Mesmerizing Thailand… Chapter 1 – Koh Samui

OK before I start, here is a Kaun Banega Crorepati Question for you

Where does an Indian go for a cheap international holiday?

Here are your options

1)     Holiday? WTF is a holiday? I am an IT employee

2)     Cheap? WTF is Cheap 1$ = 65 INR

3)     Thailand

4)     Major blow to Modi. I had to have this as an option too you see how could I ignore the wave that has caught the nation these days especially the Media. Don't believe me? Look at the picture below ;) 

Yes. You are right it is Thailand but looking at the way rupee is sliding these days soon we cannot even afford holidaying in Bangladesh ;) and that will mean a major blow to... no no, not Modi but to all the Indian men who visit Pattaya for all the obvious reasons u know(caught ya!! I know what you did last summer  ;) ) and all the traders who visit Bangkok to buy dozens of those huge LED TVs at throwaway price.

Ok enough of kidding now for some serious stuff Thailand has both cheap destinations like Phuket, Pattaya etc. and exotic destinations like Koh Samui, Krabi etc.  and every women likes to have an exotic and a memorable vacation and if you remember what I had said in my Seychelles blog that “a quote next to a famous personality in a morphed internet picture once said "Always agree to your woman else every discussion will be an argument" ;).   Then by now you would have definitely understood as to where I am getting at. Yes you are right again I have sacrificed my salary for another 3 months and at this rate I soon need to sell my car for making a living ;).

So Koh Samui it was, our Anniversary destination!

I have split the blog into 2 parts to give you details about Koh samui and mainland Pattaya & Bangkok. In this part I will tell you about the spectacular Island called Koh Samui.  As a regular drill let me introduce you to Koh Samui. Koh Samui or Ko Samui is the second largest island in Thailand, Phuket being the largest Island. It is located on the east side of the Mainland Thailand hence you can witness some spectacular views of sunrise from this Island. August is the peak tourist season in this island since it is monsoon time in the rest of the islands in Thailand and it is holiday season in Europe. Hence the island is full of Europeans in August. I did not spot a single Indian on this island!! We looked like aliens to many tourists on this Island with a number of tourists staring at us and on many occasions asking us from which part of the world we came from. May be they have never seen an Indian before surprising isn’t it?

We traveled by Thai airways to Koh samui from Bangalore and I strongly recommend Thai Airways for a hassle free comfortable flight and unlimited in-flight booze ;) .We chose Sandalwood Luxury villas based on lot of research done on Trip Advisor as our place of stay in Samui since the resort was moderately priced compared to other resorts and offered a breath taking view of the Ocean. It was the best decision I have ever made. Sandalwood Luxury Villas made our first wedding Anniversary a memorable affair.  As soon as we checked in we were shown our rooms. We were awestruck at the magnificent view from the room. The room had a private infinity pool in front with the view of the Ocean. Let the picture speak for itself.

Infinity Pool

View from our room

Isn't it breathtaking?? The Hotel has 4 such pools with similar breathtaking views of the Ocean. I for one jumped into the pool soon after checking in…. Chilled beer infinity pool and the mighty Ocean made a spectacular start for our vacation J

If you do not wish to spend the entire day at this magnificent resort and shift your arse out of the resort to check out the island then there are many things that you can do on the island as follows.

A day outing of Chaweng and Lamai beach

The Big Buddha

Fisherman’s  market

One day boat trip to Angthong national marine park where you can Snorkel and kayak

Koh Tao supposed to be the best snorkeling place near Koh samui.

Since we had just gone to relax in Koh Samui and do all the activities in Pattaya  we chose just few activities in Samui i.e.,  a day visit to Chaweng, Lamai, Fisherman’s Market & Angthong National Marine Park.

On day 1 we visited the fisherman’s market in the evening. The market was bustling with Tourists drinking and making merry. There was loads of yummy street food and Cocktails available for 100THB. There were many street performances like magic shows, rock shows, cultural performances etc. . I have never seen cocktails and booze being openly sold in a street just like street food and being a foodie and an occasional bewda it felt like heaven to me ;) . After having some amazing street food and cocktails we decided to break for dinner. We dined at one of the hotel located at the beach side. I tasted Singha beer the world famous beer in Thailand for the first time. The food was OK the ambiance was amazing and that was a perfect end to day 1 of our vacation in Mesmerizing Thailand.

