Oktoberfest

"Taking your own beer to Oktoberfest is like taking your wife with you to Thailand" - man from Razza bar, Twizel, New Zealand

Prelude:

Germany was a trip I have been waiting to make for nearly a decade now. The country first caught my fancy in summer of 2004, when I joined Robert Bosch and underwent a half day course on the German culture which we were to understand in order to perform efficiently in this German subsidiary in Bangalore. Everything they said back then about the German way of working really impressed me – their blunt straightforward nature, their craze to be punctual, their love of cars.. and over a period of time, I learnt so much more about their culture through the friends I made at Bosch - I learnt the language, started listening to German music, started admiring German football, which eventually helped me make quite a bit of money at the 2014 World Cup as well.

Anyway, I was such a fan of everything German that I decided to dedicate one entire trip just for this country, and it just had to be around their wonderful Oktoberfest. So even during the last 2 trips I made to Europe, I carefully left out Germany, just so that I could give it the full justice of an entirely dedicated trip. And that’s exactly what happened this year, and Germany was everything I expected, and so much more..

Overview:

Before I begin with the day wise recount of the happenings there, just wanted to put down some overall thoughts about the visit:

1) Germany is very unlike the rest of Europe – you don’t see architectural wonders or too much of their history as you travel through. Berlin is probably the only one that offers some bit of history, else the rest of the country is all just modern construction.

2) You could try learning German before going there, but it really wouldn’t help much since the way they speak German there is way too complex to keep up with. It’s not really required too, as many of them speak at least some bit of English. 

3) Know that “Herren” is for male and “Damen” is for female as the sign boards at the loos – its really difficult trying to figure that out when you are drunk, especially since there are no pictures or English words to help you figure it out.

4) The autobahns are just brilliant! Hire a car and reach your top speed on them – it’s an amazing experience. Don’t forget to do some of their themed routes like the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Route) or the Marchenstrasse (Fairy Tale Route) while you’re at it.

5) Avoid flying Lufthansa – absolutely the worst international flight I have flown. We weren’t allowed to check in more than 1 bag per person during our return in spite of being within the weight limit, and in spite of traveling onward with 3 bags on the same flight! They actually said someone made a mistake in India and the limit is only 1 bag. Then they wouldn’t put “fragile” on the bags as its not part of their policy! And to top it all, their entertainment system had the worst touch screen I’ve ever seen, and it wasn’t just my seat, I noticed the issue in the seats next to mine as well. Terrible experience for something German I so much looked forward to

6) Oktoberfest is amazing! Just follow some basic rules:

a. Be on time (and that’s as early as 10am) if you wish to get a table

b. Attend only during weekdays – weekends a table is unlikely even if you land by 8am

c. Get as drunk as you want, but try the smallest thing funny, and the beefed up German bouncers will physically throw you out

d. Experience the fest outside of Munich too – each city celebrates it differently and has something unique to offer

September 25:

This is the day it all began. We started off towards the airport on September 24 night after a lot of trouble, since we were as usual working till the very last moment, and then hurrying through the packing and running out of the house that Geet kept saying this was so not worth it.. I was just hoping it would be once we got out of the dam country for a much needed break. We landed at Munich early in the morning, and the cold weather immediately hit the 2 of us used to the Bombay heat till then. So we had to wrap ourselves before stepping out, and once we did, had a very tough time trying to figure out our way to the B&B. I assumed Munich would be a well coordinated city, and there would be easy access through buses/trains, but only when we stepped out we realized that was not the case. Almost nobody could guide us, everything was written German, and it was only thanks to a Lufthansa shuttle we noticed leaving the place, that we finally at least managed to reach the Hauptbanhof – the main train station at Munich.

Here we enquired at a Tourist Info centre who thankfully helped us with directions to our B&B, and took a tram to head towards it. This became another big challenge, because we landed at the right address – 9, Marianhilfplatz, but it turned out to be a school and not the B&B. The teachers at the school explained to me in the German I understood that it’s the right address, but not what we are looking for. It took some time for us to figure that we had to reach 9, Mariahilfstrasse which is not the same as Mariahilfplatz, and they both are just 2 blocks away from each other! Now that is too confusing for anybody to figure coz platz and strasse is like plaza and street – hardly much difference. We finally chanced upon Mariahilfstrasse totally by luck and finally got settled down.

We landed in Munich at 10am, and Naan and Lael were to reach by 3pm by train from Stuttgart. But by the time Geet and I found the place, it was nearly 3pm! Complete waste of the entire day, and a little too much adventure than we would have wanted. Anyway, once we caught up with the other 2, we hit a restaurant nearby for our first beer and meal in Germany, And this was a real treat! It was a place called Schoberweirt, a tiny German joint in Mariahilfplatz, where they served Lowenbrau beer (one of the many brands here) and we had it with Sausage and sauerkraut, and Roast beef – both locally popular dishes, and we loved everything that was offered. The sausages were easily the best I’ve ever had and the Roast beef was really delicious. After the meal, we got back to the room and decided to sleep for a bit and then wake up and catch up with Tunu and Archana who were supposed to land by 9pm. But the moment we hit the bed, which was around 6pm, we just slept through the entire night and woke up the next day morning only.

September 26:

It was a good idea to wake up early, since we knew we had to hit the tent early to get a table. The plan was for us to grab a table, and Tunu, Archana, Shreyas and Neha join us when they can So we got out of our place by 10am and walked towards the fest grounds. I downloaded an Oktoberfest app and read all about the 14 tents there, but Naan had heard that Paulaner was the best and so we went there straight. We found a table quite easily, but by the time we completed our first drink, the entire place was intensely crowded. So much so, that a group of 3 guys joined our table, and eventually swelled to a large number of guys, who kept pushing us out of our seats. One of the guys even tried giving some money to Neha and asked her to go outside and get a beer. It was a terribly cheap thing to do and all of us got into an argument there. In the meantime, Tunu got completely drunk and couldn’t stand straight and made repeated trips to the loo to throw up. So it was basically all going downhill and we decided to just leave the place. Archana dragged Tunu to their Hotel. Naan and Lael were also too drunk and made their way back. I was having too much fun in spite of everything that happened thanks to the spiked Paulaner beers, so the 4 of us stayed back, and I did one Tora Tora sort of ride with Neha, and since we managed not to throw up, took Shreyas and went on the Giant Wheel as well. After this, I decided to leave the place with Geet as she was not doing any of the rides and getting bored. So we began walking back to our B&B, and once again we sort of lost our way and took a few trams in incorrect directions till we figured the right way back. 

