Phuket: Moon Party at Paradise beach

Fire Show at Paradise beach Full Moon Party

Phuket never gets a dull moment: shopping, spa, massage, island hopping and of course the night life. While the Bangla road, with all its raunchiness and vibes, bustles through the break of dawn, the moon party is the biggest open air party in Phuket. Not long ago, they used to host the moon parties on full moons and selected holidays only. However, these days, they have these parties every Saturday and call them Full-moon, Half-moon or New-moon party.

Getting To the Moon Party from Patong Beach:

Paradise beach, which hosts the Moon Party, is about 15-20 mins drive away from Patong. There are a lot of operators along the Patong street market who sell the tickets. Transportation to and from the beach and one complimentary drink is generally included in the ticket price (1000 THB as of December 2018). The shuttle starts taking passengers from Patong 7 pm onward. The pick up point is at the end of the Bangla road.

The shuttle takes you away from the buzz of Patong, winding up and up the hills. One last bird's eye view of the beach, and the shuttle drives through dark steep roads. Everything grows silent except for the night insects and the cool wind brushing your hairs. After some time, you start hearing distant music beats. That's when you know that you are about to reach. But not just yet: you need to hop on to a smaller shuttle to reach the party area. Once there, you do the check in, get your complimentary drinks and you are all set for the night.

Sip the cocktail by the sea or dance the night out; party like there is no tomorrow, and catch the fire show. The night is young and the party is lit!

Happy Panda notes:

1. The party doesn't get lively before 9, but you can always chill at the secluded beach, gearing up for the night.
2. The party is cool and all, but food and drinks are expensive (oh yeah! they are really really expensive)
3. Complimentary drinks include either a bucket of cocktail or two beers. I personally definitely prefer the cocktail, but hey, that's me!
4. The shuttles are quite frequent, so the transportation is quite convenient.

Ideal Time Commitment: A long weekend

Pocket pinch: $$

Offbeat Indonesia: A relaxing island getaway

Kanawa island

Indonesia is one of the most underrated travel destinations in South East Asia. The beaches, islands, volcanoes, lakes, nightlife and chill scenes: Indonesia never fails to amaze. One such destination is the group of islands around the little town of Labuan Bajo.

Getting there:

Daily flights operate from Bali or Jakarta to Labuan Bajo. Strolling through downtown Labuan Bajo. you'll find tourist stalls advertising day trips and overnight trips to the islands. They vary in package price and services offered. With some good bargaining skills, you can cut yourself a good deal. If you have limited time, the day trips will suit you just fine. However, the live aboard trips are truly the ones to look forward to.

Live aboard trips depart daily in the morning, but be sure to book the trip at least the night before. Grab your camera and sunscreen; get enough cash, some snacks and drinks, then off you go. Sail through the turquoise waters, surrounded by the olive hills: the smell of the ocean filling up your senses. Spend your days on the ocean like the sailors from the distant past.

Choosing your boat:

Depending on the group size, you can choose a big or a small boat. You can also opt to join a group or have your own private holiday for a higher pricing, which is totally worth the experience and highly recommended. The boats can have a private cabinet, an open deck, or a mixture of both. Try to look for the mixed one, so that you can enjoy the stars on a clear night and also have a shelter lest there be rain.

Padar Island

Recommended Detour:

You can arrange with your boat to drop you off at Kanawa as your last spot for the trip. Alternatively, base yourself at Kanawa instead of Labuan Bajo, for exploring the islands, an option which is generally a costlier affair.

Kanawa Island

Happy Panda Notes:

The live aboard trips take you to different locations in the nearby islands, depending on the no. of days. However, the places which you must include are:

1. Rinca and Komodo islands (at least one of them), where you can spot the Komodo dragons
2. Padar island: hike to the top for lovely views of the three different colored - pink, black and white sand - beaches on its either sides. The sunset view is worth a while.
3. Pink Beach: one of the nine pink beaches around the world with good snorkeling options
4. Kanawa island, which offers pristine beach and wonderful panorama, with one of the best sunset scenes in the region. The snorkeling in Kanawa is good as well.

Read On: Kanawa Island, Spotting the Komodo Dragons, Mount Kelimutu

Ideal Time Commitment: 5-6 days

Pocket pinch: $$

Cable car ride to Titlis from Engelberg

Cable car ride to Stand

Located at an altitude of 10,600 ft in the Uri Alps, Mount Titlis is one of the major attractions in Central Switzerland, and rightly so. The vast slopes are painted green during the summer, and take up a white blanket during the winter months. Dense patches of pine trees, which dominate these slopes, sprinkled with snow. At some distance, dots for the houses are visible. Salt and pepper mountains complete the panorama of the perennial winter scene: the azure sky gives the dramatic background for a sight to behold. 

