A Holiday in Thailand

Strange as it may seem, Thailand never figured in the list of 'places I want to visit'. But when you plan a holiday at short notice, Thailand we found was one of the few countries that had a visa on arrival for Indians, everything fell in place in 5 days and we were ready to travel. Thailand it seems is in the news for all the wrong reasons. And many feel that it is not an ideal destination to travel with the family. I think our trip proved this wrong.

The Thai also are a friendlier lot than the Singaporeans or the Chinese. They are very hardworking no matter what they do! Especially the old ladies who have these tiny kiosks on the street. I have come back extremely impressed by the people and the country.

A few sights we enjoyed -

The Pattaya Beach. Looks lovely, but the beach here is rather dirty and nothing to rave about. But you could spend some time just lazing around, weather permitting!

The picture below was taken from the speedboat as we approached Ko Larn Island ( Coral Island). Here the sand is white and the water absolutely clear and very safe to wade and swim.

The Noong Noch Village - Tropical Botanical Gardens was started by a lady ( obviously very wealthy) and spreads over 500 acres. The landscaping is beautiful and has special enclosures for orchids, bonsai, cacti among other plants. And in the next picture, you can see they have recreated the Stonehenge.

Bangkok has over 300 temples and the temple with the Reclining Buddha is very famous. Another temple is the Marble Temple which houses the beautiful Buddha seen below:

Bangkok also has many street stalls. This was taken around 4 pm. Many of the stalls had still not been set up. But a variety of food is sold at reasonable prices. The food is considered safe, but being vegetarians, and not speaking the language was a barrier, but we did have tasty food at the food courts where we could read the contents of the dish ( in English) before placing an order.

Weaving Magic - A Visit to Pochampally

Pochampally is a little village in Andhra Pradesh which is famous for the Ikkat fabric - a tie and dye weave. I tagged along with a niece as she took her young daughters on an educational tour. And the magic came alive.

The weaving is done by the villagers in their homes. The homes are kept open and one can walk in and watch them weaving. They are used to tourists and carry on with their work. Some of them are communicative and answer your questions, while some just do not want to be disturbed, but at the same time allow you to wander around .

These are some of the pictures taken in different homes, and most of the steps in the weaving process have been captured.

yarn being wound from hank to bobbin

Weft on the tie-dye frame where the design is marked with charcoal . Designs are generally worked out on graph paper. The areas where the original colour is to be retained is wrapped with water repellent material like the inner tubes of a bicycle which is cut into strips. This has to be done with great care for the design to be achieved.

After wrapping, the threads are dyed. Above the threads are ready for the dyeing process

Dyeing of thread in progress

.....and then hung to dry. According to the design the yarn is dyed in different color as many times as required. After which the tubings (ties) are removed to expose the parts that are left unfunded.

The tie-dyed yarn is placed on the frame for rewinding...

The yarn is then wound again. The warp is placed on the loom and the weft is placed on the shuttle . And the weaving commences...

the pit loom

One came back from the village in awe of the effort of the weavers. A sari is ready after 5-7 days of continuous and precise weaving.

I have always appreciated handloom fabrics and they form a major part of my wardrobe. And hope in my own way I have contributed to keeping the handloom industry alive.

It's Official

Educational trips that we took when we were in school were not all about fun and enjoyment. We were given an orientation of the site we were to visit. And continuous inputs as we were taken around the place. Assignments to be completed on our return. And of course, we paid for our trips. At least our parents did.

Our city has a Mayor. It appears that some of the other cities in India have one too. Does anyone know what their powers are? And what they actually do? Besides going on jaunts abroad? Our mayor went on one such tour. She came back and said she wanted to pull down all the hoardings. Which is probably a good thing. But that was the only press note that appeared in the newspapers. Was that the only thing the mayor learnt on her trip abroad?