Think Thailand, and the first few things that come to our minds are Thai cuisine, foot massages, and beautiful landscapes.
Given our dinner, last night, i.e. November 29, the first two were fleshed out rather beautifully! The official welcome at the Song Khla Convention Centre was warm and relaxing. The formal speeches are now a part of our itinerary everywhere, and one would think that the team will soon be weary of them. On the contrary, we’ve developed a knack of observing more about the culture of a place through these interactions, and every speech is not only an official welcome, it’s also a study of the country we are in.
The dinner was delicious. We loved the cuisine cooked for us. Since Thai
food joints are catching up in India, some of the tastes are now
familiar. But to have authentic Thai food while in Thailand is quite an
experience. Along with the dinner, we had another cultural performance-
colourful, musical and eye-catching (costumes and make up in this show
were beautiful!) The surprise package? Foot massages, ladies and
gentlemen! Travelling hundreds of kilometres a day pays off beautifully
if the hosts in Thailand let you unwind with their world-renowned foot
massages!
We ended the day with relaxed smiles and feet at Hansa JB Hotel, as a content and exceptionally happy team should!
November 30, that is today, we checked out of our hotel at Hat Yai at 8AM. The pleasant experience of last night added to the eagerness to visit Phuket fueled our enthusiasm. The drive to Phuket was almost 425 kilometres long, but we’re now truly hooked to the steering wheel! After a stop in the Krabi province for lunch at a place that had us raise our eyebrows (the restaurant had a curious name- Cabbages and Condoms), we restarted our journey to the beautiful island of Phuket.
With a stop before and after lunch for refuelling, it’s amazing how
comfortable long drives in the Mahindra XUV500 can be. Our car
especially was speeding from end to end of the rally of cars at almost
160 kmph. The beautiful roads and the unpredictable weather added to the
beauty of the drive.
We reached the Royal Phuket City Hotel at about 5 PM. The city of
Phuket is famous for its beaches, and we won’t be away from one for too
long- since we will soon be heading to Hotel Hilton, Phuket for a dinner
hosted by the Indian Ambassador, which is on the beach!