phuket

by Guest Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:57 pm

aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.

phuket 20130710

by southindian Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:44 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.

Still, phuket is not phoket...

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:59 am

southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.
Still, phuket is not phoket...

you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:22 am

is this near karon beach?

by Kris Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:26 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.

>>>Definitely need to make it there one of these days..

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:28 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:is this near karon beach?

no, this was patong beach (hotel amari coral beach).

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:32 am

patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

by Kris Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:39 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:46 am

Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

true that! having had non-indian food for breakfast for 6 days leading to the last day when we stayed in bangkok, my wife was very happy to see familiar food on the table.

by Kris Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:03 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

true that! having had non-indian food for breakfast for 6 days leading to the last day when we stayed in bangkok, my wife was very happy to see familiar food on the table.

>>>> I had dragon fruit for the first time at the amari and did some pretty weird 'mix and matches' with western/indian items. There is also the restaurant on top of the skyscraper (I forget the name now) which is walkable from the amari, which my wife's cousin in Bangalore had hyped up to her (this cousin and his parents go to Thailand practically every month- I see HK's point about the fares from india). Anyway, nice views from the skyscraper, but the buffet was too ethnic sea-food-y for my taste. I liked Bangkok overall, very vibrant and sort of grows on you. We did the Chao Praya cruise, went to the water market and went to the Buddhist temples. I think I would like to spend more time there the next time and need to definitely hit Phuket. We went to Cambodia and couldn't squeeze any more time in Thailand last year.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:13 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

the family is back. these pics. are a week old. i posted them last night 'cos i was downloading them from my kids' phones to my pc.

they stayed in ambassador in bangkok and amari orchid in pattaya.

yes, an indian spread is very common in thailand hotels and even singapore. it was a welcome relief for my wife. i asked all three of them as to which was the best food they liked? their replies:

older: steak;
younger: lobsters;
wife: chicken tikka.

even in the royal silk lounge (thai airways business class) they were treated to an indian spread.

they all want to repeat phuket.

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:04 am

Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

true that! having had non-indian food for breakfast for 6 days leading to the last day when we stayed in bangkok, my wife was very happy to see familiar food on the table.

>>>> I had dragon fruit for the first time at the amari and did some pretty weird 'mix and matches' with western/indian items. There is also the restaurant on top of the skyscraper (I forget the name now) which is walkable from the amari, which my wife's cousin in Bangalore had hyped up to her (this cousin and his parents go to Thailand practically every month- I see HK's point about the fares from india). Anyway, nice views from the skyscraper, but the buffet was too ethnic sea-food-y for my taste. I liked Bangkok overall, very vibrant and sort of grows on you. We did the Chao Praya cruise, went to the water market and went to the Buddhist temples. I think I would like to spend more time there the next time and need to definitely hit Phuket. We went to Cambodia and couldn't squeeze any more time in Thailand last year.

we had less than 24 hours in the city, so we did two buddhha temples and the mall. someone had told us that the water market was a major league meh, so we cancelled that plan. how did you find it?

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:07 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:they stayed in ambassador in bangkok and amari orchid in pattaya.

located right on the beach road so i am sure they had a nice time just walking around there in the evening.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:17 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:they stayed in ambassador in bangkok and amari orchid in pattaya.

located right on the beach road so i am sure they had a nice time just walking around there in the evening.

yes. you seem quite familiar with thailand. their phuket hotel was on a hill. amari owns the hill and the beach too i think (if they don't, they eventually will). their room, on the ground floor level, it's patio opened to a garden and beyond it the beach. so the beach was un-littered and deserted and all theirs. here's another photo to give you an idea:

phuket 20130711

amari in pattaya was equally good. they noticed the amari in bangkok too (near the mall touted as the biggest in thailand etc.).

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:22 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters.

the andaman beaches are super clean too, or they appeared to be until very recently when hordes of indians from the mainland decided they'll start decorating the beach with empty plastic bags that once contained various food items, cigarette butts, and beer bottles. i wonder why they behave themselves when they travel abroad, but don't think twice about sullying their own public spaces.

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:27 am

coincidentally i also happened to stay on the beach road right next to amari. that road goes to the walking street and we walked half the distance so i recall some details.

can't see this pic now, but will revisit when i am home.