After a lot of difficultly, we made it back to our place and I gobbled up 1 leftover croissant as I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat the whole day, and just passed out.

September 27:

Woke up feeling sheepishly guilty given the way the start to the trip happened. I knew Geet is going to be really mad not only at the way things transpired at the tent, but also given how much we struggled to find our place twice in the same day! Thankfully she didn’t stay mad at me for too long, and we decided to give the tents another shot.  It was a Saturday, and we knew tents are going to be difficult to get on this day. So we asked Shreyas and Neha to make it early on this day and grab a table, and the rest of us joined in a little later. Shreyas kept calling me and saying all the tents are really packed, and this was by 10am itself. Anyway, we reached the venue by about 11am, and thankfully Shreyas and Neha managed to find a table at Hofbrau tent this time, and once again we began drinking. I started off really slow given the amount we drank the previous day, but half a glass down, it was once again the same ride - got crazy high and began having a rollicking time. I noticed some ads put up saying the spareribs are a specialty here, and didn’t want to make the mistake like the previous day and decided to order the dish. It was easily the best spareribs I’ve ever had. We also ordered the Roast Chicken for Geet, and this dish comes as en entire half chicken. So I had to cut it into smaller pieces to make it look edible for Geet to eat. When we finally walked out of the tent, I had a hat on my head that I later got to know that Tunu bought for me as a memorabilia. 

We got back to our B&B and everyone decided to take a short nap. Tunu and I walked back to Schoberwiert and thought of catching up for a bit as we hadn’t found anytime to talk till then. We chatted quite a lot over the same Lowenbrau beer, and finally caught up with the rest of the gang and walked to Marienplatz, which was the place Geet and I got lost in the previous evening, and had noticed some nice restaurants while we were at it.

So we hit a restaurant called Hofer and people ordered a lot of food. There was Chicken Salad, Roast Beef Steak, Roast Meatballs.. thankfully I only ordered a beer as I wasn’t feeling too hungry, and then dug into everybody else’s plates as nobody was finishing any of their food. After the meal, we bade goodbye to Shreyas and Neha who were getting back to Zurich the next day, and the rest of us walked back to the B&B.

Once we got there, Lael asked each of us to narrate a funny story in their life. We took turns with me starting off about Tunu’s moped back in school and how we got chased by a bull once when we were on it. Tunu then narrated a story of how he and Archana got lost in the sea when they tried their hand at sailing with very little knowledge of how to go about it. By this time I was beginning to doze off and could barely keep up with Naan’s and Lael’s stories as I hadn’t slept that afternoon like the others, and had a little too much beer compared to Tunu. So we called it a night and bid adieu to Tunu and Archana who were leaving to Greece the next day.

September 28:

It was the day for the 4 of us also to leave towards Stuttgart, and the plan was to hire a car and drive there, as driving a car on the autobahns was another dream of mine for long. I had insisted on a BMW only given I’m in love with that car, but Naan booked a Ford Mondeo assuring me that he will get an upgrade as he always books on Hertz. But when we reached the Hertz office at Hauptbanhof, the guy there tells that everything is booked out given its Oktoberfest and there are no cars available. We then tried asking some of the other vendors there like Sixt and Europcar, but it was either not available or too expensive given we were booking late. Just when we were on the verge of giving up, the guy comes and tells us that he can manage a BMW 1series and that’s the best he can do. We could have kissed him right there! But stuck to just thanking him politely.

We then got into the car, which was a manual transmition 116i, base model of BMW, but hell it was BMW! And finally started on our way nearly 2 hours after we originally intended to. So we just drove straight to Stuttgart and didn’t take any detours. The autobahns en route also had some construction work going on in places that made the journey a lot slower, and hence when we finally reached Stuttgart, it was well past sundown. So we just checked in, freshened up, and headed towards the Stuttgart Stadtstheatre square for dinner. It was a nice area, and we walked around the different restaurants trying to figure where we are going to sit and eat. We finally settled on Café Brauhous which looked like a complete touristy place, and as expected, wasn’t too great on food. I didn’t order a drink on this night which completely shocked the other 3 who were all drinking, thanks to the copious quantities I’ve been drinking till then and my body shouting for a break. 

We had Roast beef (which was nothing compared to what we had at Munich), Weiner Schnitzel (a German dish I’ve been wanting to experiment for long with) and Pasta for Geet (who didn’t have too many options with German dishes, considering they either had red meat, or sausages in pretty much every dish). Lael seemed to be a very good mood on this day and kept entertaining us with stories. She even treated us with the dinner and that brought us to the end of the trip with Naan and Lael.

September 29:

Lael was leaving early morning at 9:30, and we got into a bit of confusion in the morning with taking the car out of the hotel as we had to pay for the parking and stuff, and in the process, got really late and she just about managed to catch the train that was leaving to Frankfurt. She had many connections before reaching the US and just couldn’t afford to miss this train. We were really glad she managed to make it, and then spent the rest of the day exploring Stuttgart beerfest with Naan. 

We went to the fest area that Stuttgart called Volksfest, and it was like a mini Munich here. We walked by all the tents and finally decided to get into one where there was a band playing. We had Roast Duck here along with the beer, as we just couldn’t understand what the other dishes on the all German menu was, and had little help from the all German waiter as well. But the Duck was a good order, as it once again turned to be the best Duck I’ve ever had! I think I once had Duck with Bala in Phylli that came close to this, but it was seriously good Duck.

We ate and drank listening to the band play German and some English songs, and completely enjoyed the whole day. It was a very different experience from the madhouse that Munich was, and the band was something I wanted to hear in a long time – proper German music playing live.

We then dropped Naan off at the station and decided to order dinner through room service itself rather than stepping out, as we wanted to start the next day early and really make use of the BMW we hired the previous day and didn’t do jack shit with on this day.

