Bangkok to Chiang Mai overland

Bangkok – Uthai Thani (L)

Early morning pick-up from your Bangkok hotel, airport or train station. There are various types of trains in Thailand and you will board the most local of these for the short ride to Bang Pa In. Nicely on the river is the former summer palace, an eclectic collection of royal homes in a manicured park. Onward you arrive at the former royal capital of Ayutthaya, where Unesco declared the ruins of temples and surrounding structures a world heritage site. Wat Chai Wattanaram is particularly beautiful and was built in the same style as the famous temples in Angkor, Cambodia. Your guide transforms the ruins into their former glory while explaining what happened when the Burmese army sacked and destroyed the place, taking away all the gold once covering the temples to Burma. Deeper into the central plain, filled with sugar cane or corn depending on the season. Trucks are piled up high and workers ride on top of them. Make sure to ask for a stop and taste a refreshing freshly pressed sugar cane juice. Arrive in Uthai Thani, a friendly place not much frequented by foreign tourists. A stroll on the night market might tempt you to try a local specialty.

Uthai Thani – Sukhothai (B,L)

Wake up with the locals and you may well see the orange robed monks walking the street in lines, bare foot, alms bowl ready, stopping at every house to receive food and give blessing. This Buddhist custom is normal in Thailand, actually everywhere around sunrise you could see this. While you are up early now, hop on a bicycle and tour the riverside of the Sakae Krang, a fertile land of vegetables and fruit. Views are wide, traditional villages on the way and plenty photo opportunities. Coming across a local market you see the products from the field again, for sale this time. But also jungle roots, bamboo shoot and various types of fried insects make nutritious ingredients for the Thai. A highlight of your trip will be roaming the vast Unesco site of the Sukhothai historical park. This kingdom was founded around 1238 and ruled much of present day Thailand and parts of Laos and Myanmar. It is traditionally marked a ‘golden age’ of Thai history and as the beginning of Thai culture as we know it today. You will be guided through the various zones and history will relive.

Sukhothai – Lampang (B,L)

An important satellite city to Sukothai was Si Satchanalai, not far north. A Unesco site though not much visited. You will see the elephant temple Wat Chang Lom, with 39 life-size elephant heads and climb the hilltop temple of Wat Khao Phanom, to overview the site. Lampang is a provincial town along a river with a centre of mostly low-rise wooden houses. The back streets and around the Don Tao temple which once held the Emerald Buddha are fun to explore on foot and by horse card. In the south where rivers full of clay are abundant, you visited temples made out of brick. Here in the north the supply of wood determines how houses and temples are built and a fine example of a teak wooden house is Ban Sao Nak. A busy pilgrimage –site is the Lanna-style Wat Pha That Lampang Luang. a fantastic example of Lanna-style architecture. Seemingly fragile and delicate, this style is abundant in the north, and in Laos. Lampang is a friendly little town which makes a good overnight stop on your travels.

Lampang – Chiang Mai (B,L)

Close to Chiang Mai you stop in low key Lamphun, where one of the north most important temples is found, Wat Haripunjaya, with its notable different style. Visiting some traditional handicraft making villages makes a fun entrée to Chiang Mai, the centre of tourism in the north with a lot to offer. The centre still has the wide protecting moat and some parts of the city walls and gates remain. Narrow streets with little shops, cafes and restaurants await. Enjoy the rest of today at leisure, maybe visit the famous night bazaar, a kilometers long maze of stalls and shops selling everything you looked for. Your program stops at a hotel in Chiang Mai, or the local airport or –train station.

End of the program