Tag: Thailand

Journey to Maya Beach and Phi-Phi island, Thailand

Posted on by Prabhith Prabhakaran

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

We travelled to Thailand in March 2015. Phi-Phi island and Maya beach (on the way to phi phi) was one of the major attractions in that trip. It is  a very popular tourist destination in Southern Thailand due to its aqua blue water, white sand beaches and lush mountains. The Phi Phi Island is an island group in Thailand, between the large island of  Phuket and the straits of Malacca coast of Thailand.  Many people come to Phi Phi Islands to visit the beach of Maya Bay, renown for being the setting for “The Beach”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

There are ferries from both Krabi and Phuket, but the frequency of the ferries and the time varies from season to season. We took a ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi Don. The ferry ride is roughly 1.5 hours long. The boats were nice with comfortable seats. There are also decks outside from where you can enjoy the view of the clear blue water.

We stayed at Novotel resort in Phuket and managed to reach near the boat by around 8 AM.

The tour starts from Phuket in the morning around 8.30 AM and return back to the same place around 4 PM. Tea and other snacks are available within the boat and they also arrange a lunch at the Phi Phi island. We had taken a boat named ‘Sea Angel Cruise’.

They stopped the boat in the middle of the sea near Maya Bay to do some Snorkeling and Swimming. The snorkeling equipment and swimming costumes are available for rent in the boat itself.

The Beautiful Noong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden, Pattaya Thailand

Posted on by Prabhith Prabhakaran

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret” – Oscar Wilde

We visited Noong Nooch Botanical garden in March 2015.

In case if you get a chance to visit Pattaya, never miss this beautiful Garden (obviously it is all your personal taste and preference). It’s worth the money and please ensure that your camera is fully charged before entering this garden. Nong Nooch garden is a strange addition to the nightclub and bar scene we all normally associate with Pattaya.

This is one of the biggest botanical gardens in Southeast Asia. This was actually a private garden that was meant to be a fruit plantation when the land was first purchased in 1954, but the owner, Mrs. Nongnooch Tansacha became inspired by other botanical gardens after traveling the world, and decided to have one of her own on her newly-purchased land instead.

This is a huge garden (500+ acres) and am quite sure you will certainly get tired after reaching mid way. Really this is hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…. But you have options like ‘rent a bicycle’.

You can see:

1. Tropical garden: The Nong Nooch Tropical Garden has 20,000 tropical trees which is collected from 50 countries around the world. The most distinctive is the collection of more than 600 species of orchids. Orchid Garden is fully green which brings cool air that is comfortable for visitors.

2. Mammoth Gardens: There are massive number of sculptures of animals and insects in the garden.

3. Vintage Car collection

4. Little/Mini Siam-Miniature replica

5. Luxury Resort

6. Selfie with Tiger

Address: Na Jomtien 6 Tambon Na Chom Thian, Amphoe Sattahip, Chang Wat Chon Buri 20250, Thailand

A life Time experience @ Damnoen Saduak Tiger Zoo and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Bangkok, Thailand

Posted on by Prabhith Prabhakaran

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret” – Oscar Wilde

We visited Bangkok in March 2015.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market (at Ratchaburi):

It is Thailand’s one of the five most popular floating markets. We get a chance to explore Thailand’s oldest and unique traditions in that journey. We move through the narrow canals hunting for exotic fruit and vegetable deals. We can also look for some traditional food, handicrafts etc.

There is enough parking space available near this floating market.

Every day many Thai and foreign tourists travel here to shop, eat, and absorb the atmosphere of Thailand’s water markets that have been like this for many decades.

An early morning start is worth it to avoid the heat. This is one of the lengthiest and straight canal spread across 30+ Kms.

The market is busy in the morning time. Many of the items for sale are overpriced because of the number of tourists visiting this place daily. But Bargains are always possible.

This is around 100+ Kms from the main city centre. It takes around 1.5-2 Hours to reach here.

Damnoen Saduak Tiger Zoo:

This will be a life time opportunity for you. Don’t miss this place. We visited this zoo on our way back to Bangkok from Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.

There are lot of tigers here. Seems all these tigers were born here and are treated well. The place is clean. We really enjoyed our tiger experience, and the staffs were very patient and helped us take our pictures.

At the time of taking the ticket, we were not much scared but when we reached near the tigers, our heart beats increased than normal. You also get a chance to feed the tiger cubs. Really a wonderful experience.

There are also some other animals aswell, in the Zoo Premises.

Enroute you can also notice lot of fields where you can see people busy in ‘Salt Production’.

You also get to see a lot of fried insects ready to eat in the local street markets here.

This trip helped us to complete 2 of my Bucket list items. Really happy.

The world of happiness @ Safari world, Bangkok, Thailand

Posted on by Prabhith Prabhakaran

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before” – Dalai Lama

Travelled to Bangkok Safari World during March 2015, along with my family.

If you are travelling with your kids to Bangkok, this is one place that you should never miss. Highly recommended. You might need one full day here.

Safari World is located at Northern Bangkok, about 45 minutes-1 hour drive from the city center. Safari World started in the year 1988 and has developed into a popular tourist destination that now consists of two parks – Safari Park and Marine Park. It is open all year round from 9:00am to 5:00pm, so it would be good to plan your visit such that you can arrive early and have the whole day to explore both parks.

I will try to share with you all the sights we saw and fun experiences we had in Safari World.

In the Safari Park area, there is a driveway everywhere, which helps you to go close to the animals! This is something unique here. You can either rent a car and drive in yourself, arrange for a private car transfer, take a taxi and ride in, or go on the coach tours offered at Safari World too. Drive slowly, don’t feed the animals, don’t honk or make loud noises.

The animal shows are one of the highlights at Safari World so if you can, do try to include at least a couple of them during your visit. We went for the ‘Elephant Show’

There are multiple restaurants available within the campus. Of course, the prices would be high.

Never miss the Dolphin show. As soon as you take the tickets, ensure to check the timings of various shows like Dolphin, Elephant and so on.

Major Shows to watch:

  • Orang Utan Boxing
  • Sea Lion
  • Water Ski
  • Hollywood Cowboy stunt show
  • Dolphin show
  • Spy War Actions Stunt Spectacular
  • Bird show

Safari World claims to have the world’s largest herd of giraffes.

They also have a ‘Eggs World’, which they claim as ‘World’s one and only’. In this area, there are lots of exhibition, explanation, and interaction with eggs, incubators, and the creatures that lay eggs.

Address:

Safari World Public Company Limited

99 Panyaintra Road Samwatawantok, Klongsamwa,

Bangkok , 10510 THAILAND

Web site: http://www.safariworld.com/