Travelogue Phuket 2012 - Exploring 3

I can barely recall being in this moment, yet it was one of the most striking moments of the entire trip for me, along with the moment when we canoed into the limestone caves, and Still, but for this photograph (the credit of which goes to Jacob) I would scarcely be able to recall it.

Strange, as it may sound, this happens to me pretty often, I seem to have the haziest recollection of the moments, which have been the most beautiful, joyous, awesome and defining moments of my life. (does it happen to you as well?)

I remember being in this moment, drinking in this view with all my senses, breathing in, the peace, feeling the caress of the wind, listening to the sound of the waves, the touch of sand on my bare feet, mesmerized with the enormity and vastness of the spectacle that lay before me. I remember trying to inhale and exhale each breath as slowly as I could, as if by doing so I could slow time and hold it within my every breath, to make those precious moments last as long as I could, as if anyone can hold time and yet I tried.

I remember having the camera around my neck, and wanting to capture that moment, to freeze it forever and yet not making a move or clicking a single picture. I remember feeling delighted with the silence surrounding me, and not wanting to hear a sound, just in case the spell would break. I remember just wanting to remain, remain in that moment, to breathe it, to feel it, to live it for as long as I could. In that moment I remember experiencing stillness, the stillness that comes with knowing that u belong within the moment u are in, that u are where u were meant to be, the stillness that comes when the consciousness becomes one with the unconscious, the stillness that comes when man and nature seamlessly blend together, when the mind and the soul find peace.
                                       I guess, I so wanted to live in that moment (and in all those other moments which were as beautiful as this), that a part of me was just left behind in that moment, the part of my consciousness that I can barely remember, is alive, alive in that moment which I lived so fully, that it was left behind in the sands of time and there it shall remain, frozen forever, like the view remains frozen in these photographs.

I may never be able to recollect those moment as vividly as I had experience them, but I will find these bits of myself again, someday in some other place when I experience again that stillness within. Maybe that is the reason why I travel, to find another place, to find another moment, to experience the stillness, to find again the bits of me, I left behind, to become whole again and to leave behind another bit of me, to find it again in the endless river of time.

James Bond Island

Panyee Island, The sea gypsy island, nice view but u easily can skip visiting it.

The caves

I remember my heart whispering silently as we cruised past those mighty mountains, countless trees and the vast ocean -

                    Let me be.
                    Let me remain.
                    as a grain of sand,
                    a drop of water
                    a tree, a bird, a fish
                    a silent stone, a cloud
                    as the wind that blows.
                    As an insignificant nothing,
                    but let me remain, with you
                    I belong to you.
                    And
                    I remember stillness speak-
                    to me you belong,
                    as who u are now,
                    and forever shall,
                    as whoever u will be,
                    whenever u will be.
                    U are my longing
                    My longing for myself,
                    I live through u,
                    I live in you.



P.S - These pictures are of Phang Nga Bay and the islands and the limestone caves that we visited. I don't have any decent pictures of the caves or for that matter the bay or the islands, as I was too awestruck with spectacular view to be able to do any decent photography. If u are travelling to Phuket, do visit this beautiful bay, and make sure that u book the trip directly through the company, rather than tour operators. I have not mentioned the limestone caves we explored in the canoes, probably because I do not have enough words to describe the feeling of awe that the experience left me with and I doubt I ever will find those words, it just needs to be experienced.

Travelogue Phuket 2012 - Exploring -2

Vacations are about stepping out of a door, locking it and throwing away the key till u want to open the door and walk back in again.

The thing about them is, given that, you manage to take a break from the regular routine and forget completely all of those worries and questions from everyday mundane life, that the poor mind goes through to sort out some problem or the other that is plaguing it, you end up finding for yourself the leisure of musing.

Musing! Ah!! and you must be wondering what the heck, because the whole point of taking a vacation is to get away from all the overdrive thinking we do everyday.

That is my point, vacations give u the leisure to muse randomly when u wish to and not at all if u don't wish to. And that is precisely the reason that these random musings, when they rarely do happen, even if they don't leave u with any solutions, they at least leave u with a clearer perspective of your problems. Quite sometimes I have found in these ramblings, conclusions that have given poor mind a break(even if it last for a few moments or days) from that crazy tug of war of finding solutions and this feeling is nothing short of bliss.

This vacation gave me quite a few moments of such peaceful ramblings as I went exploring.