September 30:

As per plan, Geet and l checked out of the Hotel by 7am and drove towards Munich. We were to take a longer route from the one we came on, and drive through the Romantische Strasse, which is supposed to be a very scenic route starting from Central Germany and ending with Neuschwanstein in the South. Of course, we couldn’t cover the entire Route as it would have been a very long trip, and had a train leaving from Munich towards Salzburg in the evening that we had to make it back in time for. So we hit the Romantische Strasse at the town called Nordlingen. It was a really pretty town with an old Gothic church in between. We had some breakfast at one of the Bakerai’s, and walked around the place taking tons of photos. Then we drove to Harburg, the next city on the Romantische Strasse, and this one had a pretty bridge with a rivulet underneath that had a bunch of Ducks wading around. From the bridge you could see the city which had some neat looking palaces at one side. Next we hit Donauworth, once again a pretty town with small winding roads, not even enough for cars to come both ways, studded with matchbox shaped houses on both sides. We were next to hit a town called Rain, but this is when the GPS in the car went kaput, and it turned out to be a real struggle finding the next town without it. We were also running out of time, and hence decided to now head direct to Munich. We connected back to the autobahn, and the route we hit this time was not the same one we came on. This one didn’t have any constructions going on, and provided what the autobahns are known for – uncontrolled levels of speed!

I was driving upwards of 120kmph the entire journey and still had to be on the right side of the road only, as cars were incessantly over-taking from the left. The only time I managed to come to the left most lane was when I crossed 160kmph, and managed to touch 180kmph at this stretch which was the best I’ve ever done. So the experience was well worth it.

But once we reached Munich, the right side driving, lack of free flowing autobahns, trams pummeling down the same roads cars drove, and the gear box on the right made it extremely complex to navigate. And with the GPS continuing to give trouble, I got honked so many times in a country that doesn’t honk like the way we do, and managed to find the gas station where I filled gas on my own for the very first time, and then finally reached the Hertz parking about half hour later than schedule. Thankfully we didn’t face any flak for the delay and returned the car easily (albeit painfully), and then chilled out at an Italian restaurant, waiting for our train to Salzburg.

The train was a regular one, and left the platform where an ICE stood next to it. So we called it the “Not so ICE” train, where even seating was free. Couple of hours later, we hit Salzburg, which soon turned out to be the letdown of the entire trip.

We reached the hotel, Pension Elizabeth quite easily as it was just next to the train station. But it turned out to be nothing compared the reviews online, and most importantly, charged a bomb for the facilities offered – which included breakfast with just bread and jam/butter the next day, and a cramped attic converted to a room on the 2nd floor with no lift access to it. Anyway, we decided to make the most of our short time there and head to the much hyped Mullner Brauhous, where apparently Monks brew the beer that Mozart enjoyed here. Well, we walked around a lot, and saw a bunch of old people walking in and out of churches, but no Mullner Brauhous anywhere.

Finally, we decided to ditch it and entered a pretty looking restaurant called Stadwirt where we ordered Chicken Breast Pasta and had it with Steigl Beer. Now this is pretty much the highlight of Salzburg city – the Steigl Beer, a local Austrian favourite here. And the Pasta was once again brilliant, which led us to salvage something of the evening.

October 1:

Checked out in the morning after the most boring breakfast ever, and reached the airport where we were in for some more flying adventure. The lady at the counter to the Germanwings flight that we were flying to Berlin tells us that our checkin luggage will be charged. This is a problem with these low cost airlines, and Geet and I had to shift around our luggage in such a way that we only checked in one bag and carried the other one in as hand luggage. Thankfully we managed to accommodate it that way, and soon on our way to Berlin. 

As soon as we got out of the Berlin Hauptbanhof, which we reached via train from the Berlin Airport, Geet spotted a Wok to Walk restaurant that she’s a big fan of in Europe. Given we didn’t have a good meal the entire day – with just the bread for breakfast, and salad at the Cologne stopover during the flight, we just rushed in for some good Wok. Geet loves the Hot Asian sauce variant here, and that’s exactly what I ordered, and seriously was amazing Wok. We sat and ate it watching the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church that we could see through restaurant window, and caught a breather before heading to our Hotel.

This was Hotel Park Plaza, and I was just keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out better since I’d only paid as much as Pension Elizabeth for this. And thankfully, it was. This was a Wall Street themed Hotel, with everything inside, from the floor carpets, to the rooms being designed with stock market tickers and dollar bill notes. It was really well designed and the rooms were extremely comfortable. We were just glad the Hotel made up for the calamity the previous day, and put on our party clothes to hit the streets of Berlin.

Now this was Oktoberfest in the most culturally tuned city in Germany. So there were lots to offer at Alexander Platz, where a temporary Oktoberfest scenario was setup, which was just 2 stops away from where we stayed. We checked out all the shops, arcades and beer joints, and finally decided to enter one where there seemed to be a dance party happening. Now this was new for us, coz until now it was only drunken revelry, or singing to a band at best. This was with people dancing in all strange forms, especially since the crowd was completely international, just as we had seen so far, and Geet and I grabbed 2 beers and sat on one table close to the dance floor. 

Soon an elderly man comes up and says “something something Fraulin”. I just nodded thinking he asked something about Geet, and next thing I know, he is dragging her off to a dance! It was hilarious watching them go at some German dance form that involved kicking their feet up. When Geet was there, an elderly lady comes up to me and offers me her beer hat. I was completely beginning to love this place. It only got better when the lady even bought me a glass of beer, something I was really trying to avoid as I didn’t want to get too high on this day. But that was not to be, as it was drinks, and dancing, and in the end turned out to be a pretty wild night through. 

On the way back I found a stall selling Currywurst, another dish I wanted to try out here, and ordered it and ate in the train with people staring at me coz you aren’t supposed to eat inside a train. But both of us were so drunk and hungry that we didn’t care much. 

October 2:

Checked out of our Hotel before hitting the city as we had an overnight bus to Munich later in the day, and then walked about the city seeing all the famous sights in the pretty much the only German city that offers this. So we began with the Berlin wall, where we took a ton of photos around some of the impressive graffiti done on a historically significant piece of construction that was only celebrating its 25th year of being broken down. The 2 sides of the wall really didn’t look very different, but at one time actually separated 2 countries!

We then visited Checkpoint Charlie which is an overrated old American checkpoint in Germany, followed by Brandenburg Tor which was the official entry gate to the town of Berlin where there was a lot of literature on the WW’s, a brief stop at the famous KaDeWe mall, and finally got back to Alexander Platz where we chanced upon a shop called Parkin where Geet found some cheap European things to buy, and totally began knocking herself out there. We barely got enough time to have a quick Waffle, collect our luggage, and hit the Berlin bus stop which was to take us back to where it all started – Munich!

