Bangkok trip - Video

This is the first travel video I made. Feel free with your feedback.

Dummies guide to a Budget London Trip

After I bragged about my backpacking expeditions, I was faced with this question from a close acquaintance  "Whats the cheapest and best way to enjoy London?" .. very typical Indian brahmin question!

My answers to the question:

• As soon as you reach London, buy an Oyster Card for public transport. It comes at a 3 pounds refundable deposit and you can use it for Tube and the famous red bus. 
• Use Tube only between stations more than 5 hops away. If it is 1 or 2 hops away, take the red bus and sit on top. Better, walk! Or even Oyster card wont work if you use it for 1 hop tube stations. You will walk more within stations than end to end destination
• Walk the South Banks of Thames. You will cover most of London's sightseeing spots. Start at Trafalgar square, walk upto Big Ben, walk around London Eye just across the road and walk along the South Banks. Dont forget to stop by  the Tower Bridge and Millenium Bridge. You could spend a half day and you would have enjoyed a good part of London's attractions.
  
• To finish off the day, head to Leicester square for the best night life. 
• For a cheap Place to crash, try Youth Hostels. For the friendly neighborhood traveler, there is always the Indian YMCA.
  which costs upto 25 pounds for a twin sharing room and the cost includes breakfast and dinner.
  

More details from My London trip

Koh Phangan - The Fullmoon party island

Phangan island is on the South West of Thailand,along with other popular islands like Koh Samui, Koh Tao and well connected to the mainland by ferries. Being backpackers, we took the overnight ferry to get the feel of it, save a night's rent and not devote a precious day of vacation to traveling. The ferry is 400 baht a person and gave a surprise on entry. It is more like a goods ferry and a closed deck full of beds. So it was a sleeper afterall.

A fellow traveler advertised his bungalow in Haad Yao, which he claimed was 5 kms from Thong-Sala port. He also said the transfer to his bungalow was on him.This was a good deal we accepted.
You get a room for 200 baht a night. It anyway saves you 150 baht/person of hiring public transport to search yourself a room. And then, you can always checkout in a day once you are more comfortable with the island. Thats what we did!

Haad Yao had beautiful little cottages on the beach front with a restaurant as well. They even rent out bikes. 200 baht is the smallest price you pay to stay a white sand beach. You can walk 1 km into the sea and the water will still be at your knees, not to forget the lack of waves. It sometimes feels like a pond.

We roamed around Phangan island, stopping at Tesco and 7-eleven's, buying food and fuel, till we finally rode up and down the mountains to reach the famous Haad Rin beach. 36 hours before the full moon party and the place is already alive. People renting water scooters, sun bathing, playing in the beach etc.

Evening was even more happening. There were colorful stalls selling thai-buckets, tatoos and other goodies. There were pool parties nearby. Had a good night out.

Next day we found a place closer to Haad Rin beach in preparation for the full moon party. Its worth sleeping a noon to party all night at Haad Rin's world famous Full Moon party. About ten to twenty thousand people come down for this event to Koh Phangan island. The entire stretch of the beach is pumping with enthusiasm with music on the full moon night. People are all over the place flying hot air baloons, drinking, dancing, passing out :-)

Krabi - Thailand's Beach Paradise

Krabi is down south of Thailand and one of the best scenic places I have visited till date.

We took the night train from Bangkok to Surat-Thani , then a 2 hour long bus to Krabi, 40 minute shuttle to Ao-Nang-Mo and boat from Ao-Nang-Mo to Railay beach. Once on Railay, you just realize that all the travel was completely worth. Railay beach is surrounded by tropical forest and terrain and in the middle is a beautiful little peninsula. East Railay beach and West Railay beach, about 10 minutes walk apart.

We reached almost by noon, checked a few places on East and West Railay beaches. The resorts seemed really nice to stay and relax but a little out of my budget. These were like 1200 -1500 baht per night, on the beach, having swimming pool and stuff. Places which are not on the beach are much cheaper. Ya Ya Resort where we stayed was like 300 baht and just about suited a backpacker's requirement, a place to crash and shower.

We took a walk in the peninsula into the tropical forest. Lush green forests and mountains. Rock climbing is a rage in Railay. They have courses as well, even like a day course for beginners to lure the short visit tourists.

Diamond cave is pretty famous around this place. 40 baht for entry and the place claims to have great Stalactites and Stalagmites. We managed to miss the entry before 6pm and headed off for a walk to Tonsai beach.

