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If I didn’t do something by the end of the month the earliest I could get away for a significant period of time would be late June. I explored many options, but wanted to go somewhere warm. Several of the South American countries were undergoing periods of unrest, so those were out. I eventually settled on a tour of northern Thailand. I booked this tour in late November 2019. In January 2020 the China Flu (Coronavirus) reared its ugly head. I thought long and hard about cancelling my trip but ultimately decided to proceed, although I did change my flight home to go through South Korea instead of Hong Kong. February 7, 2020 - Friday Bangkok Thailand The main problem with Thailand is it is so far away. With two stops for connections it takes about twenty-four hours to get there. On the morning of Thursday February 6th, I started the journey. I arrived in Bangkok a couple hours before midnight on Friday February 7th. Luckily the flight from Korea was only about a quarter full, so I was able to lay down and get a few hours sleep. Immigration was a breeze and after changing a small amount of money (airport exchanges are ripoffs, only change what you need and do the rest in town) and getting a Thai SIM card I took the train into the city and to my hotel. Bangkok is a city that never sleeps, so I went for a short walk around the area before returning to the hotel and trying to fall asleep, which was not that successful. February 8, 2020 - Saturday Bangkok Thailand I was still jet lagged. In the morning I went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is a massive market with over ten thousand stalls. I didn't buy anything, but spent an hour or two walking around and had paella for a snack. After, I went to Terminal 21 which is a really good mall with many food options. I had both lunch and dinner there. Other then that and walking around I did not do much. Thankfully this night I was able to grab a decent sleep.  February 9, 2020 - Sunday Bangkok Thailand Today was more of the same, but in the evening I joined the tour. There was one girl near my age (I’ll caller Jane for this journal), but everyone else is pretty old, although they seem like nice people. The tour leader (Amy) is the same one that I had on my very first G Adventures tour six years ago. We had a group dinner together. February 10, 2020 - Monday Bangkok Thailand The day started with a boat ride on the river and then we went to the Reclining Buddha temple area. I had seen this temple before. We had free time in the afternoon and I decided to go see a move, Bad Boys 3, as I had already seen most of the tourist places on my previous trips here. Then we got on the train for an overnight trip to Nong Khai. This was my first overnight train and it was better then I expected. I was able to sleep pretty well.  February 11, 2020 - Tuesday Chiang Khan Thailand We got off at Nong Khai but didn’t stay here. Instead we took about a three hour drive to a smaller town called Chiang Khan where we would spent two nights. This town is right on the border with Laos – the Mekong River divides the two countries. This evening we tried a bunch of street food, including fried silk worms. I had dinner with Jane followed by a nice walk along the river boardwalk, and then joined some of the other tour members in a local bar for a drink. February 12, 2020 - Wednesday Chiang Khan Thailand Sound proofing is sometimes not a known concept, so I was awoken the next morning fairly early. Today we travelled by tuk tuk to a small village where we took a boat ride on the Mekong River. Technically we passed into Laos territory, but since we did not set foot on land I’m sure it was okay. In the afternoon I had a Thai massage and wow was that painful. It was the type where the masseuse walks on your legs and back and uses lots of forearms and elbows. Later that evening we had a cocktail, then a mediocre dinner, followed by another cocktail.  February 13, 2020 - Thursday Phitsanulok Thailand Long travel day. It took something like five or six hours to drive to Phitsanulok. This is a larger city, and the hotel we stayed at was very nice. The softer beds were appreciated that night. Before dinner we looked around a couple of temples. For dinner this night we went to a very local place and had the best meal of the trip so far. They had about six different dishes (some chicken, one fish, a great soup) that we all shared and every single one of them was delicious. We also had morning glory. I had never seen this before but what happens is that the chef cooks it (it is a vegetable kind of like Chinese broccoli) and then tosses it as a green mass and the designated person had to catch it in a big dish. Three of us tried it. The first lady did not catch it, but the second one did and then I went third and also caught it. Definitely an interesting experience. I walked back to the hotel with Jane and on the way back we passed a night market that mostly sold flowers and food that was nice to walk through. We even found cotton candy which she loves and turned my tongue purple. February 14, 2020 - Friday Small town near Lampang Thailand After a wonderful sleep and decent breakfast we then travelled to Sukhothai Historical Park which is the ruins of an old city/temple. We used bicycles to travel from site to site and it was pretty fun. I had not ridden a bicycle for years, but had no problems. It was extremely hot out by the time we finished here around noon. After another local lunch we then drove to a small town near Lampang. Here the group was split into three different houses. Each house had some mats (very hard mats) for sleeping. The house I was in had a cat outside of it that I played with for a short time. We walked to the local school which seems to double as a community center. A little further from the school is the reservoir and a nice spot to take pictures. Returning to the school we had a dinner prepared by a local lady that was excellent and then got