Traveling is good
Do remember that airfares depend on a large number of variables. Basic rule remains that the sooner you buy, you stand better chances for a good deal. Explore various air-travel portals (Makemytrip.com, yatra.com, Travelocity.com etc) to get an idea of the going rate. Find out the applicable charges if you were to change or cancel the tickets.
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What distinguishes this temple from other Angkor temples is the saddening spectacle of gigantic silk-cotton, banyan and strangler fig trees, some of them more than 40 metres high, swallowing up large sections of the temple. This is the only structure that has been left as it is by the French, – the École française d’Extrême-Orient – who were doing renovation work, to bear testimony to the wrath of nature against man-made objects.
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The eco-system and habitat surrounding the Tonlé Sap Lake also pulsates with its seasonal flooding and draining. A great majority of the trees, plants and shrubs are deciduous. Instead of shedding their leaves during the dry season, they loose them when the lake deepens, when they are inundated. However, there are also several plant species that remain evergreen, despite being waterlogged for six to eight months, each year. They are laden with fruits and seeds, at the time of flooding.
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We also spend some time in a fantastic session called ‘Chat with Monks’. This particular wat, which is also a training facility for the young monks, offers tourists an opportunity to interact informally with the monks. There is a common area where the tourist group is met by one of the waiting monks. You can sit with him and discuss anything related to Monks/ Buddhism/ Thailand or any other topic of interest. Well, to answer the ‘why’ of it – such interactions enable the monks to practise spoken English as also widening their knowledge base and the tourists, of course gather valuable insight.
A good & handy source of drinking water is the vending machines placed at common areas. Though bottled water is available across Thailand costing B15 – B30 or more depending on when and where you buy them; these vending machines (working on coin system) offer you potable water @ B1 (one bhat) for a litre.
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We had plans of visiting heritage sites and local night market, but lassitude takes over as soon as we arrive. After strolling around the neighbourhood, spying on local shops and outlets, we are back to the guest house.
There are number of cosy sit-outs within the house. In the evening, guests have gathered here to relax and chat-up. Soon I connect up with Bill, an Austrian from Vienna and Shoo, a Thai traveller. Yes, they tell, they are also travelling across Thailand. While exchanging notes I discover that both of them (though travelling separately) are very special Ghumakkars. Bill (actually Bills, a couple) has arrived here Cycling all the way from AUSTRIA! Well, the story goes like this. They are avid cyclists. They have covered large parts of the globe cycling. Bill roughly cycles for an year in one go! By end of the year long loop, he is back in Vienna to earn his livelihood. After earning for about 6-8 months, he is again out for the next trip. He tells us that he does not own a car and has a very small house in Vienna. He works just to make enough money for the next trip. Same is the story of his partner. She is from the same place and they share the same passion. They are 6 months into the current trip and plan to cycle north to China and then through Kazakhstan and Eastern Europe to Vienna. Their belongings, typical for cyclists, comprise of two rucksacks (strapped to either side of the carrier) and a sleeping bag cum tenting equipment.
There is this railway crossing on the Dinanagar-Gurdaspur stretch of NH-15 which lies miraculously at the centre of a leftward curve. Most of the drivers usually get caught unaware at this crossing. I was familiar with the notoriety of this curve and hence was attentive to its arrival. Just after crossing over the railway line, we stopped near a fruit-seller to fill our empty stomachs and sat on the nearby tube-well to chat. Our jokes and pranks didn’t seem to end anytime soon but we realised that we should pull ahead. Back to the car, we hit the road again and entered Gurdaspur city after 10 kms. There is a bypass which you can take to avoid the traffic and congestion at the Gurdaspur town but since it was a national holiday (2nd Oct), the traffic was sparse and we drove through the city. Looking around for some nice place to have a proper breakfast, all four of us had our necks craned out of the window. However, any place proposed by one was put down by the rest…a big disadvantage of traveling in an all-guys-group i think. Suddenly, I saw a turbanated policeman signalling us to stop. I just wanted to zip ahead as we were on the right side of law in every respect (thats what I believed till then) but Jaspreet insisted that we should stop as the Punjab Police cops chase such cars which dont stop and then harrass you even more…the job they are best at. Stopping a few metres ahead, I asked everyone to relax and not to get out of the car…a mistake that cost us 200 bucks!!! The Sardarji policeman came upto our car…positioned his elbows on the window and asked where we were from. We replied in Punjabi that we are from Jammu and heading towards The Harmandir Sahib. The Sardarji smiled at us and asked us why we had not fastened our seat belts…..HOLY SHIT… We realised that after we started driving from our last stop where we had fruits, we had just forgot to fasten our seat-belts.
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Next day we walk down to the beach. Beach has its own share of food stalls and other knick-knacks counters. We come across a lady vending ripe jackfruit flesh. This is an exotic dish in Bengal (Bongs famously say that you either love it or hate it – immensely; primarily because of its strong odour and quaint taste). Sharmi tries the fruit and it tastes good. Jackfruits look quite different here. They are larger in size and pricklier in appearance. We saw them yesterday while entering Bang Saen but did not recognise them for what they are. It’s only today, on coming across the peeled version, does the realisation dawn.
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Drive from Bangkok to Bang Saen is over ‘Bangkok – Chonburi Motorway (NH7)’. The motorway passes close to Suvarnabhumi airport exit and reaches Bang Saen after about an hour’s drive. Motorways are elevated toll roads, well maintained offering smooth ride. The motorways/ highways are well marked in English and Thai but the English fonts are smaller in size than Thai.
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Thailand packages are tediously limited to Bangkok and Pattaya (that’s how they are bundled up by travel agents here); and for the more desirous ones, add-ons are Phuket or Krabi. Ditto, while discussing Thailand with colleagues who have visited it, all they had on offer were superficials limited to these destination. And here is what we observed – Bangkok, where we spent maximum time was the most uninspiring despite all its glitzy malls, tourist spots, shopping centers, et al and Pattaya, which we drove across, did not appear much different. Actually, both the places had ‘TOURISTY – NOT AUTHENTIC’ tag imprinted bolder than the fonts here for any discerning traveler to see. Our best memories of the country extend beyond (and almost exclude) these two places.
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Soon after landing at Suvanrnabhumi airport, Bangkok we picked up the car and moved south to Bang Saen, a local beach-destination some 100 kms south of Bangkok. Thereafter, we drove to Chiang Mai in North Thailand, bypassing Bangkok (Bangkok to Chiang Mai is about 700 kms).
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I went in a private taxi, to see a natural geographic formation that is located near my place of work in Al Muwayh. This place is called the Al Wabah (Maqla Tamia in Arabic). It is a volcanic crater located on the western edge of the Hafer Kishb basaltic plateau that contains many volcanic cones.
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While driving along the airport highway, a massive, magnificent, multi-domed edifice springs up, seemingly out of nowhere from the stark desert environs . We are on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and gazing in wondrous disbelief at what is arguably the most beautiful building this side of the Arabian Sea, the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayyan Grand Mosque. It is purportedly the third largest mosque in the world, after the great mosques at Makkah and Madina.
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