The Sign Language

I would have learned this upfront :)

Thank god that our guide knew English. Otherwise it would have been a tough time to stay in Thailand.

Majority of the Thailand people don't know English. Thai is the official language. 

And the problem is that you have to learn the Sign Language. Convey what you want through actions and drawings. I must say that it is tough.

When we wanted to go to the nearest metro station and when tried to hire a tuk-tuk, that was the worst time I stumbled upon the language barrier.

It took nearly 15 minutes for me to make him understand that I want to go to the metro station. I even made the sound of the train and the hand movement to make him understand. And at the 20th minute he got angry with me and left. 

Did I look like a loser in that street. I think so.

It's like a foreigner in Kerala and asking for something to a guy who don't know English  The spectators thinks that the foreign guy is either mad or not eligible to be in Kerala :)

Best thing that works there is to have the visiting card or the picture of a location and show them. That worked for me 85% of the time.

On the way to Pattaya

Gems Gallery Bangkok

When the guide told us about this place as the biggest gem gallery in the world, I did not take it seriously. Rather all those jewellery advertisements from India were flashing through my mind, in which everyone claimed that they were the biggest :)

But the moment we entered the Gems Gallery, I was convinced about the fame it had. 

First they took us for a small train tour, where they will show the life cycle of gem creation. And how it is processed. Very impressive journey which will provide you with knowledge in that area. 

By the time we were out from it, we fell with love with the gems. Ani gave me a warning, not to purchase anything without her knowledge. She know me :)

Then they took us to the sales area where you can purchase gems jewellery. The showroom was too huge that you need a complete day to go through all the collections they have.

We rushed through the collections as we only had less time to spend there. And I had a plan in mind to buy a gift for Ani as it was our Wedding Anniversary that day. What a coincidence :)

I bought her a nice bracelet as gift and she was soo happy for it.

I recommend this place for a visit.

Wat Pho

The time the trip was confirmed, I started checking out the specialties of Thailand. And this Buddha Statue came up in all the searches. This is also called - Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

The complete name: Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan. Wat Pho is better right :)

In the premises of Wat Pho

We reached there by around 10 in the morning. Like any other places in Thailand, this place was also clogged up with tourists. Majorly from US & Russia.

We already had the tickets ready and entered the premises. 

One specialty which Ani was pointing out was the shoe bag which they provided (we can carry it with us), as we have to remove the shoes to enter the structure. She was telling that the similar practice should be here in India.

I know why she told about it. I had a couple of bad experiences of losing my favorite shoes from the church premises. It happened once that when I came out my shoes were missing. I cannot walk bare foot and so I took someone elses shoes and went home. Then I realized that, the pain of losing the shoe was a chain. One person does the mistake and it goes through others.

Fantastic and colorful structure.

Wat Pho is named after a monastery in India where Buddha is believed to have lived.[4] Prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions.

Adjacent to the building housing the Reclining Buddha is a small raised garden, the centrepiece being a bodhi tree which is propagated from the original tree in India where Buddha sat while awaiting enlightenment. I clicked a picture with Ani in the canvas.

Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok (with an area of 50 rai, 80,000 square metres), and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images of 160 ft length: the Reclining Buddha.

Ani near to one of the golden color entrance

The image of reclining Buddha is 15 m high and 43 m long with his right arm supporting the head with tight curls on two box-pillows of blue, richly encrusted with glass mosaics. The 3 m high and 4.5 m long foot of Buddha displays are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. They are divided into 108 arranged panels, displaying the auspicious symbols by which Buddha can be identified like flowers, dancers, white elephants, tigers and altar accessories. Over the statue is a seven tiered umbrella representing the authority of Thailand. There are 108 bronze bowls in the corridor indicating the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. People drop coins in these bowls as it is believed to bring good fortune, and to help the monks maintain the wat. Though the reclining Buddha is not a pilgrimage centre, it remains an object of popular piety.

