If you’re looking for a two-week Thailand itinerary, then you’re in luck. I planned one for ya! Well, I planned it for Priya, my little Christmas miracle, but you should use it too. Buckle up, folks...apparently I’ve got a lot to say. This is a long one.
Priya landed in Thailand after an 18-hour layover in Tokyo so we thought she’d arrive exhausted and ready for sleep. However, she’s much younger than Peter and is used to living it up in New York City so she was about as tired as he is on a day-to-day basis.
Our first full day together in Bangkok, we hit some of the major highlights: Wat Arun, Wat Pho, and a Thai massage, followed by a delicious dinner at a local food stall. No matter how many beautiful temples you have seen in Thailand and SEA, these two are still worth visiting. We were there right before sunset and it’s quite a sight to see it during that time of day, with the light reflecting off the intricate details and grandeur of the temples. We took one of the river boats to the other side to get to Wat Pho (reclining Buddha) and watch the sunset; definitely worth the small fee to cross over that way!
For our second day, Priya and I decided to ditch Peter and do a little day trip to Ayutthaya for some much needed sister bonding time. It’s not like we talk every day no matter where in the world we are or anything. We booked a small group tour that provided roundtrip transportation from Bangkok and an English-speaking guide. Ayutthaya was once the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, and a prosperous international trading port, from 1350 until it was razed by the Burmese in 1767. The ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya Historical Park, an archaeological site that contains palaces, Buddhist temples, monasteries and statues. The park is on an island between 3 rivers and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Peter still doesn’t understand what a UNESCO World Heritage Site is.
We visited the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace, the summer home of Thai kings, and explored the ruins of ancient Ayutthaya, including Wat Mahathat, Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Yai Chai Mongkol.
So. Many. Buddha. Statues.
Day three in Bangkok involved a little fine dining! Priya had the great idea to go to a Michelan starred restaurant while we were in Bangkok since it would be much more affordable than in the U.S., but still as cool and delicious! While this was the most expensive meal we’ve had during our travel year, the overall experience was totally worth the splurge! Since we had this grand idea only the day before, our reservation choices were severely limited. We ended up with lunch reservations at Savelberg Thailand, a french restaurant with an extensive wine list. We opted for the three course menu and split a bottle of wine. It was heaven. Every bite was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and so beautifully presented. The meal started with a selection of amuse bouche that were almost too pretty to eat and then we each got a different appetizer, entree and dessert so we could try everything, because sharing is caring and that’s how the #adhikarysisterz live their best lives. I still dream about the poached turbot and forest mushroom dessert (that I had to share, le sigh).
We ended the night (morning?) on Khao San Road, imbibing copious amounts of alcohol out of colorful straws and buckets, dancing in the street, and making friends with other travelers. The end of the night is a bit of a haze but the pictures prove that we had a lot of fun!
For our last day in Bangkok, we had planned on visiting the floating market and railroad market, both located a little outside of Bangkok proper, with a private car hire. Full disclosure: we didn’t actually experience this day while Priya was with us. We were too hungover to do much of anything, but Peter and I did this day when we came back to the city before our flight to Nepal. Oops. Sorry, Priya! And sorry we let you down, Paiboon!
I would definitely recommend booking a tour in advance if you’re going to the floating and railroad markets from Bangkok. We thought we were being clever and saving money by arranging a taxi hire from Bangkok, but there’s a bit of a scam/arrangement between the taxi drivers and boat company and you’re likely to get ripped off by the boat company once you get there and find yourself without another option. While that was an unpleasant and unplanned situation, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride through the canals at the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Back in the day, this network of canals served as a daily commerce and transportation channel as people came to sell and shop for goods at the crack of dawn. Nowadays, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is one of the most famous floating markets in Thailand and is fairly touristy. We still had a really fun time cruising and looking at all of the cool things for sale, and purchased a beer and mangoes from another boat! There were people grilling meat and cooking noodles on the water! Very cool.
