The First Family Trip – Phu Quoc Day 2

Today was going to be the busiest day of our trip. We were to travel to the extreme Southern tip of Phu Quoc, Sunworld Hon Thom and then take one of the longest cable car ride in the world over to the water theme park, Aquatopia.

Kids loved the way we were greeted!!

Grandma with the kids!

Grandparents with the kiddos!

After clicking a lot of pics, we finally reached the water park. We had an amazing time there. We stuck to the kiddie stuff only so that no ones left out. After a couple of hours we were exhausted. We had pre packed lunch there and then after changing, we left the island and headed back to Sunworld Hon Thom.

Our package included drinks, we stopped for a well deserved break at the restaurant.

After resting for a bit, we headed to watch the show around the Kiss Bridge. We were a bit late and just about saw the ending portion of the show.

We had time till 9.30 PM when the Kiss of the Sea show started so we decided to click a few pics on the “Kiss Bridge” and then head over for dinner.

In our quest for Indian food, we did not realise we walked quite a bit away from where we needed to come back for the Kiss of the Sea show. So drudgingly, we walked back to the venue of the show.

The show itself was pretty nice but honestly I found the show in Sentosa Island, Singapore much better.

We were exhausted by the time the show ended. However, we were in for a surprise as we left the venue. There was an awesome DJ playing right outside the venue and we finally got the witness the Phu Quoc we see in reels.

The grandparents getting their groove on!

Post all the dancing, we decided to stop at a bar for some drinks. After the drinks, we walked to our bus and drove back to the hotel.

The First Family Trip – Phu Quoc Day 1

This year is the Munchkin’s grandfather’s (or Daadu as he is referred to as) 70th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to go on a family vacation (the first one with all three generations).

After much deliberations, we finally decided on Phu Quoc considering all the activities on offer and the fact that we were travelling with 2 very hyper active munchkins.

The mandatory airport selfie

Us at KL airport

At Phu Quoc airport. Luckily Shrey had purchased the fast track immigration package and we were out of the airport within 15 minutes!! Would highly recommend this service to anyone flying into Vietnam.

As we reached quite early in the morning and there was no chance of an early check-in, we decided to visit the Dinh Cau Temple first, have lunch and then check-in.

Post the Temple visit, we had refreshing sugarcane juice right outside the premises.

By this time we were famished and our guide, Mike suggested we go to Maharaja restaurant in the Grand World area for lunch. It was a good 45 minute drive to Grand World and boy were we glad we were staying in that area.

The food at Maharaja was amazing and it became our go to place throughout the trip.

Post lunch, we proceeded to the Hotel for check-in. Our guide got mixed up between the two Wyndham properties in Phu Quoc and led to our entire afternoon being wasted.

Once we checked into our correct hotel, everyone rested for a while as we had been travelling the entire night.

Post that, we decided to go to the Grand World area for dinner and watching the firework show.

For dinner, we decided on having Vietnamese cuisine and finalised Mo Dao Man restaurant which had heaps of Vegan options.

Post dinner we caught the various shows in Grand World.

Anaya then wanted to have ice cream, so we stopped at a pretty chic gelato shop.

We were exhausted by then and decided to take a buggy back to the Hotel rather than walking.

The next day was going to be the most hectic day of the trip so we decided to call it in early!!!

Mauritius Trip Day 6: Submarine

None of us had ever been on a submarine and we were all very excited about the experience.

Our day started really early with a photo session at the pier. Ridhi had wanted to click pictures there ever since we arrived but did not get an opportunity till now.

After the photo session we met up with Vikas’s family for breakfast and then all of us went to get ready. Ridhi and Ritika had ordered matching T shirts for all of us and we decided to wear it today.

Nayra and Anaya got ready early and Ridhi took them to a Mauritian cooking class organised by the Hotel.

While the kids were busy with the class, Ridhi and I decided to get some pics clicked. The person whom I handed over my phone turned out to be a professional photographer and he did an amazing job of clicking our pictures.

The kids decided to join us

The mandatory hug pose (this was clicked by me).

After this we left for the sub ride.

Cutest pic of the trip

After the registration process, we took a speed boat to the submarine base area.

Anaya and me were the first people in the sub.

The company organising the sub ride was called “Blue Safari” and they did a fabulous job of it. Would highly recommend their services!!!

After the ride, we were all starving. We stopped by a nearby pizzeria for lunch.