The whole of Railay comes alive at night fall. Little alleys that connect buildings and resorts light up and shops open on any cemented or wooden platform.
We chose a restaurant which had seating on the sea deck and also a band playing Thai rock and some English rock too.

Next day, we went on a day trip to the islands. The speed boat trip for 1000 baht takes you to 3-4 islands nearby. Bamboo island, Maya bay (location where the movie "The beach" was shot), Koh Phi Phi, Monkey bay and some other. If there is a low tide, you can stand on the boat deck and enjoy the speed ride with Turquoise all around with little lush green patches or islands :-)

Krabi has some good coral reefs to see. The speed boat guys made up jump off in the middle of the sea with snorkelling equipment and lo! behold! lovely coral reefs.. just like you have seen in movies. For first timers like me... it felt "out of the world"
The Turquoise bay, the white sands and clear blue skies never fail to bring a smile. Add to it the off-season discounts in October and you have a perfect holiday in your own little budget!

How to get to Krabi: You can fly from Bangkok or take the overnight train or bus.
Try the over night sleeper train till Surat-Thani for ~450 baht. And a 2 hr bus from Surat-thani to Krabi. For the way back, the last bus from Krabi to Surat-Thani is at 5.30 pm.

Places to Stay: Ao-Nang beach is very touristy and not very clean. Railay beach has good resorts on the beach front and decent places interiors. These should cost around 200 baht in off season and double in high season. Resorts start prices from 1200 baht in off season.

Places to see: Take a speed boat trip to the islands. The guys know best islands to visit. Its worth a day visit. Some also provide snorkelling and diving equipment and take you to the right spots.

Activities: Snorkelling, Rock climbing, Scuba diving (they have courses in some places in high season), Kayaking, Enjoying!!!

Amazing Thailand - Bangkok!

My Thailand trip was for 8 days. I spent 2 days in bangkok when I landed and then a day before I left. Bangkok, as a city, as a capital, is just awesome! Almost everything about Bangkok impressed me. The Thais are very hardworking and still very sweet natured. Tourism is their huge business and they really value that. On Arrival visa and Airport Express to close proximity of the hostel was pretty quick despite the bad traffic scene of Bangkok (almost as bad as Bangalore but a little more disciplined)

I had a take away breakfast near Silom area. Corn and cheese sandwich from a gadi and fried corn flour pancakes with some sugar. This is like paddu in South India, much sweeter. I fell in love with this stuff.

The first temple I visited was Wat Yannawa near Silom area, which is really close to our hostel. This temple is not touristy but very well built and fully operational. You can well admire Pagoda style of building, especially if its your first time, like me!

We next took the boat to Wat Pho. That was the cheapest way to reach there paying 13 baht per person. You can also take taxis which are very convient and would charge like 60 baht.

Wat Pho is the famous temple of Reclining Buddha. The entry is 50 baht and the temple really huge to justify the entry. There are 9 phases of this temple. The huge Reclining Buddha is definitely the biggest attraction. There are also newer temples built and being built in the same campus. Wat Pho also has a school of Thai massage. I had my first Thai massage from one of the students. It was very relaxing after the day's walking and I almost dozed off while I was nicely massaged to sleep.

In the evening, we hit the Suan Lum night bazaar. This is a huge market area open till mid night. The crowd is mostly touristy though some Thais also do their shopping here. Prices are obviously hiked if you are a foreigner, so just bargain! The area outside the bazaar has some good cafes to hang out for a drink f have a good meal.

Khao San road is among most famous parts of Bangkok's night life and yes we were there to experience it. Went to Brick bar. This is a local favorite I guess. The local rock back was performing Thai versions of famous English Rock numbers and had the whole place swaying. The whole joint had great positive vibes with the place being live every moment. had a great time there.

Me with the guitarist !

Next we went to Sam's. This is the most low cost bar and after all 7 elevens (super markets selling alcohol till midnight) close, he sells the cheapest drinks. Sam's has a few mats and low tables spread in front of a closed bank and attracting huge crowds.
Ofcourse we ran into lady boys and hookers, ate a lot of road side local food and had a ball.

Next day was mostly relaxing, hanging around, shopping fr clothes and jewelery and booking our tickets to Krabi, the beach paradise!

Some info:

Places to stay: New Road Guest House in Bangkok, Thailand

1216/1 Charoen Krung between soi 34 and 36, 10500, Bangkok

Cost of stay: 140 baht per person in a dorm

Food: You get a variety of packed food in 7 eleven . I trusted these to be the most hygienic. Eating is never a problem in Bangkok, with plenty of places. But stick to the fried or baked stuff. Buy bottled water from 7 eleven.