Visiting the Maeklong Railway Market was also a pretty unique experience. The market itself is one of the largest fresh seafood markets in Thailand, but what makes it a tourist attraction is that it literally sits atop the Maeklong Railway tracks. Whenever a train approaches, the awnings and shop fronts are moved back from the rails, to be replaced once the train has passed. We were sitting at a coffee shop right by the tracks when the train passed through, and we saw the vendor next to us pull her tablecloth full of fruits barely one inch away from the metal tracks. It’s a good thing the train is pretty slow!
Remember in the first Thailand blog post when Peter ranted about the overnight bus? Well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, turns out you can get fooled again, because we took an overnight bus from Bangkok to get to Chiang Mai.
While the bus situation wasn’t ideal, we really loved Chaing Mai and wish we had spent more time in the mountainous northern region of Thailand. Founded in 1296, Chaing Mai was capital of the independent Lanna Kingdom until 1558 and its Old City area still retains some of the walls and moats from its history as a cultural and religious center.
While in Chiang Mai, we did another full day tour that took us to Doi Inthanon National Park, where we hiked the Kew Mae Pan nature trail, went up to the highest point in Thailand, visited the King and Queen pagodas, and had local tea and lunch at a Karen hill tribe village. We ended the day at a Hmong Market where we sampled delicious fruit wine and dried goods.
The three of us discussed at length whether or not we should visit an elephant sanctuary while we were in Chiang Mai. I love elephants. They are my favorite animals and I have long been in awe of how majestic, intelligent and loving they are. But I know there are lots of places in Thailand (and worldwide) that market themselves as ethical sanctuaries, but in reality still chain and mistreat elephants, and allow cruel practices such as riding, bathing, and other forced interactions with humans.
The sanctuary that we did want to visit, Elephant Nature Park, is a retirement home for rescued elephants, founded by Lek Chailert, renowned elephant conservationist. It is considered to be a pioneer in the treatment of animals in captivity. However, the park was all booked out for the time we were there, so we ended up visiting another sanctuary that seemed like it only had rescue elephants, and did not allow any riding, bathing or forced play either.
The day consisted of preparing “medicine balls” for the elephants, feeding them bananas, sugar cane, and the medicine, lunch on the property, walking alongside the elephants through some jungle areas while they ate some more, and then following the elephants alongside a river while they cooled themselves and played in the water. You had the option to get into the river with them if you wanted.
We had a great day there. I came close to tears many times because I couldn’t believe that we had the chance to be so close to and interact with these magnificent creatures. However, I don’t know if I’ll do anything similar again. I could discuss with you for hours the pros and cons of zoos and sanctuaries, how human greed has destroyed the earth and its creatures and necessitated conservation and educational initiatives, but there’s only so much internal conflict I can dump into a blog post, so I’ll just stop here for now and urge you to please do your own research before visiting any animal sanctuaries or zoos.
We did some sightseeing around Chiang Mai and went to a few markets to do some last minute Christmas shopping on our last day. If we planned this trip again, I would have taken a day or two to visit Pai or Chaing Rai. But since we wanted to spend Christmas on an island, we had to get moving. We took a flight out of Chiang Mai to Surat Thani and then took a ferry to Koh Phanang the next morning.
Christmas day in Koh Phangan was wonderful! We had gotten some festive hats, wrapped gifts, and even managed to keep a few surprises from one another despite being together almost 24/7 so that was very exciting! We drank hot chocolate and opened presents in the morning and spent the day relaxing on a semi private beach with gorgeous views.