a blessing from an older man. February 15, 2020 - Saturday Chiang Mai Thailand This morning we had breakfast and then did a basket weaving project. It was fun. After that a few of the local school children showed us around their school and did a demonstration of how they learned to make a rice cracker type snack. After another really good lunch we drove to Chiang Mai. The hotel was a bit rundown and the beds sucked, but the shower was a welcome sight. Late afternoon we drove to Doi Suthep, a temple on a hill outside the city. Then Jane and I went to the night market walking street and had street food for dinner, which was pretty good. There was one temple that we walked by that was silver/metallic color, and lit up by lights that changed color. It was beautiful and probably my favourite of the trip. February 16, 2020 - Sunday Chiang Mai Thailand There were no planned activities for today so Jane and I walked around the old town for a few hours. We saw a few temples and one had a pond and I fed the catfish. Those things are huge! Just after noon we found a massage place where the masseuses were all former prison inmates and had a very nice massage. After lunch I went to the hotel pool for an hour or two. Several of the group went for dinner at a bar/restaurant and then went to the ladyboy cabaret. I was slightly drunk and I had a great time. The show was pretty tasteful and well done, although they really hustle you for tips. After the show we returned to the bar for another drink or two before heading back to the hotel. February 17, 2020 - Monday Chiang Mai Thailand No group activities scheduled. Jane found this company that offered baby elephant half day tours and I was able to join her. First we went to a mother elephant and a ten month old baby elephant. Shortly after we were joined by a juvenile elephant. After some posing with the baby elephant I was assigned the momma elephant and Jane the juvenile. We fed them bananas (my hand got elephant slobber over it) and then went down to the river where we washed them. We then took a snack break and drove to a different part of the park to see a three month old elephant. It was so cute and really liked me. It would wrap its trunk around my arm or leg. I was told to sit down and did so, the baby then tried to climb over me. Apparently when it was even smaller it would sit in your lap, but it was too big and I didn’t want to get trampled so I got up pretty quick. Even though it is only three months old it must weigh five or six hundred pounds or more. Seeing the baby elephants was the highlight of the trip for me. Returning to the hotel I had a very welcome shower and then a short nap. The activity for the evening was a cooking class. We started by going to a local market and selecting some items – I did not care much for this part. But then we went to the cooking school which was very well setup and made spring rolls, a soup, pad thai, and a curry. Everything except the soup was excellent. February 18, 2020 - Tuesday Chiang Mai Thailand The day was mostly spent relaxing with a short walk around the old town again before going to the train station to take an overnight train to Ayutthaya. February 19, 2020 - Wednesday Ayutthaya/Kanchanaburi Thailand The train was the same type as the first and I was able to get a decent sleep before we got up at 5:30am to get off the train. We then stopped at a hotel for about two hours so everyone could get a shower and change clothes. After breakfast we visited three sites that make up the ancient city (ruins). These were okay but nothing spectacular. We then drove to the Kwai River area and visited the museum, cemetery, and bridge (in WWII the Japanese used POW’s as labour to build a railway and many of the prisoners died). Next we drove to the a pier where we took a longtail boat up river to our hotel. This hotel (River Kwai Resotel) is extremely nice, we got to stay in jungle hut type rooms. We had a nice dinner at the resort and then spent a few hours drinking and talking before bed.  February 20, 2020 - Thursday Kanchanaburi Thailand We had two nights here, so one full day. I spent the morning and afternoon at the pool, but in between most of the group took a longtail boat upriver quite a long ways and then jumped in the river. We were wearing life jackets and just floated back to the hotel. The round trip took about and hour and was very fun. The current in the river was quite fast, it was not possible to swim against it and make any headway. February 21, 2020 - Friday Bangkok Thailand We departed the resort in the early morning and drove to Erawan Falls, a series of pools and waterfalls. It is a very nice place. I swam in the 4th area, and there are little fishes that will nibble at the dead skin on your feet (similar to a fish spa). This area also had a couple of big rocks (two of them, called “boobies” by the locals (because they kind of look like boobies) that you could slide down. After a cheap lunch it was time to drive back to Bangkok. We had our group farewell dinner at a restaurant called “Cabbage and Condoms” which was the most expensive meal of the trip, but it was pretty good. February 22, 2020 - Saturday Bangkok Thailand My plane did not depart until midnight. So I basically had the entire day to do stuff. Jane and I went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market (I had been there two weeks ago by myself). It was a lot more fun to do this with someone. I ended up buying three shirts, one of which is an “elephant” shirt I will wear to work Monday morning. We then stopped at Terminal 21 and had the cheapest meal of the trip, just twenty eight baht (about $1.10 Canadian). Back to the hotel for a short nap and shower, and then I was off to the airport to fly home. Overall I really enjoyed this trip. There was no major must see site or museum, but I really liked seeing parts of Thailand that I hadn’t seen before and the other people in the tour group were really nice.
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