Suddenly Anaya said she was not feeling to well and she did not eat anything there. By the time we got back to the hotel she had spiked a fever and was abnormally down. We gave her some meds and got her to rest for a bit.

After that we all met for dinner. Post dinner, the kids said goodbyes to each other as Vikas’s family would be leaving early morning the next day.

Things got pretty emotional!!!

We called it a night soon as Anaya was not feeling too well and we wanted her to get proper rest as she was going to have a pretty hectic next few days!!!

Mauritius Trip Day 5: Nature Tour

After a fairly boring day, we were all pumped for the Nature Tour.

However, Shaurya fell sick overnight and it was decided Ritika would stay back with him at the Hotel. Vikas and Nayra came with us.

The first stop was the Trou aux Cerfs Volcano crater. Anaya fell asleep during the bus ride and missed the history of the crater and was extremely angry at us for not waking her up. The first thing we did after reaching the crater was asking the guide to explain the whole thing to Anaya once more.

Like I have said earlier, Anaya is an extremely inquisitive girl and soaked in all the information. However, I had a tough time explaining to her later how liquid larva turned solid, what sulphur is and why can’t snakes live in sulphur rich soil!!!!

Luckily we got amazing weather and it was a refreshing walk around the crater.

P.S. Taper your crater viewing expectations as pics on Google have been taken using a drone. You won’t see the heart of the crater like the pics on Google.

Our next stop was the Mangal Mahadev and Durga Ma statues and the Ganga Talao. Hinduism is one of the bigger religions in Mauritius and these places are considered extremely sacred.

After this, we stopped at a Tea Estate to click some pictures.

Mauritius is one of the few places in the world where tea grows in the plains. It is due to the super fertile volcanic soil.

Trying the reverse DDLJ pose

After that we went to Valle Advenature Park.

First things first. We were all starving and had a brilliant Indian lunch at the restaurant there.

While Ridhi and Vikas placed the order, Anaya and me went outside to see the tortoises. I had never been in such close proximity to a tortoise and it was an exciting experience for the both of us.

After lunch we went to the reception area and decided we will take a jeep to explore the park.

First stop was the “23 Coloured Earth viewing” where basically the volcanic action has led to a change in the colour of the soil and is one of the more unique offerings of Mauritius.

There were quite a few places for clicking pictures.

Then we saw a few waterfalls. For more information on these visit https://vallepark.com/nature-attractions/waterfalls/

After the waterfalls, we stopped at the Nepalese bridge. None of us were interested in doing the actual activity but the girls wanted to get pictures clicked.

After that we got a few pics clicked at the highest point in Mauritius overlooking the Southern most part of Mauritius.

Anaya was extremely excited to find this play area!!!

We were extremely tired by this time.

The kids slept the entire bus ride back to the Hotel.

In the evening we went to the Asian restaurant for dinner as the kids loved the food there and that meant it made it a lot easier for us to feed them!!!

After a super hectic day all of us slept early excited for the next day!!!

7th Birthday

We were not able to do much for Anaya’s 6th birthday so she was extremely excited about her birthday this year. She had been setting aside cake designs for months in anticipation.

Additionally she had strict rules about her gifts and no one was allowed to ask her what gift she wanted. She wanted it all to be a surprise. She also had the venue (Space Jump) set in her mind which saved us a lot of time and effort!!!

However, there was a twist in the tale. This year her birthday fell during the Diwali festivities so we decided on preponing her celebration. Then her aunt (my sister, Shradha) informed us she will be in India during the first 2 weeks of October. So we made the booking for 6th October 2025 so that she could celebrate her special day with her little cousin, Sohum. (BTW she hates it when I call him her cousin. “He is my brother papa!!!”)

Anaya had caught a bug in Mauritius and was not really keeping well. We were extremely close in calling off the celebration but she powered through like a pro!!!

With the first guest to arrive and her bestie, Anvisha.

The kids had a wonderful time at the playzone. A few of her friends could not make it as it was Durga Puja vacation time and a lot of them were travelling.

Munchkin junior enjoying the ball pit.

Half way through the party, Anaya started feeling very sick. We had to give her medicines and she spent the greater part of the play time on my lap.

She recovered by the time we cut the cake though!!!

They were inseparable!!!

The Space Jump staff had a surprise for her. After the kids finished their meals, a few cartoon characters came up to sing the happy birthday song for her, click pics and give her a present.

After the party, she opened all the gifts as soon as we reached home even though we suggested she rest that evening and open them up the next day!!!

This was her first birthday celebration of the year.