PS - were they tempted to buy biga$$ TVs and other electronic goods? when we were at the suvarnabhoomi airport on our way back we noticed that nearly every indian had bought at least one TV.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:31 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
PS - were they tempted to buy biga$$ TVs and other electronic goods? when we were at the suvarnabhoomi airport on our way back we noticed that nearly every indian had bought at least one TV.

no. i had advised them not to buy any thing. older bought a small mono speaker (it's loud) of this sort from sim lim, s'pore, for his college use (it runs on rechargeable batteries and can be operated by bluetooth or memory card):

phuket Xmini_ii_6

missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:31 am

visit andaman folks. i am sure the beaches are very similar to the thai beaches (which i haven't visited) and andaman is not even a tiny bit urbanized. the best beaches and views on the andamans are of course not open to public, maintained by the military. we felt privileged to be let in.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:33 am

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:visit andaman folks. i am sure the beaches are very similar to the thai beaches (which i haven't visited) and andaman is not even a tiny bit urbanized.

i'm scared of the kallus. What a Face

what if i get kidnapped and roasted alive.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:35 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:visit andaman folks. i am sure the beaches are very similar to the thai beaches (which i haven't visited) and andaman is not even a tiny bit urbanized.
i'm scared of the kallus. what if i get kidnapped and roasted alive.

they are more scared of you than you of them. the indian public relentlessly encroaches on their spaces making them a public spectacle as if they are some zoo animals. check it out for yourself. there are some disgusting youtube videos.

by Captain Bhankas Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:36 am

HK wrote:missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

all four for him and nothing for you!???! affraid

MEM wrote:visit andaman folks.

on my travel list. that and ladakh/bhutan.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:38 am

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:visit andaman folks. i am sure the beaches are very similar to the thai beaches (which i haven't visited) and andaman is not even a tiny bit urbanized.
i'm scared of the kallus. what if i get kidnapped and roasted alive.

they are more scared of you than you of them. the indian public relentlessly encroaches on their spaces making them a public spectacle as if they are some zoo animals. check it out for yourself. there are some disgusting youtube videos.

yes, i have seen them. pretty sad.

by Merlot Daruwala Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:41 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
HK wrote:missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

all four for him and nothing for you!???! .

Wonly single malts for Hoozay. No blends, no matter how famous or how pricey.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:48 am

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
HK wrote:missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

all four for him and nothing for you!???! .

Wonly single malts for Hoozay. No blends, no matter how famous or how pricey.

ha ha, no. i stick to blenders pride. as i had said once in old ch, i'd probably drink blenders pride in scotland too. once or twice a year, i open a double black (from the stock i carry for gifting).

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:59 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
HK wrote:missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

all four for him and nothing for you!???! .

Wonly single malts for Hoozay. No blends, no matter how famous or how pricey.
ha ha, no. i stick to blenders pride. as i had said once in old ch, i'd probably drink blenders pride in scotland too. once or twice a year, i open a double black (from the stock i carry for gifting).

if you like blended whiskey, the famous grouse is good too.

by Propagandhi711 Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:19 am

All right enough of this breakfast buffet stories, who is gonna be the first to divulge stories of seedy doings with the darkskinned slants of Thailand? Can't believe ppl went there so much and weren't in the least bit curious bat that aspect of Thai tourism. Of course if the wife's got yer balls in a vice there's nothing you can do other than record brain movies but surely there must be some adventurous types??

by southindian Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:20 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.
Still, phuket is not phoket...
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.

Vivek who? Is this a joke?

by FluteHolder Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:26 am

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters.

the andaman beaches are super clean too, or they appeared to be until very recently when hordes of indians from the mainland decided they'll start decorating the beach with empty plastic bags that once contained various food items, cigarette butts, and beer bottles. i wonder why they behave themselves when they travel abroad, but don't think twice about sullying their own public spaces.

Because they donot care nor they would educate themselves to keep their surroundings clean. In Bangalore or any city for that matter, if they see a vacant/unbuilt land they dump their garbage. All vacant spaces are full of scrap/crap and plastic bags (though the govt/corporation provides trash collectors )

For Rashmun. At the Bangalore eatery in the main city where I went to eat, the counter girl didnot know Hindi and I had to get the help of my relative for Xlating to Kannada...

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:33 am

southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.
Still, phuket is not phoket...
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.
Vivek who? Is this a joke?

alright vivek, you are not vivek.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:38 am

Propagandhi711 wrote:with the darkskinned slants of Thailand?

really? i guess i never ventured far enough into the interiors of thailand to notice the dark-skinned varieties.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:39 am

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
HK wrote:missus bought four bottles of johnnie walker swing for my cousin. that's all.

all four for him and nothing for you!???! .