Getting around: Sky train and boat are good. If you are a small group, taxis a re a good option too. Dont take tuk-tuk s.

shopping: MBK mall is a great place. But you need to look around to get classy stuff. Alternatively, choose the malls that have discount sales.

My Weekend in Chikmagalur

Friday, 18th May 2007
3.15 PM – 18 member gang starts from Bangalore with full preparation.
Around 5 PM -stop for coffee in Bellur, which is about 80Km from Bangalore. Coffee, usually doesnot mean just coffee/tea. It also means rava idly, rava dosa, masala dosa and the likes.
10.20 PM- arrive at Chikmagalur (Shakti Resorts).
Me and cousin, ran first to check out the best of all the 7 cottages that were allotted to our group, and finally settled into one cottage. We had picked the one that had a huge tree blocking the doorway, which made the entry and exit difficult. Anyone who ventured to the cottage in the darkness would surely bang his/her head against a branch of the tree. Yet, we were the ones who had the liberty to pick and choose among the cottages.
After a peaceful dinner, we all went back to our cottages to catch up with some sleep.

Saturday, 19th May 2007
6.35 AM- I wake up without any wakeup call and start wandering around. Surprisingly, my sleepy-headed brother is also wandering around the cottages. How did we wakeup without any alarm on a holiday, when we cant do so on a weekday?
7 AM- some coffee for all the people who were awake. (which was around 7people)
After enjoying the morning peace and beauty( in my mother’s words), bro decided to have a bath and came to my cottage. I shouted at him not to make noise and wake up my cousin, who was sleeping. Unfortunately, this was enough noise to wake her up. Poor thing!
… after breakfast we just lazed around till lunch time. This was one hell of a time we had. Never before in the history of the holidays, have we ever had such a tough time beating the heat. There was not power to run the fans and we had no plans of going out till post-lunch!!! We survived this torturous period somehow with 2 cold showers each in a span of 3 hours.
Post lunch, we went on a drive. stopped by a coffee estate to check out the coffee plantations. Along with the coffee berries, some vanilla plants and a pineapple nestling within a thorny bush, caught my attention.
Then we drove to Baba Bundangiri hills, which is supposed to be a historical tourist attraction. All my life, I have hated places like this, which claim to be tourist attractions. This was not different. The drive downhill from there was a good one though. Got some “exceptionally” nice pictures and videos. We even crossed the tempting junction branching off to kemmangundi.
5.30 PM- stop for coffee. The “Town Canteen” is a brilliant place in the town of Chikmagalur. While walking in, we caught a glimpse(actually stared hard at everybody's plates like 10-day hungry people) of all the people’s plates, and inevitably everyone was eating masala dosa. So we had those super-duper masala dosas too. And some gulab-jamoon and coffee too. Again I reminded myself of the calories and the strict-diet I had to go on.
6.30 PM- drive to Hiremagalur. The Hiremagalur temple is claimed to have been built around 1200 AD, and is the only detachable temple in India. Every part of the temple is dove-tail locked and can be detached and moved.
Back at the resort before dinner, we freshened up and got ready for “Kolata”, which is a folk-dance form(similar to Dhandia ), distinctly famous in Karnataka. My mom, being experienced and better known as being expert in Kolaata, taught us all a few dance steps. The best part was, she had planned for the dance and brought a whole lot of Kolaata sticks. A nice dance around the camp fire and then some good dinner, that made us call it a “day”.

Sunday, 20th May 2007
…. I kept myself in half sleep all night, so that I don’t miss the alarm that was scheduled to ring at 4.45.
4.45 AM – the alarm rings. I wake up my cousin. We walk up to another cottage to see if anyone is awake. Half way through, she decided that she needed more sleep and dropped out of the trek.
5.10 AM- I freshen up and come out of the cottage again. And it’s a wow….
The twilight, birds chirping, my little cousins chirping(talking excitedly) and some hot coffee on the way.
5.30 AM- we set off on the trek to Mullayangiri. It is said to be the 3rd highest peak in South India. The 1st being Anemudi (in Munnar, Kerala) and 2nd being Doddabetta (in Ooty). And yes, I have visited both. I already felt like a Hero.
6.30 AM- End of a 1 hour ride to Mullayangiri. A brilliant scenic ride. With each hair-pin curve, you can see the sunlight in different shades outside your window. Different shades of green in the distant make it more mystic.
It wasn’t much of a trek, because there were well laid steps leading to the top of the mountain. The view from the top again held the trekkers captivated. Imagine looking down upon clouds… and watching the clouds move around mountain tops, making islands of the mountain tops…. Clouds moving over cliff edges, appearing like giant waterfalls….
Downhill drive was a rather cool one. We played our favorite kannada song video “Anisuthide” over and over again, and sang along with it each time till everyone in the car was singing along.
Post breakfast was another no-electricity-heat-relaxing session.
Lunch.
Pack up and leave for Bangalore.

