beautiful beach, it reminded me for a bit of Pengong Lake (Nothing can beat Pengong Lake though), but a big beach with very few people around was nice to see. Myself and Rupal both dived in and had fun there, I also managed to see a school of beautiful fish in Beeline colours ( Yellow and Black stripes) and also captured a green coloured crab.

The tour ended and we headed back to the hotel it was around 5:30 we returned and was still very hot to go out, and Rupal wanted to rest so we took a slight nap and went out Around 7 to see the sunset, me and my obsession for taking pictures of the sunset got me far away from the point we were and the clouds didn’t actually let me get any nice shots and suddenly it started raining cats and dogs. We took shelter in a restaurant and took a bit of food.

Now we had to decide what to do tomorrow. Rupal wasn’t keen on snorkeling and I wasn’t too keen either, so we decided to take the Mangrove tour (was also recommended by Gladston). On the way back to the hotel we saw a castle like Indian restaurant and decided to have dinner there and it didn’t let us down, the food was really nice and it was time to hit the bed.

Langkawi – Day 2

The second day began with a bit of a hustle as we got up late and had the worse Maggi I have ever had ( if you want to know how can someone spoil maggi, come to Malaysia). We rushed to the pickup car and were fairly surprised to see 3 Indians gurls accompanying us.

We were going on the Mangroves tour and the first stop was the Bat Cave, it was a bit different from the other bat caves as the number of bats were quite low and it didn’t stink that much J … from there we headed to the fish farm. The farm was full of different kinds of fish like the Grouper (were huge and were the most common there). Next was the stingray, the feeling of feeding a stingray was nice and I did not get stung J … also saw the archer fish in action, where one of them spit on the piece of meat and it fell into the water J also saw the amazing HorseShoe crab and the Mantis prawn.

We moved on from there in the rich mangroves for the next stop being the crocodile cave, ofcourse the crocodiles were all gone and it was a small cave almost like an under bridge on water, we crossed it to reach the Eagle feeding frenzy, there were around 50 Eagles and Kites flying around us and it was really an amzing site, there wings were huge and the ease of their flight made me wanna be like one of them J.

Next we headed to a nice deserted beach but it was in the middle of the afternoon and I really didn’t want to take a splash so we walked around the beach for a bit and then moved on, we had almost reached Thai border and we could see the vast ocean dividing the two countries, it was now time to head back to the place where we started and it was a good half hour boat ride which brought us to the end on the tour.

We headed back to the hotel to collect my luggage and were deciding to head back to KL, the gurls suggested us to must see the Cable Car but going there in the afternoon didn’t seem like a good option and staying there for another day wasn’t seeming worth it, so we decided to head back to Kuah and then took a bus back to the KL …

Kampot Adventure

I guess I am getting luckier by the day travelling to new places and finding new adventures. After the fishing trip the week was a bit tough with work and we were planning to take a four wheel drive to the jungles, Gladston was pretty busy and actually he is the one who arranges most of the trips, so he had asked me to find out if I could get something interesting, and there wasn’t much of a four wheel drive from Phnom Penh and Kampot was finalized. We took the tickets on Friday, but no one actually googled to check whats there, I had a brief talk with Milan and he said there are mainly two places, the island and the hill, given the amount of time we had we could do only one of the two, so we thought we would hire a dirt bike to the top of the hill.

When we reached Kampot we were too unsure of what we needed to do, I think it happens to everyone most of the times, so we decided to find out what we actually can, but the first thing was to take the return ticket to Phnom Penh and we took em. We moved around in circles for almost an hour but couldn’t find anything, so I called up Willy to ask whats there and he told me either Rabbit Island or the Bokor hills, when inquired about the Bokor hills the tour starts only in the morning and lasts till the evening, Gladston was keen on doing it and I always was ready for something new. The Bokor Hills consisted of a hiking of two and half hours and then on the top of the hill you can see the French colonial runis, its also called the Ghost town.