We had a Diwali family get together at my aunt’s place on 19th October. My cousin Dipika had her birthday on that day, so we celebrated her and Anaya’s birthday.

Now Anaya asked Ridhi what will she be doing on her actual birthday. Again she had very strict requirement. She wanted Ridhi to plan a gift treasure hunt for her birthday morning and she wanted us to invite a few of her friends over for lunch. So the night before her actual birthday, Ridhi and me decorated the house and hid gifts for her to find.

She managed to find the gifts even before I got up the next day!!!

For lunch, Ridhi invited a few of her friends but only 2 could come (it was Diwali time and everyone seemed to have some plans or the other).

In the evening again she told us exactly where we will be going and what will she be eating. So we went to this cafe called Poach. Anaya absolutely loves the dumplings and the Baklava Cheesecake there.

After dinner, she wanted to burst some crackers. By bursting she means standing and watching others burst crackers. Ridhi took her down to the garden where she met my cousins and invited them home.

After my cousins left, we had to literally force Anaya to go off to bed as she was extremely stimulated from all the activities during the day!!!

Mauritius Trip Day 4: Free day

After a hectic first few days, all of us were looking forward to a free day. The kids had initially planned to spend the entire day on the beach or at the pool. However, we were for a rude surprise as the weathr suddenly became quite cold and it started raining. Due to my routine in the past few days, I got up pretty early. Thought of going for a walk but saw it was raining outside.

So I decided to hit the gym instead. Luckily, I could get to the gym without going outside. Worked out for a bit and then met everyone for breakfast.

After breakfast, the sun came out for a bit so we decided to hit the beach. Le Meredien has got a complimentary glass bottom boat ride for its patrons and we did that first. It was a pretty nice experience watching the corals and fishes.

After that Vikas, the kids and me spent some time at the beach and then took a quick dip in the pool.

Once we were back in the room, the ladies went for a spa session while we took care of the kids.

We had a visitor waiting for us in our room after our dinner.

We slept soon after as we had yet another early start the next day.

Mauritius Trip Day 3: City tour

Another early start to the day.

After having breakfast at Nomad, our bus picked us up for the city tour. But we still had time to click some pics before that!!!

Stop 1 was the miniature ship making factory. Apparently, Mauritian miniature ships are very lucky for the owner and it is a major export commodity for them. After that we were made to wait on the bus for around half an hour because a couple had missed the bus in the morning and were supposed to join us at the factory.

Stop 2 was the Adamas diamond showroom ( I had zero interest in this, so not much to elaborate here.)

Stop 3 was a local shop which had all kinds of random stuff. From fridge magnets to flavoured rum. I was interested in buying some rum and tasted a few of the options but the price of the alcohol did not justify the purchase (Rs. 1,500 for a 350 ml bottle).

From there we moved on the Citadel Fort (Fort Adelaide). This was actually pretty nice and had some historical implication!!!

I found the steps a bit too steep for my liking with the operated knee. But I guess that was the norm back when it was built.

Then we moved on to the Waterfront Mall where we were to stop for lunch and a break. This mall has had a few bollywood movies shot on premises so that was an attraction.

This waterfall greets the visitors and has many forms inbuilt. Some of the ones we could identify:

  1. Man
  2. Woman
  3. Fishes
  4. Boat
  5. Corals
  6. Marine Life

We had lunch at Pizza Hut, converted some currency there. The shop owner was an Indian origin Mauritian whose ancestors had come in from Delhi and he had recently travelled to Kolkata. Vikas sweet talked him into giving us a rate better than what they had advertised. Surprisingly, it was almost the same rate we got at the airport.

PS: While travelling to Mauritius, convert whatever forex you want to convert at the airport. Unlike other places, you get the best value at the airport in Mauritius.

Post that our guide gave us an option to visit a Chinese Herbal Tea shop but everyone flat out refused so we left our Hotel.

Once back, I was exhausted so went for a sauna, steam and jacuzzi session. The others meanwhile went swimming.

Post that we went to Sage, the Asian cuisine restaurant for dinner. We were given a table outside overlooking the ocean. We had an amazing dinner with crazy amount of vegetarian options which even the kids enjoyed thoroughly.

After dinner, we were pretty beat and slept early AGAIN!!!

We all looked forward to no scheduled activities the next day.

Mauritius Trip Day 2: Île aux Cerfs

After a restful night and a hearty breakfast, we all ready for our day trip to Île aux Cerfs island.