October 3:

The familiar chill of Munich hit us as soon as we got out of the bus in the morning, and as we walked from the Bus Stop to the Hautbanhof, we saw another very familiar sight – guys in Lederhosen’s and girls in Drindl’s, all walking in one direction, which thanks to my GPS I quickly figured was in the direction of Theresienweise – the Oktoberfest venue. The shocking thing was, the time wasn’t even 7am yet. Anyway, it was a Saturday, and that too on the last weekend of Oktoberfest, so we knew it’s going to be quite difficult to get a table like the way we did we when first got to Germany. But decided to stick with the plan for the day, which involved checking in, hitting the BMW museum, then an attempt at the Oktoberfest venue, and finally some shopping to close out the German trip.

We began with exactly that thought, reaching the far off town Freising for our Hotel, which I intentionally booked so that its closer to the airport given our early morning flight the next day. En route I found a store selling Augusteiner Beer, which was something everyone spoke of here since they are beer still prepared in wooden barrels and have a very different taste. I finally found it here, and picked with some croissant for Geet and Meatball Bagel for me (another German specialty). 

We checked in to the Hotel Isar which was a very pretty hotel, and opened my Augusteiner beer only to realize that I wasn’t too much a fan of it, but the good German music on TV kept me company as Geet got ready. We hit the BMW museum straight and it was then that I understood the statement “kid in a toy store”. I was running from one car to another checking it out, giving competition to a bunch of 5 year olds doing exactly the same thing as me. And while I was admiring the interiors of the car, the kids would be trying to figure which parts can come out loose.

After going through all the BMWs, the Mini Coopers and the Rolls Royce on display, we headed towards the fest area. Now this was a terrible idea, as we didn’t have space to even reach the first tent! The place was crowded pretty much all the way from the train station. It was just too much for us to handle, and we walked out and decided to hit the department store in Mariahilfplatz where we initially stayed as the store had some really neat items that we hadn’t found anywhere else so far. We thought of buying things from here for people back home. But when we reached the store, it was closed! Just like everything else in the city. It was as if everybody shut shop to just be at Theresienweisse for the day. 

Now that was 2 strikes against us, and we really needed the day to get better from here. So we walked to Marienplatz, the place we got lost in the first day, and the place we had the fancy dinner the second day. We decided to find the Hofbrau brewery here, which is supposed to be one of the oldest in Germany. After much searching, we finally found it, and as soon as we entered, Geet found a table with a bunch of German kids that had 2 seats free, and she went straight and asked them for it. They were too drunk and too nice to decline, and eventually we realized they were too under-aged as well to be ordering beer, and needed us there to make the orders for them. Anyway, we ordered the super tasty freshly brewed Hofbrau beer from here, and had it with Roast Ox, pretty much the only dish that was remaining for me to have in Germany, and ended the day and the trip in exactly the way we would have wanted to.

After much partying, found our way to the Hotel, figured our way to the airport the next day, and crashed out with a beer called Weisenstephan, which was a beer only available in the Northern part of Munich, where Freising is located which is where we stayed. This really amazed me about the country - there are so many different types of beers, and not only are they unique to a city, but some of them are unique to a certain district within a city as well. And this Weisenstephan beer was really good!

I completely enjoyed the food throughout the trip as well. Although most of it was just versions of the humble Wurst (sausage) – dishes like Bratwurst, Currywurst, Wurstsalat, or meat heavy dishes like Roast Ox/Duck/Beef or the different forms of the Schnitzels that were available. One would think you would return from such a hedonistic trip with your fitness completely screwed up, but the reality was that we both were more fit than when we started! And this was in spite of just beer and fried food throughout the trip. Guess the beer and fried food also is healthy as long as it has the German tag to it.

Well, all in all, it was a lovely trip to Germany – in so many ways exactly how I wanted it to work out. And all thanks to Geet for playing along with my idiotic fantasies and to Naan for making some of them like booking the BMW possible, and all my friends for actually making it there and turning this Oktoberfest trip to be one of the best parties ever!

Phuket with the boys

There's really nothing much I can say about this trip. It was 4 days of nearly the same routine, beginning with an adventure I don't need to write about coz I will never forget it, and because I may not really want ppl reading about the things that happened..

The rest of the 3 days were about starting the day with booze, siting by the beach and eating till the sun went down, house party till late night, and then clubs till the morning!

On the 3rd night, when Noel was leaving, we even stayed up till the sun came up! That was insane! So after that, we only avoided the club portion on the 4th night as it was just overkill by then. 

So barring this routine, it was a beautiful place we stayed in (Andaman Beach Suites Hotel) coz it was 2 rooms next to each other connected internally. Both with big balconies giving us a view if the beach. 

I definitely felt it was pricey given the cheaper options we had, but it indeed was a neat place to be in. 

For food we tried all of the usual crab, lobster, shrimp, and even squid for Bala and chicken for Noel, in red sauce, green sauce, butter garlic (not recommended at all in SEA) a new find of tamarind sauce which went brilliantly with shrimp that we had at The Beach restaurant that was recommended to us by a cabbie I asked on the street, and finally the chilly paste that I always wanted to have with crab in SEA, which we finally got at a classy restaurant we stepped into for a while and had the spiciest and tastiest chilly crab ever!

Among drinks, Alabama Slammer and Slam Dunk that Noel and I got at HRC on the first day we landed, which was made using a base drink called Southern Comfort, was seriously amazing!

Apart from these, we spoke and spoke so much that at some points I was almost getting a headache with the jabbering, but I guess that's the trip you make with these boys. 

One of the conversations we had were the qualities we like and dislike among the rest, and I had to capture this one down:

Noel

+ charming, chill, fun

- Dumb, full of himself, never serious

Duma

+ introspection, people organisation

- Too tensed, esp money. Don't know myself, just do for others 

Muni 

+ clarity, passionate

- Boring, doesn't relate to others 

Bala

+ well read, thought process

- Callous disregard for himself, bad to hang out with when drunk

We randomly rated Noel although he wasn't around during this discussion given it happened on the last day, that's why he has 3 parameters while rest of us have only 2. 

Then at one point on the way back when Bala found bottled Jack and Coke, we came up with some of the dandiest things HR and Senior Management come up with: 

* Cross Functional Learning - we hired too many people in the wrong roles, and now need to move them around to balance the demand supply imbalance 

* Meaty Roles - we want you to do the job of 2 ppl as we can't afford to pay that much 

* Building Capability - we have no clue what we are doing right now 

* Job Empowerment - pls feel free to take your decisions, since as senior leadership, we cannot be bothered by it

* Stakeholder Engagement - we have been operating in mute till now, and realised there are ppl that we need to speak to now 

Some of the legendary dialogues spoken were:

* Duma: Muni, I know there is something really smart you are going to say to make me feel stupid, but I just don't want to hear it right now so pls shut up

Muni: Dude, you're phone is getting wet in the rain

* Bala: Noel orders girls and food the same way. You, you, you, on the table!

