MAGICAL ADVENTURES IN THAILAND

Thailand, the land of street food, busy cities, tropical islands, dense jungle and honking tuktuks. Backpacking through Thailand is popular among many travelers. One of the reasons is that public transport and infrastructure are well organized and it is therefore easy to travel from place to place. If you are going backpacking for the first time or going on a long journey, Thailand is the right place! In this blog I share our route of 2 weeks through Thailand with the children and I give you more tips for the perfect tour through Thailand!

Are you going on a long journey with children for the first time? Then Thailand is the perfect destination to start. Everything is well organized in Thailand. The roads are perfect, the public transport system is good and the locals are used to tourism. If you are going to travel solo for the first time, Thailand is the place where you will meet a lot of other backpackers. There is a reason people start their long journey through Asia in Bangkok.

✈ Best time to travel to Thailand: November to February is the dry season in Thailand and there is the least rain. We went end of April, beginning of May. It was hot and humid, but after a couple of days we got used to it.

✈ Internet in Thailand: Unfortunately, your Dutch internet subscription is not available in Thailand. However, most hotels do offer Wi-Fi, but if you prefer to have internet anytime, anywhere, we recommend an eSIM. This is a digital SIM card that gives you access to local 4G or 5G networks. Ideal if you prefer not to be offline! You can purchase an eSIM via the Airalo website.

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HOW TO GET TO THAILAND

From the Netherlands it is about 11 hours flying time to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. KLM flies directly to Bangkok, among other things, but we flew with a stopover, because this saved a lot of money. Compare all flight tickets on the Kiwi or CheapOAir. At Skyscanner you can easily see on the calendar which day is the cheapest to fly. Once you’ve found a date, you can also compare prices on Tix’s website. The prices and conditions can sometimes differ, so you can always compare. The conditions at Tix are often more flexible, so paying a little more also has its advantages.
However, you can also choose to divert to Dusseldorf or Brussels. For us (living in the middle of The Netherlands) it is only a 2 hour drive. And often saves a lot of money!

In Thailand itself you can travel in different ways. The most popular is traveling by public transport. Public transport in Thailand is well organized and you can easily look up all routes and prices on the website of 12go.asia.

In addition to public transport, you can also rent a car, but keep in mind that you must be able to drive well. We normally always rent a car from SunnyCars, because you are insured here all-in. Especially in Thailand, the traffic can be quite challenging, so it is a nice idea that you are fully insured against damage. Prefer a cheaper alternative? Then compare the prices on the RentalCars and Easy Terra websites. Would you rather not travel by public transport? You can easily book a private transfer via the Get Transfer website. You can enter the desired route and then get a price for different cars. Do you think this is too expensive? Then make an offer and negotiate the price online.

✈ Airport transfer: Via the Get Your Guide website you can easily arrange an airport transfer so that you are not overwhelmed by all the taxi drivers at the airport. Make sure you book in time, because this transfer is quickly fully booked.

✈ Parking: Are you still looking for a cheap parking space at Schiphol? Then make sure you reserve your parking space online as soon as possible. It is cheaper to arrange this early in advance and you can often cancel it up to a few days before departure. Always check the conditions on the website. We recommend Parkos for Eindhoven, Maastricht and Rotterdam.

ROUND TRIP THAILAND 2 WEEKS

Thailand is a large country and therefore unfortunately you cannot see the whole country in 2 weeks. I have therefore made a selection of places that are fun to visit in 2 weeks. Do you have more time? Then you can visit more places off the beaten track.

BANGKOK

Most travelers start their journey in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. As did we. Bangkok is a busy and chaotic and typically Asian city. You either like it or not. There is plenty to do in Bangkok and that is why I advise you to stay there for at least 3 days so that you can also recover from the long flight. Get some culture and visit one of Bangkok’s many temples such as Wat Pho, Wat Arum or Wat Phra Kaew. Have a drink in the evening in the most famous street of Bangkok: Khao San Road, try all the delicious street food at one of the food stalls or even better: do a street food tour with a local.

✈ Accommodation: Hotels in Bangkok are extremely cheap. For 35 euros per night you can stay at Furama Silom Hotel, a five-star hotel with a beautiful roof terrace and swimming pool. We stayed at the Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhumvit.

✈ Unicorn café Very, very sweet!

Everything on the menu is colorful. From rainbow burgers, to pasta, salads and even colored salmon steaks. In addition, there are desserts with waffles, crepe ice creams, slush drinks in all colors of the rainbow and homemade rainbow cakes. Colorful and very sweet; exactly what the Thai love. And we as well!