During my pre trip research, I had understood that our resort was on the Northern part of the island and the beaches there would not be conducive for bathing. I had informed the kids accordingly and they were eagerly looking forward to some much needed beach time.

We were also instructed by our Travel Agency to take beach towels from the Hotel as renting them at the island would be extremely expensive.

Our pick up time was 8.30AM and the travel agency in Mauritius actually left you if you were more than 5 minutes late. Luckily everything went smoothly and we were ready at the Lobby by the designated time.

The drive to the East Coast was quite long.

Once at the coast, we had to take a speedboat the island.

The place where we were to board the speedboat was extremely picturesque and we had a small photo session there.

One thing I would like to point out is the staff of the boat company changed their behaviour towards customers based on the additional activities they paid for. In our case, we did not want to do any additional activities and boat captain did not even talk to us properly. Up till that point all Mauritians had been extremely polite and forthcoming with us but this particular experience was not expected. Also they made us wait on the boat while customers who did parasailing came back. We were all cooked in the direct Mauritian sun as there was no shade on the boat.

The island itself was extremely beautiful. Vikas, me and the kids immediately changed and rushed into the water.

Nayra and Anaya soon got bored of the water and bought out their beach toys.

We were all famished by the time we changed back and there were hardly any vegetarian options on the island. Luckily, the ladies had packed snacks and we had a nice little picnic at the beach.

It was 6PM by the time we reached the hotel.

We had a nice relaxed dinner at Nomad and called in an early night as we had another hectic day coming up.

Mauritius Trip Day 2: First Day in Mauritius

Tired and weary from the long uncomfortable flight, we reached Le Méridien Ile Maurice.

We were mesmerised by the ocean view as soon as we entered the property. After concluding the check-in process by 10AM, we were informed that we wont get the room before 2PM. Nayra, Anaya and me decided to explore the property in the meanwhile.

They really wanted to see the kids play area and when I asked an employee where it was, she gave each of the kids a gift hamper which they all loved!!!

Seeing how tired we were from our long travels, the Manager graciously offered us lunch at the Wave restaurant which is right on the beach.

We had traditional veg Mauritian fare (which is very very similar to Indian Bihari cuisine). But the desserts absolutely floored us and I would recommend everyone to try the desserts here.

Enjoying the view from the restaurant post lunch

After lunch we promptly got our rooms. I was exhausted and soon conked off. Vikas in the meanwhile took Nayra and Anaya for swimming.

After swimming the kids wanted to spend sometime at the play area. So I took them there while the other adults got ready for dinner.

After playtime, it was dinner time. Today we were to have dinner at the multicuisine buffet restaurant, Nomad.

After dinner, when we got back to the room, we were surprised to see our room had been cleaned again and there was a cute Origami Elephant waiting to welcome us.

Soon after, all of us conked off as we had an early start the next day.

Mauritius Trip Day 1: Flying to Mauritius

After months of planning our first vacation in 2025 was finally here. We have had a pretty tumultuous year with both Anaya and me getting operated and the ongoing rehab and other health issues arising from the surgeries.

Anyways, we were extremely excited for the trip. Anaya has ordered us that this vacation has to be a beach vacation so shortlisting destinations became much easier. At last it was between Mauritius and Sri Lanka and we chose Mauritius keeping in mind my operated knee.

On the day of the departure, Anaya attended her school and by the time we reached the airport she was quite tired.

We flew from Kolkata to Bengaluru where we would meet Vikas and his family and take a flight from Bengaluru to Mauritius. Word of advice, DO NOT take any Indigo international flights. The aircrafts are cramped, there is no entertainment on board and the crew aren’t that friendly.

Anyways the flight to Bengaluru was pretty OK. There we had to change terminals so that was a bit of a walk for us. Bengaluru T2 airport is beautifully made and easily the best airport in India at the moment. I realised how far behind Kolkata is to other Indian cities now!!!

It was quite cold and windy when we landed.

Could not wait to meet Nayra

Anaya finally got to meet Nayra.

We were all pretty beat by the time we boarded the flight to Mauritius.

What I did not know was this particular Indigo aircraft has even lesser space than the one in our CCU-BLR sector. There was a big guy sitting next to me and I literally could not move an inch the entire 4 hours I sat next to him. Luckily Anaya and Nayra got up after a nap and I switched places with them for an hour long nap. I have flown 14 and 16 hour flights before this one hands down was the worst and the most uncomfortable flight I have ever taken.