Christmas night, however, was anything but wholesome. We decided that Priya had to experience the famous beach parties of Koh Phangan so we set out looking for one and somehow ended up on a secluded beach where there was an all night rave going on. This sounds straightforward enough, right? WRONG. The journey to get there was through the pitch black darkness in this rickety boat with a motor that looked and sounded like something out of Mad Max (you know, if Mad Max had water, which was like the whole plot of the movie, I know, but just imagine that it was about searching for land instead). Priya got yelled at for turning on her flashlight and trying to move around the boat. As the boat jumped up and down through the huge waves, we were trying to hold on to the seats, each other, the side of the boat, anything to keep our butts in the boat and out of the rolling sea. After about 10 minutes of fear, I decided to try to enjoy the ride. It was like the most intense roller coaster I’ve ever been on. And after all, if we were thrown overboard, all three of us could swim!
When we stepped out of the boat onto the beach, we were soaking wet and laughing in shock that we had survived the perilous journey. I know you think I am being dramatic, but it really was that bad (although fun! Now I can say it was fun!).
Tell me why I was still trying to hold onto my bucket of alcohol during this whole ride with my face looking like this?
What can I say about the party? The name of the venue was “Lost Paradise.” There’s certainly some level of allure for a place that’s only accessible by boat, and the location itself delivered at least somewhat. There was a beautiful beach to chill on, hammocks, a dance floor and DJ, and multiple art exhibits strewn about - definitely not the type of thing you see every day. Overall we had a good time and it felt like it was worth having taken the chance. YOLO right? But the adventure doesn’t even stop there…
At about 3 am, we were ready to head back and went off in search of the boat to take us back. But wait! There’s another twist. There were no more boats! Instead, after almost an hour of back and forth, we had to pay an exorbitant amount of money to have a truck take us back through the jungle; a two-hour journey during which Priya tried to play dead and Peter and I took turns supporting her head and trying not to hurl. I do not advise off-roading while so drunk. I wish we had just slept on the beach like so many others.
Quite frankly, the Christmas miracle wasn’t Priya; it was that we survived this night.
After another day of relaxing on the beach and laughing about the night before, we took the ferry to Koh Samui and said goodbye to Priya. There might’ve been some tears.
It’s been so long since Thailand, I only remembered these details from the pictures I took. TGFI (thank god for iphones). Will we learn our lesson for the future and write about our adventures closer to when they happen? Probably not, but it’s good to have hopes and dreams.
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Here’s my recommendation for a two-week itinerary for your first time in Thailand, most of which we followed (do as I say, not as I do?):
Bangkok: 1 to 4 days
Day 1: Wat Arun and Wat Pho, Grand Palace, Lumphini Park, Benchakitti Park, Vertigo and Moon bar or the Lebua Rooftop bar for sunset and city views
Day 2: Day trip to Ayutthaya, nap, Khao San road at night (I guess it’s better to plan this for a weekend night, but it seems to be a party any night of the week)
Day 3: Floating market (Damnoen Saduak Floating Market) and railroad market (Maeklong Railway Market) - go with a guided tour
Day 4: Do some shopping at Bangkok’s famous malls, get a massage, catch up on anything you didn’t get to yet, and take the overnight sleeper train (not the bus) to Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai and Pai/Chiang Rai: 4 to 5 days
Day 5: Explore the old city
Day 6: Doi Inthanon National Park
Day 7: Hot springs, Doi Suthep, and night markets
Days 8-10: Head to Pai or Chiang Rai
Koh Phanang and Koh Samui (or really any of the islands): 4 to 5 days
Day 11: Ang Thong National Marine Park
Day 12: Visit the Big Buddha and the Secret Budhha Garden, Chaweng Night Market
Day 13: Na Muang Waterfalls, Hin Ta and Hin Yai Rocks, Muay Thai fight
Day 14: Thai cooking class, beach hop around the island
If you’re looking for a party, plan to be there for a Full Moon or Half Moon party depending on whether you want a beach or jungle party vibe. While you can certainly pack your time on the islands full of activities, I would strongly suggest mostly relaxing by the beach for your last few days in Thailand. Enjoy plenty of fresh fruit (aka mangoes), drink coconut water and milk teas, get in as many massages as you can, and eat your way through all of the food stalls you see.
You’ll hear more about how we did exactly that in the next blog. ;)
Shriya & Peter