Dear all
Over the past number of years I have been doing a fair amount of travelling for both business and pleasure (but unfortunately mostly business!) Having just returned from a fantastic holiday in Thailand I thought that people might be interested in hearing about my personal travel experiences. Fodor's is a new experience for me and I'm not sure where this will go so please bear with me and hopefully some of you find this interesting. Here goes...
OK, I should be sound asleep in bed but due to the joys of jetlag I'm sitting typing this!
On 14th Jan 2006 my wife and I left Belfast City airport on the good old bmi flight to Heathrow. As usual the flight was very pleasant with the familiar delay into Heathrow. We hung around Heathrow for our EVA Air flight to Bangkok. Being an unknown airline I was a bit nervous about flying with EVA Air but it was fantastic! We booked seats in the Elite (Evergreen) cabin which was really worth the extra money. The plane was a fairly new 777 and we had plenty of room with good food and service.
After the 11 and a half hour flight we arrived in Bangkok to join a lengthy immigration queue. I reckon we stood there for about an hour one of the longest immigration queues I've seen!
We checked in to the Banyan Tree Bangkok for 4 nights, fantastic service and rooms with spectacular views over the city. The bar and Vertigo restaurant on the roof are worth a visit for the views. We didn't eat in Vertigo so I can't comment on the food. The bar was very busy with no spare seats and not very much room for standing. The other restaurants in the hotel are very expensive but a 5 minute walk took us to a great restaurant called Anna's Cafe. If you like Thai food then this is the place to go.
We spent a busy few days catching the usual sights the grand palace, Wat Pha Kaeo, Wat Pho, the canals, etc and of course shopping. During our visit to Wat Pho one of the temple assistants took us into the monastery and we met the grand master. He was very pleasant and talked with us (via a translator) for about 20 minutes. He was fasinated by our fair skin but wasn't too impressed when I told him that I worked as an IT consultant. Fortunatley my wife held up her side by telling him that she worked as a nurse this resulted in a 5 minute medical consultation! It was very interesting but marred somewhat when he asked for a very hefty donation!
The Tuk Tuks are a very cheap way to get around the city but some of the drivers wanted to take us to shops that there were giving them free fuel and when we declined they pleaded and begged us to go to the shops. It put us in a very unpleasant position as we really didn't want to go shopping again. As for public transport we used the Skytrain and the ferry boats more often than the Tuk Tuks for the fact that the air was a lot cleaner and the Skytrain has air conditioning.
After the hectic 3 days in Bangkok we caught a taxi from the hotel to the airport and headed north to Chiang Mai, a totally different city...
We arrived in Chiang Mai on the 22nd January. As soon as we landed we felt that this was a completely different city to Bangkok. We where staying for 3 nights at Yaang Come a recently opened hotel built in the Lana architecture style. We booked the hotel and airport transfer from www.sawadee.com so we where quickly whisked away by a fairly pleasant Yaang Come porter who met us at the airport. After a fairly short 10 minutes journey we arrived at Yaang Come for a very warm welcome. Most of their reception staff welcomed us and gave us a cup of cold lemongrass tea and escorted us to our room. The room was very impressive with the usual bath shower and urinal!!
The night bazaar in Chiang Mai is just round the corner from Yaang Come and it's worth a walk up and down but it can get very crowded and we were warned that the prices are inflated. Also watch out for pick pockets.
Just at the entrance to Yaang Come there is a restaurant called the Whole Earth Cafe. The Thai food here was excellent and the prices fairly reasonable. They have two sections one on a garden terrace and one in a traditional Lana house where you must remove your shoes before entering. Definitely recommended if you are staying in Yaang Come.
I had organised a tour the following day with a company called Chiang Mai Tourist Information Center (www.chiangmaitic.com) that came highly recommended on www.tripadvisor.com. The tour was fantastic! We left the hotel at 8am and headed straight for the Chiang Dao Elephant Camp to ride the elephants and see the show. The tour consisted of the two of us and the guide so we could ask as many questions as we liked. I have to mention our guide here, his name is Pom (Ittiphon Kantanaul) and his knowledge and manners were superb. I can't recommend this guy enough if you are going ask for Pom. These guys will customize a tour to your needs and will stop at a point of interest if you ask them. Definitely worth booking!
Ok, the next day Pom took us to Wat Doi Suthep and a few shops. Now this took from about 10am to about 4pm and he didn't want any money for it. He was happy just to promote his country and religion. All he wanted was his petrol money!
The next day we headed for the airport to catch our flight to Phuket. Time to relax on the beach...
Hope, will be helpful
Alan..
More info at http://www.3travel.blogspot.com

Alan-Thanks for your report. It sounds like Thailand worked its magic charms on you. I can assure you that second and third visits are even more wonderful. The grace and hospitality of the people is so welcoming. We loved Whole Earth as well.

Hello Alan, I am leaving for Thailand with my 2 children on thursday and our agenda almost tracks yours. Our beach will be Kho Samui. Question, when you went to the elephant reserve and saw the show, etc. was there a day rafting trip available? Was there enough time for one? We too will be in CM for 2 full days, 3 nights. Thanks for the help. Russ

Thanks ganz,
Your trip sounded wonderful. Your blog has some great pics. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Russ,
I'm not sure who posted this review but it has been extracted from my blog. No complaints though, the more people who find it useful the better.
Anyway to answer your question, our elephant camp tour included a 1 1/2 hour gentle river raft. We boarded the raft at the elephant camp so it was easy to fit both into the same tour.

Hope this helps.