My Visit to Thailand

Ours was an organized group tour and the hassles of visa, booking tickets and hotel were already taken of.

I planned the trip well advanced almost 3 months prior to the visit and the planning actually paid of. I had to renew my passport due to some new rules and regulations introduced by one of the countries other than Thailand, even though my passport was valid.

The group tour at one point consisted of almost 60 people although it varied between 40 and 50 most of the time. The tour organizer hired a coach and we had excellent local tour managers who would give us plenty of information about the places we were about to visit.

Days were hectic and planned in advance with pockets of leisure imbibed during the excursions and meals. We enjoyed the company of many fellow passengers who were also taking the tour for the first time.

My family especially enjoyed the local tour managers from Thailand – Mara and Tida who in their typical Thai accent explained the history and the culture of Thailand. More than anything else, the style and the speech made it a very entertaining tour.

 The first word I learnt from this country was “Sawadekaa” which means “Welcome”; a warm welcome to Thailand, the culmination of ancient customs and rituals originating from Buddhism and Thai traditions.

The first show that we saw on the first night we landed in Thailand was the Alcazar show. Beautiful dancers dressed in traditional dress showing “mudras” on the stage were mesmerizing. The light effect in the theater was lovely; we were seated in the front rows where the view was unobstructed.

The most astonishing thing about the Alcazar show is that the artists dressed in ladies costumes are not women. Most of them are men and some of them hermaphrodites. It is hard to believe that these dancers mimicking women can perform so gracefully, they all look gorgeous and it is difficult to identify them as men unless you know it already.

The Nong Nooch village is an amazing tropical island famous for its artistic gardens and cultural shows. One must reach on time for the popular elephant shows and the traditional dances from Thailand.