Day 2: Sandalwood Villas offer free pick up and drop facility to Chaweng and Lamai Beach and hence we decided to spend the 1st half of day2 in Chaweng and 2nd half in Lamai. There is nothing much to talk about the beaches as they are crowded as hell and don’t offer that exquisite view. But the beaches are good for a swim as the tides are not that much. The only thing I would like to say about the Chaweng beach visit is the drink which I instantly fell in love with “Mai Tai”. After a swim and relaxation at the white sands of the beach we decided to have lunch at the Malibu beach resort. I ordered Mai Tai cocktail from the menu as it looked interesting and when I tasted it I instantly fell in love with it. I suggest you too to try this drink….. So after the lunch we boarded the taxi to head off to Lamai Beach. Lamai beach is same as chaweng but less crowded. We spent an hour or so at the beach and headed off to the resort in the shuttle provided by the resort since the Jacuzzi at our room was sad that we hadn’t used it yet ;). We went back to the resort indulged in free spa provided by the resort as part of our package and got back to the room for the Jacuzzi experience. The details of the later half is not available but trust me it was awesome ;)

Chaweng Beach

Mai Tai drink in red

Lamai beach

Day 3: We had booked for the one day tour of the Angthong National Marine park through Samui Island Tours. After a tasty breakfast from the hotel we were picked at 730 in the morning from the hotel and transferred to a huge boat. Unlike the Huge boat in Seychelles this boat looked straight out of the movie pirates of the Caribbean ;). I guess the boat was a pre historic era boat and moved at a pace of 1 km/hr . It took us almost 2 hours to reach the marine park in this slow moving boat. Once we reached the park we were made to sit in the Kayaks, 2 per Kayak( Me and Wifey had to mention her somewhere in the blog u see ;)) .  We kayaked through some beautiful mountains and some narrow caves. Kayaking through the caves was amazing and a unique experience. After Kayaking we climbed some steep steps and we were greeted with some spectacular views of the Emerald lake. The lake is untouched which explains the emerald green color and cleanliness of the lake. After the lake visit we had quick lunch and taken for Snorkeling.   The Snorkeling area is very small and the visibility is very bad. Snorkeling at Nethrani island was much better than this place. After snorkeling and swimming for couple of hours at the beach we headed off back to mainland from where we were transported back to our hotel. After freshening up, wifey laid out a wonderful candle light dinner by the pool. A sumptuous and romantic dinner culminated our last day at Koh Samui.

Yummy Breakfast

Angthong national Marine Park

Naturally formed Crocodile Rock

Kayaking through the caves

Emerald Lake

Day4: We woke up early to catch a glimpse of the spectacular sunrise and we were not disappointed. It was a magnificent view of the sunrise. We checked out of this beautiful paradise called Sandalwood luxury villas and headed off for the next leg of our journey, mainland Pattaya. 

Thank you Koh Samui &  Sandalwood for making our first anniversary a memorable affair. If things go fine we wish to revisit this paradise in near future.

Bangalore to Bheemeshwari fishing camp..... One day adventure outing

The frustration resulting in the plan

Well it had been a long time since I went out for a trip with my friends and I desperately wanted a break after few hectic projects in office. My friend from Pune called and said he would be visiting Bangalore for a day and thus was born the idea for a weekend trip. My friend was Available for just a day and overnight stay was not possible, so all the far-away places like Chikmagalur & Coorg were ruled out. After much discussion and research online for day trip we narrowed down to Bheemeshwari Fishing camp run by Jungle lodges. We heard it was a good place for one day outing. We were planning to cover Mutathi/Mekedath on the way to the resort but due to time constraints we decided to directly go to the fishing camp. So the plan was set.. it was going to be a Bheemeshwari day trip in Bheemeshwari Jungle lodges.

Bheemeshwari Route

There are two routes to go to Bheemeshwari fishing camp.

Route1:- Bangalore->  Kanakpura-> Mutathi-> Bheemeshwari Fishing Camp

Route2:- Bangalore-> Kanakpura-> Halaguru-> Bheemeshwari Fishing Camp

Route1 has lot of bad stretches and so we chose to travel via the 2nd route. There is a Forest check post on route 2 where there are bag checks etc and where they note down your vehicle number and details, but there were no animals on the way though.

Jungle lodges and resorts Bheemeshwari

The look and feel of the Bheemeshwari Jungle lodges was not that great compared to Jungle lodges Kabini/Bandipur where you are admist nature and abundant wildlife. This resort is good for one day activities.

I feel the tariff of 1700 per person that the resort charges for just the activities and lunch was very high. But we couldn't do anything about it as we had no other option.

The Activities

We reached the resort by 12PM and were directed to the front office. We were given the itinerary for the day and directed to the cafeteria where we were served lemonade as the welcome drink. There was a guide assigned to us who took us to the spot where adventure activities were held. There were three tall trees to which ropes were tied to making a triangular circuit. The ropes were tied about 20feet above the ground. We were supposed to walk on these ropes and that constituted 3 activities ( Burmaloop, Elephant walk & parallel walk). We completed these activities and headed to our next activity which was called Zip line where you would be tied to a rope over your head and you will go from one end to another hanging on the rope. We completed this activity too and were directed to the dining room for lunch. The food was good and I liked the chicken a lot.

