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My recent trip to Thailand & the Tiger Temple
Wednesday, October 11, 2006   [Travel]

I just got back from a short but sweet trip to Bangkok last night. My friends didn't believe me when I told them it was a work trip.. that too in the action beach town of Pattaya!

So as soon as I landed, I was whisked away to an area close to Pattaya to see a berth construction project. As you can see from the pic below, it was quite a beautiful day!


After finishing the meeting, I got back into my hotel in Bangkok quite late. Since most of my work was now completed, I had to wait for my flight on Tuesday. So I decided to go to the place I've been dying to go to - The Tiger Temple - a buddhist temple founded by the Venerable Abbot: Pra Acharn Phoosit (Chan where tigers have been raised, protected and even tamed.







To read more go here (The Tiger Temple website) and here (Wikipedia)

If ever in Thailand, this is a MUST go to. The tel number there is: +66 3 453 1557. Its not very well known by the Thai people yet, but easiest is to go to Kanchanaburi (which is famous esp for the River Kwai tours) and its about 30 minutes from there. (Total travel 2.5 hrs one way)

And if you do end up going, do write and let me know how your experience was!

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The last day of the trip - Amsterdam
Saturday, October 23, 2004   [Travel]

Rebecca from UWC was in town and had the saturday off. So we decided to take in the sights of Amsterdam. After she came, we immediately went out to the Van Gogh museum (There's usually a long line!). It was drizzling down but the museum was 20 metres from the hotel which was very convenient!

The museum was very nice as it traces not just Van Gogh's paintings but his life with his paintings. I always get inspired to paint again whenever I go to an art museum. This was no different. Different styles of different artists are always a pleasure to see. What was interesting to know was that Van Gogh's best friend was Paul Gaguin, another famous painter. Sneaked a couple of photos. Didnt' use the flash cos its not supposed to be good for the painting (?!) but I liked the one with the blue sky. The others are his famous - Sunflowers and Irises. He'd actually painted Sunflowers for the room that his friend was staying in. There are 5 versions of the same painting around the world. He painted the series to decorate the room where Paul Gauguin would stay when he arrived in Arles. He chose this subject because his friend had previously admired his paintings of sunflowers. To learn more about Van Gogh and his paintings, visit The Van Gogh Museum or go to Wikipedia.



After this, found a place to have lunch. Excellent Mexican place near the Leidseplein. After that just walked around the city.

Later on I went with Alexander, Petra and Rebecca to Albert Cuypstraat. That's the non-touristic cool part of town. We were all going Latin Dancing! (Alexander and Petra - I had met earlier when I came to Amsterdam on a previous weekend). We went to De Engels (The Angel) where we danced for quite a bit! I liked the club a lot! It had this old Cuban feel to it, with Art Deco chandeliers with red light on it. Its a pity cos the new owner plans to break it down and build something new there. Hope its better when I do come back to Amsterdam!



That was pretty much it for my last night in Amsterdam.

In the morning, woke up, packed and took a taxi to Schipol Airport. Took out my IHC books that I had kept at Left Luggage. Damn things weighed a ton! KLM only allows 20kg on their flights and this was 30! Fortunately the guy at the counter was nice enough to let it through. JT Hiralal Was a Surinamese Indian. There's a large number of Indian looking people in Holland, because their forefather's had gone to Surinam, like Trinidad & Tobago. As Surinam was a Dutch colony, the more recent generations moved to Holland.

I went into immigration. Bought Sravanya her magazines, some chocolates and then boarded the flight.

Soon.. we were airborne on KLM Northwest to Bombay. As I looked out the window, my three week sojourn across the Europe came to a beautiful end..

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Munich -> back into Amsterdam!
Friday, October 22, 2004   [Travel]

*No pics today*

Getting into Munich Airport, I had about 6 hours before my flight to Amsterdam. After the bollocking I got in Nice with the extra car rental day and the new ticket, I didn't have the heart to check into a hotel for a few hours. So what did I do? Like good old college days, found a nice spot, I pulled up my suitcase near me, used my laptop case as my pillow and dozed off! No of course it wasn't comfortable but it would do.

Coming from Nice to Munich is like going from Heaven to Hell! It was so cold. Maybe I got used to the lovely climate over the three days there. So when I entered the flight, I could feel the chilly wind trying to come in from outside.

Well, after a few hours, boarded my flight to Amsterdam. Felt in a way like I was going home. Not totally - but some place I'm more comfortable with - atleast one where I can speak English without too much trouble. I do intend to learn Dutch and French now as I think it will be of use in the future. But as for now, its hard to imagine a western world surviving without the power of a single language..

In a way, it was nice being back on a KLM flight. As I said, I've become quite fond of the Dutch. The Germans are not very nice. Leave alone friendly, they border between racist, indifferent, rude or just in their own world. I have German friends so this was quite a surprise as this is my fourth trip to Germany and this time was quite reinforced. I hope they try and change. The French are truly a mix. I found some extremely friendly people and some not so. They are making more of an effort to speak English, which says a lot.

I do have a comment on the women in the countries I've visited so far. Belgian women are not like their chocolates. Nothing great. German women - where are the Heidi's and Claudia's! Not much happening here. Dutch are definitely in the high density category when it comes to beautiful women. The French are a mix again. What I did like about French women is their sense of fashion. Its very classy and trendy, yet classic. I think that definitely adds to their charm and looks.

Getting into Schipol airport, I took the train to Amsterdam Central and a Turkish taxi driver took me to my hotel. This time around, I decided to try another one just to see what it has to offer. The Bilderburg Jan Luyken Hotel looked great on the net. And Guus from the course also recommended it. But the hotel looked nothing like its pictures. Very low on staff (which I never like in a hotel), the room was much nicer.