WAT PHO

There are more than 400 temples in Bangkok – plenty to choose from – but few have the treasures that Wat Pho holds within its storied walls. The Wat Pho, also called the Reclining Buddha, is a temple in Bangkok. It is a sprawling complex with plenty of things to see, Wat Pho isn’t just one of Bangkok’s best temples, it’s one of the city’s top sights.

The highlight of Wat Pho is the gold reclining Buddha – 43 metres long and one of the largest in the world. It takes a whole building to hold it, resting in a peaceful pose. The feet of the Buddha have a whole lot of images on the soles inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Along the side of the Buddha are 108 metal bowls which people can walk alongside and drop 108 coins into. (Don’t worry – you can buy all the coins you need for about 20 baht, about 60 cents.).

GRAND PALACE

Because Wat Pho is right next door, it makes sense to also visit the Grand Palace, even though it might start to seem like a lot of the same kind of architecture by the end.

Because of the limited time we had, we choose to travel towards River Kwai on the third day. On this third day we went and visit some salt fields and afterwards went to Floating Market Damnoen Saduak, outside the city where the locals sell everything from their boat.

DAMNOEN SADUAK FLOATING MARKET

 Damnoen saduak Floating Market in Ratchaburi is one of the most popular floating markets in Thailand. Every day many Thai and foreign tourists travel here to shop, eat, and absorb the atmosphere of Thailand water markets that have been like this for over a 100 years. Klong Damnoen Saduak Damnoen Saduak is the straightest and longest canal in Thailand.

RIVER KWAI

A popular excursion from Bangkok is a one or two day trip to Kanchanaburi. Easy to do by bus or train because the distance is only 130 km west of Bangkok. These types of excursions can be booked almost everywhere in Bangkok at the many booking offices and travel agencies or inquire at the reception of your hotel. We opted for a private tour with www.thaitraveldreams.com

An excursion to Kanchanaburi usually starts with a visit to the infamous Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway. This railway is more than 400 km long, which was supposed to connect Thailand with Burma, was built during the Second World War under appalling conditions by prisoners of war under pressure from the Japanese. There were many casualties.

ERAWAN WATERFALLS

The waterfalls are located in Erawan National Park in Kanchanaburi Province, just over 50 km north of the main city of Kanchanaburi.

The waterfalls at Erawan are absolutely incredible. So many tiers, so much beauty and plenty of beautiful trails too. While the waterfalls are known for having seven tiers, there are plenty of smaller cascades along the route too.

The trail to the first 5 waterfalls is easy to follow, with routes through the forest, crossing occasional footbridges and climbing some steps in the rocks. Later in the route, things become a little more treacherous. There are a few parts which involve clambering over slippery rocks, and wading through streams. It wasn’t particularly dangerous, but if you’re not very mobile, or have children (like us), it may be worth avoiding the last section. We did anyways!

It’s always hot and humid in this region, so no doubt you’ll want to go swimming at Erawan Waterfalls. There are plenty of pools which are easily accessible. Just leave your personal belongings on a rock and take a dip. The water is wonderfully refreshing, especially when it is 38 degrees outside.

Beware though – there are lots of fish! They love nibbling dead skin, just like a fish spa / fish pedicure! They’re harmless, but definitely take a bit of getting used to. Me and the children were screaming and squeaking a lot when we first got in. It was such a tickly feeling!

✈ Tip: Bring water shoes and a waterproof bag  webshop

MUEANG SING HISTORICAL PARK

Mueang Sing Historical Park was declared a historical park in 1987. Built in the Bayon-style, the temples date to the Khmer kingdom in the reign of King Jayavarman VII which was in between the 13th and 14th centuries.

It was just amazing to be within these walls with so much history surrounding us and how they even built these huge monuments in those days is beyond me and most of the walls still remain standing is amazing.

An interesting fact about Mueang Sing , for centuries these temples lay hidden in thick jungle overgrowth and were only uncovered about 50 years ago and only in 1974 the Thai Fine Arts Department started renovation of Mueang Sing and in 1987 was made into a national historical park.

 After this tour, we went back to Bangkok. You can take the night train to Chiang Mai. This will take you to Chiang Mai in 13 hours and you have fixed places. We preferred a little more comfort and booked a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai with the local airline Thai airways. More about our Chang Mai visit in the next blog.