We checked out The weekend market, that takes place in Phuket Town every weekend, it's an extensive market offering a huge variety of goods ranging from clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, tech stuff, local handicrafts and street food. In short a shopper's heaven. It's such a pity I am no longer a shopaholic, because If I had been I would have got lost in those tiny lanes, explored them in and out and emerged hours later loaded with bags and bags of my loot. The food smelled yummy too, we tried a few kebabs and pickles which were great. I am sure we would have discovered a few more interesting things hiding within some corner there but because we were short of time we did not linger around for long.
(Tip - to get the best deals, u have to haggle and the best way to do it, is to bring the price down to half of what was quoted and then bargain)

@ The weekend market

After the weekend market, we went to explore Patong. Now that I think of it, had it not been for Jacob, I doubt if I would have ever gone there, because it definitely was not on my exploring list and I need to thank him for that experience. It was a Saturday, and the place was in it's full element, not that it would have been less vibrant, noisy, crowded or happening if it had been any other day, because I doubt if Patong ever sleeps at night.

It's an experience, at night, Patong is. Not to be missed. Unforgettable and yet forgettable. Colorful, lit, bright, noisy, alive, thronged by scores and scores of people, lined by countless pubs, diners, bars, strip clubs, go - go bars. It hits u in full force and seduces the unsuspecting traveler within you with it's charm.

I remember telling Jacob, as I stepped on it's main street, Bangla road, that this is my kind of place, I could party here endlessly, get lost and not be found. We walked down the main street, crossed over and went to the huge street food market along the beach, checked each and every stall (all the while depriving poor Jacob of a decent dinner to sample the street food, of which in the end I sampled only a little ), checked out the fine-diners across the street food markets, caught a glimpse of a beach side concert, released a sky lantern, sat on the beach, saw fireworks (also saw a man pee right on the beach !!!!!! really!!!), explored more and sometime during this, the spell that Patong had weaved over me broke and the illusion got over. I had seen through the beautiful mask of Patong, into the layers within. It wasn't hideous, but it wasn't beautiful either and it certainly wasn't charming or a place I could remain lost into. I don't think I will ever fall under the spell of Patong again. I may go back there, I may spend a night sitting and drinking in one of those roadside bars, dance at one of those discs and enjoy myself, but I won't ever be deluded by it.

Patong - lit and vibrant

The Banana Crepe - yummmm

One of the countless many bars

letting go

Fireworks

I believe it's charm lies in the bubble of illusion it creates and offers to you as an escape from reality, u walk dazed in that illusion while it lasts, but the moment the bubble breaks, u can only but recollect it as a haze. Maybe I have not experienced life enough to understand, what kind of entertainment do people find in those go-go bars, baton bars in the alleys or what companionship can they get by watching belly dancers or what solace can loneliness find by sleeping with a sex worker or how noise and crowd can substitute for music and the spirit of fun. But, having experienced it, all I can say is that Patong, at night, with all it's glory is nothing but a fantasy, but still a fantasy worth experiencing once.

But I still have some beautiful memories from that night and oddly enough, none of them are of those colorful, bright noisy streets and places I went to. I remember the delicious, mouth watering, melt in mouth crisp Banana crepes ( a thai street food special and I can't thank Jacob enough for introducing me to them, I can still taste them melting in my mouth) and the crispiness of the spring rolls I had had at one of the stalls. I remember releasing my sky lantern and watching it hover in the air, feeling scared as it wavered a bit and threatened to crash and feeling delightful when it ultimately rose and went far away into the sky. I remember saying a silent prayer in that moment, for dreams, mine, of the dear friend next to me and of all those countless people who dare to dream, that they may rise, come true and shine like this lantern and light up the lives of people they reach

But the most clear memory that I have of that night is of sitting quietly next to Jacob on the sand, removed far away from the noise and glamour of Patong (which was just a few paces away), staring far into the darkness and listening to the waves wash on the beach, the sound of the sea, lighted by the darkness of the night, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

I sat there contemplating the uncertainties of life and the realization that even with all these uncertainties, one could still find peace, and that peace cannot come by trying to escape from reality into the make believe, rather that peace can be found in the night, the wind, the sound of waves, the stars shining above, the sun rising, the flowers, the singing birds, the sound of laughter or even in silence, the moment when we close our eyes, tune off the pointless clutter and surrender ourselves into the arms of nature. Because peace comes from within us, it comes when we are at peace with our own self and till then no matter how far and how long we may wander, we shall still not find what we seek.

For a moment then I had found peace, though I have lost it again now and I shall wander on in search of it, I know now that it's not as elusive as it seems, thanks to the musings at leisure.

Travelogue Phuket 2012 - Exploring - 1

I did not have any Itinerary for the trip, just a list of things to do, places to explore, flavors to try thanks to extensive reading that I had done by going through, wikitravel, phuket.com, trip advisor and lonely planet.

On my list to explore were - Phuket Botanical and Butterfly garden, Phang Nga Bay, Weekend Market in Phuket Town, Promthep Cape, Kata and Karon Beaches.

