Thailand

My first trip to Thailand was in February 2005. I had heard from friends how inexpensive it was, about the interesting culture, and that the beaches were beautiful. It was all this and more. This trip was arranged through a tour agency located in the United Kingdom. Once I met with the group, I found that I was the only American among the 13 from the UK, 2 from Austria, 1 from the Netherlands and 1 from South Africa. This trip was considered an "adventurer" class of tour, meaning that we would be staying in inexpensive lodging, riding in the back of trucks to some destinations, sleeping on three overnight trains, and hiking through the hills between villages.

I found Bangkok to be large and noisy. Yet, it does have a good subway system and many other modes of transportation. There are also a lot of parks and temples where you can relax and escape from all the constant traffic. About three days is enough to learn your way around, see the main attractions, and to be ready to go north to the smaller, quieter cities or south to the white sand beaches.

We took an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, arriving in about 12 hours. The train isn't a bad way to travel if you want to save money and being able to sleep while enroute saves time. You can order meals or beers at your seat and table and the porters get your bed ready for you around 9:00 pm. They awake you with coffee or orange juice, allowing you enough time to be ready to depart at your next destination.


After spending one day and night in Chiang Mai with plans to return, we boarded the trucks and set out for the hills for our three-day trek to stay with and learn about the Karen, Lahu and Lisu hilltribes. We spent about three hours hiking between the first two villages and rode elephants to the third. I fell asleep easily after the hikes and none of us had a problem oversleeping since there was always a rooster that seemed to crow around 4:00 am.

We floated down the river on bamboo rafts made by the Lisu, to get back to the trucks, which took us back to Chiang Mai. From there, we caught the train back to Bangkok and relaxed for a couple of days. Next, we boarded our last train and then a bus to Khao Sok National Park, where we spent one night sleeping in treehouses.

The following day, we took vans to Raja Phraba Lake in the park. It is a deep lake with magnificient limestone formations. We travelled on long-tail boats to where we stayed in raft houses, where we could jump out our back doors and float on inner-tubes in the warm water. At night we quietly floated near the bank and watched the monkeys come down for water.

After three nights on the raft houses, we were ready to leave for the beaches of Ao Nang near Krabi in the south. The resort area was a fantastic place to spend our last two days in Thailand. We took one of the speedboats and visited five of the nearby islands where we swam, snorkled, and had lunch. The water is warm, clear and torquoise with colorful fish that are as interested in you as you are in them. We visted an island where a family of eight live in a cave. They spend their days climbing ropes suspended from the top of the cave to retrieve swallow's nests to sell for making bird's nest soup.