Asia

We decided to do a packaged tour of Kerala, India. The tour included round-trip flights from Delhi to Kochi, a taxi for the full journey, and all the hotel stays. Day 1 - Kochi to Munnar While going from Kochi to Munnar, a three-hour drive, we first stopped at Valara falls and then saw the Ayurvedic (herbal) medicinal and spice production at Greenland Spice Garden. Day 2 - Munnar We checked out the Mattupetty Dam and the nearby market. From there, we headed to Echo Point. While returning, we stopped at the Cowboy Adventure Park. I would highly recommend this park; your driver won’t probably want to take you here since the price is too low to give him a kickback. We had to skip Eravikulam national park since we spent too much time (~3 hours) at the Cowboy Adventure Park. Then, we headed back to Munnar and checked out the Tata Tea Museum. There isn’t much to see at the museum. In the evening, we ended up for a massage at an Ayurvedic Massage Centre. The center appears rustic, but the experience was excellent. ...

Day 1 Post-immigration clearance at about 6 PM, I took the Airlink Train to go to Patpong market. One can try a wide variety of local cuisines or a Thai body or facial massage there. There are tons of stalls selling unbranded goods of all variety. Overall, a good start the journey. From there, I headed to Khao San road which is the backpacker’s paradise of Bangkok. The area is on party 24-hours a day. I did some window shopping and felt that goods being sold on Bangkok streets were significantly expensive than Amazon and Dollar Tree in the US. I stayed at Rainbow Hostel at the end of Khao San road to avoid the noise during the sleep time. The place was good but not great. Thailand, just like India uses water in the toilets, if you are a westerner who has never used water before then carry your own toilet paper around. ...