Some of the things we figured about each other:

Bala: Really worried about hurting ppl nowadays, and very upset about having screed up with Shilpa

Muni: Has made some amazing travels - Maglev, Aurora Borealis, Terracotta Warriors, and South America shortly, but remains a boring story teller to it

Noel: Continues to play with fire, while freezing at the most crucial times

Me: Have the lowest heart rate that we checked on Bala's phone, and being the only one in the group whose life seems to have gotten worse from the last time we all met. 

 

So that was about it on the trip. I kept myself entertained with the movies during the to and fro journey on Thai Air, watching Pompeii, Divergent, Chef and Bad Neighbours, and enough entertainment with the boys when we were there. 

So we have done Kodai in 2004 and Pondy in 2008, and now Phuket in 2014. Wonder whether we will get to do another one at all, given even this went back and forth so many times and nearly never happened, and given what lives will have in store for us as we go ahead. But for now, absolutely great trip comes to a close. And really really special meeting with the best boys I like hanging together with. 

SEA - Part2

SEA

Cambodia (Siem Reap) highlights (for those who can't go through my verbose travel prose):

• Don't bother converting currency in Siem Reap - the entire city works on USD. Even ATMs dispense in USD! I converted Thai Baht to Cambodian Riel and wasted a lot on conversion - totally unnecessary. USD is the most accepted and cheapest way to pay at Siem Reap
• Never stay at any other place apart from "Pub Street" in Siem Reap - no matter how fancy the hotels describe themselves, unless they are in Pub Street, simply avoid it. Coz this is the most, and pretty much the only, touristy (read: light on the pocket) place in Siem Reap
• There are 2 local beers apart from the typical SEA types of Tiger, Singha and Changs, called Cambodia Lager and Angkor (ya, they are actually named after country and temple!), but avoid Cambodia Lager altogether as it really sucks. Stick with Angkor and the others.
• While we are on the topic of alcohol, avoid any other local drinks. I tried a whiskey called Label5 and it reminded me of Bagpiper. Got me just as high as well. So stick to Angkor beer as the only local drink to have
• if doing Siem Reap by road from Bangkok then be very careful of the Tuk Tuks that take you from Aranyaprathet (border town of Thailand) to the immigration office. Most will take you to an official looking travel agency that will charge you for cab/bus/bellboy, all of which is totally unnecessary. Tell the Tuk Tuk to take you straight to immigration office only from Aranyaprathat
• The sunrise and sunset at Siem Reap is fairly overrated as it depends on the weather and stuff, so don’t stress too much about getting it done
• Definitely definitely try the local Khmer cuisine. It’s supposed to be the oldest cuisine in the world, and some of the dishes prepared in Khmer sauce are brilliantly flavourful - Amok fish, Beef loc lac, Prom fish, Frog legs in Khmer, Cambodian rice and noodles are some of the top dishes
• the people of Cambodia love Indians. Some like Geet get enough attention across SEA for having looks that these guys seem to really appreciate (so much that she's even had to prove to be above 18 to enter a club!), but in Cambodia, even the guys get a lot of attention. I had a bunch of Cambodian aunties taking a photo with me in Siem Reap - so just be prepared for this kind of an assault!
• Songkran is a good time to visit Cambodia. It is their New Years and you get to be a part of their holi-like celebrations with dancing Apsara's, but it is also the time that many of them are on leave, leaving long waiting times for cabs and things. But that apart it’s a good time to embrace their culture

Vietnam (Hanoi highlights):

• Just like Pub Street in Siem Reap, the place to stay here is Old Quarters
• Do a cruise, preferably for 3 days even - it's totally worth it. Paloma cruise is highly recommended
• Vietnam is to Australia as Thailand is to India. So you would meet a lot of Aussies here
• Across SEA you tend to notice 3 things - friendly people, cheap shopping, and good food. All of these are amplified in Vietnam. People here are the friendliest we have met, shopping is cheaper than Bangkok, and the food is top notch - I would rate Vietnam as the next best country after Italy for food now.

April 12
the trip started with a flight to Bangkok at 7 in the morning, so we had to wake up at after just 3 hours of sleep. This was pretty much the norm last few days as there was so much work both of us were trying to complete so as to go on the trip without our laptops and actually get a real break. There hasn't been a weekend since this new role that I haven't spent working, and we were both desperately craving a break.
Anyway, we got to the new Bombay airport well in time to admire the awesome construction that was this Bombay international terminal, and headed into our jet flight which was just like a regular domestic flight. No in flight entertainment, no booze. It was a sad flight for an international one. Anyway, I hoped to get some sleep at least, but it just didn't work out. So it was the most boring flight for me. Geet at least managed to sleep through most of it.
Once we reached Bangkok, we had a bit of a jolt at the visa processing counter, where the 2 ladies sitting there completed my visa and then decided to go on a break. So Geet and I were at opposite sides of immigration waiting for them to return, and once they come back, they call the person after Geet and don’t agree to process hers. It was so silly of them. Geet had to explain that she has been waiting here for them and cannot take a fresh token to start at the back of the big line that was built. Thankfully they agreed after some time and we went through. Bit of a scare that was, but soon we were on our BTS to phaya thai, and met a friendly pilot on the train, who helped us plan the next part of the journey to the hotel, by writing down our hotel address on a paper and asking us to just show it to a cab as the hotel wasn't too far from phaya Thai.
We did just that, but I was starting at the meter to see how much the damage was, and it just cost 83 baht. I gave him a 100 which was effectively 200 rupees, which was probably cheaper than Bombay even given the distance covered. With this discovery of Bangkok cabs being reasonable, the next few short trips for the day was in cabs itself.
Once we reached the hotel, we were quickly taken into our studio apartment room which was an upgraded version of what Naan had booked for us since the regular room was not available. So we got twice lucky with the hotel. Once with Naan booking it for us as he was getting a good deal, and next for the upgrade.
So this was far ahead of expectations, given this was the Hangover hotel. We planned to visit the sky bar in the night where the movie was shot, and for the time being, caught up on some much needed sleep.
We stepped out at 7, me headed to Hua lamphong to figure out a way to travel to siem reap the next day, and Geet to MBK to shop. En route we saw people celebrating Songkran, Thai New Year falling on April13-14, where people spray water over each other through water guns. Unlike holi though, they don't use colours. Locals and tourists were having so much fun spraying water over all passerby’s. We were just thankful we were inside a cab. After going our individual ways, we caught up an hour later with her college friend Swati at a bar called Zanzi in Sukhamvit.
This was my breaking of lent moment, and we ordered a full non veg platter for me to go berserk on. And I was enjoying everything on offer, including the chicken satay that I'm normally not a very big fan of. Downed the food with Red Label, and then came to our room after being joined by another of Swati's friends, to quickly change and hit the sky bar. But our hotel room luck finally ran out as it began to rain and we only got to see the bar from a distance. Anyway, decided to make the most of the night by buying some beer from a nearby 7/11 and having it in our beautiful big room.