After a quick shower, was on my way for a meeting. I thought it was close by but nooooo! It took me three hours to get there.. The meeting, which was still useful, lasted an hour.. and another three hours to get back. By the time I got back to Amsterdam, I was starving. But more than that, I was dead tired. From the lovely sleeping accommodations from the night before at Munich airport, to just travelling all day long. So taking the tram back to the hotel, I went up and crashed!

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Ah...Saint-Tropez..
Thursday, October 21, 2004   [Travel]

Another beautiful morning.. but I had to say adieu to the entire team.. My parents had left early morning for Paris, and Mr. Sathe left soon after. After a relaxing waking up, I got up, checked out, and began my driving out along the Corniche John F Kennedy. I couldn't take the French radio stations anymore, so I pulled over and burnt a CD with some great music on my laptop!

NOW I enjoyed driving along the coast of the Cote d'Azur (The Blue Coast) fondly called The French Riviera by non-locals.

Even though this is not 'season-time' for most people, its always beautiful in this coast. The weather is absolutely fantastic. And driving by it in a convertible SLK makes it even better! The stares are good too - and there were plenty! The doormen at the hotel were loving the car! They even said not to park it outside but downstairs in the private garage of the hotel.

The plan for today was to drive to Saint-Tropez. Its Sravanya's birthday on the 30th and I wanted to buy her something really special. However, the store is in Saint-Tropez! So after about 2 hours, I finally got to Rue Francois Sibilli. The GPS Navigator rocks! It got me right outside the store! Unfortunately I almost parked in the Gendarmie Central - ie the Central Police station! I must warn you - today was one of those days.. I got in at 1pm to discover that all stores are bloody closed from 1pm-3pm. And the drive from Saint-Tropez to Nice Airport takes 1:30 hours. Now, when your flight is at 5:45pm, you pretty much know you're not making it.

SO I walked around this famous resort of the rich and famous. Now there is the old town and the new more commercial part (that is the Pampolina beach). While I did want to see both, time didnt' permit. So I stuck to seeing the older part of Saint Tropez, with its small alley ways, its old port where all the yachts were parked. There were soo many boats! Even in Marseilles. I think every French family has one. Maybe every single French person!


I knew that I liked the French Riv, and I'd come back another day when I could really enjoy it properly. Its not one of those rush-sightsee kind of places. Its more of a sit back, discover and enjoy kind of places. So if you're coming here, plan atleast 5 days. But for now, I had a job to do!

And its interesting how in the littlest corners of the smallest hidden alleyways, you'll find some Gucci store, or some Versace or Armani store.. Well, after a Belgian chocolate icecream from Haagen Daaz and lots of walking around, I got to the store and picked up my sister's birthday present! And what a beautiful present. I hope she likes it!
And the funniest thing of the day? The owner of the store comes to GOA for a holiday! I was like - You leave St. Tropez to come to Goa? Bloody hell! I guess its just one of those grass is greener things.

Well, after I paid, I RAN to the car, pulled out and was on my way to TRY and make my flight. The GPS programmed, it took me through several winding roads. Before I knew it, I was going through all the French Riviera - St. Raphael, Cannes, Port Grimaud.. Each town/city looks like a copy of the next. While Cannes is bigger, the rest are more chilled out.

By the time I got to the highway, I was on a mission - to make my flight. Flying down the highway between 170-180km/hr, I thought I would. The GPS Navigator said I'd make it there by 5pm. That would still be cutting it close as I had to refill the gas tank, check in the car back to Avis, then take my luggage to the next terminal by a shuttle and still check in. All in 15 minutes!

Before you go 'Wow' - it didnt' happen. Why? Cos my dearest GPS Navigator got me lost! Finally I had to pull over and ask for directions till I found my way to Terminal 1 Nice Cote d'Azur Airport. To make a long story short, I had to buy a new ticket to Munich to catch my connecting flight in the morning to Amsterdam AND by the time I got my ticket and checked in, I had to pay for an entire EXTRA day to Avis! And on top of that, I lost my dutch sim card. Was quite disappointed all this. Really got buggered on these two extra costs and also being inaccessible. Fortunately had my Bombay sim card. So was in a bit of a low after a beautiful trip to the Riviera. I guess its hard to be happy leaving the South of France :)

Quietly I sulked into the plane as we took off at 9:30pm to Munich - looking down on one of the most fun cities in the world.

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The day in Marseille
Wednesday, October 20, 2004   [Travel]

After sleeping beautifully with the windows open welcoming in the Mediterranean sea air, got up for breakfast in the rooftop of the hotel. Overlooking Vieux Port of Marseilles, the Sofitel hotel's got a beautiful view from every angle.


French food's not known for its deliciousness. Its known for its coolness. And nothings changed! While it looks quite cool, I don't think us Indians' are made to take that taste!

Brought the Mercedes SLK up, took it for a spin around the Vieux port, with the top down :)

Came back in time to change quickly and join Mummy, Daddy, and Mr.Sathe for a seafood dinner. Now, not only am I not a fan of French food.. I'm again not a fan of seafood! So in Marseilles - you get both! French seafood! Does life get any better.

The restaurant had only fish. I mean - nothing else! So I put a LOT of lemon on my grilled fish, ate LOTS of potato and bread! But the weather was AMAZING! No wonder people love this place. The weather is stunning at the end of October! No gusty sea breeze.. No chilly nights.. Its pleasant through the day and night, through the year!

After dinner, we came back and I went to dreamy land!

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