Thanks again to those of you who answered my Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai post the other day! I loved the idea some of you suggested of splitting the time between the 2, but we ended up deciding to stay all 4 nights in Chiang Rai (at the Legend), upon request from my husband who thinks we are moving around enough on this trip as it is

Anyway, now trying to work out our itinerary/tours while there, but am having a hard time deciding what sights/excursions would go best together and how to split things up to maximize our time there.

Here's what we're thinking we would like to do/see while in Northern Thailand:

*Visit to longneck hill tribe

*Elephant ride

*Short river raft ride

*Cooking class - it appears that these are few and far between outside of CM (aside from the Anantara, and we'd prefer not to spent $100US+ per person for this). It does appear that the Wangcome hotel in CR offers one, but I cannot find any additional information on it or confirm that it still does. Anyone know about/done the class here?

*3 country tour - I have heard that this may be a waste of time though, and that it mostly ends up being a visit to super-touristy craft markets on the border. I'd love to hear opinions one way or the other.

*Seeing live snakes would make my husband's day. My fingers are crossed that this does not occur in our room, but rather somewhere else Any suggestions?

*Opium Hall

One thing I thought about was doing a full day tour to Chiang Mai to do a cooking class, see a cabaret show, and go to the night market. Any experiences/opinions regarding this idea?

Any recommendations y'all can give on how to best use our time, on "must-dos" I have not listed here or things we should take a pass on would be very much appreciated! Thank you very much in advance

full day to CM---unpractical....drive is 3 hours each way...when would you do the other stuff...you would be dead!!!

the opium museum you want to visit is the one directly across the drive from the anantara....i think there is another one...not good...allow about 2-3 hours for the museum...

a 1/2 day to doi tong, the former home of the king's mother is time will spent...we found it the most lovely site in the area...

over view of the golden triangle from the hillside wat above chaing saen town....

from all reports the river rides are boring....the laos and cambodian towns are as you describe...i would give them a skip...

tours to hill tribes need to be way off the beaten track to avoid tourist traps...

We really enjoyed a day in the Mae Salong area, and we included a trip into Myanmar that day as well. Mae Salong is stunningly beautiful, and has an interesting history. Once past the border markets, in Tachilek, the city/town was interesting and we enjoyed it very much.

You might want to do some further research about the longneck tribes...they are reported to be horribly exploited by tourism. A good and well connected guide can take you to hill tribe villages that see very few tourists and are therefore less likely to be of the human zoo sort.

Thanks, rhkkmk--I will definitely look into the sights you suggested! One more question--it is my understanding that the better opium museum (near Anantara) is referred to as the Opium Hall, and the other one as the Opium Museum. Is this correct, or do I have it backwards? Just want to make sure I see the "right" one!

Thanks for the insight, Kim. Sounds like a combo Mae Salong/Tachilek, Myanmar would be a better and more interesting choice for us than the typical 3 country tour, in that case!

The "human zoo" aspect of the hill tribe visits is definitely something I have been thinking and reading a lot about during my planning. Do you have any suggestions for guides who would be best at taking us to visit hill tribe villages that would not fall into this category?

There have been some guide mentioned here, but I didn't use any of them. We hired someone that works for the agency the Anantara contracts with, and we liked him a lot. Hill tribes were not on our agenda, though he did offer to take us to some villlages...we just had other priorities for the day, so I can't say what sort of places he goes to.

Across from the Anantara is the Hall of Opium, which is supposed to be the better place.

the hall is fantastic...only opened a few years ago and is world class...

i believe the museum also has hotel rooms if you want to check it out