Below is a picture story by a friend, new toad, new traveller JAYTOSH SRIVASTAVA about his first experience abroad. He tried narrating the complete story by pictures.
Cool Timeline
We visited a Gurudwara(Holy Place) in Little India Bangkok. Relaxed a bit at Gurudwara and after that, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant in front of Gurudwara only. This photograph is a glimpse of it.
It was raining and the weather was super awesome. Stay Tuned for my Vietnam Diaries. Flight: Vietjet Airways
We booked a cab in the morning at 3:00 A.M and reached Airport. Airport was empty there were no passengers at all, we sent our luggage for security checking, they took the new fidget spinner that I bought for myself because of it was of bullet shape, I was disappointed, they took the Bullets and gave me the molded bearing. We checked in our luggage and boarded the flight at 5.40 A.M. We reached Bangkok at 7.30 A.M, we had to take a shuttle from Don Mueang Airport to Sarvabhumi Airport because we had another International plane to catch for Hanoi, Vietnam We reached there around 8.45 A.M, entered the Airport, we got fresh and moved for the boarding to Hanoi flight.
Then we headed back to our Hotel from there, went for some Thai food, Thai red curry with rice and some drinks. We bought some Thai souvenirs, and it started to rain. We were wet somehow managed to reach the hotel. We had to catch our flight in the morning to Bangkok, so we didn’t sleep. From Bangkok, we are flying to Vietnam next!
After having fun with some tigers, we moved to another main attraction of the city, Trick Eye Museum. There were some 3 Dimensional Paintings, Some huge paintings which will give you a real feeling that you are inside in the picture.
We woke up in the morning, got ready had our breakfast at the Thai restaurant, converted some cash and moved forward to the Tiger Kingdom. We played with real tigers, It was the first time experience to touch live tigers, I was scared too though, but it was fun stuff.
Colourful lights everywhere such a bright street and happening place to enjoy. There were so many clubs where strippers were dancing.
Heading towards our 5th destination, Phuket from Koh phi phi. We reached Phuket pier, struggled a bit to find a taxi over there, we headed to a confectionery shop and had some packed noodles, somehow we found a cab and moved to the hotel. Hotel Patong Marina, It is at the Patong beach, near to market area, ATMs, shops and all type of restaurants. It was the best stay of our trip. We had good fun there, created good memories. Hence that was our last destination for Thailand; we enjoyed each moment of it. NOTE: TAKE A TAXI FROM, INSIDE THE AIRPORT, UBER OR GRAB WON’T WORK HERE UNLIKE REST OF THAILAND.
Before going to the beach party we went to attend a pool party near our stay, we went to the pool had some beers and enjoyed. There was a party organised by the place where we stayed, Stones bar dorm. There was a big fire show, drinks and delicious food to eat. The feeling was excellent, and much adventurous, Yashu and I had some fun, while Arjun was busy getting his hangover stop.
We just stayed here for a day. I feel phi phi to be more commercialised, dirty during the time. We moved to Phuket next.
We moved forward to our 4th Destination Koh Phi Phi Islands, we checked out from Airbnb and moved to Lomprayah’s office to catch our ferry from Koh Pha Ngan, Thongsala Pier. They took us from the pier to Krabi, then there was a bus transfer from Krabi to another Pier, from there we were transferred to another ferry to reach Phi Phi.
Looking at beautiful beach and sunset after that, we headed forward towards the Amsterdam Bar. Perfect place to chill and enjoy the vibe during sunset
We found a place to click some stunning sunset pictures on our way to Amsterdam Bar.
After we got attacked by some Thai Dogs, We had a tense situation and needed some peaceful place to stop and relax our minds.
We woke up at 10:00 A.M, had our breakfast and quickly got ready to explore the Island. We rented bikes near Thongsala Pier and moved ahead.
We went to Massage centre near the market called Pure Relax. I took the head, back and shoulder massage package for 60Minutes for 400Baht. They have an authentic Thai massage, that was very relaxing and peaceful. Post Dinner we had to attend our event Full Moon Party at Had Rinn Beach, It was Super Amazing We were picked up by Taxi from Taya’s (Thongsala Pier) to Full Moon Party Venue. We had some drinks and food before going to the party at one of the Restaurants near the pier, from there we reached the beach around 11 P.M. The cabbie was very helpful and funny. Cab guy told us to pee before reaching the party. He informed us that there will be a charge of 40 Baht just to pee, so we opted to pee free of cost for once at least. We had amazing awesome fun. We met people from France, Holland, USA. At the beach we also met some Indian guys, looking at each other faces and asking are you from India?? And then we all be like “Haan Bhai India se, aap Kaha se ho? Me Gujrat aap? Me Delhi- Oo B*******d”. We danced with people from around the globe, and it was fun. We had fun while peeing, after drinks we were searching for some right corners to pee. We danced so bad until our shoulder and back started to get hurt, we reached back hotel by 4:30 A.M. It was super fun. One should always visit this place, Super fun!