Enquiring further we got to know that we can take a Taxi to Phnom Penh for 30-35 $ and we could actually do the hill and get back on the same day, so it was decided to do the hike, but we had already taken the bus tickets, so we thot its worth a try returning them and actually to our surprise the lady took the tickets back without any fuss, she didn’t even ask a single question J. We were looking for a place to stay and to book the tour, we found a small Hotel called peeper restaurant which had a room with 3 beds for 9 $ and also the hike for 17$ a person and we straightaway booked it. We got fresh and sat down for lunch. Vidya [Sagar] had two beers and was feeling a bit high :P , the plan was to rent motor bikes and go on exploring the nearby places on our own, bt Vidya said he was a bit high and actually it was too sunny, so we decided to take a tuk tuk, the root was decided to see some nearby caves, go to the beach at Kep and to the Salt fields.

The first stop was the caves when I initially started climbing a bit up a could see only a small Buddhist temple and couldn’t make out any entrance to the cave, but ofcourse it’s a cave, its not supposed to be in the open. I took my first flower shots with my camera and actually I felt they were great, anyways we headed to the cave. The first cave was a Bat cave and we could actually see bats flying, but the place stunk pretty bad. We got out of it and went to the second one called the Elephant cave and to my surprise the cave was quite beautiful, the entrance was a bit tricky but all of us managed without any problems. We actually were quite satisfied after viewing the caves.

On the way to the beach I tried my hands on driving the Tuk Tuk and did a decent job :D, bt I don’t think I had full control. The beach was bit of a disappointment and it was really muddy, we dived in anyway, but soon got bored. So off we came took a shower and were ready to head back.

After we reached back we wanted to have dinner at a nice place, so we called Dinakar to find a restaurant on Wiki Travel, and he gave us three names, and actually we found one pretty fast. We ordered a bottle of wine and food. The food was really nice and we thanked Dinakar for finding the place for us. We sat at the riverside for a while and headed back to the hotel, lost our way but finally did manage to get back :P.

Next morning started pretty early and Gladston went out for a bicycle ride, Vidya was next to join him as I was still getting ready, and the van arrived to take us to the foot of the Bokor Hill. When we reached there it was already quite hot. We had a small group, less than 15 I think. We were all given a big bottle of water and we started to move ahead, the first 15 -20 minutes were easy and we reached a ranger spot. From there the climb started becoming steeper, after I think 40-45 minutes I was sweating real bad, I don’t think I have sweated so much ever, it reached near a waterfall and stopped there for sometimes, since a few people got behind we had to wait 15-20 minutes and I njoied the photography in the meantime.

The climb was not easy and this was my first hiking trip, so my body wasn’t really up to it, but then I wasn’t feeling really worn out, so continued brisk pace. 5 of us reached the top in just more than 2 hours and it felt great to be part of the first group. But then we had wait for others. Vidya [Sagar] had a tough time climbing up because of his bronchitis and he was among the last to come, but hats off to him for making it, well done. We took a van from there to the top of the Bokor hill to see the French colony. The place was quite nice and it had an old restaurant, hotel, a casino, a postoffice, school, a church and a water tower. The view from above the casino was magnificent and I felt it was worth coming up J.

We had to make the way down in a truck and believe me it would be one of my worst nightmares, as it was pretty bouncy and my back was at risk again. After some time a thought its getting rough and maybe a should take the front seat, so when we stopped I swapped the seat with Vidya, and was quite comfortable. We got down the truck trekked for some 10 minutes and reached the van to take us to the hotel. We reached the hotel around 5 and took a taxi to Phnom Penh. Reached back safely at 8:30 and the weekend had come to an end.

It proved to be yet another exciting weekend for me and my urge to travel is becoming stronger by the day, now I aim to start travelling alone and not waste an weekend sitting idle, theres so much in the world to explore, so many thing to know about, so many places to see, with so little time. I need to start moving J

Adventure on a fishing trip

It seemed like it would be an ordinary weekend wen I was asked to join a fishing trip, I wasn’t too keen but since it was better than sitting in the hotel I didn’t mind. Had a few drinks on Friday and got to sleep around 3:30 and had to check out at 8, did make it in time but felt really tired.

