Amphawa Floating Market, Samut Songkhram, Thailand

Amphawa Floating Market

Samut Songkhram, Thailand

Also see: FAM tour of Thailand

According to Wikipedia a floating market is a market where goods are sold from boats. Originating in times and places where water transport played an important role in daily life, most floating markets operating today mainly serve as tourist attractions, and are chiefly found in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

Amphawa Floating Market along the Amphawa Canal, Samut Songkhram, Thailand

No visit to Thailand is complete without a visit to the floating markets. Thailand is literally dotted with floating markets. Bangkok alone host at least 5 floating markets in its vicinity and definitely Damnoen Saduak heads the list.

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Puri, Beyond Temple and Beaches

A FAM (Familiarization) tour of Sterling Resort Puri

See also: Sterling Resort Puri FAM

A morning stroll on the beach followed by a visit to the Jaganath Temple. Then a dip in the sea followed by a spontaneous lunch of mach bhat (fish and rice). An afternoon nap followed by a visit to the local market for bargaining and shopping. The finally the day ends with another meal of fish and rice.

Participants of FAM Tour of Puri along with the management and staff of Sterling Resort Puri

This is a typical day for a Bengali tourist in Puri. But Puri has something much more to offer than temple and beaches. Sterling Resort Puri offers an different experience of the age old pilgrimage.

Khlong Saen Saep Express Boat

Khlong Saen Saep Express Boat, Bangkok

A canal boat service in Bamgkok, Thailand

Also see: FAM tour of Thailand

Just watch your step when boarding and disembarking as they don’t stop at the pier for long. Pay the fare to the fearless helmet-wearing ticket collectors who clamber around on the outside of the boat, ducking at bridges, as it barrels down the canal.

Khlong Saen Saep Express Boat, Bangkok

This is Khalong Saen Saep Express Boat service. Mostly used by locals to commute to work, the service is cheap and you get to see the “backside” of the neighbourhoods, so to speak. Also, It is immune to Bangkok’s notorious traffic jams.

Khon Dance Mask

Mask of traditional Thai dance drama

Also see: FAM tour of Thailand

The mask is perhaps the most important characteristics of the Khom, for through it more than any other agency one distinguishes the variety of roles

Bridhyakorn and Yupho, The Khon

A Khon Mask studio at Bhutesavara, Samut Songkhram, Thailand

Khom is a dance drama genre from Thailand. It is traditionally performed solely in the royal court by men in masks accompanied by narrators, singers along with traditional orchestra. The orchestra mainly consists of xylophone type instrument, gongs and drums.

Yamunotri Trek, Uttarkhand Bloggers Bus

Yamunotri Trek

Uttarakhand Bloggers Bus

Also see: Uttarakhand Bloggers Bus FAM

Yamunotri Temple, Uttarakhand, Bloggers Bus

“side, side – single line” More than 7000 pilgrims and tourist visit Yamunotri every day along a 5 km long two meter broad walk way and “side, side – single line” is the only instruction that keeps them moving.

Jahaz Mahal, Mandu

A ship like pleasure palace

Also see: Familiarization (FAM) Tour of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

If the great mosque and the tombs of Hoshang and Mahmud, ……………, represents the serene grandeur of the building art of Mandu, the Jahaz Mahal may be said to reflect the spirit of its romantic beauty and joyous hilarity…….

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) booklet on Mandu

Mandu, the city of joy, in the heart of incredible India, is often refereed to as the site of the eternal love affair of Baz Bahadur and Roopmati (Also see: Rewa Kund Group, Mandu).

Jahaz Mahal (Ship Palace), Royal Enclave, Mandu, Madhya Pradesh (MP)

On the other hand the magnificent marble mausoleum of of Hoshang Shah, first of its kind in India, dominates the Mandu sky line (Also see: Central Group, Mandu).

Tea Processing at Margaret’s Hope, Kurseong

Margaret’s Hope, Kurseong

Tea Processing

See also: Maragaret’s Deck FAM

The most common legend related to the discovery of tea dates back to 2737 BC in Yunnan province in China. It happened during the reign of the Emperor Shen Nong. The story narrates that while the emperor was drinking from a bowl, a few leaves from the nearby tea plant fell in it. He liked the resulting beverage, which lead to the world wide phenomenon of tea drinking.

Margaret’s Hope tea Factory, Kurseong

Although historians doubt about the authenticity but it was this Yunnan Province that gave the world the habit of drinking tea.