After 2 years in India it was rather sad that we had not yet done a South East Asia trip (with the exception of Singapore). It was a conscious decision to focus on trips in India and the idea was to do a month long backpacking trip at the end of the assignment prior to moving back to the US. Given that there are two and a half of us, the whole backpacking thing went out the window. Prachee calls it a “baby moon,” I call it one last hoorah!
What better place to start than the beach! We flew from Bangalore to Phuket via Bangkok and stayed at the Kamala Beach Hotel & Resort which was recommended by our friend Phil. It was a chill place – exactly what we were looking for. Lots of reading by the pool and the beach, broken up by fantastic (southern) Thai seafood and walks on the beach. We’d definitely recommend the hotel even though we were a little out of place as we had not arrived on a charter plane from Northern Europe. Tons of Scandinavians, Dutch & French staying for 1-2 weeks at a time. I love doing nothing at the beach, but I don’t think I could do it for 2 weeks straight!
Kamala Beach is also 15 minutes by taxi to Patong, which is probably Phuket’s best known town/beach. It is kind of a mini-Bangkok with the bars, clubs and nutty night life. At this point this is not necessarily our scene, but we were glad to be so close and we spent one evening in Patong. We were also very fortunate because they were having a “Beach Festival” for 4 days which included about 60 or 70 food stalls all along the beach boardwalk highlighting all the different types of Thai cuisine. We were planning on eating at a restaurant, but when we saw all the food stands we couldn’t resist and ended up eating as we walked. After coming from India it is a pleasure to be able to eat from the street vendors with no fear of getting sick – the cleanliness & professionalism is fantastic!
Prachee is usually the big fan of massages, but during pregnancy the kinds of massages are restricted. On the beach, there are a couple of massage beds every 20 feet and of course our hotel had about 10 of them – perpetually busy! On our last morning we decided to get up early and start off the day with a massage. Prachee chose an oil massage (gentle) and I chose Thai (when in Rome…) having never had one before. For the next 1 hour this diminutive Thai woman proceeded to pretzelize me, using her hands, elbows, forearms and feet – using her entire body weight as leverage. I often wonder why I don’t like massages – to me they are just the ultimate luxury. Somebody labors (for very little money ~$10 for 1 hr) in order to relieve you of your physical pain. I guess it’s just my personality, but physical pain is something you endure, not relieve. For this reason, Thai massage appeals to me – in order to achieve the relief you have to endure 1 hour of pain!
Prachee and I both finished a great new book at the beach in Phuket so I wanted to encourage you to read it if you haven’t already. The White Tiger is Aravind Adiga’s first novel and the 2008 Man Booker prize winner. For those of us who live in India, the narrative strikes close to home, but regardless, it is an exceptionally written novel with a unique and dark story that you won’t be able to put down.
Next is Bangkok, followed by Christmas in Hanoi. I will try to post individual blogs for each, but we’ll see how that goes. I’ll probably post photos at the end once we get back to Bangalore. Check back soon!
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