Fruit seller girl in Thailand.

When I went out that night to buy some fruits, there were many shops in that street selling it. This girl had something in her that pulled me to her direction. A very infectious and warm smile and her looks. She didn’t have the typical features of a Thai girl.
Spoke very basic English and when I asked if I can click a photo, she shyly smiled. After much effort I could make her understand that I was willing to send her the photo and asked her mail-id.

Today I sent her the photo and so she becomes my picture of the moment.
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This was my cottage in an island called Koh Lanta where I spent three days and nights. Koh Lanta is a beautiful island in western Thailand. I can not forget this place for many reasons; one of them was seeing a night brawl, broken glasses, blood sheds and police arrests just outside my door in my balcony.
I was scared like hell and was cottage arrested that night. If I recollect, I was not even breathing !
And remember I was on a solo backpacking trip.

Travel surely gives me a testing time.

The cottage consisted of a room, an attached bath and of course a balcony with a single plastic chair in it.

Location: Koh Lanta island.
If I am in mood, I will write some stories related to this cottage. I am sure you’d want to hear them.

If you want to travel with me on my journeys, I suggest you to join me on my Facebook travel page and check out my Twitter account.

Posts related to this entry which might interest you :-

• Haunting History (4)
• Street food in Siem Reap (5)
• Nietzsche and Charles Darwin (4)
• Fruit seller in Thailand (5)
• Skiing in a shopping mall ! (6)
• Statue at Batu caves (8)

Bought a ticket from a tour agent for THB 1500 and off I went to this very small island. Koh Phai (Bamboo Island) as it is known locally, is a flat evergreen island with fine white sand and beautiful crystal clear water.

After checking into a tent by the shore, I went into the woods. It is a fairly small island and you can walk around the whole perimeter in about 45 minutes. I took more time since I wanted to soak in the place.

Isn’t it a beautiful place to stay ?

There was something mystical about this island which held me spellbound. The place was not very crowded. Roaming around inside the bamboo jungle actually fascinated me. Not for a single second I felt scared. I was alone yet I felt safe. Whooshing sound of sea breeze and chirping of birds made me feel at home.
I could also see some clusters of tents and roosters scrambling around with their full throated crowing.

This kid was feeding the rooster & they had started hiding because of my camera. Can you see it?

Bamboo Island is ideal & famous for camping and snorkeling. People come here, stay for a few days and learn snorkeling. I found there was a second kind of group who stop for 1-2 hours of snorkeling and hop onto another island.

Island hoppers of a day trip engaged in snorkeling.

I stayed for one night. Tent was basic and the toilets were made of a mix of wood & bamboo.
Tropical fruits, tea, coffee, a bar and barbecue dinner. What else do you need?

The locals were very friendly. Despite the language barrier, I played beach games and football (made of coconut shell) with them. This was where I learnt to say “Thank you” in Thai.
When I returned the ball to one of the players, he said “cupp” (कप्प) meaning Thank you. I had heard this word before so I started using that word immediately.

Handball match is in progress.

They smiled & said something amongst themselves, I was happy at my achievement and there was no way they could communicate to let me know that I was wrong.

Later at BBQ dinner time someone who could speak a bit of English explained to me that “cupp” is used by men & women should use “cupp-un-ka” (कप्प अन का).

Next day when I was leaving, there was another round of “cupp”s & cupp-un-ka”s but the correct ones.
It was great fun staying there. I could have stayed several days but I needed to move on to my next unknown destination.
When I went camping in Bamboo Island is a part of www.lemonicks.com
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Flamingos enjoying their meals.

The year started with a trip to city of gardens, Bangalore in January.

Lal Baugh, Bangalore.

Next came Mauritius. V happened to go there several times and I accompanied him once. I have written very little about this beautiful country.

Who would not want to live here?

Then came my 48 days solo backpacking trip to Malaysia and Thailand which started in late February and ended sometime in April. Physically I was not at my best. It was tough and sometimes daunting being a woman and travelling alone in a new alien country. Wandering on roads with a backpack with no fixed destination or agenda was both fun and challenging.
Those readers who were following my posts at that time would definitely agree with me.

Majestic Petronas. You can’t visit it if you don’t plan a day ahead.

Everything about Thailand is amazing.

Month of May saw me in Delhi for a short trip and I could visit the Red fort. I had a great time there. I have noticed, when you are alone, your observation skills shoot up.

Majestic Red fort at Delhi.

Come June and July and I was in Bangalore and after that again a solo trip to interiors of Tamilnadu. Started from Chennai in sleeper class I travelled in local buses, rickshaws and on foot. The most common question I was asked by the locals (whenever they could speak English) was which country I belonged to. People even requested me to have a photo with them !!
Surprising enough, I do not look like a foreigner from any angle. Perhaps my cargoes, cap with a Kangaroo on it, a camera hanging from my neck and my solo status spoke otherwise.
BTW, this happened in Thailand as well.

Entrance of Bragatheeswara or Big temple, Thanjavur.

Towards the end of this trip, mosquito bites in Kumbakonam gifted me Dengue which I thought was a normal fever and kept suppressing it with Paracetamol pills.
Sriperambadur was my last stop before I flew back home from Chennai. Once home, tests revealed it was indeed Dengue and I was advised immediate hospitalization because of my condition. It took more than a month to recover with V taking full care of me.

But I could not restrict myself for long. August end, and I was at Aurangabad exploring the world famous caves and later at Lonar lake.

Sculptures at Ellora attract people of all ages.

Again travelled in local buses, had to stay in a dingy room in a very small place by compulsion … thanks to heavy rains which had washed away all roads of onward journey.
But at the end of it, this was what waiting for me.

The emerald green was so inviting that I couldn’t resist myself from hiking down to it.

In the month of October I flew down to Sikkim on an invitation by Club Mahindra. One of the major achievements of this trip was visiting Nathu La Pass and first meeting with eight hitherto virtual people.

Near Kyongnosla, one of the check points at around 10000 ft.

In November it was again a Delhi trip to attend some family functions spread over 8 days but I made it a point to take a day off to visit Khurja, a small but well known place for its pottery industry. Again, I met another friend in Delhi who was virtual for me till then.

Bahai’s temple, Delhi.

In Khurja it was quite difficult to convince somebody to show me a factory and how things are made from scratch to finish. Here is a small video that I captured while coming back from one such factory.

In one of the factories in Khurja.

Come December and on 20th I flew down to Kuala Lumpur on way to Philippines to celebrate Christmas and new year in a new country.

View from my window at Batad, Philippines.

Sunset at Port Dickson beach, Malaysia.

And I bade farewell to year 2010….
This year I intend to do a different kind of travel, a kind of introspection. For doing that first I need to enhance my endurance level. Just one reason is good enough…. I am a traveller and not a tourist.

Lastly,
Dear Year 2010,
Goodbye. You gave me a lot of opportunities to travel and I am quite satisfied.
May I wish for more this year.

Greedy,
Me.
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