Phayao is our next stop on the hidden Northern Thailand tour. On our way there, we started with an early morning hike to the top of one of the neighboring mountains, to see the truly spectacular Wat Chalerm Phrakiat, perched atop a jagged limestone outcrop. This is difficult to reach, as you first drive up a […]
Thailand 4 – Lampang
Lampang is the third largest city in Northern Thailand, but is seldom visited by tourists. Since we are specifically targeting rarely seen areas of Thailand on this trip, this colonial city is a perfect stop for us. In the 19th century, Lampang was prominent in the teak industry, and beautiful colonial Thai-style wood villas and […]
Thailand 3 – Sukhothai
Now that we have left Bangkok, we will be spending the next two weeks exploring some off-the-beaten tracks of Northern Thailand. Places where few tourists travel, and where English is often not spoken — which is why we like having a bilingual guide with us to navigate the hotels, restaurants, markets and general interaction with the […]
Thailand 2 – Bangkok: Wat Pho and Floating Markets
After visiting the Grand Palace, we walked down the street to Wat Pho, one of the most famous temples in Bangkok. “Wat” means temple, so all Thailand temples are “Wat <something>.” The main attraction here is the Reclining Buddha. This is a huge Buddha made of a gold-copper alloy, laying 46 meters (150 feet) long […]
Thailand 1 – Bangkok: The Grand Palace
We are starting our 2019 travels in Bangkok, Thailand. This is our third time in Thailand, though our last visit was some 15 years ago, and we remember so little of the details that everything seems refreshingly new to us. That was a major reason we started this blog — we found ourselves usually forgetting details […]