April 13
once again woke up with hardly any sleep. It was lot tougher this time, as I was drunk the previous night, that too with alcohol in the system after nearly 40 days. So I struggled to pack up and leave to Hua Lamphong station on time. It sucked that we weren’t able to enjoy Hotel Lebua to its fullest by even skipping their breakfast in the morning, after having skipped their sky bar the previous night because of the rain, but we had to leave early to make it to siem reap on time.
Our train journey from Hua Lamphong began at 6am, and we thankfully entered the train by 530 it as we managed to get seats. The train was completely crowded the rest of the journey and with wooden seats, no AC, and absolute rustic scenery throughout the journey, Geet kept saying this is like a trip to Mugaltor!
The train journey sure was anything by comfortable, but it got us to Aranayprathet, the border town of Thailand by 12 noon (half hour delayed) for only 48 Baht each. Definitely a cheaper option that the bus, and more importantly a surer way of reaching the border, as the hotel staff had mentioned that getting buses to siem reap would be tough given we were booking last minute and it was Songkran here.
Anyway, we reached Aranyaprathet and took a tuk tuk to the visa office. He brought us to an official looking place, and I assumed this is where our immigration would be done. the guy who spoke to us gave us departure cards and the ambiance looked very official with some other firangs also filling departure cards there, but it was only later when we got to the actual immigration department did we realize this was a sham. anyway, the guy there gave us some good tips about Siem Reap and sent a guide with us who turned out quite resourceful in taking us through the Thai immigration where we quickly stamped out our passports, and then led us to the Cambodian section where he bribed one of the cops to process our visas faster for a VIP fee of 300 baht. We didn't mind it as the line was really long inside a sweltering hot room. So we waited outside drinking Cambodian minute maid while our visas came though. It was here we noticed that the vehicles passing through an Angkor arch that signified the border between the 2 countries move from left to right as Cambodia followed the American system unlike Thailand. Over the rest of the trip we realized the American influence spanned more than just the traffic in Cambodia - the currency in all of Siem Reap was just American Dollars! Even the ATMs dispensed cash in USD.
Anyway, once we got our visas, we headed to a shuttle bus that took us to a bus stop kind of place where we were waiting for a cab for which we booked 1000 baht to the travel agent on the Thai side of the border. We agreed to pay for a cab as he said buses would depart much later, but cabs were anyway not available sonic drivers were on Songkran leave. So we asked the guide with us to refund the money so that we can just take a bus, but he was acting funny by saying he wasn't carrying any cash. Geet found a policeman there and complained to him, and then this guy borrowed from someone and paid us. So after that small adventure we entered the bus at 1pm, a good 1 hour after reaching Aranyaprathet, and then waited inside for 2 full hours before the bus made sure the last seat was filled before starting off. This really delayed our journey and we finally reached Siem Reap only at 8pm. The entry into the city was only more Mugoltor like, and we were worried how we would fine our way to the hotel. Thankfully the bus conductor helped is with a Tuk Tuk who took us straight to the address I wrote and gave the conductor a whole back, and finally we felt relieved after a whole day of travel as
the hotel - Saem Siem Reap looked really nice and comfortable. Lots of trees, wooden floors, swimming pool in the middle, and really friendly staff made us feel completely relaxed.
Soon we checked in, freshened up, and came down to the hotel restaurant for our first Khmer dinner, where we had Cambodian fried noodles with Angkor beer, a beer I had began enjoying over the next few days here.

April 14
Our first day of the trip was going to actually start today, a good 2 full days after leaving Bombay. Though many people recommended we catch the sunrise at Angkor wat, we just wanted to catch some rest before starting our day. So we peacefully woke up and stepped out only by noon. Our hotel had its own tuk tuk service and we got a really friendly guy taking us around the temples for the day.
We started with the main Angkor temple after buying a day pass for 20usd each, and spent the most time at this place taking tons of photographs. There were a lot of people visiting the temple given the new years they were celebrating, so it was quite a challenge to avoid them while snapping away. We were quite surprised to find that in spite of 95% Cambodians being Buddhists, and this being their biggest temple, there was just no place for worship inside, it was just like visiting an ancient ruin. But the name Siem Reap, which means Siem destroyed, made sense, given the shambles the place was in.
Next we headed to Prasat Kravan, a tiny 5 pillar temple compared to Angkor dedicated to Vishnu. Here we first observed the way idols are carved into the stone walls itself. Something we observed in many other temples following this. Next we went to bantaey kedai, the most dilapidated of the lot. Apparently shivaites destroyed the Buddhists statutes when they were built over the original Hindu temples, and to this day excavations are in progress to unearth the buried Buddhist statutes. Here we even saw a Shivling. Really nice to see both religions weaving into each other in these temples.
Next we visited 2 temples that were on opposite sides of the road, Chao Say Thevada, and Thomanon. Finally here there was an old bald lady monk who did a puja for us and tied a thread on our wrist and demanded money. It was funny that she wasn’t accepting Riels and kept asking for Dollars. Unbelievable how nobody here uses their own countries currency.
After this we went to Ta Phrom, the next biggest temple here after Angkor and bayon, and this one was a tree temple where trees are fully woven into the architecture of the temple itself. Here a bunch of aunties suddenly caught hold of us and took a photo of us with their group. It was like they were fascinated seeing Indians. We next went to Pre Roup for the sunset. The only other spot apart from Bayon temple to see a good sunset here, and our driver avoided Bayon as the traffic was thick. This turned out a good choice coz we went to Bayon after the sunset and the temple was really beautifully lit up. There was also an exhibition set up where we got to see a neat Apsara dance (Apsara’s are supposed to wives of Gandharvas in Indra’s court, and part of both the Hindu and Buddhist mythology) along with some other performances.
After a dose of Cambodian culture that concluded a day of visiting all of their temples, we went to Neary Khmer restaurant for dinner, where we sat under a perfect moonlight and enjoyed prom fish (minced fish and pork in omelets), and fried fish in Khmer sauce and Cambodian fried rice. All the dishes were amazing, and Khmer sauce is really flavorful. We were really thankful to our driver for the awesome day and choice of hotel, that I tipped him 10k Riel over the 60k we were to pay him.
Sure was a wonderful start to our SEA trip.

