Tripology

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Secrets of Siam

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Detailed Trip Description

Secrets of Siam will reveal to you what some Thais, but few tourists, know about the great pleasures and treasures of northern Thailand. Choose this trip if you appreciate learning the nuances of local culture, relish good food, enjoy unusual hands-on learning experiences, and prefer cozy eco-lodge and nature resort style accommodations. You may hike between tribal villages, mountain bike, raft, canoe, ride an elephant or go bird watching in the protected natural areas close to many of the neat, immaculately maintained lodges where you will stay. You may also choose to learn Thai cooking, massage, painting, gardening or batik.

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Trip Itinerary

Day 1 - Chiang Rai

 
Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle.
Airport Transfer

You arrive at Chiang Rai Airport around noon, meet your English-speaking Thai guide and drive to Chiang Saen harbor on the Mae Khong River.

Chiang Rai Airport Transfer picture
Sightseeing

This is the heart of the famous Golden Triangle where legal and illicit commerce flows between the wild frontiers of Laos, Burma, China and Thailand. You probably won’t see opium or arms, but you will marvel at the vigorous and colorful exchanges of boatloads and truckloads of fruit, dry goods, grain, building products and hardware. People from all four nations meet here in the markets to bargain vigorously as they have for centuries. Board a boat for a trip from Chiang Saen to the actual intersection of the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand.

Museums

Visit the Opium Museum and take a short walk to your lodge above the Mekong and Ruak Rivers.

All-Inclusive Resort

Overnight at the Imperial Golden Triangle Resort, an international-class lodge featuring classical Lanna ambience and modern facilities. The resort is situated above the Mekong and Ruak rivers, offering a spectacular view of the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.


Day 2 - Thailand

 
Drive to Mae Kok River Village.
Sightseeing

If you are a very early riser, take a walk on your own to watch the river activity or look for nature around the resort. Then, get an early start for Mae Sai, the most-northern point of Thailand, on the Thai-Burmese border.

Thailand Sightseeing picture
Shopping

Visit the morning market. It may be possible to cross into Burma (costs not included); this will depend on regulations at the time of your visit.

Hotel

Continue on to an Akha hill tribe village and then to Mae Kok River Village, your base for two days. Here on the Mae Kok River, away from any urban influences, you can enjoy the swimming pool and gardens and immerse yourself in the cultures and environments of northern Thailand.

Adventure

Choose from a variety of activities for which you pay local costs. A sample of half-day activities for your arrival day includes: trekking around Baan Thaton village and Wat Thaton (impressive Buddha images spread over five hilltops); mountain biking in the Fang Valley; traveling the river by barge or canoe to different villages; a 3-dish Thai cooking program; an herbal steam bath and Thai massage.

Voluntourism

You may also choose to learn about community development by visiting the local hospital orphanage or an organic farming project.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 3 - Thailand

 
Maekok River Village.
Adventure

Again choose activities that match your interests and pay local prices for services. Possibilities for today, in addition to those above, include full-day treks of varying difficulty to the rain forest waterfalls and hot springs of Fang National Park, a 4 WD vehicle tour into the Wawee region which is home to 9 different ethnic groups, or a 6-dish Thai cooking program.

Cooking Classes

The Mae Kok River Village is well known for its extensive menu of excellent Thai food. Unlike major city hotels, the food prepared in the kitchens is not compromised to suit the western palate - it is authentic Thai. The cooking courses are conducted in the Krua Maekok cooking school on the grounds of the Mae Kok River Village. The facility has 12 fully equipped individual cooking stations.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 4 - Chiang Mai

 
Mae Kok River Village/Chiang Mai.
Relaxation

After breakfast at the resort, you can choose to spend your morning at leisure or participate in one of the half-day programs.

Private Car Service

After lunch, drive from Thathon to Chiang Mai.

Sightseeing

En route you will visit a Hmong hill tribe village and also a small market where the Hmong sell products from their farms. Chiang Mai is northern Thailand’s ancient capital. The Lanna Kingdom extended influence into present day Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. This was a center of power, wealth, trade, beauty, tradition and art. You will enjoy the threads of these traditions as they thrive in the present.

Food and Dining

In the evening, your guide will be bring you to a restaurant near the Night Market and will assist you in choosing the right food combination. (Cost not included.)

Shopping

Afterwards enjoy the color and activity of the Night Market.

Hotel

Overnight at a centrally located hotel.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 5 - Chiang Mai

 
Chiang Mai/Mae Sa Craft Village.
Arts, Crafts and Antiques

After breakfast you can choose to spend time at beautifully landscaped Mae Sa Craft Village where a variety of activities are offered, including many which focus on traditional arts and crafts. Select two from the following: steam room and Thai massage; parasol and fan painting; ceramic painting; batik fabric dying; saa paper making (dried flowers pressed into liquid paper); and Thai cooking.

Sightseeing

Alternatively, you may take an hour-long elephant ride through the jungle at Mae Sa Elephant Camp and visit the elephant nursery to join in feeding bananas to the elephant babies.

Sightseeing

After lunch you may visit the Agro Village to see how the farmers grow vegetables and flowers [in season you might see the strawberries fields] in the village of Baan Pha Nok Kok. This community is well known for providing products to the Royal Project and also selling products in the local market in Chiang Mai.

Hotel

Return to your Chiang Mai hotel.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 6 - Chiang Mai

 
Chiang Mai/Mae Hong Son.
Sightseeing

Depart from your hotel at 7:30 am in order to be the first visitors at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, a sacred temple with a challenging flight of steps flanked by Naga Serpents. Afterwards visit Wat Chedi Luang, the site of a formerly massive pagoda that was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1545.

Sightseeing

You will also stop to marvel at Wat Phra Singh, the lovely Lai Kam Chapel houses with the revered Phra Singh Buddha image.

Commercial Flight

Then transfer to Chiang Mai airport for a flight to Mae Hong Son and a welcome at the unique Fern Resort.

All-Inclusive Resort

The resort is out side of the city at the edge of a vast national park and is designed to attract wildlife and offer easy access to the forest. You will stay in comfortable deluxe air-conditioned cabins.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 7 - Mae Hong Son

 
Sightseeing

The area around Mae Hong Son is completely forested and mountainous. Tribal villages in the area are strongly influenced by Burmese traditions, which are also evident in the architecture and monuments of Mae Hong Son. Less sophisticated and developed than Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son is less a center of activity than an outpost in the wilderness offering you access to Thailand’s natural and cultural traditions as they thrive in the present.

Hiking

Once again, you are presented with a selection of options for entering a variety of fascinating environments. You may choose to do a day trek that begins with meditation in the morning mist at Doi Sann Fa and includes a hike on Mae Hong Son’s highest mountain.

Sightseeing

You may choose a jungle elephant ride followed by a boat trip on the Pai River to visit the village of the long-necked women (the Padong women who from an early age put increasing numbers of brass rings around their necks.)

Sightseeing

You may visit the Phu Clone Mud Spa and the Fish Cave. Or, you may visit Tham Lod Cave, where a wide stream cuts through the limestone.
Meals: Breakfast.


Day 8 - Chiang Mai

 
Mae Hong Son/Chiang Mai/Onward.
Relaxation

Your morning is free to relax .

Airport Transfer

Afterwards your departure for the airport and return to Chiang Mai where Journeys services end.
Meals: Breakfast.


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