Wonly single malts for Hoozay. No blends, no matter how famous or how pricey.
ha ha, no. i stick to blenders pride. as i had said once in old ch, i'd probably drink blenders pride in scotland too. once or twice a year, i open a double black (from the stock i carry for gifting).

if you like blended whiskey, the famous grouse is good too.

i see. i haven't tried it. will give it a shot!

by southindian Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:51 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:aaaaah, got to share this. hotel with private beach (travelling to phuket is cheaper than travelling to kerala/goa from kolkata). super clean waters. younger.
Still, phuket is not phoket...
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.
Vivek who? Is this a joke?
alright vivek, you are not vivek.

Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:57 am

southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Still, phuket is not phoket...
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.
Vivek who? Is this a joke?
alright vivek, you are not vivek.
Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.

oh shit. vivek perchulated up? Shocked

by southindian Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:02 am

Yup. I thought somebody mention that an year ago.

by Merlot Daruwala Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:03 am

southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Still, phuket is not phoket...
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.
Vivek who? Is this a joke?
alright vivek, you are not vivek.
Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.

There was never any vivek. That's why I call you Avivek.

by southindian Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:08 am

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
you makes a joke vivek. i am laughing too much yaar.
Vivek who? Is this a joke?
alright vivek, you are not vivek.
Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.
There was never any vivek. That's why I call you Avivek.

Oh man! So you hallucinate.

I was getting worked up for no reason. Now I know of your issues.

Is everything else in working order with you?

by Merlot Daruwala Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:14 am

southindian wrote:
Merlot Daruwala wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
southindian wrote:
Vivek who? Is this a joke?
alright vivek, you are not vivek.
Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.
There was never any vivek. That's why I call you Avivek.
Oh man! So you hallucinate.

I was getting worked up for no reason. Now I know of your issues.

Is everything else in working order with you?

You may have a point. Avivek was dumb, but you are something else. Of course, further deterioration of faculties could be one explanation. OTOH, there is no dearth of cretins. The jury's still out on you.

by southindian Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:25 am

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
southindian wrote:
Merlot Daruwala wrote:
southindian wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
alright vivek, you are not vivek.
Not sure who you are referring to. I thought someone mentioned a year ago, vivek may have died.
There was never any vivek. That's why I call you Avivek.
Oh man! So you hallucinate.

I was getting worked up for no reason. Now I know of your issues.

Is everything else in working order with you?

You may have a point. Avivek was dumb, but you are something else. Of course, further deterioration of faculties could be one explanation. OTOH, there is no dearth of cretins. The jury's still out on you.

Good, Very good. More needed, so keep going.

Hallucination you agreed to as your issues. Iodine deficiencies. What else?

by Guest Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:56 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
on my travel list. that and ladakh/bhutan.

i have been to paro and thimpu. i was not very impressed. the women are very beautiful and their customs are interesting (uniform dress prescribed by his majesty) but there is nothing much to see except for monasteries and buddhist temples. i suspect ladakh would be similar but it'd have more breathtaking sights. you'll enjoy it if you are into mountains (i am not). if i had a choice, i'd rather go to sikkim (gangtok) than bhutan.

by Kris Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:06 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:patong is a beautiful town. we arrived in patong in the evening and could not spend enough time there. but we could take a walk for about an hour and a half or so and liked the town. we would have liked to spend more time there.

will they also stay in amari (watergate) in bangkok? that's right next to the (allegedly) best mall in bangkok.

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

true that! having had non-indian food for breakfast for 6 days leading to the last day when we stayed in bangkok, my wife was very happy to see familiar food on the table.

>>>> I had dragon fruit for the first time at the amari and did some pretty weird 'mix and matches' with western/indian items. There is also the restaurant on top of the skyscraper (I forget the name now) which is walkable from the amari, which my wife's cousin in Bangalore had hyped up to her (this cousin and his parents go to Thailand practically every month- I see HK's point about the fares from india). Anyway, nice views from the skyscraper, but the buffet was too ethnic sea-food-y for my taste. I liked Bangkok overall, very vibrant and sort of grows on you. We did the Chao Praya cruise, went to the water market and went to the Buddhist temples. I think I would like to spend more time there the next time and need to definitely hit Phuket. We went to Cambodia and couldn't squeeze any more time in Thailand last year.

we had less than 24 hours in the city, so we did two buddhha temples and the mall. someone had told us that the water market was a major league meh, so we cancelled that plan. how did you find it?

>>>>Crowded, but strangely didn't see many tourist types. Quite exotic. It was worth the trip, but I wouldn't do it again.

by b_A Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:34 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:visit andaman folks. i am sure the beaches are very similar to the thai beaches (which i haven't visited) and andaman is not even a tiny bit urbanized. the best beaches and views on the andamans are of course not open to public, maintained by the military. we felt privileged to be let in.

