Thailand

Thailand is the foremost jewel of Southeast Asian travel and a great value for American travelers. Blessed with a dizzying array of natural wonders, a welcoming society, a splendid cultural heritage, and a well established tourist infrastructure, Thailand makes for a perfect first foray into Asian travel. This fortnight tour includes the Buddhist temples and imperial wonders of Bangkok, the spectacular natural wonders of the Andaman coast and Khao Sok National Park, the northern capital of Chiang Mai, and the World Heritage sites of Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. And for those extending to Cambodia, add in Southeast Asia’s premier sight: Angkor Wat.

Note:  While the Thailand tour is not particularly physically demanding in the typical way, the country is hot and humid, which has an enervating effect. Additionally, at certain times during the tour we’ll be climbing in and out of boats, sometimes without a pier or dock, or climbing up ladders onto boats (snorkeling excursion), climbing up to and through a cave, riding bikes, kayaking through caves, etc. Those activities require a reasonable level of strength and dexterity - and an adventurous spirit. However, nothing is required on our tours. Travelers may skip any activities they chose and accommodation will be made for them.

Day 1 Chiang Mai
Introductory meeting; Dinner
Welcome to Thailand! Our tour starts late afternoon with a get-acquainted meeting followed by dinner in a local restaurant.
Yaang Come Village Hotel (3 nights) http://www.yaangcome.com/

Day 2 Chiang Mai
Cooking Class; Wat Doi Suthep
On our first morning together we’ll engage in a cooking class. We will shop for ingredients at the local market, learn to prepare several simple Thai dishes, and then enjoy the results for lunch. In the afternoon we depart for the nearby mountain temple of Doi Suthep for panoramic views and the tour’s best Buddhist connection experience. Ring the prayer bells as we ascend or take photos of the sacred Bodhi tree, the view, or giant ceremonial drums. While listening to the musical tinkling of temple bells you can receive a monk’s blessing, learn your fortune from tossing joss sticks, join the ceremonial circumambulation of the stupa, or add oil to the sacred lamps (like lighting a candle in a Catholic church). Our guide will use Doi Suthep’s “Century Calendar Book” to teach you your birth sign, sacred animal, and ritual Buddha posture.

Day 3 Chiang Mai
Craft Villages, Village Homestay Visit
We’ll begin this morning with a visit to a couple of the famous craft villages. Choices include lacquerware, silk production, and pottery. We will certainly visit the famous Bo Sang Village, where colorful umbrellas are still crafted by hand. Then we’ll depart to the countryside for a taste of rural life. We’ll take an easy countryside bike ride, visiting a local handicraft cooperative and a mushroom or rice farm. Later we’ll partake in a traditional Kantok dinner with our village hosts. Traditional music and a dance performance will be provided by local students. The evening concludes with a Thai lantern ceremony.

Day 4 Sukhothai
Elephant encouters
After breakfast we will begin the journey to intriguing Sukhothai. Before departing the Chiang Mai area we’ll visit one of the ethical elephant sanctuaries nearby. In the afternoon we continue our drive to Sukhothai.
Le Charme Resort (2 nights) https://www.lecharmesukhothai.com/

Day 5 Sukhothai
Sukhothai Historical Park
This morning we’ll have a guided visit of Sukhothai, one of Thailand’s World Heritage sites. Sukhothai was Siam’s first “national” capital, uniting its feudal kingdoms in the 13th century. Culture, art, and architecture flourished and today we can visit the remnants of that refined dynasty. The captivating temple ruins boast rows of columns, crumbling stupas, and many Buddhas displaying the enigmatic “Sukhothai Smile.” We’ll navigate the flat terrain by bicycle and indulge in a picnic lunch among the ruins. Your afternoon is free to relax by the pool or have a Thai massage - on the tour!