Milan was driving us there and actually we were 6 people travelling, so it became a bit congested in the car, and sleeping seemed so out of question, until Willy opted to sleep in the back :D. Things were working out and I got to catch up on some sleep.

We stopped at a roadside fruit stall for some snacks. Milan asked us to try the smoked coconut and it was really gud, the guava was extra sweet and maybe I was too hungry, but the fruits were great. Also the thing about Cambodian people is they have nice fruits and they make different and great things using the fruits as well. After stomachs full of fruits it was time to head to the sea.

Another hour and we reached there, it was around one and Milan had already ordered to prepare lunch by some local contact of Willy. We checked in to the usual place and headed to the beach. Gladston and I were hoping that if we go out early we might be able to do some snorkeling, and since I have never done it before I was quite excited. Also since I don’t really know how to swim, I was a bit afraid, but Gladstan assured me that its nt a big deal.

Had a great lunch and first time in my life I was being tempted to eat sea food, but since I am allergic I had to suffice with the chicken. We had a great meal and the craze of Jet Sking again kicked in, since we had some spare time and Alex agreed, we went in for Jet Sking. Alex went first while I got the camera, while I was trying to take Alex’s pic I saw Alex falling from the Jet Ski and the Ski flying like 30 meters ahead of him, I wondered what if that happened to me, I fear being in the sea on my own and I know I would panic in such a situation.

It was my turn to go, and Jet Skin is similar to biking on sea for me, and it seems to come naturally, so I don’t really get afraid, but as soon as I left, I realized the sea was quite rough and all the salt water was going into my eyes and worse was that since there were waves I was jumping around a lot with a lot landing thuds, I start praying again that my back shouldn’t start hurting again, forgetting it again my aim was to go as fast as I could and njoi the thrill, and believe me it was fun, my eyes were hurting bad, but that was just for a short period J…

We left the beach and had to reach another one to get to the fishing boat, we reached there and waited for 10-15 minutes and a small boat , like really small, approached us, and I said sarcastically is this the one and to my horror it turned out to be the one, I haven’t been fishing in the sea before but going on a boat that small didn’t seem a gud idea and I had already felt that the sea was quite rough. All declined going into that boat and we negotiated in going on another boat, which was bigger than the previous one and atleast could hold 10 people :D … we boarded the boat and were rearing to go…

As we started the sun was setting down and I managed to capture some lovely sunset picks and as we got further into the sea the waves were becoming bigger and the boat was dwindling like anything this was my first experience of the rough sea and it was real thrill.

It was around 7:30PM when we reached near the bamboo island and anchored the boat for fishing, now comes the interesting part, the line used for fishing was attached to a normal plastic bottle with the hook on the other end, its wonderful to see how things evolve and revolve with lack of money J. Everyone had the lines out and was hoping for a nice catch.

It was dark already but we could see glowing things in the sea, I had first time seen such things there lights emitted in the sea and it was really mesmerizing, I forgot fishing and gazed at it for quite some time. Believe me guys it was really cool .

Its been an hour or so and no one has caught any fish, actually the baits were also not taken by the fish. It was decided then to go to some other place for fishing, then suddenly were driver says he doesn’t have enough fuel to take us back and he needs more money, the language problem always makes it difficult to communicate but in such situation you become really speechless, we told we aint gonna pay him anything and he needs to get us back. Then he told theres a boat not far which keeps petrol and we can take it from there, so we headed towards and boat and got the required petrol, he still ended up takin 7 $ more from us. And yeah I forgot to mention Gladston managed to catch a very small fishing while we were buying petrol.

Now we headed to another spot which was nearer from where we started, but were hoping to catch some fish after all. The sea had calmed down by now and I was enjoying the sea in the moonlight, everyone else seemed quite tired and dozed off for a while. It was almost 10 when we reached the new place and my enthu for fishing had already died, but nothing goes and I was continuing with the fun.. everyone was having a laugh to have not caught anything substantial till now and suddenly Gladston catches another one its not too big as well but 3 times the one we caught earlier, so we could say now that we did catch a fish, and the expedition continued.