After Lunch we were made to sit on the round boats and ferried along the Bheemeshwari River. This was called the coracle ride. The Coracle ride was exciting as there were some good rapids in the water which threatened to topple the boat at some places. After the Coracle ride we spent some leisure time at the resort and were served Tea.

We checked out by 5.

All in all the experience was ok but I still feel the Bheemeshwari jungle resort tariff of Rs 1700 per person for the activities is way too much…. Hope the resort reduces the price someday and includes some more activities like Trekking etc. to the itinerary overall bheemeshwari fishing camp day trip was a funfilled day trip.

Scuba Diving in Netrani Island, Murudeshwar,Karnataka

When I first watched ZNMD the thing that captivated me the most was deep sea diving.

The reason was that I could relate a lot to Hritik's character except for his physique that is ;) and When Hritik gets out of the water and cries for some time and says “zindagi ka matlab hai sirf saas lete raho” it totally brought in front of me a different perspective of life. Life is not just about slogging 12-14 hours in the office and taking home a big fat pay packet, it is also about spending time with your loved ones, staying healthy and breathing in peace. I wanted to experience the exact thing that Hrithik's character had experienced in the movie. Basically I wanted to find peace, and hence grew a passion for Scuba diving in me.......

I started googling about Scuba diving in Karnataka and searched for various scuba diving shops in Karnataka after checking various links for murudeshwar scuba diving review I came across a company called Dreamz Diving in Murudeshwar. They organize scuba diving at Netrani Island also known as Pigeon Island 10 nautical miles off the Murudeshwar beach. Scuba Diving at Netrani island cost us Rs 4500. After reading numerous reviews on the internet about Dreamz Diving I decided to opt for this dive shop for my first Scuba diving experience. And I must say it was a wise decision after all, Dreamz Diving made my first diving experience a memorable affair and I would like to dive again with them. People who visit Goa and want to take part in Scuba diving in Goa can also consider diving in Murudeshwar since it is close to Goa....

I get many questions on trip advisor on how to reach Netrani Island? resorts in Netrani Island ? Can we Snorkel in Netrani Island etc. This blog is intended to give you those details

Netrani Island

Netrani Island or Pigeon Island is located 10 nautical miles off the murudeshwar beach. The Island is surrounded by beautiful corals which make it a perfect place for snorkeling and diving. Based on reviews from professional divers on the internet Netrani Island is one of the best diving sites in India.The Island was used by Navy for target practice earlier which was put on hold after some court case.

The Plan

Four of us including my wife decided to take a plunge into Nethrani Island. I am glad to have a khatro ka khiladi type wifey, who is ever-ready to try adventurous things J so the date was set 3rd of March, Sunday. We paid the advance to dreamz diving and provided our address proofs for clearance from the Navy without which we would not be allowed to dive.

Day1:

We had booked accommodation at Vaibhav Palace Kumta which was 40kms from Murudeshwar. As we were diving on Sunday we had nothing much to do on Saturday. So we decided to travel to Kumta via Jog however we shelved that plan after reading about the bad roads from Sagara to Honnavar and decided to go via Sirsi. The planned route was Bangalore-->Haveri-->Sirsi-->Devimane Ghats-->Kumta. I heard a lot about this scenic route and wanted to experience the same. So we set off by 5Am on Saturday from Bangalore. The road from Haveri to Hangal is in bad shape with pot holes and sometimes no road.

The road from hangal to Sirsi was somewhat OK. We reached Sirsi in the afternoon and had our lunch at The new Kamat Hotel. The food was good. We enquired with the hotel staff about tourist spots on the Sirsi-Kumta highway and we got to know about Unchalli falls. We drove to Unchalli falls which was about 26kms off the Sirsi Kumta highway. We had to trek on a hilly terrain for half a kilometer to reach the falls. We were expecting the falls to be something like Abbey falls but for our surprise it was very big, almost like jog falls. After spending an hour at Unchalli we headed off to Kumta. The road to Kumta from Sirsi was very beautiful as it passes through Devimane Ghats but the only problem is that road-work was being done on this stretch which caused a lot of delay. We reached Kumta only by 5PM.  We quickly freshened up and headed off to Honnalli beach Kumta to watch the Sun set. Honnalli beach is a secluded beach and hence it is very clean. We spotted some Star fish on the beach and took some photographs. We went back to the hotel had dinner and slept.

                             

Roads From Hangal To sirsi

Pomfret fry @ new Kamat Hotel

Unchalli falls Sirsi

                                                         Honnalli Beach Kumta

Day 2:

D-Day - Dooms day, Dive day, Death day etc etc all these things were running in our minds. It was our first dive and we had butterflies in our stomachs as none of us knew swimming and we were about to dive 30 feet under water.So we were all set for scuba diving in Murudeshwar :) We drove to the Dreamz diving shop located at RNS residency murudeshwar.