We had to struggle a bit to find this place at the beginning, but anyhow we managed to find the area within an hour. The stay was reasonable and just ok to sleep. They had a Restaurant at the ground level too which was good though. We booked it via Airbnb. They had wrong directions and wrong phone number. That is why it has been a pain for us to locate them. NOTE: MUST BOOK A DECENT PLACE, LONG BEFORE IF YOU ARE PLANNING FOR FULL MOON ON THIS ISLAND. AS ALL THE DECENT PLACES GET BOOKED EARLY, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PAY A FORTUNE TO GET A BED TO SLEEP.
Just had my Bacon sandwich at a restaurant in front of the pier. Just before boarding our ferry to Koh Phangan
Leaving Koh Tao towards to our next destination Koh-phangan, there our main excitement is Full Moon Party. But to our surprise this island has alot to offer, not just the party scenes is what you have here.
Queen’s Cabaret, famous Ladyboys cabaret show in Koh Tao, dancing, singing and drinks. We had fun and a good time there with some good brews. MUST VISIT!
We had dinner at SU Chilli, Amazing Thai food. Tiger and Chang are local beers of Thailand, that you can find in every corner of Thailand
I had a fantastic experience of Scuba Diving first time in my life, and it was terrific, The Instructor from BBD Tom Schuessler was outstanding. He explained to us every point of Scuba Diving, from diving basics to the advance. He is a humble guy; he introduced his girlfriend to us, we had a good chat over food and drinks in the Big Blue campus only. They were very excited to hear about India, we stayed there overnight and had terrific fun.
The cab was waiting at the pier they took us to the Big Blue Diving School, they gave us the place to stay as well.
We had to board our ferry to Koh Tao. We checked in at Lomprayah office on Chumphon railway station, and we reached pier by Lomprayah Shuttle.
Chumphon train station in early wee hours, from here we are supposed to be transferred to Pier to catch our ferry for Koh Tao. We reached here after an overnight train from Bangkok to Chumphon. Next leg of the journey we have covered by Lomprayah ferry.
The train staff made our bed, which is something exceptional, the bedding was crystal clean and hygienic. The perfect way of setting benchmarks to visit Thailand again and again.
We had our booking in 2nd Class Air Conditioned coach. The seats were broad and comfortable. I had a good sleep and a pleasant journey.
Before boarding train, we got a chance to click pictures with my friend Yashu Mittal, excuse the weird pose. Picture credit- Mr Arjun Virmani
It was our train in Thailand to Lang Suan. I must say better service as compared to most of the national railways. The coaches were clean, platforms were clean and adequately maintained by the staff members. I had a comfortable journey experience with Thai Railways. The train left on time and reached without any delay, rare for overnight trains.
We were heading to Lang Suan Railway station to catch our train to Koh Tao. Main excitement towards Koh Tao is for Scuba diving with Big Blue Diving School. We shot this at Bangkok railway station just before boarding the train; the Thailand railway transportation is quite impressive.
Beautiful street view of Little India with a small river flowing through it. We took this shot from the restaurant only, where we were having lunch.
After some rest, we moved out to explore little more of Bangkok before catching our train. While we were heading towards an area in Bangkok called Little India, we came across a part of the city called China town. It has a variety of shops and food stalls, a good place to hang out and chill with your family and friends.
I have heard that Bangkok is famous for various types of street food, but most of the times I saw such things which I have never seen in my life. In this picture, you can look at some crabs and god damn unknown animal meat showcased on the street. Just after this, we headed back to the hotel to take some rest, as we have the train that very evening.
Thailand is full of 7 Eleven stores. They were lifesavers for us, providing us with options to survive in every part of Thailand we went. We tried hell lot of things here. Some of them were good, some were very bad ( Food Spoiler credit- Mr Arjun Virmani).
Since this place is perfect on reviews and at walking distance from our location, near Bangkok Railway Station, so we decided to visit this cafe, and we ordered some pad thai noodles and local beer(Chang/Tiger). Graffiti on the wall is fantastic; you can see hand drawings of people from different countries.
These colourful tuk-tuk three-wheelers were all over the Bangkok city, in fact, most of Thailand. No doubt they are cheap and the best way to move around the city, BUT you have to bargain
One most beautiful thing I saw in Bangkok is cleanliness, the roads are pretty much clean and maintained. Traffic during the peak hour is quite painful but who cares, Bangkok is a beautiful city to enjoy, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.
We have to change trains at an intersection in between, and while waiting for the next train, we took a selfie together. Because memories are what stays with us
After Reaching Bangkok, We headed towards our Hotel by Metro. Must say public conveyance is real smooth. People there were adorable and helpful. Its just a half day stay there in Bangkok, we departed for Koh Tao by train that very day.
Myself along with Arjun Virmani boarded our first flight from New Delhi to Bangkok (Thailand). One more friend Yashu Mittal also joined us from Bangalore; we met directly at Bangkok.