Thailand - Where Relaxation also relaxes!

So, lets peep into an unplanned trip to Thailand that scribes wonderful experiences and memories in my heart!

(11th Apr 2019 to 16th Apr, 2019)

Started with a budget travel from Nagpur (Maharashtra), we ended up paying various bills for our tour! With my thorough planning, we 3 had started our journey by flying to Bangkok via Kolkata by Air Asia. Kolkata and Chennai are the most preferable departure cities for Bangkok as both, prices as well as distance is very less from these cities, hence without thinking twice, Kolkata as an option was locked. Reaching at the Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok in the morning hours, we had skipped the normal immigration queue which was occupied in large no.s by Chinese expats and hence we moved to the 'Express Immigration' queue by paying extra 200 Baht because most of the flights from different countries land during the morning hours.

After immigration, proceeding to the luggage belts, we went to inquire about transportation means to Pattaya and we got to know how feasible it is to reach there by a bus. The first thing you need to do is to go to floor 1 of Don Mueang airport for finding the Airport bus which goes to the Mo Chit bus station. Floor 1 - Exit gate no. 6, you’ll see an air conditioned blue color bus having no. A1. The bus will drop you to Mo Chit station for 30 Baht only. Remember, after boarding from the airport, you need to alight the bus at the last stop (Mo chit bus station) because a lot of people get confused between Mo Chit BTS (train) station and Mo Chit bus station.

Inside the Mo Chit bus station, there are restaurants, cafes, ATM(s), money exchange and many more facilities and it's very easy to get a bus to travel to any city in Thailand from that station. Buses to Pattaya leave every 30 minutes from 7 am in the morning till 10 pm at night. The fees was 117 Baht on 12th April, 2019.

Approximately, it took 3 hrs to reach to Pattaya bus station. Then, we quickly took our luggage from the bus cabin and sat onto one of the easily available tuk-tuk (rickshaws of Thailand) and alighted in Beverly Plaza Hotel which was 7 km from the bus station by paying only 20 Baht each.

Surprised by the way of welcoming, we found ourselves totally drenched in water because the festival of Songkran was just 1 day away. If you're visiting Thailand during this period of 12th to 15th April, prepare yourself to be a part of a journey you'll never forget for you will be experiencing a festival that just can't be put into words! Local people and tourists from any part of the world roam around throwing buckets of water, using water pistols and just generally soaking anyone in the vicinity.

So, after getting drenched, we finally checked in to our amazing and beautiful hotel room, got freshened up and went for Art in Paradise around 5 pm. It was 3.5 km and we jumped into a tuk-tuk for 10 Baht each. Art in Paradise is a masterpiece and a perfect example of human's exemplary work with the 3 dimensional paintings that are interactive and funny. This is a great place to come with children, friends, family and it will leave you with memories for lifetime. Extremely creative artists have painted directly on to walls to create stunning images that trick our eyes into thinking animals are smashing through walls, Monalisa Painting, restaurant & bar servers, etc. The gallery has over 100 individual art pieces covering optical illusions, wild animals, nature, etc. It takes around two hours to get around the whole gallery, although you can spend as much as you want. The price is a sticking point at 400 Baht for Foreigners, but its worth every Baht you pay.

Hunger knocks right away and we found ourselves landing at a Burger king outlet. After having some snacks, we went to Pattaya's most favorite and most happening travel destination - 'Walking Street'

The walking street is an entertainment and night-life street where tourists visit in huge number to see the nightlife of Pattaya. The walking street area includes seafood restaurants,live music venues, beer bars, Indian & Russian discos, sports bars, go-go bars, night clubs and hotels. This street opens at 7 in the evening and closes at around 5 in the morning. No vehicles are allowed to enter during these hours. Then, we headed to our hotel room which was just 300 meters away to took rest.

Second day, as soon as we woke up, the mouthwatering delicacies that our hotel was serving caught our attention and we wasted no time to head there. Outside the hotel gate, we found a taxi for Tiger Park. Here comes a catch! Wherever you stay or rent a hotel room in Pattaya, ask the taxi driver to take you to Tiger park for FREE. They will give you some weird reactions & would try to convince you that it is a paid ride. We were informed by one of our Indian friends about the same and so we managed to reach our destination without punching a hole in our pockets.