We were staying in Chalong, the other advantage apart from getting value for money accommodation of being there was, that it lies in the center of all the places I had on my exploring list, some a little walk away, some a long walk away and some a taxi away.

The first place we explored was - The Botanical Garden at Phuket, quite an extensive place, divided into many sub gardens - fern, herbs, rain forest, flowers, cactus, bamboo etc, nicely maintained and labelled (though they could do with having a few guides to give information around) and for some unfathomable reason they were playing Christmas carols all over the park, which was amusing for a while, but got on our nerves after a while. But all in all it was a lovely visit and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to explore it. 

Orchid Garden

Bamboo Garden

Flower Garden

From the botanical garden, we hitched a lift (it's quite safe to do so in Thailand in my experience, of course it does cost u 50-300 Bhats depending on the distance) and went on an impromptu visit to Chalong Bay, a nice and happening place cluttered with lots of eateries and Bars. Spent a lovely evening dining by a beach side restaurant called Kaneang (I'd read about it in quite a few recos) - a beautiful place, lovely ambience with good food ( esp seafood, which thanks to my anaphylaxis I can't have). We also managed to book a boat tour to Phang Nga bay from a local tour operator (I suggest that it's better to book directly with the tour companies, as these operators tend to change tours at the last moment)

Kaneang @ The Pier

The next day we went to see a real time Muay Thai fight in a local stadium (1000 Bhats for the tickets, I suggest get egular tickets instead of the VIP one's) and it was fun, watching techniques we were practicing, speculating. Each match begins with a dancing ritual to impress the Gods ( and we got to learn the ritual the very next day in the session). One of the matches lasted for just 10 seconds, one punch from the Australian boxer and match over (I'm sure he earned a nasty reputation) another one had this chap who could hardly find time from setting his knickers right and ended up getting a bloody injury and loosing the match. 

The Pre fight dance ritual

he lost the match to the pants

The most interesting part of the match evening was of course the discussion about the lineage of tomato - whether it was a fruit or a vegetable that started between us and the couple from the camp who were accompanying us!! and we are still clueless from where it started, but we now know that tomato is a fruit and  that French are a scary lot.

That night we also discovered, a lovely bar we had in our neighborhood, located around a tree, an open air place with a round stone slab, on which u can leave behind a message with ink markers (of course I lost all my sleep as played with the markers) with a yummy meal (as Jacob put it, who thinks bars can serve good meals, well this one did). 

This is the beauty of travel - Impromptu moments - a peaceful evening by the sea listening to the waves, the wind, crazy and funny conversations, a lovely night by a bar with music of 90's  and so many more - moments that linger in some corner of your memories and come back to you some other time, making you smile at the times gone by.  

P.S - account of exploring shall continue in the next post.

Travelogue Phuket 2012 - The arrival

The thing about traveling is that before u begin it seems so intimidating, with all the planning, organizing that needs to be done and of course the fact that u are stepping out of your comfort zone, into a new place ( a new country), but once it starts it just begins, it turns into an exciting journey, an adventure u don't wish to get over.

The one trick that I have learnt to get the most out of travels is never to set up any expectations, just a rough idea what the travel will be about but no expectations, that ways I get more to enjoy and less disappointment. I used the same trick this time, the rough idea was to take a break and enjoy while doing a bit of sight seeing, exploring, trying out Thai cuisine, trying Muay Thai (it was my first time and Jacob's main focus of the trip), relax and make the most of the opportunity that I have.

The flight was uneventful, of course I had to make a dash to catch my connecting flight across Bangkok airport but that was fun and I reached Phuket, the moment I walked out I realized what was it that I'd forgotten while packing - Umbrella and of course it was raining when I reached.

Found the cab Jacob had pre-arranged for me, the cab driver was the owner of the service and he had been thoughtful and kind enough to bring his wife along, just so that I won't feel uncomfortable traveling with him alone at night from the airport to Chalong where we were staying ( a thing that made me fall in love with Thai people, they are so thoughtful and always ready to help, to the extent of going way out of their way to do so that too for complete strangers without hesitating once, it just leaves one feeling so warm inside). By the way if u wish to know Phuket better and it's always a good idea to do so before travel, going through wikitravel is a very good option, followed by whatever other sites u find.

Phew so I was in Phuket, the first night we stayed at The Signature, in Chalong, located near Tiger Muay Thai (the camp where we were training) it's like this long street of one resort after another with restaurants and bars here and there. Checked out the whole street, had dinner and dropped off to sleep 'cuz I had to wake up early to start training at 6!!!!! (Wham!! yep I'm one of those crazy people who crib about having to wake up early for work everyday and say that there was no way that they would get out of bed early if they had it their way, and then bloody end up waking up early everyday on a holiday)

Of course, I did manage to wake up in time next day (and everyday after that because I had relentless and unyielding alarm clock called Jacob with me, Sigh). Went for the training (I was panting, sweating and aching more than I was training, but considering that it was my first day, I survived 3 and a half hrs of yoga with kick boxing and warm ups pretty well!!).