But I am sure that the rest of SUch is not so privileged. So your advice may not work out for us poor people.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:42 pm

b_A: do you understand the difference between, "we are previleged" and "we feel previleged". it may seem like splitting hair, but subtleties of language are important.

by bw Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:58 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:b_A: do you understand the difference between, "we are previleged" and "we feel previleged". it may seem like splitting hair, but subtleties of language are important.

i can tell you what's common - both are misspelt.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:01 pm

touché! usually my iPhone corrects, but not this time.

by b_A Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:02 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:b_A: do you understand the difference between, "we are previleged" and "we feel previleged". it may seem like splitting hair, but subtleties of language are important.

But to be "let in" , you need to feel privileged. In other words , it is not open to public and only people with connections can enter the beaches.
That's what I understood.

by bw Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:12 pm

Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
Kris wrote:

>>>I stayed at the Amari last year (Prathunam area?). Decent digs with nice breakfast spread -international, including Indian fare. Our rooms were very clean. There is a mall right across from it. Being on a main drag, the traffic was horrendous. This was the one drawback.

true that! having had non-indian food for breakfast for 6 days leading to the last day when we stayed in bangkok, my wife was very happy to see familiar food on the table.

>>>> I had dragon fruit for the first time at the amari and did some pretty weird 'mix and matches' with western/indian items. There is also the restaurant on top of the skyscraper (I forget the name now) which is walkable from the amari, which my wife's cousin in Bangalore had hyped up to her (this cousin and his parents go to Thailand practically every month- I see HK's point about the fares from india). Anyway, nice views from the skyscraper, but the buffet was too ethnic sea-food-y for my taste. I liked Bangkok overall, very vibrant and sort of grows on you. We did the Chao Praya cruise, went to the water market and went to the Buddhist temples. I think I would like to spend more time there the next time and need to definitely hit Phuket. We went to Cambodia and couldn't squeeze any more time in Thailand last year.

we had less than 24 hours in the city, so we did two buddhha temples and the mall. someone had told us that the water market was a major league meh, so we cancelled that plan. how did you find it?

>>>>Crowded, but strangely didn't see many tourist types. Quite exotic. It was worth the trip, but I wouldn't do it again.

i enjoyed the trip through the canals of the "venice of the east". it was definitely a lot cooler there after a day under the blistering sun of bangkok.. i liked it much more than all the wats.

the food at both phuket and bangkok was absolutely delicious - there was so much variety and novelty even for a vegetarian me. i did not try anything indian though. we stayed at laguna phuket and while the sun n sand activities were fun, the highlight of the trip was the banana blossom salad i had at one of the restaurants there.

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:19 pm

b_A wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:b_A: do you understand the difference between, "we are previleged" and "we feel previleged". it may seem like splitting hair, but subtleties of language are important.
But to be "let in" , you need to feel privileged. In other words , it is not open to public and only people with connections can enter the beaches.
That's what I understood.

we were staying with relatives. it's not like we had a choice. i was simply comparing the beaches inside the military administered areas and that outside. the beaches outside can be just as beautiful, but the indian public as i wrote earlier has chosen to decorate them with the choicest broken beer bottles, plastic food bags, and cigarette butts. the military on the other hand is punctilious about cleanliness and order.

by Captain Bhankas Wed Jul 24, 2013 4:51 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
on my travel list. that and ladakh/bhutan.
i have been to paro and thimpu. i was not very impressed. the women are very beautiful and their customs are interesting (uniform dress prescribed by his majesty) but there is nothing much to see except for monasteries and buddhist temples. i suspect ladakh would be similar but it'd have more breathtaking sights. you'll enjoy it if you are into mountains (i am not). if i had a choice, i'd rather go to sikkim (gangtok) than bhutan.

i see. was the food good?

by Guest Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:07 am

Captain Bhankas wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
Captain Bhankas wrote:
on my travel list. that and ladakh/bhutan.
i have been to paro and thimpu. i was not very impressed. the women are very beautiful and their customs are interesting (uniform dress prescribed by his majesty) but there is nothing much to see except for monasteries and buddhist temples. i suspect ladakh would be similar but it'd have more breathtaking sights. you'll enjoy it if you are into mountains (i am not). if i had a choice, i'd rather go to sikkim (gangtok) than bhutan.

i see. was the food good?

yes and no. they serve tea made with lard -- i didn't like it. hotel food and chinese food outside is good. i did not like the local food much.

by Merlot Daruwala Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:18 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:yes and no. they serve tea made with lard -- i didn't like it. hotel food and chinese food outside is good. i did not like the local food much.

Yak butter, is what I recall reading somewhere. I also remember thinking: yuck.

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