Day 6 Bangkok
Klong Tour; Riverside Dinner
After breakfast we'll depart Sukhothai, heading south to Thailand's bustling capital - Bangkok. Upon arrival we'll check into our hotel for some down time. In the late afternoon we'll embark on a tour of the city's canals (klongs). Bangkok is laced with hundreds of canals. A tour of these waterways is a journey into Bangkok’s heart and soul, and a fantastic water-borne photo safari. We’ll see people cooking, fishing, washing dishes, swimming, making merit, and playing. We’ll float past teak palaces side by side with ramshackle hovels and workaday wats. Afterward we’ll enjoy a classic Bangkok experience, a riverside dinner with the illuminated spires of the Grand Palace visible on the other side of the river.
Nuovo City Hotel (3 nights) https://www.nouvocityhotel.com/

Day 7 Bangkok
Grand Palace; Wat Pho
The Grand Palace complex with its flamboyant architectural style includes Wat Phra Kaew, a wonder of gleaming stupas, statues, and bots. This is Thailand’s premier sight and a fitting start to our Bangkok sight-seeing. Phra Kheo is home to the country’s most venerated religious object, the Emerald Buddha. The complex is surrounded by a galleried wall, displaying an electric mural series from the Ramakian, the Hindu epic of good vs. evil. Giant Yakshas, or mythical guardians watch over the entrances. Gilded garudas and multi-chromatic mythic warriors line the bases of chedis and other gilded statues populate the grounds. Next door is Wat Pho, home to Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha. Pho has a more work-a-day feel. Engage the monks in conversation, check out the ancient massage school “instruction” panels, drop coins in the alms bowls, or photograph the whimsical guardian statues at Pho’s main gates.

Day 8 Bangkok
Tuk-Tuk tour
On this morning we’ll explore Bangkok’s less accessible sights on a tuk-tuk tour – the ubiquitous Asian 3-wheel transport.  Highlights include Wat Saket – the Golden Mount, Rama V monument, the flower market, and Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. Your afternoon is free to explore on your own. Visit the amulet market, Dusit Park, or Wat Traimit with its 5.5 ton solid gold Buddha statue.

Day 9 Ayuthaya
Ayuthaya Historical Park
After breakfast we'll travel north to Ayuthaya, Siam’s capital from the 14th to the 18th centuries. It is Thailand’s second World Heritage site and our favorite archaeological destination. We'll visit a Wat or two before lunch. In the afternoon we’ll visit Wats Mahathat and Si Sanphet, and finish with the saffron-sashed Buddha statues of Yai Chai Mongkhon. In the evening we’ll board a converted rice barge for dinner. Relax while some of Ayuthaya’s prime sights drift gently by.
Kantary Hotel (1 night) https://www.kantaryhotel-ayutthaya.com/

Day 10 Khao Sok
Khao Sok Excursion
An early morning flight jets us south to Surat Thani (included). Then it’s on to Chiaw Lan Lake in beautiful Khao Sok National Park. After checking in to our floating guesthouse we’ll enjoy a late lunch together. Afternoon activities include a boat excursion on the lake surrounded by soaring limestone karsts and cliffs, a short jungle hike or a bamboo raft ride and a visit to a cave. In addition to the tropical flora and breathtaking landscape we hope to see gibbons, flying lizards, and a variety of birdlife. But the real magic begins at dusk as moon shadow creeps across the surrounding karsts creating a magical ambiance.
Pernplai Floating Guesthouse (1 night)

Day 11 Trang - Koh Ngai
Tharn Bokkaranee
A morning’s drive brings us to another natural jewel, Tharn Bokkoranee National Park. We’ll board kayaks and paddle through karst hongs (natural caves) and emerald pools surrounded by the verdant mangrove jungle. After lunch we continue south, by-passing over-developed resort areas to relatively undeveloped Trang Province. It’s longer and more complicated to get here, but the payout is spectacular! Note: There is no dock or jetty on Koh Ngai. We will be required to walk though shallow water for our arrival and departure.
Thapwarin Resort (3 nights) https://thapwarin.com/

Day 12 Trang - Koh Ngai
Free day
Today is a full-stop break from the demands of our tour itinerary. No planned activities. You decide how you want to spend your day in this tropical paradise. Options include snorkeling, hiking, kayaking, scuba, or just relaxing by the beach.

