Skywatch Friday - Sunset amidst Wheat Fields Near Pataudi

I was recently driving coming towards Delhi and instead of taking the National Highway 8 I had taken the State Highway 26 (Route- Singhana- Narnaul- Rewari- Pataudi- Gurgaon) as it is more picturesque.

Sunset & Wheat Fields

As it was evening time nearing sunset my eyes were also constantly scanning the rear-view mirror to see if the sunset is about to happen or not as the Sun was behind me. The moment I realised that now too much time is not left before the Sun goes down I stopped my car near a wheat field. The place was a village near the small town of Pataudi. And what a beautiful sunset I got! It completely took away my driving fatigue and I was completely refreshed by this short break to drive further on.

Beautiful Sunset near Pataudi

Pataudi is a small town in the district of Gurgaon in the State of Haryana, India.

This post is part of Skywatch Friday.

A Sneak Peek in the House of a Traditional Thai Village

During my last visit to Thailand I got an opportunity to look at a traditional house, interact with its inhabitants and see the lifestyle in a Thai village about 50 km from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

Traditional Thai village kitchen tools

Thailand is still predominantly an agricultural economy though they are making great strides in the tourism sector. Thailand’s village economy is closely linked to three things – water, forest produce and coconuts. Rice farming and fishing are important activities in a village life.

Lots of windows for air & light

Most village houses are made of wood with one large living room. Only the more well off houses may have separate bedrooms for some of the family members. The houses are normally raised from the ground (could be on stilts as well) to avoid flooding in the house due to excessive rain. Below the raised house often they keep cattle and machinery. The house on the upper level is open on all sides or there are plenty of windows for light and air as in summers the temperatures can shoot up quite and bit and it can become muggy.

A Thai Village living room has plenty of photos of deities, King & Queen and their ancestors

All the photos depict the importance of Buddhism in the life of locals as they are deeply religious. In fact one section of the room is devoted to religious artefacts. One would also find that though the houses are made of wood but each village has a Wat (Buddhist temple) made of concrete which is mostly the grandest structure of the village. Also one often finds the photos of the King and Queen whom most Thais revere a lot. One will also find several photos of their ancestors and family members as well.

A room in a Thai village with a mat & mosquito net

And since there is so much water around the insects are bound to be there! That is why one sees mosquito nets inside the village houses.

Sugar being produced from coconut

I even saw in the house sugar being produced from coconut which was a novel experience for me! Thailand has plenty of waterways and are a means of transportation, irrigation and livelihood for lot many people. One would invariably find a house having some form of stream, pond or mini canal next to the house. Also along the canals one can see several floating markets where the shops come floating to you to sell their wares!

Beautiful Furniture

The furniture is made locally and consists of bamboo and other woods.

A Snake & a Dog

I also found that the house I visited had kept a few large snakes which seemed to be harmless. I am not sure whether they were raising them to be sold or for some other purpose.

Siesta Time?

And during summers what better way to take a siesta than laze on a bamboo made hammock!

Also read:
Tourism in Thailand: Lessons for India
Phra Nakhon Khiri Palace
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Thailand
Would you like to have a separate waiting room to yourself?
Phraya Nakhon Cave in the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in Thailand
The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok
Skywatch Friday - View of A Halo from the Royal Palace, Bangkok
Wat Pho or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand

Happy Holi

Gujiya is synonymous with Holi

I wish all the readers of my blog a Very Happy Holi. On the occassion of the festival of Holi, associated with colours and joy, I thank my readers for the constant support and encouragement in maintaining and improving the blog.

Discover Thainess - The Charms of Thailand

The Discover Thainess 2015 was officially launched in India by the Minster of Tourism and Sports of Thailand Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul in Bombay (now officially called Mumbai) at the hotel Palladium on the 25th of February 2015.

TAT Director, Minister & the Counsel General of Thailand

The event was hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai Office and I was invited to attend the function and the press conference thereafter. The event started with an address by the minister. She was also happy to respond to the questions fielded by us.

With the Thailand Minister of Tourism & Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul

Thailand is among the top 10 tourist destinations in the world and attracts as many as 25 million visitors annually and the tourists from India are the sixth largest group at almost a million tourists per year. But Thailand does not want to sit on its laurels and wants to increase this number dramatically. India can learn some important lessons from Thailand as it figures way below in tourists’ arrivals. 

The event was held at Hotel Palladium in Mumbai

The overall theme of this event was the floating market of Amphawa. Amphawa is the second most popular floating market after Damnoen Saduak. It is located about 50 km from Bangkok. Thailand has several places where the traditional floating markets have now become great tourist attractions. I have been to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market already.

