Cuisine of Thailand

You will take an excursion to Wat Po to experience the monks early morning chanting ritual. One of the oldest temples in Bangkok. Wat Po is home of the famous 45-metre reclining Buddha as well as being the original school of traditional Thai massage. Continue to The Grand Palace, the most important and impressive royal palace in Thailand. You will see the palaces used for different occasions – the Funeral Palace, the Reception Palace, the Throne Hall, the Coronation Hall, the Royal Guest House, and of course the mysterious Emerald Buddha, the most revered Buddha image in Thailand.

Enjoy homemade Thai lunch at a local restaurant and wrap up the meal with “Sarim”, a popular Thai dessert made up of colorful thin vermicelli served in savory coconut milk. 

In the afternoon, visit to Aor Tor Kor Market, one of the best fresh markets in Bangkok, with various agricultural products and delicious desserts available to please your palate.

In the evening, depart for dinner at one of the most unique restaurants in Metropolitan Bangkok, the Cabbages and Condoms (C&C) Restaurant. The concept of the restaurant in part to promote better understanding and acceptance of family planning and to generate income to support various development activities of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a non-profit organization in Thailand. Overnight in Bangkok.

Experience a hands-on Thai cooking lesson with a qualified English speaking instructor at Amita Thai Cooking Class, a home-style culinary school set in a charming canal side location. 

In the morning, transfer by boat to Amita Thai Cooking Class, and upon arrival, you will be warmly welcomed by your instructor. After a brief introduction, start a short tour around the organic garden to learn about Thai herbs. Pick some of the fresh, aromatic herbs that can be later added to your dishes as ingredients to spice up its flavors. Start with the theory session and cooking demonstration before trying your hand at creating your own culinary masterpieces under your instructor’s guidance. For lunch, sample the fruits of your labor in the Thai style pavilion amidst the beautiful garden. Each one will receive a set of the course recipes as a souvenir to bring back home. 

In the afternoon, board the ferry to Koh Kred, home to one of Thailand’s oldest Mon settlements. Take a walk around the island to witness local lifestyle in the countryside. Take a boat to the traditional Thai dessert making village to see how these charming delights are made.  Overnight in Bangkok.

After breakfast at the hotel, drive south of Bangkok to the garden province of Samut Songkhram in the Mae Klong River delta area. First stop at a Mahachai fish market (one of the biggest fish markets in the region) and witness a unique country market along the railway tracks. See the train arriving and bringing people to the market. 

Visit Tha Kha, one of the many floating markets in the area. You take a fascinating paddle boat journeying through the klongs and stop to enjoy a glass of coconut sugar syrup with a friendly local family. Visit Buddhist temples before arriving at King Rama II Park with its Thai style Pavilion Museum. 

Back to Bangkok and afternoon is free at leisure. 

Take you to enjoy the famous Pad Thai at Thip Samai Restaurant selling only this stir-fried noodle specialty (cooked on charcoal) for over 60 years. Then continue to Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown famed for the abundance of Thai & Chinese eateries along the way. Overnight in Bangkok.

Morning flight to the northern capital of Thailand “Chiang Mai”.

After check-in and short break, depart for Khao Soy lunch. “Khao Soy” is a kind of curry noodles from its street food status to its rightful place as the signature dish of northern Thai cuisine.   

Next, drive up the mountain by “songtaew” onto a rough dirt road to the Chang Khien Coffee Research Project where you can enjoy a cup of the local ‘arabica’ surrounded by fabulous gardens of flowers. Continue to the white Hmong village of Chang Khien where the 800 inhabitants still wear their traditional hill tribe clothes and practice a culture that dates back 500 years. 

Then end your day with Wat Pra That Doi Suthep, the temple on the mountain, and the most sacred in Northern Thailand. Your experienced guide will explain the story of the temple, the white elephant and lead you around its impressive chedi and show its beautiful murals. In the late afternoon, the tourist masses left the temple grounds and dusk will give you a very special atmosphere. After your private blessing ceremony, witness the magical evening chanting of the monks. Spectacularly romantic evening view over Chiang Mai with its millions of glittering lights. 

Enjoy an evening out at a traditional Khantoke Dinner. Your meal is served on special, low, circular tables called toke. Delicious Northern Thai dishes are served, accompanied by Northern Thai folk dancing. After dinner, participants will light a khom loy and launch it in the cool night following the local belief that misfortune will be floated away. Overnight in Chiang Mai.

After breakfast, drive north through the hilly, wooden area on the outskirts of Chiang Mai to the Chiang Dao elephant camp for elephant riding and a gentle bamboo raft journey own the Ping River. 

Enjoy local lunch and visit tribal villages, where tribal mountain people live separately from lowland area and retain a different culture and way of life unique to every ethnic group. Return to the hotel and the rest of the day is free at your leisure. Overnight in Chiang Mai. 

Depart for Mae Kampong village in the Mae On district and drive through the picturesque countryside of Chiang Mai. En route a stop is made at a local market to select ingredients for your lunch. Continue to Mae Kampong village where you are met upon arrival by villagers before beginning a stroll through the community forest, passing tea and coffee fields. Return to the village in time to watch lunch being prepared by your host family to see how Thai food is prepared in the countryside. After lunch, relax with Thai traditional massage and take a walk around the village to see the processing of fermented tea leaves, and various products which are handmade in the village. Overnight in Chiang Rai.

This morning you will take the scenic mountainous drive to Doi Mae Salong, dotted with tea and fruit plantations with Yulong tea as the specialty tea grown in this area. Stop at Plantation 101 to get to know this exquisite crop, this is part of the Thai Royal Family's movement to replace opium with tea growth so as to provide a safer and stable income for the tribal people and overseas Chinese living in this area. 

Approach to Mae Salong town passing pineapple plantations, learn how it is cultivated and exported to sell worldwide. You will notice of a subtle change in architecture and be forgiven for thinking you have entered a small Chinese town. This Chinese Yunnanese town established just over 60 years ago stretches over a 6000ft mountain ridge by the remnant soldiers of the Chinese Nationalist army after the Chinese civil war. Stroll around the tiny town and see shops selling the local products and well-known Yulong Tea. Overnight in Chiang Rai.

Leave your hotel via Mae Suai to Doi Wawee. The Wawee area houses many hilltribe villages of various ethnicities, including the largest Akha community in Thailand and the oldest Lisu settlement. The small town of Wawee itself is very Yunnanese. Tea and Coffee cultivation is a relatively new cash crop in the area, replacing the opium poppies that once blanketed the nearby mountain slopes. Here is an opportunity to sample a cup of freshly brewed “Doi Chang Coffee”, a famous coffee bean producer who exports “Kopi Luwak” to Harrods Mall and the other world’s famous retailers. Lunch will be provided at a local Chinese restaurant. On the drive back to the hotel, you  will make a short stop at Charin Garden Resort to taste homemade bakery and fresh coffee.  Overnight in Chiang Rai.

Breakfast at your hotel. Visit to the 13th century ruined city of Chiang Saen and the heart of the Golden Triangle where the Ruak and the Mekong Rivers meet. Take a boat ride along the Mekong River to get a closer look at Laos and Myanmar.  Transfer you to the airport for your onward  flight. End of services.