Beautiful Pattaya

The day I was to leave Pattaya, I wanted to spend the morning strolling on the beach. It is one of the things I had dearly wanted to do for a long long time. The temperature was perfect, not more than 26C. The beach was about 200 meters from the hotel. It was easy-peasy to walk down and walk right into the Gulf of Thailand. I walked for a while in the water, feeling the warm, fine sand between my toes. Some parts of the sea are cordoned off using a rope and barrels so the tourists may swim in safety.

Like a blessing from heavens, a light rain began to fall. The blue seas you see in the picture above with dark green trees are from the spot I chose to walk in. It was even more gorgeous when laid out in all its rain drenched glory right in front of my eyes. It was a beautiful moment. I walked all the way to western most end of the beach.There was a cliff at the end with a wall from a resort blocking my way. I walked to the edge of the wall and spotted a secluded beach that the resort probably used as a an exclusive offer to its clients. It was no better or no worse than the public beach that was on offer for me. I raised my eyes to the sky and spotted a perfectly curved rainbow dipping into the sea.

It was a perfect end to a perfect stay in Pattaya. I had arrived there with a bunch of friends just a couple of days ago. We were booked into a hotel right on the Pattaya's beachfront area. We went walking through the unbelievably glittery, glamorous walking street of Pattaya. At the far end, we sat and ate french fries and cold drinks before heading to the view point area. On our way back we stopped at a Punjabi dhaba and tried their delicious food. We got chatting with the owners about places to go and they helped us book a boat ride to Coral Islands and Tawaen Beach right there. Next morning we were picked up with a bunch of other people and taken to a parasailing spot. Some of us tried there. On Coral Island we dropped off another bunch of people who were going underwater. We were then dropped off at Tawaen Beach.

Tawaen Beach

 It was glorious. There was fine white stretch of sand and water so blue that it dazzled our eyes. We were let loose to go banana boating and frolic on the sand. I tried swimming in the sea and got mouthfuls of salt water! It was exhilarating. That evening we were to try another of Pattaya's exotic offerings- the transgender cabaret. It is hard to do justice to this stage show. The color, the fantastic dancing, the music, the lighting, the costumes are so worth the hype.

One of the benchmarks of a good experience is your wanting to do it all over again. Whenever I think of my time in Pattaya, I want to be back there again. There is so much we hear about Thailand, its sex trade, the dangers we were likely to face and how unsavory it could be. We were in Thailand for five days and never once did we feel unsafe. We were walking around late in the night, just a bunch of women. Living in India has taught us to always put our safety first, here we are always watching our backs and trying not to get into a dangerous situation. Maybe that training helped us and we were unscathed.

Now that traveling for fun is put on indefinite hold, it may be a long long time before I am able to return to this lovely beach city. If you are lucky to be there remember: There are plenty of Indian food stores to eat out if you are the kind who cannot do without home food. Try not fall into tourist traps and do your own thing. You can spend a lot of money and do things flamboyantly, on the other hand you can have a budget holiday and enjoy yourselves to the maximum. There are many bloggers who write in detail about how to travel around the cities cheaply. Do try to read up as much as possible while planning your trip.

Pattaya Skyline seen from the steamboat

Life marches on

Cool weather and warm socks
watching rain from the window
a cup of tea
fresh made food
nowhere to go
quick naps when I want
long walks when I want
watching the sun span the sky
watching the moon bloom at night
happiness lies in counting your blessings
they say

The poem is probably bad but I didn't want to pick up one written by another to indicate the state of my mind. Why not write it myself? I love poetry but probably suck at it. It is so hard to evaluate yourself. Why is it so hard to write something and not be able to tell if it invokes the kind of feelings in others that I am trying to express.

What I am trying to say is, it can be a lot of fun to be alone. It is fun when you are not under constraint to do things. Such a time can come only under two circumstances, 1. You are unmarried and living on your own. 2. Your children have grown up and moved away. Unfortunately, this state has come to me at 2. I wish I had been courageous enough to live on my own when I was younger, I may never have changed that. I realize that I am a natural loner. Even in company it is my tendency to keep me to myself. I am like a fakir inside.

I have changed the name of my blog and will try to post more. More snapshots of my past, more about my doings.

Swimming and Kerala

I cannot pinpoint the exact year when we visited Kerala. It was surely 1971 to 1973. It was most likely 1972. One of my father's friends was getting married in his village in Kerala. Alas, I don't remember the name of the village either. It was close to Cochin as far as I remember.

I remember taking a train through Kerala. I have not ever seen such a verdant landscape. It was lush and green. More treats were coming our way.  We walked at the edge of a valley which was again, so full of foliage that all I saw was a carpet of green. If I had slipped and fallen into the deep valley, I doubt if I would have hit the ground. I would have landed on a leafy tree.

At night the fireflies came out. I was amazed at the numbers and the size of them. They seemed more numerous and more brilliant than the stars. It was an unforgettable image that has stayed with me. Whenever I think of Kerala, I think of Lush greenery and the brilliant fireflies.

There is another image that has remained with me, the sea. No, the valley had no sea close by. While returning, we stayed one night in Cochin, maybe waiting for a connecting train back to Bangalore. The hotel was Bolgatty Palace. I realize now it was a heritage hotel. In those days it seemed simpler. Just a hotel slap on the seashore. We reached there late and went to bed immediately.

Next day morning, I went around the grounds and was mesmerised by the sight of the sea. I stood at the edge of the lawn staring into the deep green water. I declared I wanted to learn swimming. My mother promised to teach me as soon as I returned to Bangalore.

We lived close to High Grounds in Bangalore and my mother chose the swimming pool of Hotel Ashok (then plain old Ashok, now the swanky Lalit Ashok) which was 10 minutes walk away. They had a nominal fee for a day use of the pool and had nice changing rooms. To begin with, my mother taught me how to swim in the kiddie pool. Once I learned, I graduated to the big pool.  It was a clean pool with water filters and well scrubbed tiles. I fell absolutely in love with swimming and went quite often to the pool. Sometimes, I even took my friends along to show off my swimming skills. I wasn't very skilled, all I can do is the breast stroke, but I showed off nevertheless.

Till date, swimming remains my favorite activity. I have just abandoned my aerobics class as I was too hot and took up swimming for the season. I was full of prickly heat because of the soaring temperatures. After a couple of days of being immersed in water for 50 minutes, I am cured and cool once more. The sight of the pool always brings back the memory (by association) of the deep green water of the Arabian Sea which inspired me to take up swimming.