April 15

We originally planned to visit the temples again today, but after spending 20 USD per person the previous day to visit them, and having gone through pretty much all of them, we didn’t want to spend that much again. So we decided to chill and go for a Khmer Massage, at a Japanese Massage Centre that our Tuk Tuk driver from the previous day suggested. Unfortunately, the same Tuk Tuk driver was busy with other passengers, but he directed the Tuk Tuk guy who was taking us on the place to go. It was a small, close to shady looking place, where you had to go into a room inside a building that looked like a house for the massage. There were 4 beds laid down in the room, with 4 pairs of clothing placed on them that we had to change into for the massage. It was quite unlike the open air experience of Krabi, and so was the massage that followed for an hour after that. So it was dry, just like the Thai massage, and felt more rigorous, as every muscle seemed to get attention, but somehow wasn’t as invigorating as the Thai one. Strangely didn’t feel as relaxed after the massage as we felt in Krabi last year. It might have to do with the setting too, but anyway, was worth an experience at least.

We asked our Tuk Tuk guy to take us to a nice restaurant for lunch, and he went to Neary Khmer again. Although we liked our dinner the previous day, we wanted to try out another place. So he then took us to a restaurant called Borey Savann, which had an entrance that was almost hidden from the main road – looked like a place that you would never visit on your own. We were thinking to ourselves that this might be an authentic Khmer place, and it turned out to be the restaurant where I had my first ever frog legs! It was frog legs in Khmer sauce, and tasted scrumptious. I was not chewing off the bones coz it did feel weird eating it, but I pretty much did wipe the plate clean.

After lunch, we headed to a lake in Siem Reap called Tonle Sap, which was supposed to have something called the Floating Village there. It was a decent half hour ride on an empty rickety road on the even more rickety Tuk Tuk, and throughout the journey, we could see houses on stilts, which are pretty much what the Floating Village was all about, and some of them had hammocks where firangs sat and drank their Angkor Beer. It seemed quite a sad thing to do, and we just hoped Tonle Sap would turn out better. Sadly it didn’t. There were boats taking visitors on rides, but they were charging a phenomenal amount, so we just sad by the pier and watched the sun go down from there. Took some more videos that were to be part of our musical video on the trip, and then turned back to Siem Reap town, and hit Pub Street this time.

Now this place was the Khao San of Siem Reap, and we were wondering why we didn’t stay here from the start. Unfortunately nobody told me of a place called Pub Street, and Trip Advisor also didn’t seem to have too many mentions. But this was street was a complete live wire – concerts, Apsara dancers, even commercial promotions by auto manufacturers – they were all there on the street. Staying here would have been an altogether different experience.

Anyway, we hit a pub called Angkor What? Something I read about online and really wanted to visit. They charged fairly steep prices for beers, but it was a nice looking place nevertheless. Then had dinner at one of the streets restaurants, where I got to try out another Khmer dish that I was wanting to – Amok Fish, and as always, tasted simply brilliant – it was a sort of fish gravy, served inside a leaf, to be had with rice.

April 16

It was our last day in Siem Reap, and we once again woke up late. We initially planned to go on a Balloon Ride, however, the people at the resort advised us against it. So with that out, getting some more rest seemed to be the logical thing to do. So after getting ready by noon, we checked out, and headed to the city to get passport photographs for Geet as that was required for the Vietnam visa we were to get at Hanoi later on in the day. We also paid another visit to Pub Street, which was quiet dead after the party last night. But there were some massage parlours open, and I got myself some fish therapy, while Geet got a foot massage.

We then reached the tiny Siem Reap airport, where our flight was delayed by nearly 2 hours, and we spent all that time sitting idle in the airport, where one Cambodian guy seemed very interested in the fact that we were Indians, and began showing us pictures of Sandalwood trees and things from India. Cambodians altogether seem to really love Indians.

On that note, we bid adieu to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and made our way to Hanoi, Vietnam. We landed at the Hanoi airport by 9pm and were glad that we had booked a cab from the Hotel to take us there, as it was quite late in a strange city. The journey took more than an hour, and we reached a place called Old Quarter, the Khao San of Hanoi this time, and checked in to a Hotel called Oriental Central, rated No. 1 on Trip Advisor in Hanoi. It really was a fascinating Hotel. The staff was incredibly friendly and the room was really cozy. They even had rose petals on the bed which was a nice touch. The restaurants in Hanoi were all closed by this time though, and so we just ate some crackers that were kept in the room, and called it a night.

April 17

We had to wake up early this time to have breakfast in time and head to Halong Bay in a tempo that was to pick us up from the Hotel and take us on a 4 hour journey to the coastline. We just about managed to catch breakfast – which was basic sausage, bacon, omelets and fruits – but somehow all of them tasted really amazing. The fruits in fact, were the freshest I have ever had. So after gorging on breakfast, we began our long, but reasonably comfortable journey. There was a family with a little kid, a young Israeli couple, and 3 Australian guys in the tempo who were going to give us company on the cruise as well, and it seemed like the perfect bunch of people you would travel with – one group that is a sedate family, one group that is a young couple with a loud mouth lady, and one group that is a bunch of young funny guys.

We reached the coast by 12:30 and took a ferry to our cruise ship – the Paloma Cruise. At the ship, we were taken straight for lunch, where a guy called Lui introduced us to the cruise. They had taken peoples food requests before hand, and was really incredible the way they served lunch for everyone. Geet for example said she would only have chicken in non-veg, and they ensured that she was served only vegetarian or chicken dishes. The Israeli couple had an even more stringent request like no nuts and stuff, and given they weren’t complaining, guess even they were served the right food. So that was how lunch was served for us – a 5 course menu, coming to all of us one by one, with everyone’s requests being met. After eating to our stomach’s content, we were then shown to our rooms – a beautiful little room with a window to an ever changing view, as the ship keeps moving. The sight outside was ocean, with floating mountains, and it was an incredible sight.