Some info:

Places to stay: there are lots of hotels with in the town limits. But if you want some place tucked away in the outskirts, you could try Shakti Resorts. We were a member at the Shakti resorts, Bangalore and got to stay there. Try to speak to them.

Taj is also a nice place on the outskirts if you are willing to pamper yourself at a little town.

There are lots of homestays that offer good prices. Try "just dial" or google for some great deals.

Average budget: Rs. 1000/- per head per day.

Best time to visit: Summer. Try to schedule your trip after the first showers so the hill station is cooler.

Independence Day weekend at Hampi

Was extremely enthusiastic about the Hampi trip this time. It happens to be my 3rd trip to Hampi and i never for once felt that I have had enough of it. My entire office knew about this trip days before I left because I used references to the "upcoming Hampi trip" in every sentence. And then it happened!

We took the night AC sleeper Corona bus to Hospet and after a little filter coffee in hospet, took the next bus to Hampi. We were all flocked by guides and auto drivers as soon as we hopped off the bus and despite shooing them all off, one kid held on to our group till we crossed the river and reached Virupapur Gadde. I had stayed here earlier and had a fair idea of prices. The way locals try their innocent brains to squeeze off some extra money is pretty funny. Anyway after the first timers tried their luck to haggle prices at Mowgli guest house, we picked the owner guy, haggled a bit and checked into the huts.

Mowgli has cylindrical mud huts with conical thatch roofs. These huts for Rs.300 have double cot with bed, fan, attached bathroom with w/c potty, health faucet and shower. Freshened up,

crossed the river and went to Ranju's Khanawali (local style restaurant) for local thali meals.

And then we walked along Hampi bazaar up to Monolithic bull, up the stairs that lead to the next set of temples, Achutaraya Temple, Sule bazaar (yes, they had a prostitute market), the pushkaranai (bathing tank for after deeds), Purandara Mantapa and finally the Vittala Temple.

Purandara Mantapa was a good rest spot with Tungabhadra river flowing strong and swift for the Independence Day and the boys had a topless dip. Vittala temple with the Stone Chariot and the musical pillars was yet again a marvel. Despite being a second time, these continue to amuse me. Awesome!

6 people jammed into a single auto rickshaw and rode back to Hampi town, crossed the river, freshened up and went to Laughing buddha for a good dinner. Dinner was great, low platforms serve as tables while you relax on beds on either side of it. The best thing is you can sit, sleep, squat or sing and not bother. It was a night of some great Kannada songs by your's truly and co.

Nextday was August 15, Indian Independence day. So we decided not to venture into any sightseeing fearing the touristy crowd. Walked around Virupapur Gadde, went free rock climbing and I tell you, the rocks in hampi are a wonder to climb. And when you get up there, you shout, meditate, scream, sing and celebrate Independence! One of the best Independence Days I celebrated. Again had a ball at Laughing Buddha over a 4 hours dinner.

The last day, we had a light breakfast (which was a bad idea), checked out of Mowgli, crossed the river, hired

bicycles and went sightseeing to other spots. My second visit to underground Shiva temple, Mosque area, Hazara Rama temple and Mahanavami Dibba. The day went as good as ever, except we returned super hungry and still tried to cover it off with light snacks to save space for a big dinner. Your's truly had already earned the title "always eat" so managed to stuff in a Nutella Pancake. Relaxed on the beds and almost dozed off at New Shanti, the psychedelic place. And then went to Mango Tree for dinner to finish off a good trip.

Some info:

Getting there: Bus ride from Bangalore is 6-7 hours long. Best to take the night sleeper bus. Try the Corona sleeper for Rs.400

Places to Stay: Any of the guest houses. For non family crowd who want to chill more than sight seeing, cross the river and get a room in Virupapur Gadde. Walkin accomodation, you dont need to book. Refer to Lonely planet guides for the price range

Getting around: Best by bicycles and walk

Places to eat: Try "Mango Tree", "Mowgli" and in the season even "Sheshbesh" is pretty good. Average meal cost per day: upto Rs.500, but worth the experience