By around 11:30 everyone had given up and guys had already barbecued and eaten the one we got J, so it was time to head back, it ended the day of fishing which was more of an adventure than just fishing, and I was really glad to join in.

This is the reason I don’t want to miss any chance on travelling, it might sound boring at times to go to some places but u really never know what you may end up with, so just go for it J

Whatever happens, happens for good

I have been a firm believer of the saying for a long time and this is the reason that it wont change :

I have been looking forward, to go to thailand for almost a month and was really excited ( not to mention that i love travelling), since Bhushan was there and i had company, this was my golden opportunity and since my manger approved the break journey, the tickets were booked from Cambodia - Delhi via bangkok with a 4 day break.

I had been bugging Bhushan to make a plan and arrange a leave for 4 days as well, he was in a bit of a tight schedule (he always is) , he managed the weekend off and we decided to fly to Phucket, the beaches and water sports was wat i was looking for and this made me even more excited.

i reached Bangkok friday afternoon and met up with Bhushan, we had not met in almost 2 years, and obviously the evening meant that the drinks had to flow ... we both finished three quaters of the 100 pipers and Bhushan was struggling to reach the hotel ... we went to the hotel and still chatted up for almost 2 hrs ... the fllight was at 7:35 Am and we needed to get up by 4:30 i guess.... and the resposibility of waking us up was mine :) ...

I am not a very sound sleeper and generally get up with the alarms first bell itself ...... and i have been used to all this, so it didnt really matter ......

In the morning i got up with a thud .. it seemed seemingly late and as i looked at the watch it was 7:30 and F*** i have missed my flight ... and the people who know me better, know my obsession with punctuality ... so as soon as i got up i started cursing myself ... i was feeling all the more bad because Bhushan had taken the weekend off with great difficulty and the plan was ruined ... i woke him up and he said lets get some more sleep atleast and dozed off again .... but i couldnt sleep ... i tried to search for the next flight and all the flights were late in the evening :( ....

I had no way to correct my mistake and the Bhushan said no point going there for a day .. lets call it off .. we will go somewhere else .... i was quite sad as i was very excited by the overall trip and people go to thailand for the beaches and definitely i m not going to go there ......

in the evning another thought popped into our mind and with some persuation from Bala (Bhushans Colleague) we decided to go to the Tiger Temple .. i had heard about the place but wasnt sure how it would be .. but i knew for a fact that its the only place where i could go and touch a Tiger .... and its worth a try ..... We hired a car and the plan was set ... we go to the floating Market , the death bridge and the Tiger Temple ....

Its been a day and i was still sulking over missing my flight .... but also got up looking forward to the day ahead .. the Floating market was a nice place the bats were nice and the place was better than what I visited in Cambodia. Our driver just crossed the death bridge and took us directly to the tiger temple ....

I was really excited bout the place as i really like animals, knowing more about them and being close to a Tiger would really be an experience .... we got in the temple and there was a walk of around a kilometer to get to the tigers .... they had kept a few of the tigers in a canyon and as soon as we enetered it .. it looked awesome ... the site of around 15 -20 tigers sitting and pepole around them was phenomenal ..... we entered the area where the tigers were and for the first time when i touched one it felt great ... we also took the tickets for a show to be held later where 10 tigers will roam free and we would be able to see them closely when they are on the loose ... we moved on to see there was another place where they had these tiger cubs, very young around 1 year and they were really really cute .... the initails moments in temple were a bit nervous, i wont deny that but after being there for almost an hour my nervousness was all gone ..

After some time the show started .. we (around 20 people) were put in a barracde which was 2 feet high in the front and 5 feet high at the back and 10 tigers were let loose in the area ... Oh Boy .. they were too close for comfort and we knew that if any one of them attacks, we are goners for sure ... but still i didnt feel afraid, being there for a long time had really made me believe that these tigers are not going to harm us and we can closely see them paly and believe me it was an amazing site and worth every penny ......

we returned back from there and i was filled with so much excitment and i really knew i cudnt have sdone it anywhere else and if i had not miss my flight i wouldnt have gone there :) .. and i stopped sulking bout the flight and reassured myself with Whatever Happens Happens for gud.