MY Grand tour - Thailand ,Cambodia, Laos.

Bangkok (T) – Siem Reap (C ) –Kompong cham (C ) - Kratie (C ) – Don Dhet (L ) – Pakse (L) – Vientiane ( L ) – Luang Prabang (L) – Vientiane ( L) – BKK ( T) – Sukhothai (T) – Phitsanulok ( T) – BKK… aaaannnnd Back !!!!

There s probably enough substance to write a full novel about the excitement felt before I left for the trip and not to mention my general hatred for travel agents and the near nervous breakdown I had. But leaving all that aside , this trip was something BIG for me. BIG because ,firstly, I did not have to stand in front of my parents and say “please please ,just this once gimme some money” ( Yes!! I was traveling with my own hard earned money) and secondly because I planned the whole thing and hence – unplanned. And Oh yea.I should not forget about my brand new green backpack that I am sooooo in love with.

And now about the real tour….I ll try to make it as informative as possible without it sounding like some history lesson..

The first leg of our journey was Chennai – Bangkok and sometime in between spent sleep walking in Colombo airport. Once in BKK we went up to the “visa-on-arrival” queue. And people...do remember to specify that you want a multiple entry visa; if you want one of course. We changed our money in the airport itself and GOT OUT.Not knowing what to do and where to go after that. So we caught the airport shuttle to the city centre (150 B) and got dropped off by the Hua lamphong railway station. We had decided earlier that we d do BKK in the end that we would proceed to Cambodian border the same day. But on enquiry we learnt that accommodation might become a problem by the border.So we ended up staying in BKK that day. We checked in at the Siam Classic Guest house ( 2 seater with common toilets @ 600 B /night and amazingly clean).This Guest house is located a few blocks away from the Railway station and hence very convenient.
So after that, we booked our train tickets to Aranyaprathet located on the Thai side of the border at the Hualamphong station for the next day (46 B).Then we took a tuk tuk to Dusit palace where the arts and crafts patronaged by the present King and Queen are showcased.But this being a palace, remember to cover up properly.The tuk tuk driver then dropped us by a pier on the Chao phraya river.We walked past a local market selling all sorts of food items I ve never seen before.Anyway at the pier we caught the ferry to someplace where we thought our hotel was.But we had gotten off at the wrong place.Since we had a map in hand we just walked around,got lost in China town,and walked and walked and finally reached Rama 1V road where our hotel was.We had dinner at one of the café s closeby and then SNOREEEE….

Kudakkal Parambu,Thrissur dist ,Kerala

Hey, how about a trip to a burial ground?????

ummmmm..No thanks!!


But what if it is over 2000 years old???Prehistoric...

Oh…Well….

And what if these burials are massive stone blocks forming an umbrella shape and its only forty five min travel from here???

mmm….maybe we should check it out!!!

And clad in fancy salwaar kameezes,seated on the Guruvayur temple steps were WE (my frend and I) contemplating......

We were on our way back to Thrissur and Do we or do we not take the required diversion to this burial site. Once on the bus,we were still wondering where to go when the conductor came and stood in front of us with raised eye brows..So my friend said – Kecherry..Aha so we decided to go after all..Nice.

From Kecherry,which is almost halfway between Guruvayur and Thrssur, we too a Local bus to Pannithadam .From Pannithadam,we took an auto rickshaw to Cherumanangad and on enquiry we were directed to the Kudakkal Parambu ( literally meaning the site of the umbrella stones).

Kudakkal Parambu is a 3 acre Megalithic site which has around 53 megaliths that are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.Megaliths are the architectural remnants of the Iron age (first millennium BC) and are massive stone blocks held without mortar making a definite form.

The megaliths here were constructed of many stones and put together they look like a huge /massive umbrella.This type of prehistoric burial is very rare and in India are only found in the South western coast (Lateritic belt).


From under some of these megaliths , urns have been unearthed.

Anyone who visits this place would definitely ponder how on earth the pre historic timers ,managed to arrange these mammoth stones to form such a beautiful shape…..



And now we talk about all the amazing things modern technology can do……

Beypore,Kerala

Long, long ago, there thrived a port which was also famous for its ship building industry,in the North western coast of Kerala.Beypore as this place is known today, had trade connections with the middle east as early as the medieval ages. In a way, Beypore played a teeny-weeny role in establishing the “gulf connection” that Kerala boasts o today.

Today,Beypore is merely a small fishing town by the mouth of the Chaliar river in the suburbs of Calicut (approx 10 kms North).But many are unaware that the legacy of ship building still continues in Beypire,thanks to the big money that flows from the interest groups in the middle east .

The ships are called Uru in Malayalam and Dhow in Arabic.These were trading vessels of the Arabs that are today used either to enthrall tourists in the Gulf or for fishing purposes.

The boat building happens in a place near the Chaliyam lighthouse and this can either be accessed by road or by boat from the Beypore port.There are no boat service as such but sweet talking the fishermen there can get you to the other side. An expert sweet talker can get the fisherman to take them all the way to the place where the Chaliyar river meets the Arabian sea.

To watch the boat being made,prior permission needs to be sought from the members of the community.Anyway on this bank of the river,the light house and the beach are worth a visit.

Kurusadai islands,Rameswaram,Tamil Nadu,India

The same question arose for the millionth time - "So,where do we go this weekend??",when somebody suddenly said" Rameswaram" and this was followed by a chorus of Chalo then s .

Rameswaram is a town in Southern part of Tamil Nadu;at the tip of the Indian peninsula and is seperated from Sri Lanka by the Gulf of Mannar.Ok...So we all knew that Rameswaram is a holy town which has a lot to offer for pilgrims and tourists alike and of course there is Dhanus kodi and the Pamban bridge...but then what else??? We wanted something that was zara hatke (off beat)..

We had the rest of the week to plan and on enquiry we were told about the Kurusadai island group approximately half an hours travel from Rameswaram.A walking encyclopedia of a mother (mine) also told us that this archipelago is protected by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries department and that we needed prior permission to visit the place(which we managed).

We started on a saturday morning from Tharangambadi/Tranquebar (which is again a must visit!!!!) which is located in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu;and is 12 km from Karaikal.Even after the week of planning we were quite clueless about which mode of transport we were taking and how long it d take to reach there.But anyway we took the TN govt bus service and we Reached!!! Almost dead,after 12hours and 4 change of buses.

The route we took was....

Tranqebar to Karaikal

Karaikal to Mailaduthurai

M to Pudukkottai

P to Ramad/Ramanathapuram

All of the above in Tamil Nadu and close to the east coast.

We stayed in Ramnad for the night.

The people at Fisheries dept had instructed us that Kurusadai is best in the early morning at low tide and we were asked to reprt at the fIsheries office in Mandapam (halfway between Ramnad and Rameswaram).We took a while locating the office as the localites dint seem to know about its existence.

We were like the only people who wanted to see Kurusadai and were put on a boat with a guide and 2 helpers.The boat ride took about 15 min during which we saw thw Pamban bridge (where tourists flock) . Nearing the island i realized it was nothing like i ve ever seen before.Clear blue water and white sand is not something we see in India very often.This was breathtakingly beautiful as was confirmed later on..after spending 3 hours on the small island.

Now about Kurusadai....

This is protected by the TN Fisheries as its home to a rich a diverse marine fauna.The island was littered with dolphin bones,corals,shells of sea cucumbers,,,We had to walk across the island to see the coral reefs and this HAS TO BE SEEN IN LOW TIDE..its beautiful.

The guide accompanying us took us on a walk through the reefs into the sea and this was the BEST PART!!!