The years saw us craving it like chocolate ... we planned innumerable trips.. sometimes just us .. sometimes with friends... but it never worked out.. Finances became a problem.. then time and then came T (making both finances and time critical).
And then P surprised me with air tickets to phuket on my birthday.. we still weren't sure till the last day if we would make it . Murphy's law was completely at work and we kept dodging it with all our might... It turned out my parents were going out of town on the exact same dates and would not be able to keep T. So we changed the dates to suit them. Then T's favourite maid left. We found a good replacement but we knew T would not be as comfortable. And I really do feel guilty about it because the way we left was extremely un-parent like.. atleast not the kind of parenting we believe it but somewhere deep inside we both knew that we had to take this trip for us.. for just me and P.. and of course for the greater good of T.. He wouldn't want his parents to separate.. would he?? okay maybe that was exaggerated but really we just had to do this trip by ourselves...
And then we finally left for the airport, throwing caution to the winds.. The boarding began after the usual routine.. as soon as we were on the plane, we were told that fog was enveloping the airport and visibility was low, so dinner would be served till it got better and then we would be off.. Of course that never happens... so we had a nice thai dinner on the plane.. the strong lemon grass from the rice..enticing us with promises of a week of thai food ahead. Then we were promptly shown the door and packed off to a hotel to spend the night and await the morning flight. I tried to convince P that this was a sign and we should call it off to return to our little T's arms. P of course had more sense and decided to carry on.
We finally got to phuket 12 hrs later than planned. The flight inspite of everything was great fun. It was amazing to just be able to talk to P without the million interruptions that T brought.. pleasant ones for sure but interruptions nonetheless.
The next day saw us heading to our favourite haunts.. the Patong beach to buy some beach wear and then Karon. You have to see where we stayed. This place is a tropical paradise, we loved it the first time and were completed floored this time.. We rented an open jeep for our stay and drove around all of Phuket, the quiet
beaches, the really noisy ones, the old town and the party places.
I distinctly remember hating the smell of beer that last time but this time I couldn't resist it. We behaved liked crazy drunks and started drinking bear at noon. Actually it was more me than husband ji :)
I vaguely recall saying things like.. "Beer has to be the best thing in the afternoon" and got a nice whack on my back from husband ji. To the husband's polite enquiry of ordering a coke with an evening snack.. my reply was.." coke? why?? aren't we still in Phuket".
The mornings were spent lazing at the beach.. eating.. drinking.. swimming.. and reading. You won't believe how much reading I got done in 6 days.. it was fantastic.. the husband not being a great reading fan indulged in water sports and let me be :)
The evenings meant long drives around spirally roads running parallel to the ocean.. The sunsets on that island are stuff dreams are made of. The sun really just melted into the sea and the sky turns hues of reds and blues that I haven't seen anywhere. Then came dinner.. sometimes a fancy restaurant over looking the sea with pitchers of Margaretas.. and some on shacks along the beach.. feet dipped in white sand.. under trees blowing in the soft breeze. We are nuts about Thai food and the street food here is the best. We gorged on grilled fish stuffed with lemon grass, prawns with basil, pineapple rice, green and red curries and my favourites phad thai and larb koi.. We stuffed ourselves like pigs and then spent the rest of the evenings at bars chatting up other tourists and more drinking.
If you have been to Thailand you would have heard of the famous lady-boys. If not, the name should give you a fair idea. A street cutting right across the famous patong beach is their hangout. I got the cultural shock of my life the first time I entered this street 4 years ago. This time.. well.. to be honest it still got to me but not enough to stop me from having a good time. The street is lined by pubs and bars on both sides. Lady-boys dancing on table tops... on poles.. on whatever surface they could. Tourists thronging the streets and the pubs.. crazy loud music.. and a lot of foreign men.. all shapes and sizes and ages walking hand in hand ( and sometimes something more) with local girls or lady-boys, basically escorts. This is the part that gets to you at times and so do the numerous people going around with pictures, trying to get you to their night club to watch awful, sadistic (erotic to some) acts. Anyway... the night life here is an experience. It's like the sin city.
On a happier note, we bonded plenty over all this fun and went for wonderfully relaxing spa treatments. The hotel spa was gorgeous with an outdoors plunge pool overlooking the sea. I've seen some really fancy Indian spas in Delhi and even Goa and boy do they have a long long way to go.
The hotel pool was another favourite hangout since both of us love the water. Another favourite activity were midnight strolls on the beach under the sparkling moon. The final late night or rather early morning haunt was the 24 hour ice-cream place, so it was minty chocolate chip and mocha ice creams in big waffle cones.. It's a miracle we didn't put on any weight.
One funny thing is that even the shortest clothes you possess seem long there and everyday sees you shedding some more (swear it wasn't just me.. it was all around me :) .. ) . And one really sad thing to note was that the Thai people (atleast the ones we came in contact with ) were not as friendly as the last time, infact some were really rude like this young lady (not sure if I can call her a lady) who owns the silver jewellery shop at patong right where you enter Soi Bangla (the party street), was so rude and abusive. Do not go to that store if you happen to be in the area. Maybe this had something to do with being the high season and too much business but it was disappointing.
PS: And like the last time I wore a bikini, in spite of the added tyres :)
3 comments:
ah! finally!
now you have to make us jealous with your eventful Bangalore trip.
:) wow!! what a fabulous holiday! You owed it yourself! :) How did Baby T react when you guys were back?
we want bikini pics. i insist.
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