We were greeted by forms saying if we meet with an accident or die the dive shop was not responsible.

We ignored the contents of the forms and just signed it by completely trusting our dive masters :) after all it is an adventure sport and has risks attached to it which adds to the adrenalin rush :)

We sat on a small boat and headed off to Netrani Island from the Murudeshwar beach. After a few nautical miles the color of the water completely changed. It felt like we were in Mauritius and not in India. Ravi our instructor for the day briefed us about the Do and Do Not’s while diving. He explained about the instruments and the physics behind diving. Ravi heads SAP practice in one of the IT companies on weekdays and dives on the weekends. How cool is that!!! We were noting down instructions from him like a bunch of School kids. As we reached the dive site the butterflies in our stomachs almost reached our mouth. That is how much excited and tensed we were, a total mixed feeling. The Island was very beautiful and the water around it was crystal clear. We could see the sea bed right from our boat. The dives happened in batches of 2. So I was in the 2nd group and had to wait for the 1st group to finish the dive. So I wore the life jacket and jumped into the water to Snorkel. As I put my head down to Snorkel I was totally blown by the magnificent view. I could see different colorful fishes swimming underneath me. I snorkeled for half an hour and hopped on to the boat to get ready for the dive.

                                                           Murudeshwar Beach

                                                           Dreamz Diving Dive Shop 

The Dive

The BCD buoyancy control device, Weights & the oxygen cylinders were strapped to my body. The Dive instructor on the boat put the mouth piece into my mouth and asked me to hold it tight and while I was doing that he just flung me into the water. I fell into the water on my back. That way the weight of the cylinder doesn't cause issues to your back but the act just scares the shit out of you ;) My Dive master, who was already in the water came close to me and held me. I then practiced breathing using the mask.

After I got used to the breathing technique my dive master reduced the air in the BCD and we went 10 feet into the water. It was a magical experience. I spotted many fishes & Corals. I just enjoyed the breath taking view of the marine life as my Dive master took me around. Then after a while we dived to a depth of 30 feet. When I looked on top there was nothing but water and beneath there was abundance of marine life. It was magical. No noise no disturbance, just you and Nature. It was so peaceful.....

Just like Hritik's Character in ZNMD I found peace....

I want to Dive again and probably get a certification done too....You should consider Diving too... As the Dreamz Diving tag line says

"If You Haven't dived you haven't lived"

Déjà Vu – Trailer of your Life’s Story

I was having a conversation with one of my friend today and suddenly I felt that I have seen this exact moment in my dreams. I knew what is the next sentence from my friend is going to be and voila my prediction was true. He spoke the exact words that I had foreseen in my dreams. "Déjà Vu" it was.....

Déjà vu - I did some research on Déjà Vu using the most powerful tool available in today's market - Google ;). Déjà vu is defined as an Experience of thinking that a current situation has already occurred before. Does that mean that everything that is happening right now in your life is scripted? Does it mean that the path you take in your life is already been decided by someone supreme and we are mere puppets?

All these questions were bothering me and I further dug into this Déjà Vu thing. I read through numerous articles on this topic and did not get a satisfying answer.

My mind suddenly diverts to the great Mahabharata war. It is said that Lord Shri Krishna new each and every aspect of the war and he also knew how exactly the war was going to end prior to the beginning of the war. So when everything about the Mahabharata was scripted by Lord Krishna then why did he allow massacres and destruction of such a large scale while he could have avoided it? The answer to this question is Destiny.

Everything that is happening in your life currently is scripted by the supreme. You may ask then when everything is scripted why should I perform my day-to-day tasks. Answer to that question lay in your Bollywood movies. Everyone in the theatre or home watching a Bollywood flick knows that the events occurring in the movies is scripted even then everyone goes to watch them; why?

Some go to get entertained some go to pass some time and few go to get a message out of the movie. So in your life when you perform your tasks there are people watching you. Few people are entertained few make fun and there are some who actually learn about life watching you. Your life holds true meaning to them and you are their role model and this is the true purpose of god, to enlighten others and pass a message to others by making you act in your scripted destiny. And when you perform your duties well you achieve nirvana :) .

There is a dialogue in the movie OMG (Oh my god) which is very enlightening. Whenever I listen to this dialogue it brings a smile to my face and brings peace to my mind.

The dialogue goes something like this - If a person lives his life in such a way that both happiness and sorrow are the same. If he lives his life without expectation, Desires and does selfless deeds; such a person has attained true Nirvana.

I think Déjà vu is a trailer of the movie that you will be a part of in the future.

So live your life to the fullest, try to derive meaning out of every aspect of your life, Live happily and make others around you happy.

There is a famous saying - If at all someone is watching you from the top make it entertaining :)