It was almost an hour that we had been in the water. On the beach the tour attendants had placed a heap of sliced water melons and pineapples on a table along with cold drinks and packaged water. They were pampering us with refreshments. We ate a lot of melons which took care of the dehydration that took place during the hour under the sun. I noticed that the melons were much sweeter and had much less number of seeds compared to what we get in India. I spotted a small crowd around a Japanese girl. She had been bitten or nibbled by some fish. Her toe was bleeding and from the expression on her face it seemed she was having considerable pain. One of the attendants sqeezed a lime over the wound and told her not to worry as it would heal within two to three days. I don’t know how much would that assurance of healing in two to three days be of any comfort to a tourist. My wife was of the opinion that vinegar would have done a better job. I said vinegar should be available at the beach side restaurant where we will go for lunch. She said that the clear synthetic ones are better for dressing such wounds. I assured her that at the beach restaurant there would be no Balsamic or wine vinegar.

After relaxing for a while we boarded our speed boat. The next destination was a cove near the Phi Phi island. When we were departing we saw the larger tourist boats that were approaching this island. I could imagine how crowdy this small island would be with the mass of tourists that were being brought by these boats. It was a good decision to opt for speed boat tour.

After another exciting ride we approached a cove with a tiny white beach and behind that a tall hillock rose almost vertically. The water, the green hill and the beach looked so surreal. Our boat man had cut off the engine. There was no sound anywhere, not even a gull. It was amazing. As the boat drifted to the cove we could see the sea bed full of corals. All arranged in a seemingly incomprehensible fashion. A sight which our eyes were not prepared to see. The hill appeared as a monk sitting upright in meditation, the corals like flowers strewn around him. In reverence the wind was blowing soft, the waves calmed themselves. There was peace & calmness all around. This surreal environment seemed to have affected all of us. None of us spoke a word and broke the sound of silence. We were all mesmerized by the works of the greatest artist of the universe. But there is communication without words or sound. All through this time did we not tell each other wow look over there… oh my God look here in silence?

The boat was anchored at a place where the water was six to ten feet deep. We wore our snorkeling gears and dived in to the crystal clear water. It was another world. The million patterns of the corals. The small fish that swam around these. Words fail to describe what lay below us. If Wordsworth wrote his famous poem beholding a field of Daffodils one can guess what a poetry it would have been if he had seen what we were seeing. My wife came close to me and thanked me for choosing Thailand and this particular excursion. This was also a rare thing.

After an hour or so we left this paradise for Phi Phi island. It was a very short ride. I had brought a six can pack of Shingha beer which was kept in the ice meant for cooling the fruits and the soft drinks. The Belgian lady took one and we consumed the remaining five. The Phi Phi island has a sort of circular beach. There are lots of usual establishments like restaurants, souvenir shops, and travel & tour agents. We were escorted to a table for eight people. The Italian couple joined us. A steam boat soup with lots of vegetables and sea foods was first served. The Italian man sat gloomily and touched nothing. When I asked him what was the matter he said “Don’t eat Thai food. Thai food big zero” Suits us thought we and had a second helping of the aromatic soup. This was followed by plates of noodles, fried rice, a fish preparation and chicken cooked with carrots, tomatoes and pine apples. Needless to say that the fish was very fresh. All the preparations were delicious and we wolfed under the pensive eyes of the Italian gentleman. Later on I learned that he was a chef in a pizzeria in southern Italy. He was quite elated when we told him that we like Italian food which is certainly a big hundred.

After the lunch we had a cup of green tea which was very refreshing and washed away all the oils from our throat. The daughters went off for photography and ice creams. I went and laid my body on a bench and dozed off.

Phi Phi Island.

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Prawns on Banana leaf.

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I don't think anyone fishes from these boats. I believe they are placed there for photos!

I think you are right Curt. Every travel company has the same kind of photo on their sites.

I was woken up from my reverie as our group reassembled to leave Phi Phi island. We were leaving for Maya beach. On the way we were taken to a wonderful lagoon surrounded by hills covered with thick vegetation. It was such an idyllic place. The boat sailed close to the hills to show us a cave referred as Viking’s cave although any Viking ever came here. My daughter wondered if Asterix & Obelix had ever come to Thailand. Why not said I. Given the abundance of pork meat in Thailand Obelix wouldn’t have been disappointed. And don’t rule out falling head over heels considering the pretty Thai girls reminded my wife.

The boat smoothly sailed to the picture post card Maya beach. Now the wind was blowing hard and the Sun was equally strong. We got down on the beach and plunged in to the crystal clear waters once again. Before coming here I had seen a lot of photos of this idyllic beach and this is a rare occasion where the reality matched the expectation. The sand was fine & white. A long tail boat was anchored exactly where I had seen it in the photographs. Do they keep the boat parked at this spot for photographs? Our new asset, a Canon EOS SLR neatly captured the scene. It was a good decision to buy an UV filter for the camera considering the solar glare. Time passed at a rapid pace as it does while having a great time. Soon it was time to leave. We reluctantly got in to the boat and sped off towards Phuket.