Day 13 Trang - Koh Ngai
Andaman excursion
After breakfast we’ll take a boat excursion to 3 or 4 of the most picturesque Andaman islands for a fun-in-the-sun snorkeling adventure. Our private boat will take us to pristine beaches and past dramatic karst islands. The day includes Ko Muk’s spectacular Emerald Cave. We swim through a 300-foot long sea cave to reach the secluded interior lagoon (actually a collapsed hong). A perfect sandy beach is surrounded by steep jungle-clad cliffs forming a perfect, round, natural chimney up to the blue sky. It is an amazing experience!

Day 14 Tour over
Our tour officially ends after a midday flight back to Bangkok (flight included; Bangkok's Don Muang airport). We will help with transfer arrangements into the city or to nearby Suvarnabhumi international airport (BKK).

[Itinerary details & hotels subject to change]

What’s Included:
13 nights accommodation; All breakfasts, 6 dinners, 5 lunches; All tour transport (train, bus, minivan, songthaew, boat, airplane); All tips (guide, tour director, local guides, drivers, boat captains, group meals, hotel staffs); Full-time services of a Thai tour manager, Imprint escort, local guides; All entrances: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Ayuthaya Historical Park, Wat Doi Suthep, Sukhothai National Historical Park, Khao Sok National Park; All activities: Chao Phraya riverside dinner, Bangkok canals tour, Thai massage, village homestay visit, bicycle tour, homestay entertainment, elephant sanctuary, rice barge excursion of Ayuthaya, Cheow Lan lake excursion, Andaman snorkeling excursion, Emerald Cave, Bangkok tuk-tuk tour

Important exceptions:
Tour participants are responsible for the cost of drinks, free-time sightseeing & meals, expenditures of a personal nature, and flight baggage overage fees.

Pre-tour Cambodia Extension

Day 1 Siem Reap
Welcome Meeting
For those extending to Angkor, we’ll meet in the afternoon to get acquainted. Our ace Cambodian guide Kheang will meet us for a short briefing in our hotel. The day concludes with a classic Cambodian dinner.
Steung Siem Reap Hotel (3 nights) https://www.steungsiemreaphotel.com/

Day 2 Siem Reap
Angkor Wat; Banteay Srie
Our destination this morning is Angkor Wat, the jewel in the great Angkor crown, the world’s largest religious building, and Southeast Asia’s premier sight. Our guide will interpret its long bas relief galleries, distinctive corncob prangs, and concentric walls and moats: which together constitute a metaphor for the Buddhist cosmos. In the afternoon we’ll head to Banteay Srie, a small but intricately carved temple complex considered to be the jewel of Khmer architecture. Additionally, the journey to and from Srie affords opportunities to see village life.

Day 3 Siem Reap
Angkor Thom; APOPA; Ta Prohm
We start our day with Angkor Thom, a royal city encompassing famous Bayon temple, the Elephants and Leper King Terraces, and one of the oft-photographed Angkor Thom Gates. The Bayon is a popular favorite with labyrinthine passages to explore and multiple towers – each with 4 enigmatic Khmer faces. The south gate may well be the most photographed destination at Angkor. Its massive “4-face” tower and ‘tug-of-war’ warrior balustrades adorn many books and brochures. We will finish our morning with a visit to the APOPO organization training center. This fascinating charity trains Tanzanian rats to sniff out landminds, saving thousands of Cambodian lives. After a mid-day break we’ll visit Ta Prohm, made famous in the movie “Tomb Raider”. This complex was left in its natural state, overwhelmed by the jungle. The roots of giant trees weave in, on, and through the temple ruins and walls of the complex. We’ll take plenty of free time here for photographers to record these iconic Angkor images. Tonight we’ll indulge in a traditional dinner while enjoying classical Khmer dance.

Day 4 Extension Over
The extension ends after breakfast. We’ll be transported to the airport to catch our flight to Chiang Mai and the regular tour.

[Extension hotel and itinerary details are subject to change.]

What’s Included:
3 nights hotel accommodation; All breakfasts, 2 dinners; All tour transportation (bus, minivan, plane); All tips (guide, tour director, drivers, group meals, hotel staff); Full-time services of Cambodian tour manager and Imprint escort; All entrances: Angkor Archaeological Zone 3-day pass; All activities: APOPO visit, Khmer Dance performance

Important Exclusions
Tour participants are responsible for the cost of drinks, free-time sightseeing & meals, expenditures of a personal nature, and flight baggage overage fees.