Thai Boat Girl at the Floating Market

We were also able to taste Thai snacks. At the entrance itself we were served unusual juices of Chrysanthemum, Longan and Roselle by a Ladyboy (transgender). I tasted these juices for the first time in my life and was pleasantly surprised to find that all of them tasted very nice.

Traditional Thai juices being served by a Ladyboy

And from the boats we were served several forms of sweets, non-vegetarian snacks and fruit salads.

Beautiful Fruit Art

Along with the floating market on the sides were attractions like the fruit carving, mask painting, Thai massage etc. 

Mask Painting

Also we were entertained with various forms of Thai dances. 

Thai Dance

There was also a demonstration of Muay Thai, a form of combat sport, which is a popular Thai sport. Incidentally the Indian boxing legend Mary Kom has been made a Thai Ambassador for Muay Thai this year.

Muay Thai is a popular combat sport in Thailand

Also Read:
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Thailand

Tourism in Thailand: Lessons for India
Meeting the Legend - Mary Kom

SATTE 2015: a B2B Travel Show

Turkey participants at SATTE 2015

SATTE is a business to business (or what in the Management terminology is termed as B2B) global travel industry event that is held annually and this year it was held from 29th to 31st January 2015 at the Pragati Maidan in Delhi. This is an event where ones meets, networks and conducts business. I got an invitation to attend the event as a travel blogger and as I was curious as to what happens at such an event I decided to check it out.

The SATTE 2015 at Pragati Maidan

To avoid the hassles of driving and parking I went to the Pragati Maidan by Metro and from there it was just a walking distance to Gate 8. I did the formalities of Registration at the registration desk which was a smooth affair as they had prior information about me and printed the tag in no time. The event was held at two halls. In the bigger hall at the ground level there were mainly Indian companies led by the States stalls which were bigger compared to the individual hotel and travel companies. Largest were the Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Gujarat and Odisha (Orissa) also had big venues as these were also the sponsoring states besides MP. This UBM India event was supported by Incredible India. 

Kerala at SATTE 2105

Among the hotels it was not as if only big hotel chains were there like Accor, Radisson, Taj etc but even stand alone hotel properties. For example I met one Sahib Singh who runs only two properties in Patel Nagar by the names of Balsons Continental and Balsons International. I queried him as to the response and he was enthusiastic about the response as he said that the visitors in this show are serious buyers and sellers.

Sahib Singh, Owner, Balsons

Another unusual thing I noticed is that even states like Chattisgarh are now trying to promote tourism in a serious way as recently they had even organised the Sirpur festival and are now participating in these trade shows. There were several adventure/wildlife/Safari players also including the Pugdundee Safaris as finally the Indians are venturing out for such holiday destinations as well.

Thailand at SATTE 2015

The floor above had on one side international participants including the Partner countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Mauritius and Turkey. Even Israel was promoting itself as a travel destination in a big way! Of course the biggest was that of Thailand and they had under their umbrella fifty hotels, travel agents and companies who had set up stalls.

The second hall was mainly hosting international countries – prominent among them were Great Britain, Turkey and Spain but there were several smaller countries also participating in the show including Bhutan, Bulgaria, Macau, Maldives among many others.

To tap the Western India audience SATTE 2015 is also being organised in Mumbai from 18th to 19th August.

Meeting the Legend - Mary Kom

Today I was fortunate enough to meet the great Indian icon and five time World Amateur Boxing Champion Mary Kom!

With Mary Kom 

And unlike her training or fighting attire that one normally finds her in she was dressed in a beautiful Thai dress looking very charming and beautiful. Besides the five World crowns she is also the 2012 Olympics Bronze medalist and the 2014 Asian Games Gold Medalist.

Mary Kom in a traditional Thai Attire

She normally competes in the 48 kg category but in the Olympics she had to fight under the 51 kg category as the lower category was not there else I am sure she would have got the gold medal there also.

Mary Kom's Husband Onler Kom

I was talking to her husband Onler Kom who said that now she will compete in the 51 kg category in the next World Championships. I wish her all the best!

A Thai Dance

The opportunity to meet Mary Kom arose as Tourism Authority of Thailand has appointed her as the Thai Boxing Ambassador during the launch of the 2015 Discover Thainess Campaign held at the Leela Palace in New Delhi. The even started with couple of Thai dances and culminated with Thai lunch.

Wish You a Happy 2015

A Dawn in the Himalayas

I wish all my readers a Very Happy New Year. I thank all the readers for the continuing support, advice and likes. May all those who like travelling fulfill their desires in this year and explore the unexplored.