WKT 017 - The best of North Thailand - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai

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WKT 017 – North Thailand, Mountains, Tribes & Nature

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Hill Tribes – green slopes & pleasant climate

Northern Thailand offers beautiful nature & peace

Khao Sok National Park, A true rainforest of origin - 2½ hours drive from Phuket, Krabi, Ao Nang, Phang Nga, Khao Lak, Nature lovers paradise, wildlife, jungle, Art's river view lodge, Chiew Larn Lake, Rajjabrapa Dam, jungle raft, a dream land of mist and mountains

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Welcome

Obliging and eventful holidays – Perfect for minor groups that are looking the amazing.

Faces from the North representing the different ethnic minorities with there own languish and customs

Northern Thailand – Click map to enlarge

The capital of the North is Chiang Mai, also called The Rose of the East. Magnificent temples and defense constructions gives evidence of a great period that would influence the whole region.

Traders from the time of the Silk Route made the foundation to our times good main roads there will take the visitor to the remotest part of the country. This mountainous and subtropical zone is the home for about 15 different ethnic wild tribes who have migrated from Kina, Tibet, Vietnam, Laos and Burma. In the villages life goes on almost with no influence og modern technology. The Mountain farmers are still to a great extent, slash-and-burn farmers. Every year the undergrowth is set at fire to manure the soil to a new season of crops.

Book with no misunderstandings - More than 15 years experience in the North Thailand

We got more than 800 hotels & resort contracts in Thailand – Contact us for any hotel you like.

The beneath itinerary could be adjusted after any personal wish. If you already booked a hotel in Chiang Mai it no problem to tailor fit the program to pick you up there instead. The itinerary can be extended with other activities in Northern Thailand or other places in the Kingdom.

Our best and most interesting private roundtrip - 5 days / 4 nights - starts every day.

Meet us at Galara Food Centre in the Night Bazar area in Chiang Mai

Day 1 – Arrival to Chiang Mai

B= Breakfast / L= Lunch / D= Dinner

Meet and greet in Chiang Mai Airport or Train Station.

Transfer to Suriwongse Hotel, located right at the famous Night Bazaar. The rest of the day at your own interests.

A short walking distance from the hotel you will find the place called Galare Food Centre. In the evening you can watch superb local dancing, free of charge. Show starts 20:30

Night Suriwongse Hotel - Superior room

Doi Suthep Temple is well visited. Also Non Buddhists can be blessed by the monks. Ask the guide how?

Book - Wild Kingdom Tours will be happy to make a special arrangement for you

Day 2 - Wat Doi Suthep, Home Industry & Thai massage (B + L)

09:00 - Private tour in air conditioned minivan. We visit the holy mountain of Doi Suthep with its magnificent temple where we have a splendid view of the whole of Chiang Mai town.

The Buddhist faith has many rituals and we shall see locals light up incense sticks, donate money and present lotus flowers to the icons of the temple. The monks recite holy scripts while they spray holy water on the worshippers.

Siddhartha Gauthama, better known as The Buddha, was in fact a prince from northern India, who lived 560 to 480 years before Christ. The official year in Thailand is therefore 2551.

According to the legend the temple on Doi Suthep was build here because of, a white elephant carrying relics of Buddha, suddenly ran away from a parade going through Chiang Mai. The white elephant headed for this mountain, which was covered in forest, and began climbing pursued by monks. After some time the elephant had reached high up the mountain but was now on the verge of collapse. It trumpeter three times with its trunk and then it died. The monks perceived this as an omen that this place was holy and therefore the temple was build here.

When we return to Chiang Mai City we enjoy a delicious international buffet lunch on the way. The afternoon we spend at the craft village where we see the production of silk, from cocoon to weaving, and the sliver smith.

On the way back to our hotel we have now deserved one hour of relaxing traditional Thai massage. Dressed in a special massage outfit we enjoy the treatment while our sore muscles are worked on. Thai massage is a several hundred years old art form and all the staffs here have graduated from the best schools in Chiang Mai.

Night at Suriwongse Hotel - Superior room

Angkhang mountains are located on the border to Myanmar. The landscape is known as The Swiss Alps

Day 3 – The Angkhang area, hill tribes and farming (B + L)

08:00 - We will today be heading for the North of Thailand.

On the way out of town we will stop at the Orchid and Butterfly farm with most types of Thai orchids.

Continuing through mountainous landscapes we arrive in Angkhang, called the Swiss Alps of Thailand.

This place is known for the successful Royal Angkhang Research Station there have showed great results in introducing alien fruits, vegetables and other crops to be cultivated in Thailand. The Research Station is under the patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, The King of Thailand.

About noon we will have our lunch break with Thai set menu and Angkhang special dishes.

After lunch we visit the different hill tribe villages. The Muse & Lahu people in the area there now benefits form the research program. Before the hill tribe’s only source of income came from growing opium. Now thanks to the stations research the farmers now grow high income crops as a replacement for opium.

This area is right on the borderline to Burma (Myanmar) and we will also visit Kob Dhong village where can see Burma’s military camp only 100 meters from Thailand

After this exciting experience we climb down the mountain and will soon be on the lowland plateau again.

We will be heading for the charming town of Tha Ton with the Big Buddha landmark to be seen from miles away.

Night at Tha Ton Chalet - Superior room

Book – Let us know what’s on your mind – we can pre book all tours in Northern Thailand

Kok River at the Karen tribes elephant camp

Day 4 – Long Neck Kayan tribe, Longtail-boat & Elephant trekking. (B + L)

Check out after breakfast and visit a branch of the Karen tribe called Kayan. These are a predominant tribe, once occupying central Myanmar before the Burmese arrived from the north. Most commonly known as the Long-Neck, this term signifies the practice of adorning their women with brass rings around the neck. The origin of the ring-wearing ritual remains unclear, resulting in many possible and sometimes embarrassing explanations. According to the Kayan legend, the mother of their tribe was a dragon with a long beautiful neck and their unique custom is an imitation of her. Some people claim that the ring-wearing arose out of a need to protect woman from tiger attacks.

On the Nam Mae Kok River vi board a long-tail boat and pass Teak plantations on the mountain slopes and the fishermen reaping the riches of the river, before we arrive to a Karen Village on the river bank. The Karen has had training elephants as a skill for centuries. We take a ride in the nature surroundings. The trip continues to the city of Chiang Rai. We check in at Wangcome Hotel only 5 minutes walk form the night marked.

Night at Wangcome Hotel - Deluxe Room.

Combine The Golden Triangle with a cruise on the Mekong River and visit Laos

The Thai View Point at the mighty Mekong River - Left Union of Myanmar (Burma) – right PDR Laos

Day 5 – The frontier town of Mae Sai – The Golden Triangle (B + L)

We head for the most Northern tip of Thailand Mae Sai. This is the border town into Burma and a lot of traders are offering different goods for sale. Gem stones, cheap Chinese electronics and tobacco are among the most common items.

We follow the borderline and arrive to Sop Ruak from where you can view Laos and Burma from across the mighty Mekong River from Thailand. Her we take lunch and visit the opium museum. The name “The Golden Triangle” originates from the opium trade. An area of about 100 kilometres inside the triangle of the countries of Thailand, Laos & Burma was where poppies were/is grown, produced ad traded. The payment was in gold bars.

At 13:30 this will be the end of the itinerary and you can now choose if you want to be driven to Chiang Rai Airport for connecting flight to Bangkok or if you would like to continue with the transport 4 hours back to Chiang Mai.

End of program

If you go back to Chiang Mai we recommend you include the Mekong Cruise. Look WKT D017