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Day 1
Welcome to Bangkok
Hello Land of Smiles, start your Thai adventure in Bangkok. Transfer to your hotel and this evening we will meet the Tour Director and other guests for a welcoming reception with local aperitifs.
Day 2
Visit tourist attractions in Bangkok
Wake up early and join the locals in practicing Tai Chi in Lumphini Park to start your day. Alternatively, relax and unwind before joining your fellow travelers on a city tour that begins with a visit to Bangkok’s Grand Palace. You will visit Thailand’s most sacred Buddhist temple, Wat Phra Kaew. See the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand at Bangkok’s oldest temple, Wat Pho, and enjoy a traditional Thai massage at the temple’s massage center. Then, return to your hotel by express boat along the Chao Phraya River, passing the beautiful Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn.
Day 3
Thai cooking and food experience
Indulge in the five flavors of Thai cuisine by joining a traditional Thai cooking class in a colonial-style house with a local expert. Visit a nearby local market to pick up fresh ingredients that reveal the sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy flavors of Thai cuisine. Taste the finished product afterwards, then spend the afternoon exploring the City of Angels your way. Or, join an optional activity at the Jim Thompson House, home to an impressive collection of Asian art.
Day 4
Heading towards Damnoen Saduak District and Kanchanaburi
This morning, bright colors greet us as we set off to the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Meet friendly vendors paddling sturdy canoes along the canals crammed with fresh fruits and vegetables to sell to shoppers on the banks. Along the way, we’ll immerse ourselves in the culture, stopping at a coconut palm plantation where we’ll discover how farmers extract the nectar from palm trees to make coconut sugar. After lunch at a local restaurant, visit the world-famous Bridge on the River Kwai. After walking across the bridge, continue on to the Thai-Burma Railway Museum, which offers insights into the history of the infamous railway line built during World War II by the Imperial Japanese Army. Our final stop of the day is to pay our respects to the thousands of Allied POWs buried at the War Cemetery.
Day 5
Railways and rivers in Kanchanaburi Province
This morning we will visit Hellfire Pass, part of the Thai-Burma “Death Railway”, named after the gruelling conditions POWs endured during World War II to build the railway. After lunch we will board an exciting train ride over a wooden bridge and along the winding River Kwai. We will disembark and walk across the wooden bridge with our own eyes. This evening we will have dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 6
To ancient Ayutthaya and Sukhothai
After breakfast, we will travel to UNESCO World Heritage Site Ayutthaya, once the second most important ancient capital of old Siam and the largest city in the world. Here, we will delve into the commercial heritage of a great city that was almost destroyed by the Burmese invasion in the 18th century. We will have lunch at a local restaurant, then return to Bangkok to catch a flight to Sukhothai, Thailand's first capital.
Day 7
Explore Sukhothai
Learn about the powerful kingdom that flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries and shaped modern-day Thailand. Start the day with a visit to Sukhothai Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which reveals thousands of years of history and a 15-meter-tall Buddha statue hidden within its walls. You can choose to explore the area by bike or take a tram ride inside. In the afternoon, visit a local family home and learn how to make amulets believed to protect their owners from harm.
Day 8
Continue to Chiang Mai
Our day begins with a visit to our first MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience today in Na Ton Chan Village, a visit that supports a community-based eco-tourism project. We will meet and greet the villagers to learn about the making of “gymnastics dolls” and their traditional cotton clothing, which is soaked in mud to prevent fading. Upon arrival in Chiang Mai, we will take an evening stroll with our Travel Director and visit the colourful Sunday Market. Our hotel for the night is located in the Old City of Chiang Mai.
Day 9
Meet the locals of Northern Thailand
Admire the intricate hand-painted fans and colourful paper umbrellas, a famous handicraft of San Kamphaeng District, Chiang Mai Province. We continue to a small nearby village to mingle with the locals, having lunch with a family of northern Thais in a typical stilt house. Then we visit Wat Suan Dok, where we meet local monks and learn about Buddhism, with the temple's golden pagoda as a backdrop.
Day 10
One day of discovering Chiang Mai
You can spend the morning at your leisure. Later, we will visit Wat Doi Suthep, one of the most sacred temples in Thailand. As the sun sets over this mystical temple, listen to the quiet chanting of the monks in silence. Tonight, we will join the other travelers and the Tour Director for a farewell dinner at a traditional Thai restaurant located on the riverside.
Day 11
Continue to Cambodia
Transfer to the airport to board your international flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia with a stopover in Bangkok. Upon arrival, you will meet your local Cambodian Tourism Director. The rest of the day is at your leisure.
Day 12
The amazing Angkor Wat
Today we will journey deep into the Cambodian jungle, through a pyramid-shaped gateway into an ancient world. Serene rock faces watch us as we cross suspended walkways over a moat to reach the spiritual heart of the long-lost Angkor Wat. Local experts and renowned Khmer scholars have brought to life the stories behind the intricate carvings and murals of mythical nymphs and snakes in Angkor Wat’s abandoned hallways. Our next stop is the terracotta walls of Banteay Srei, the “Citadel of Women” dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. We will have time to admire the 10th-century carvings of women who were said to be too delicate for men to carve, hence the name.
We will return to Siem Reap for a rest and this afternoon we will embark on a guided walking tour of the old town. We will experience the revival of Khmer arts and crafts and help support the lives of rural youth during a visit to Artisans d'Angkor, a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience.
Later, we will visit the Dam Nak Temple and take part in a personal blessing ceremony where a sacred thread is tied around the wrist to ward off evil spirits. Our final stop of the day is the labyrinthine Old Market, where locals come early in the morning to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and spices. Wander through the bustling stalls and smell the freshly baked baguettes, a French heritage item.
Day 13
Temples in Angkor Wat
Today we continue our close encounter with the lost kingdom, discovering other important sites of the abandoned ancient city of Angkor Wat, which has been swallowed by the Cambodian jungle. We’ll explore the city’s ancient ruins with monks and golden-robed monkeys climbing the roots of centuries-old trees that have eroded the city’s great walls. Our first stop of the day is a visit to the fortified Angkor Thom, where we’ll see landmarks such as the Terrace of Elephants, the Royal Palace, and the Bayon Temple, home to a giant smiling Buddha. We’ll head under the thick shade of the trees to the moss-covered ruins of the Ta Prohm Buddhist Temple, a film location for ‘Tomb Raider’. We’ll explore its towers, courtyards, and walkways to discover intricate stone carvings covered in the surrounding foliage. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon, or consider joining an optional experience to learn the secrets of Khmer cuisine, or our MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® lunch experience at SPOONS Café.
Day 14
Visit the buffalo village
We start the day by strolling through the village with local Khmer villagers, joining the MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience to see how they live their daily lives. We will delve deeper into the culture, learning about time-honored craft traditions such as weaving the Cambodian national hat from palm leaves or folding lotus flowers into intricate works of art. After a leisurely evening, we will bid farewell to those who will not be continuing on to Phnom Penh tomorrow and join the Tour Director and fellow travelers for a farewell dinner, accompanied by an Apsara dance performance.
Day 15
Goodbye Cambodia
Proceed to the airport to board your next flight.