New Moon beach Parties at night, spa rituals during the day and jet skiing. Actor Priyanka Chopra lets in Sunday MiD DAY on her holiday in Thailand's beach paradise
New Moon beach Parties at night, spa rituals during the day and jet skiing. Actor Priyanka Chopra lets in Sunday MiD DAY on her holiday in Thailand's beach paradise
Celebs are often blasu00e9 about travel. Blame it on all the jet-setting involved to shoot at the best outdoor locales. Not surprisingly, when they holiday, they gravitate towards the most exotic, off-the-beaten-track locales.
When Priyanka Chopra chose to take a holiday after years of the grind, she picked the island of Ko Samui which is located in the Gulf of Thailand and is part of an archipelago of 60 beautiful islands. Ko Samui is easily accessible via air or road from the Thai capital of Bangkok.
Just 21 kilometres at its widest point, this tiny, roughly circular island is a tropical paradise of swaying coconut trees, verdant jungles, pristine beaches and eye-catching views of vast expanses of sea. This is what PC sounds like on vacation:
"My recent trips to the Thai island of Ko Samui and the Indonesian island of Bali constituted my first real holiday in the last seven years. After years of working hard, I took two different holidays in September this year with two different sets of co-travellers; and both my breaks were within a gap of just a few days of each other.
"As you may have guessed from my choice of destinations, I'm a very 'island resort' kind of person.
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I'm a very 'beachy' (no pun intended, please) person. I love mountains as well, but I just adore the vibe of a beach. I had heard a lot about Ko Samui from my actor friends, who had been on a holiday there and insisted that it was a really cool place to hang out.
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For me, it fitted the bill. When I am on a holiday, I'm not into partying and going out every night or having minutely-chalked-out agendas. I prefer just chilling out, and going for leisurely dinners and basking in the sun with a totally laid-back attitude. When I'm on holiday I don't want to do anything else. Ko Samui was perfect for what I needed. These holidays gave me all the R&R I needed.
"The most exotic thing I saw in Ku Samui was the view from my hotel (laughs). I was staying at The Four Seasons hotel, which is on a mountaintopu2026 actually, the entire mountain is a hotel. From my suite, you could see the dazzling coloured ocean stretching endlessly till the horizon.
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It was a stunning and exotic view that vitalised me every morning. And every evening, during sunset, we would sit in the room and sip a cup of coffee while watching the picturesque, multi-hued sunset unfold in front of our eyes. It was breathtaking.
"But that was after I had settled into my suite. Not many people are aware that I just have to do my own packing (and unpacking) every time I travel. I need to know exactly what goes in my suitcases. I carry practically my entire home with me so whichever hotel room I stay in becomes my home. I put up my pictures, set up a puja ki jagah, and arrange my clothes in the closet and ask for fresh flowers to be splashed everywhere. I'm immaculate and almost anal about my packing.
"Since Ko Samui has a beach, I was completely in my Dostana avatar for the entire time. I sported swimsuits, shorts, T-shirtsu00a0 a complete summer beachwear look. I would visit a spa almost every day, I love doing that.
"On this holiday, I travelled with my girl gangu00a0 friends who are not from the industry.
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At most times, when I travel for work, my mom accompanies me. She is this wide-eyed traveller and joins me because she loves travelling. At times, my friends or my cousins also join me. I have a very big family, so I always have some family travelling with me. I hate travelling alone.
"In Ko Samui, my friends and I became experts at relaxingu00a0we would just go to the beach lounge or go for dinner. I did try my hand at some water sports deep sea diving and jet skiing it was great fun.
"And, yes, we also partied. One of the most famous things about Ko Samui are the Full Moon Night parties, which we attended, though it was a no-moon night. It was a party on the beach with great food and music. My girl gang and I just loved every moment of it.
"Fortunately, there were not many Indians there, so I could easily walk around without attracting much attention. We went to the local market and bought some indigenous produce. I didn't do much shopping except for some beach shopping for kurtas and flip flops. I'm not a big shopper. I shop just for fun. When I went to Bali subsequently, I bought several fashion bits and pieces such as batik prints; and also artefacts as it's known for its silver work.
"I love going to these small markets such as the one in Ko Samui because they give me a chance to interact with the locals there. I like hearing the sound of different accents, they're music to my ears. I am a keen observer and one of my favourite hobbies is just sitting back and observing people.
"I'm a very adventurous eater; and I made sure I tasted a lot of the local cuisine in Thailand. I love Thai food even when I am in Mumbai. I am fond of fish of all kinds, so I gorged on loads of shellfish. I just love the way the Thai make this delicacy.
"While travelling, I always carry my camera with me. I'm a trigger-happy person and love to click photographs. I have clicked many photographs and love sorting them out and slipping into reminiscences.
"Till date, I feel a thrill when I am travelling. I can't forget the first stamp on my passportu00a0I was 13 and I had gone to my maasi's house in the USA to pursue my studies.
"Once I started working, however, I would be so consumed by my work that I had little time to indulge my passion for new places. I recently realised that I have been to so many wonderful places around the globe during the course of my shoots but I had never really 'seen' any of these places because I would be too wrapped-up in the shoot while I was in these countries.
I started looking around at places only around a year-and-a-half ago. Now, when I go to some place for a shoot, I make a conscious effort to look around, visit places, and do what I enjoy doing tremendously."
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