What better way to celebrate our graduation anniversary than a 3 day getaway to the island of Phuket- the beachy paradise with College friends(Amigos : Ajith, Narayan (our Able Team Leader), Rajendran, Tina, Sindhu, Santhosh ( Our Tour Ideation Manager), Salim, Suraj (and ye the two teenagers: my son Aditya who staunchly believed that he had to do this trip despite giving his school a miss since after all we only live once ? and Sindhu’s son Achu) ) !
We met at the Kochi airport to catch the 1 am flight to Bangkok amidst surprise birthday celebrations and excitement galore ,setting the holiday mood,( thanks to the ones who plotted the same) . Thailand has On Arrival visa and a couple of us opted for the same. The whole process got completed in about 45 min and we were ready to board our next flight to Phuket .
We were picked up from Phuket airport by a representative from the travel agent and transported to Amari Phuket resort that nestles along side the much famed touristy Patong beach. The drive took about one hour plus and we had lunch on way at an Indian restaurant. Surprisingly the landscape enroute saw a lot of rubber plantations and greenery which gave a feel of homeland ! The rainforests and mountains lend this place an alluring charm. With good infrastructure and friendly people , the way Phuket has bounced back after the Tsunami in 2004 is quite commendable.