Sisterhood of the travelling pants

Their shy, break dance moves in one corner of the catamaran made them endearing. Also, the fact that they knew the lyrics to ALL the Beyonce numbers being pumped out of the cheap, loud speakers on the deck. That day I learned that Malay men liked to party in groups of 4.

She couldn’t be bothered by what picturesque sights we passed, or when we reached Phang Nga Bay. She had her Greek God boyfriend to whisper sweet nothings into her ear. It is then I learned that the British, when in love, travel 6000+ miles, only to remain oblivious to everything around them.

He kept applying sunblock on his 12 year old girl, while his 10 year old boy kept fighting the wind & moving the hair from his mother’s face. They were all set to jump into the Andaman sea, at the count of 3, Phang Nga be damned. Family and life on the ocean make Spaniards happy.

She couldn’t stop giggling like a teenager at her drunk, hirsute Arab, who was ensuring his ‘habibi’ was being shown the time of her life, with his child like, attention seeking antics, uninterrupted flow of beers, and allowing her to take a few drags from the clove cigarettes he smoked throughout. It is that day I decided, Arab couples are the best show and tell school project one could have.

I won’t discuss the quick, street cum hip hop dance moves the tour guides broke into from time to time, or the lady who singlehandedly dished out 8 varieties of delicious Thai and Chinese food for 50 odd people on the boat, from the undersized, hot, make shift kitchen downstairs, or the scrawny, quiet Bangladeshi who beat the Spaniards to the sea on our way back.

That morning, we had woken up groggily at 6:30 am. Phang Nga bay tour was to be the final checkbox in the near infinite must-do list we prepared in Mumbai for our short September Phuket trip. I was already happy about this tour, for there is a joyous charm in haggling with tour guides in tourist infested place like Patong beach, knowing well, that the deal was expensive to begin with, & what we finally got was a fair price & not the ‘only for you laah’ deal. However, what we came back with, were not just beautiful pictures & sand in our hair, but an exceptional trip filled with lessons in culture, stereotypes, & proof that the cosmopolitan embrace a tourist activity envelopes one in, rivals no other travel experience. That is why I will never forget that day we saw 7 different countries in one fun afternoon on a catamaran in just 1600 baht. Best deal ever!