I was amazed by the construction of the structure and the ambiance they had for meditation. Loves a place like that where you can sit all alone away from this world.

A Tuk-Tuk outside Wat Pho

Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens

Frankly, when planned for the places to visit, this did not turn up in the list. And so we were not having an expectation about this place. But the moment we saw the way they have maintained the entrance area, we knew at that point - it is going to be a fantastic place. And really it is!

And I was telling Ani that we need to cover the whole place in few hours. That plan got teared apart when the guide told us that the village has 600 acres of sprawling landscape to walk around. We did not lose our hope.

And it was interesting to know that the garden belonged to an individual, unlike the government operated ones in India. 

Pisit and Nongnooch Tansacha purchased the 600-acre (2.4 km2) plot of land in 1954 with the intentions of developing the land as a fruit plantation. However, the owners instead decided to plant tropical flowers and plants as a wildlife conservation project. The garden opened to the public in 1980, and management was transferred to Pisit and Nongnooch's son Kampon Tansacha in 2001.

The guide took us for the cultural show area inside the village first. My mind was full of the gardens around that I did not like the cultural dance show. And that too, after Alcazar show, nothing of that kind will impress you. I wanted to go out. I was poking Ani to walk out, like many of the tourist did. But she wanted to watch.

Waited for an hour to get the show to get over and I took her hand and dragged to the garden. I was running around out of excitement. It was 20 times of Lal Bagh.

Well maintained and so colorful, that you will not allow even a grass to escape from your lens. I clicked around like a thirsty photographer.

The garden is divided into several areas. You can feel that transition clearly as you move on.

French Garden

European Garden

Stonehenge Garden

Cactus & Suculent Garden

Variegated Plants

Ant Tower

Butterfly Hill

Orchid & Bromeliad Display Garden

Flower valley

As I mentioned earlier: In addition to examining the wildlife, tourists experience religious ceremonies, martial arts demonstrations, massages, and elephant shows. There are also two restaurants, a small zoo and a hotel with a swimming pool and Thai style rental houses on the grounds.

Martial Art demonstration was like a comedy show for me. It has some real kicks and stunt styles which I enjoyed. As the stunt was staged, even when those two people were fighting and kicking each other; they had all smiles on their face (I am laughing inside now while writing this). They are used to it, that's the reason.

But it also reminded me about - Tony Jaa - who hails from Thailand. I have enjoy his martial arts and these people seemed to be his disciples.

All together, A Fantastic Journey...

Second day in Pattaya

One thing we already planned was to have some backup places for visiting. What happens is that the trip organizers will give enough time to take rest, which Ani and I don't want to go through. We are there for a visit with some money spent and wanted to utilize whatever was in reach of our plan and place.

One of the main attractions in Pattaya are the beaches, crystal clear that you can see what lies beneath - the rich coral reefs and fishes, it is an awesome experience.

We started off in a speed boat, which is the main transportation in that area. They will take you for a fly over the sea. 

One thing I learned from that journey is that there are gutters in the water too. The boat was going so fast that it goes up the violent waves and comes down with great impact. Oh god, it was like travelling in KSRTC  bus through thrissur - Palakkad bypass. Ani got headache due to the rough journey.

But I enjoyed it :)

On the way, we had a halt at the parasailing point. I flew over the oceans :)

Then went for undersea walk. 

The final destination was the Coral Island where we spend the rest of the day in the white sandy beaches and other water games.

Fantastic day with the other tourists who had all smiles on their face.

Another two places to visit in pattaya are the Nong Nooch village & Mini Siam

Must visit places. 

One day is not enough to visit the Nong Nooch Village. I must say - it's a fantastic place to hang out. For me there was numerous places to click for the pics. I was pulling Ani on her hand to cover the place in short time. She got frustrated with my running :)

Nong Nooch Village

Ani clicked this photo in Mini Siam

Will write some detail info about these places in another post.