Bangkok; Pattaya; Phuket

I am back after a short visit to Thailand and.............I am speechless.

It was the most awesome trip I have ever had. Did like a million things which I only dreamt about and some which I dint even dream about.

Bangkok; Pattaya; Phuket: Shopping; Nightlife; Water sports respectively.

Its just so amazing to get a feel of a different place and experience the pace at which it runs. Its just so wonderful to see the people living an altered lifestyle than yours. Even language being a major barrier for us we never even once felt that we had to compromise on anything at all. We managed to get our point across to them - everytime.

Its even more amazing that within a very short time we learned how to deal with them and their psychology. When it came to shopping we knew very immediately that when we ask them a price of a certain item, they will without fail get out their calculator and display the price. And we also came to know that when they tell us 900 baht for a pair of sandals, we should tell them 150 baht. And without fail we will end up buying the sandals for 180 baht. But we still are confused whether we outsmarted them or they outdid us. Anyways, we kind of started enjoying the bargaining bit as we felt that we were getting heavy discounts with our special discounting skills.

In Pattaya the day started at 10:00pm. No exaggeration. Everyone started going off to work at 10:00pm as their major revenue earning takes place only at nights. Facts of Pattaya: There are more bars than houses. People living Pattaya only get up in the evenings. Its only because of some over excited tourists like us that you may find some people on the streets in the morning. I found the people in Pattaya very confused. Half of them have changed their gender and half of them are going through an identity crisis which once recovered from will end up with their gender changed. Now I know why we always used to find a group of people outside each and every public toilet. They were trying to convince themselves whether which one would be the most appropriate. :) Hehehe just kidding. Actually I think they carried themselves pretty well which justifies in the pictures we have taken.

We had gone for a show which was told to us was one of the best cabaret shows in the world. And as usual we were very excited to see it. We got into the hall and immediately rushed to find the best seats. The show started. We were astonished by the elaborate sets, themes, the most important the women. The show had few of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. After the show we were all happy as it was absolutely worth the money we spent, we went out to see all the participants of the show in public. Just then we realised that all those dazzling beauties were actually 'men' who have turned themselves into women. The show we saw was the "world's largest transvestite show in the world". Still we couldnt believe it and we went closer to hear strong gruffy voices coming out of beautiful, delicate women. God, that was a shocker. A real shocker.

Phuket - Thailand's largest island province. An awesome town. A paradise. Beautiful beaches and ever better people. Over there, everyday of the week feels like a weekend. Extremely slow paced lifestyle and laid back attitude of the locals relaxes one to a very great extent. Our mind was so much at peace. We did all the water activities we had only seen on TV. From Para-sailing to scuba-diving. It was an experience especially scuba diving. Absolutely.

Under the water is a different world. Really. Once you have all the gear on your back and you fall into water, confidence level comes down to a zero. We managed to reach the bed of the sea and it was just so beautiful. You can see the marine life right in front of your eyes. It makes you feel like you are on the sets of 'little mermaid'. So beautiful yet eerie. There was a moment where my instructor told me to hold on to a coral and wait for him. I was in water for like 5 mins and I started freaking out. I was scared that what if I get to the surface to see that I am in the middle of the sea and deserted. Anyways, I couldnt hold myself any longer and I did go to the surface to see that my friend trying her level best to get into the water but due to some funny reason she could manage to reach only 2 feet and after reaching that she again floated back to the surface. Overall: *******star to scuba diving.

Paragliding: *****star since those people acted smart by taking us up only for 5 mins. 5 mins not enough. Just when we started to get the feel of being almost 80-100 feet above water, we have already landed onto earth.

Anyways, lets hope there's more of travel written on our cards in the coming few months so that there are more experiences to tell.