Elephants... and beautiful Buddhist temples, Thailand at its best
Beautiful Buddhist temples - photographer's dream. Elephant Nature Park. Learning about the history in Kanchanaburi, walking along the railway line and train journey at "Death Railway", and walking across the "Bridge on the River Kwai" (bridge beautifully lit up at night with alternating colours, worth seeing).
Most Inspirational Moment
The morning spent with the elephants in the Elephant Nature Park.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Nai was excellent, very helpful, friendly and caring, and good sense of humour. He took groups photos (and individual photos) of us at the various destinations and kept us supplied Thai snacks to sample on the journeys. When the earthquake happened in Bangkok midway through our tour, he kept us fully informed of events and the situation, coming up with alternative itinerary when Hellfire's Pass and museum was closed in Kanchanaburi due to the quake, although there were no tremors there.
Advice for Potential Travellers
The city tour of Bangkok on day 1 is not really a city tour as such, you just visit the places listed on the itinerary and do the longtail boat trip. The city is so vast that it is impossible to see much of the city, either at the start or the end. You really need an extra day or two added on to the trip to explore Bangkok and visit a few more attractions. It is not a compact city and most attractions are far apart, not within walking distance. Tuk-tuks are the best way to make the most of your time and enable you to see more, prices are reasonable and you can haggle for a lower price, within reason... they have to make a living! On the day of arrival of the tour I had some free time before the tour brief, but was so tired from the long indirect flight that I slept for a few hours. On return to Bangkok at the end of the tour and with evening flight on the last day, I did manage to see a few of the sights high up on my list - Wat Saket, Wat Suthat and Jim Thompson's house all worth visiting. The orientation tour on arrival in Chiang Mai just focuses on showing you where things are in the area around the hotel. It does not go into the old town and there is no "city tour" in the itinerary for Chiang Mai. If you want to explore the old city, you will need to visit this in the free afternoons after the mornings' itineraries when you have "free time" to yourself to explore/shop/relax. The main street in the old city, from Phae Gate, has some lovely clothes and souvenirs shops selling good quality goods at good prices along it and, at the very end of the street you come to Wat Phra Singh - a good sized and beautiful Buddhist temple complex, worth visiting (and taking lots of photos!), as is Wat Chedi Luang in the old city, not far from the main road through the heart of the old city. Could have done with slightly longer in the shop at the Elephant nature park as good quality items are sold there and monies from items sold help fund the place. Whilst the tour's itinerary changed in 2025 from when I booked it in 2024, dropping one destination (which I was disappointed at), it did mean we had longer and just the right amount of time in Kanchanaburi. The trip notes show two days of long journeys, but these are broken up with good number of stops and on one day a visit to a temple on the way. The tour's bus was one of the most comfortable I have travelled in and with only 7 of us in our group (excluding Nai), we were able to spread ourselves out and take full advantage of the fully reclining seats with option of back massage incorporated within the seats. Most of us slept for a good amount of the journeys, especially with some of the early starts, so it meant that the journeys weren't so long as a result of the comfort and sleeping at times - we had arrived by the time we woke up. When travelling such vast countries and numerous destinations on these types of tours, long journeys are inevitable and whilst less time spent seeing other places, you do get to see the countryside, towns and villages along the way.