Swiss holidays in March can be a tricky affair. The weather is very unpredictable with a lot of drizzles every now and then.

Getting to Mount Titlis from Engelberg:

The journey to mount Titlis starts from Engelberg. The cable car station is a few minutes' walk from the train station. The route to the top of Titlis has two parts.

From the base, cable cars take you to the middle station, Stand (7965 ft), cutting their way through thick pine forest along a steep incline.

From Stand you can board the rotair to the mount summit. The rotair is the world’s first revolving cable car – a big, transparent gondola, where you can stand and enjoy the 360 degree view of the snow valley all the way to the top.

Once atop, you take the stairs to the 5th floor which opens up to the glacier.

Near Engelberg cable car station for Titlis

Winter Experience in Mount Titlis, Engelberg:

The skiers swoosh past us to the undulating grounds, as you walk to the ice flyer ticketing counter. Sweeping over the glacier in the ice flyer, you enjoy fascinating views of the snowfield. Once back, it's now time for the Cliff walk, where you can only gasp at the jaw dropping views of the valley, while walking the highest suspension bridge in Europe.

Time flies by and the clouds begin to roll back in, signalling the time for descent. On the way back in, you might spot a movie poster. It belongs to a 1995 Bollywood cult movie: Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. The movie featured some beautiful and pristine scenery of Switzerland and the poster still stands out in the glacier atop Titlis.

Recommended activities:

• Ride the Ice Flyer
• Enjoy the Cliff walk
• Visit glacier cave
• Go Skiing (winter)
• Kayaking (summer)

Happy Panda Notes:

Outside the cable car station, hit the small bar in front. Sitting by the fire, enjoying the drink, with the surrounding snow mountain and lively music in the background, the sunset scene is almost surreal, marking the perfect ending for the beautiful day.

Ideal Time Commitment: A long weekend in Engelberg

Pocket pinch: $$

The Rainforest World Music Festival

The Rainforest World Music Festival

A three days action packed event, nestled in the heart of the fabled rainforests of Borneo: since the last two decades (current year: 2017), the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has been pulling together talents from all over the world as well as promoting the indigenous musicians from the interiors of Borneo. Music enthusiasts across the globe gather every year to witness this music carnival. And, they have not been disappointed, thus making RWMF a must attend event for anyone who loves variety in music!

When and where is it held:

Every year, during the month of July, RWMF is held in Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching.

Sarawak Cultural Village

Getting there:

• Nearest airport: Kuching
• From Kuching, selected locations in the town centre, event shuttle vans and buses operate to bring you to the venue. Alternatively, you can opt for a taxi to the Sarawak Cultural village.
• Alternatively, you can buy the whole package from their official website.

Accommodation:

The accommodation options nearby the venue are limited and tend to get booked up well in advance. There are camping options also available to be booked in advance as well. Alternatively, there are a lot of options available in the town centre.

Experience it:

Daytime is packed with various arts, music and dance workshops by various participating groups from different countries. From swaying your hips to the rhythm of the music to wooing your partner with some sassy dance steps, you have a lot of new skills to pick up from these workshops.

Tahitian Musicians during workshop

Indigenous band hosting music and dance workshop

Various foods and drinks stalls are setup with a wide range of local delicacies: you are never going to run out of options to keep you fueled.

Fish BBQ

Local herbs and rice dish

Then, as the azure skies start turning violet, get yourself a spot on the ground as the crowds start pulling. The evening kicks off with the first performance for the night, as the crowd burst in roars of applause.

Happy Panda Notes:

Rainfall is not uncommon during this time, but fret not! To get the most out of it during the rain, carry a waterproof bag to protect your stuffs. Grab some beer or local wine and get drenched while dancing the night away to the beats of the music. Most of the crowd move to the shades. So, you can have all the ground by yourself. Best experience ever!

Some performances and workshops from RWMF 2017: https://youtu.be/Fd3zuHy4xhg

Ideal Time Commitment: A long weekend

Pocket pinch: $$

Belgian Beer Chronicles

Bourgogne des Flanders, a fruity blend from the Belgian town of Bruges

After water and tea, beer is said to be the most consumed beverage around the world. And Belgians, over the years, have mastered the skills of beer crafting and blended it into their social practices so well that it has become an integral part of their cultural heritage. The beer culture of Belgium even managed to earn itself a place in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016. From pale ale, to red hues, to the black shades: Belgian beers cover a wide range, with around 180 breweries around the country. Raising a toast to their craftsmanship, today we are going to discuss the journey of a few Belgian beers here.