After a short nap, we went kayaking, which was surprisingly easy given Geet and I were doing it for the first time, and kayaked to an oyster farm where we were shown how pearls are naturally created. People were basically tricking oysters to create pearls by inserting a calcium tablet into the oyster shell - it was an incredible process to witness. 
Once we got back, we changed and headed to the deck for a party organized by the cruise where free Sangria was being served. We socialized with people on the deck, which included more Australians, and then headed down for a cooking class, where we were taught to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls. This was something that completely fascinated me. I Googled later and learnt that although Spring Rolls come from China, where it was made during their New Years which fell on Spring, and hence the name, it is currently most popular in Vietnam, given the way it is prepared there. They have pre-made thin rice papers, on which you put your ingredients, and then roll it and either steam to make “Fresh Spring Rolls” or fry to make “Fried Spring Rolls”. We made Fried Spring Rolls during this cooking class, and even here, Geet and one other guy who wanted only Chicken were allowed to prepare Chicken Spring Rolls, while the rest of us prepared the typical Vietnamese Spring Rolls, which were made out of Pork.

All of us were asked to make our Spring Rolls based on the instructions by the chef, and we were judged on how well we had rolled the roll. There were 3 winners, which even included a kid, and they got free drinks as gifts. The rest of us submitted our rolls for frying, and when it came through, I took a bite of Geets Chicken Spring Roll, and thought it tasted better than the Pork ones. But all in all, I am now a complete Vietnamese Spring Roll fan.

We later sat on our usual dining tables, with the same bunch of Australian guys who were on the tempo and also with us over lunch, giving us company for dinner this time, and we were having a nice chat about Cricket, Australia, India, food, and lots of other things. All of this while we were once again served a delicious 5 course meal. One of them was called Prawn on Rocks, and this was prepared in front of us. The way it was done was; there were pre-heated rocks kept on a table. Fresh prawns were doused with vinegar and lit up, and these were poured over the rocks and sealed. The incredibly high temperature in the sealed vessel cooked the prawns in a matter of seconds. The prawns were then removed and served directly on our plates, and it was just incredibly tasty. I was slowly becoming a big fan of the Vietnamese cuisine – so many different dishes, all of them so tasty, it was really a feast for the foodie in me.

After dinner, we headed to the deck to do some Squid fishing, and saw 2 guys catch squid which get attracted to the blue light that is directed towards the water surface. When we realized we weren’t gonna find much luck with the squid, we hit the bed.

April 18

Woke up early once again to go to the deck and take some photographs and enjoy the view from there. It was completely worth the effort, as there was nobody on the deck apart from one guy cleaning the mess created by some of the late night party animals.

We then had a nice heavy breakfast – this time I tried something called Crab Soup with Fish Cakes. Had them along with the usual bacon, eggs and fruit. After breakfast, we were taken to an island where we went cave exploring. There was a huge crowd at the entrance, and we came across so many people that we met during our flight here, and it seemed that all of them had pretty much the same itinerary – coming to Halong Bay for the cruise, and all cruises having the same itinerary of brining everyone to this island for the cave trek.

The cave trek was anyway quite interesting, and after a long walk inside with lots of photos and interesting tit bits about the cave, we came back out and waited for our ferry to take us back to the cruise ship. We were taken in 2 batches, first the people who were staying another night left, as they were to head to a beach for a barbeque lunch, and then we left to the cruise to have lunch there and then check out. It was quite early for lunch after the extremely heavy breakfast we had, but we gorged on it anyways, and eventually paid our drinks bill (everything else was pre-paid) and checked out and headed back to Hanoi in the same tempo that got us there. We just slept our way through during this journey, and the 4 hours passed fast.

On reaching Hanoi, we checked in to another Hotel, called City Palace, since Oriental was not available on this day, and the difference between the Hotels was clearly visible. However, it was a comfortable stay nevertheless, and the good part was that it was located right on a road called Hong Bac Road, which was the shopping centre of the Old Quarter.

We stepped out in the evening to do some shopping and watch a Water Puppet show that is quite popular in Hanoi. After the show, we went to a restaurant called Elegance, which was rated No. 1 Restaurant on Trip Advisor, and supposed to have an awesome view of the city and the lake from there. Not only was the view awesome, the waiters were so friendly and the food so awesome, that we completely loved the dinner.

We ate something called Cha Ca, which was a dish that comes with small pieces of fried fish, paper rolls, salad dressing, nuts and fried onions. The waitress showed us how to prepare the dish, which was basically like making your own Paan, out of paper rolls though, and the ensemble tasted really great together. The waiters were so nice to us, that they even gave us a corner table as there was a cancellation, so that we could enjoy the view from there. I was seriously impressed with the people of Vietnam. I always believed that South East Asians were friendly, but Vietnam takes it to a whole new level.

Anyway, after the lovely dinner, we walked back to our hotel room and called it a night. It was Hanoi sight-seeing the next day.

April 19

We began the day with a walk to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. It was a good half hour walk, and through the way, we noticed a lot of coffee shops. Coffee drinking is a big culture in Vietnam, and the previous day we actually had some coffee on the pit stop we took in the tempo ride from Halong Bay to Hanoi. The coffee was very different from what we have in India, but extremely tasty nevertheless. Even Europe had so much of a coffee culture, but it just never tasted this good.

There were a lot of people at the mausoleum – once again we ran into the crown from the airline, and inside the mausoleum was actually an embalmed Ho Chi Minh in a tomb surrounded by 4 serious looking guards. I didn’t actually expect to see this, but apparently many people in Vietnam visit this place to pay respects to this man.

After the mausoleum, we headed back to the lake where we did some more last minute shopping, and then headed back to the Hotel to check out and move to the airport, for our flight back to Bangkok.

The plan was to spend one more night at Bangkok and leave the next day afternoon. However, I was wondering why I hadn’t planned in a way that we left directly from the Bangkok airport to Bombay, coz just the one extra night in Bangkok was costing us visa charges of 2k each, hotel fees, shopping.. We spent so much just for this Bangkok last leg, but almost seemed worth it, coz we stayed at the Bangkok Marriott.

It was one of the best rooms I have stayed in after the Hilton Cavelieri in Rome. Room on the 30^th floor, overlooking Bangkok, with a bath tub in the bathroom that had the same view of the city as well. Seriously awesome. And just like Lebua, here also there was a pub on the top floor, which we visited after the super fast shopping that Geet completed at MBK. It almost felt like the next most frequented mall for us after Oberoi mall, given how easily we were navigating through it. The final drinks and dinner at the 50^th floor pub at Marriott was truly spell binding, and a great way to end this fabulous trip.