The boat pulled in to Rasida pier from where we had embarked up on the most memorable trip ever. As suspected earlier our photos have been stuck to a frame and was on sale. Our driver quickly spotted us and were escorted to the waiting van. There was again quite a heavy traffic on our way back to Patong.

Thus ended the most memorable day of ours in Thailand.

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Trying to imagine a life without Thai food... when I came back from mt first visit to Thailand I cooked green curry for my folks. It's fair to say they are slightly "set in their ways" and are more the meat + veg types than this "newfangled foreign cuisine lark". But they loved it - and now eat it once a week!

Great reports as ever, Jyotirmoy

Thanks dear Steve, only if you knew how much we spend to have Thai food in Delhi as both my daughters are addicted to it. and me???? Ha ha..

On our flight to BKK from DEL we wrere served this green curry and although it was past midnight we ate and relished. On our way back to DEL from BKK we were served Indian food which was absolutely trash. I wrote to Thai airways that next winter we will have food packed in Bangkok and eat it on the flight back home. BTW Thai airways never replied where as my favourite airline Lufthansa always replies to my letters.

We reached our hotel late afternoon. It was pretty hot & humid outside , the aircon room provided an instant nirvana. There were grains of fine sands in our hair and I was tanned beyond recognition. So we took out our shampoos and decided to clean ourselves. On the way to Patong I had seen a hoarding that read best steaks anywhere. According to the proclamation, this hallowed institution of Gaulic pedigree imports the finest beef from Australia/New Zealand and turns out the best steaks. So I proposed to celebrate our incredible day out over dinner at this restaurant and the dear ole dad would pay. I was hallucinating a T-bone done mid rare and a France inspired sauce. My proposal was shot down with a firm resolve to try out the Yellow Boat restaurant next to 99 where we had dined last night. We are Indians and we believe in Democracy, in our Democracy 3 against 1 means tail between your legs and flee. I was also given a free advice(oh how good we are all at it) that I should rather tend to my cravings for unhealthy steaks in my US sojourns where they will not be around. But my second proposal which could be made after a short protest, during which I was reminded that we have a very short vacation and every moment was costly and important and if I had any such ridiculous, blasphemic, sacrilegious etc. etc. suggestion I better leave the room was accepted. It was agreed that today is the day we should open the bottle of single malt and begin our evening and after dinner at Yellow Boat retire for the night after liberal shots of Irish Cream. I checked the refrigerator to see if we had enough ice cubes for the last ritual. Veterans with a wee sweet tooth will agree that rolling a liberal shot of the nectar from the bottle bearing the name of Bailleys around a crystal of frozen H2O2 in a glass and looking at it expectantly is simply heavenly.

We arrived at the Yellow boat restaurant a bit later than last night. There was quiet a crowd and the atmosphere told us that people in general was having a good time. We were greeted very warmly and chairs were arranged around a table and we were seated. Hmmmmm…. Our ordering of food last night at their neghbouring establishment had been well documented. Tonight’s dinner will start with crabs we decided. We walked over to the plastic tumbler where the crabs were kept, all of us in a platoon style. I noticed that a contraption to infuse the water with oxygen has been made. We chose blue shelled crabs and instructed the cook to do that in her own local style and “phet phet”. Her grin confirmed that she had understood us all. The daughters ambled off to view the other seafood which was displayed. I ordered some Shingha beer and sipping that watched the crowd of merry makers the hordes of that stretched from one end to the other of the big food court. I found my daughters gesticulating and pointing to a specimen from the deep resting in peace on a carpet of ice. It was a perfect Becti. “Plump as your mom eh? I asked them in a whisper. The plump becti was immediately placed for bare-be-que. Mean while my wife had fished out prawns from another tumbler. Having secured our last meal a very relaxed family sat down to eat. Gluttony over and a very contended family trudged back to the hotel under weight of tiredness and food. We noticed a massage shop near our hotel which appeared to sort of genuine nature. We walked in and for the princely sum of 200B had our feet and shoulder massaged over an hour. After that a rejuvenated family went back to the hotel, performed the last ritual mentioned above solemnly and slept.
Come to me soft-eyed sleep,
With your ermine sandalled feet;
Press the pain from my troubled brow
With your kisses cool and sweet;
Lull me with slumbrous song,
Song of your clime, the blest,
While on my heavy eyelids
Your dewy fingers rest….. (Marietta Holley)


Thus ended the most memorable day our short Thailand trip.

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Sheer magic the reports have been. It has ignited my fire to return.

__________________
Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.