Trappist Beers:

Westmalle, the first golden pale ale to introduce the Tripel beer type

Mostly top fermented, these are the beers brewed by the monks of the Trappist order inside the monastery. They are available for sale outside the monasteries or in the brew house shops. They can be found across the Flanders region including Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp, and also in the capital city Brussles.

The Trappist order originated in the Cistercian monastery of La Trappe in France in 1664, when the then Abbot introduced the Strict Observance, where a fundamental rule was that he monasteries should be self sufficient. Monastery brew houses have already existed across Europe since the middle ages. Thus, following the Strict Observance, the Trappist monks started brewing beer inside the monastery itself, to feed the community. Nowadays, however, beer is also brewed to fund the monastery works and charitable causes. Monastery breweries later came into existence in other countries as the Trappist monks spread across Europe.

Many of the Trappist monasteries and brew houses were destroyed during the French revolution and the world war. Currently, around the world, there are 11 such monasteries, and 6 of them in Belgium itself.

Happy Panda Notes:

• Lookout for the Authentic Trappist Product mark on the bottle.
• Westvleteren 12, from the Westvleteren brewery in the Saint Sixtus Trappist Abbey, Belgium, has been debated to be one of the best beers in the world.

Abbey Beers:

Leffe, a brand of Stella Artois, brewed under license of an existing monastery

Originally, any monastic style beer was referred to as Abbey beer. However, that changed with the introduction of the Trappist beer official designation by the International Trappist Association in 1997. Now, abbey beer refers to beers brewed by a non-Trappist monastery or produced by any commercial brewery with commercial arrangement with a monastery. Some abbey beers are also produced by commercial breweries without any monastery connection but only assuming an abbey name. The beer brewed under the license to an abbey bear the Abbey Beer logo.

Although Abbey beers do not conform to rigid brewing styles, most of them almost include the distinctive Trappist styles of dubbel, tripel and blond.


Wheat beers:

Hoegarden, witbier

Originating in the Flemish part of Belgium in the middle ages, wheat beer or witbier is traditionally made with a mixture of wheat and barley, flavored with a mixture of herbs called gruit. Later on, after the availability of hops in Europe increased, they started getting be added to the gruit.

One such beer, the famous Hoegarden, has an interesting back story to it. During the 1950's, white beer production almost ended in Belgium. In the town of Hoegarden, the last wheat beer brewery closed its doors in 1955. After 10 years, a young farmer from the same town started reviving the beer. Result was the birth of a widely successful and popular beer that took its name after the village.

Lambic:

A notable variety of wheat beer is the Lambic, which is produced in Pajjotenland region of Belgium, southwest of Brussels. The specialty of this beer is that, instead of the regular fermentation by cultivated brewer's yeast, lambic it is brewed by the process of spontaneous fermentation by exposing it to wild yeast and bacteria said to be native to Senne valley. Then, the beer undergoes a long aging period ranging from three to six months (for young) to two to three years (for mature). This unusual process gives the beer its distinctive flavor: a dry, fruity taste, similar to wine, with a slightly sour sensation lingering in the mouth.

From Lambic, four kinds of beers are produced. Of these, the Lambic is the unblended basic brew or the refermented basic brew. It is a draught beer rarely bottled, hence available only around the area of production and a few cafes in Brussels. Faro is the lambic just after the first fermentation and is sometimes served with sugar or caramel to make it taste pleasant. Gueuze is the commercialized finished product, which blends young and old brews to stimulate the final fermentation. Fruit lambic is made by blending fruit concentrates to lambic brews before the final refermenting stage.

Timmermans brewery near Brussels is the world's oldest lambic brewery.

Flanders red ale:

Bourgogne des Flanders, a Flemish red ale

This is a style of sour ale brewed in West Flanders, Belgium. The beer is aged over a long period, typically a year or more and often in oak barrels, to give it a lactic acid character. Lactobacillus is specially used for the fermentation. It is a bacteria similar to the one producing yogurt. This results in the sour taste of the ale. Red malt contributes to its color. The matured beer is often blended with a younger batch before bottling to create a balance of taste.

Rodenbach started this type of ale more than a century ago.

Brewery Bourgogne des Flandres in Bruges follow this typical flemish beer blending tradition. Their house ale is a blend of the mild Den Bruinen Os, which is brewed on site with an aged lambic, brewed in Timmermans near Brussels. The resulting blend is a deep reddish brown colored rich and creamy ale with a tingling sour aftertaste.

Flanders red ales have a strong fruity taste, similar to its flavor. It is often considered the most vinous of all beers.

Hope you enjoyed the beer stories, and I hope you enjoy the beers even more. Cheers!!