When we started we used to have this one hour yoga session before our workout (we skipped it later 'cuz it was too much and left us low on energy for our training) but on the first day the Yoga instructor mentioned somewhere during the training 'hold what would u want to hold on to and let go what u want to let go' this got me pondering, I hardly ever know what to hold on to and what to let go, but both are equally important things in life to be aware of, otherwise we just add onto the mental, emotional and physical burden and end up wasting a good chunk of our energy and time which could have been used better to things which are pointless. And so I have been contemplating and working on who and what to hold on to and to let go.

The other thing that I realized while I was training was, that I wasn't pushing myself hard enough. I stopped when I thought my body had had enough, I wasn't trying to push against it's limits and I realized that, not just in for this training, I had been doing this to everything else in life. I don't know whether it's a good thing to do or not, but it did irk me and left me pondering.

Have I become too complacent? I am letting myself getting trapped within the limits of my comfort zone? I think yes, Is it good? Honestly, I haven't figured out yet, but I did resolve to push against my limits over the next few days and I did, slowly and realized that I could challenge my limits and I could push against them and that it was something I enjoyed. And I think I am going to apply this in other aspects of my everyday life.

Travelogue Phuket 2012 - The Beginning

free
momentarily
from the chains that hold me
joyous
I
open my arms
to embrace
the wind and skies
I
wish to find
my wings
and beyond the clouds
I
want to fly
to
find somewhere my own sky
to
paint it with the hue of my joy
let me be
a bird
free to fly.

Why do I want to travel? the inevitable question that I get asked before and after my every trip by family, by friends, by colleagues, so much so that I have started asking this question from myself before and after every trip.

Why do I travel?

And every time when I ponder over this question at the start of my trip,
Surprisingly, I never have a sure answer, and every time it's a different one. But the most two compelling reasons that make me perennially itchy and restless for traveling are - One, to seek a change from my regular everyday life, to take a break from the boredom of daily routine of work and life and the stress it brings along, helping my body and mind refresh and rejuvenate. Second is my love for food and travel provides me countless opportunities to experience a new cuisine, discover countless new dishes, so traveling can always get me excited with the idea of all the unexplored flavors that I shall get to experience.

But when I ponder over the same question at the end of my trip,
I do have a few more reasons for wanting to travel and to keep doing so once and again, it's because of all the wide range of experiences that accompany traveling. These experiences (some good, some not so good) range from meeting new people, listening to their stories, making new friends, coming across varied cultural experiences, exploring new places, dealing with new and at times unforeseen situations and challenges, the process of discovering something new. And more importantly the change that this whole experience brings about in me as a person, in my outlook towards the world and towards myself.

In the end traveling is important to me because this process of exploring places and people, helps me explore myself as a person, discover aspects of me that I was unaware of, it makes me more dynamic by helping me look beyond my comfort zone and explore the limits that I have set for myself and going beyond them, and in this whole process bringing within me changes, for the better or for the worse I can not say. But changes for sure.

This is how this trip also began,
me wanting to go somewhere traveling to take a break from my routine, when my friend Jacob was kind enough to ask me if I would like to join him in Phuket, for a Muay Thai fitness camp that he would be attending. And I agreed glad for company of a friend, eager to explore a new place and a new sport and thus began all the planning, research and preparations.

And finally after quite a few hiccoughs, many brain storming sessions about tickets, stay and other logistics (the credit for most of which goes to Jacob, I really do marvel at his ability to get so much more and valuable information from net than I do) I was all set to begin with my December break and now that I can look back at it, it was a wonderful one.

A few tips, if u are an Indian Citizen traveling to Phuket, Thailand -

• Plan your trip in advance if u can, it gets you cheaper deals on air tickets as well as hotel reservations.
• Even though VISA on arrival is not a big deal, just an extra hour of delay at the airport (and u shall have to show currency worth 35000 Bhat in hand), U can get it done from the Thai Embassy and it's a very simple process. (which takes about 3-4 days with proper planning and information, which is available online)
• I found it a better deal to get my money converted to US Dollars here and then converting Dollars to Thai Bhat in Thailand. (There are ample money exchange counter at and near both Bangkok and Phuket airport)
• Thailand is one of the countries which u can fit in any budget, all u need to do is research well, and be it hotels, to planning activities, to cab services all information is easily available and even on arrival, the locals ( at least in Phuket) are very helpful.

P.S - for more details about the travel please follow the next few posts