This park allows you to take photos, play with Tigers under the supervision. There are different packages classified as Infant, Small, Medium & Large tigers or you can customize as per your needs. We were charged 799 Baht / person for Medium tiger (Non shareable) + 299 Baht for 50 photos (which you can share with your group). It is something that one will cherish for the entire life as you can actually touch tigers and play with them. This will give you goosebumps as soon as you leave the cage. There is nothing to fear about the tigers as you are surrounded by two-three instructors.

Hired a tuk-tuk from Tiger park around 3 pm for 70 Baht/person and in no time we found ourselves in the middle of an exotic beach that falls short of words while being described. It is calm, beautiful, clean and possibly everything that the best beaches would be. You will feel a congenial aura at this beach where youngsters are chilling, playing and having drinks, etc. You will also find families spending quality time. Although in the night, there's hardly anyone on this beach apart from the pleasure seekers, but in the day hours, you can find it very exquisite. Our day ends with a soothing experience and Ahaaaa!! We nozzle our belly with Indian delicacies at a restaurant nearby.

On the third day, after having a scrumptious breakfast, we got into the same taxi that had earlier taken us to the Tiger park. We were handed over with a pamphlet in which different packages were shown. You can choose any one of the best packages if you don't have time and don't want to research online. We paid 1750 Baht/person which included Return hotel transfer, Return trip from Pattaya beach to Coral Island on a speed boat, Lunch (Seafood/Indian cuisines), Jet ski, Sea walk, Banana Boat ride, small water bottle, photos (which we didn't receive yet). This tour starts from 9 am and ends at 4 pm. Make sure you are on time as you surely wouldn't want to give this a miss. You can also opt or customize the package, if you are willing to do other water sports. I would strongly recommend to book your trip from either of the two websites mentioned below. It will be much more affordable than buying from the local agents.

https://online-pattaya.com/pattaya-tours/coral-island

https://www.asia-discovery.com/travel/pattaya/daytour/coral-island-tour-indian-lunch.htm

Day ended with a refreshing swimming pool session in the hotel and after having dinner at another Punjabi restaurant, we went to find some soothing foot massage parlours to relax and to relieve the foot pain. You can easily find numerous massage parlours in line by the streets. It can cost you between 150-200 Baht/person for 1 hour. We then went to pack our bags so as to leave for Bangkok the next morning.

On the fourth day, after breakfast, we hired a cab from our Hotel to Indra Square/Mall in Bangkok for 1200 Baht which includes Toll taxes. We were having the option to take the 117 Baht bus to Bangkok but we were late and didn't want to waste more time, hence hired a Corolla. We wanted to explore Bangkok but time and the busy itinerary didn't allow us to do so. We ended up shopping for almost 6 hrs and had our lunch inside the mall itself. You will be surprised at the variety of cuisines available there in the food court right from Thai to Indian to Continental to Italian and what not. The Thai cuisine served to me just for 70 Baht was exceptionally amazing. Talking about the products of the mall, they are locally manufactured and might last till eternity or might even be till the very evening! I would not recommend you to purchase electronics, jewelry, Travel luggage/bags but you can find best deals in apparels, chocolates, infant's clothing, ladies purse, shoes & wallets.

Around 7 pm, we left for Don Mueang airport for 50 Baht/person by bus no. A3 which stops at Indra Square bus stop. Flew back to Kolkata and spent 1 day exploring the street food of Kolkata including Puchka(s), Calcutta Roll, Mishti doi, chom chom, Rossogolla, Kalajamun and Bengali Kalakand sweet. These dishes truly left a mark and have satisfied our taste buds to the hilt.

After being lost in the world of these luscious & mouth-watering dishes, we rushed to Netaji Subhash Chandra Airport to catch our flight to Nagpur with memories that we'll never leave behind. ❤