The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
Poy Sang Long is a traditional Shan festival where boys are ordained before entering a monastery as novice monks. The ceremony is a time-honoured, ‘rite of passage’ with some boys perhaps only spending a token week or two as novices and others going on to spend years – or even a lifetime – as Buddhist monks. While the majority of…
Current Sites Thailand World Heritage Sites on UNESCO’s list are at present limited to 3 cultural and 2 natural sites. A rather meagre result we feel, considering the country’s rich history and magnificent and highly varied flora, fauna and landscapes. Of the 3 cultural sites, we’d also point out that early Bronze Age Ban Chiang, while of undoubted great archaeological…
Since we’ve seem to have a particularly good collection of images of our Hidden Thailand Tour accommodation to hand, (thanks mainly to Wi) and working on the basis of – ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it’ – we thought we’d post a selection of photos of the various hotels and resorts included in this off the beaten track north Thailand…
This seriously off the beaten track Thai tour, Hidden Thailand, takes you from Bangkok, via UNESCO World Heritage Sukhothai, through the picturesque mountains of Thailand’s far north before finishing in the historic northern capital of Chiang Mai. We’ve still got available places on our guaranteed 12th August departure so here are a few pictures to whet your appetite… Our Bangkok…
The picturesque, lakeside town of Phayao possesses a central position in northern Thailand with better-known neighbours Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai lying to the northwest and southwest respectively and historical Lampang situated due south yet, despite being, to our minds one of the region’s most attractive provincial capitals, it’s also certainly one of the least visited. The laid-back town is…
Mae Wang district of Chiang Mai Province lies around a mere hour’s drive south of the provincial capital and whilst not currently included in any of our North Thai tour itineraries would certainly make for an excellent day out if anyone had a day or so to spare when starting or finishing a trip in the northern capital. Here’s a…
Thailand World Heritage sites currently number a mere 3 on the UNESCO ‘culture’ list with 2 ‘natural’ sites although a further 4 have tentative status. With the kingdom’s spectacular and highly varied landscapes it’s surprising there’s only 2 in the natural list and we have a few more suggestions that we’ll come to later but what spectacular sites the two…
A great selection of photographs of trekking in Northern Thailand by Brian Smith from Canadian operator The trek covers the border area between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, beginning in the small, picturesque town of Tha Ton from where we depart by boat down the Kok River. First stop is Ruam Mit – a riverside Karen village where we…
Here’s an updated list, including photos, of the Thai national parks and wildlife sanctuaries either featured in our All Points East tours or regularly included in our extensions or custom-designed trips. (Apologies to the NP in question if we’ve forgotten any!) North-East and Eastern Thailand: 1. Pha Taem National Park, Ubon Ratchathani. The Emerald Triangle (Hiking, sightseeing, nature trail.) 2….
Whilst Tai groups had probably been gradually infiltrating southwards into what is now northern Vietnam, Laos and Thailand for several centuries from their homeland in Southern China the migration of Tai groups into Southeast Asia was hastened during the late 12th- and 13th-centuries as the Mongol armies under Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan extended their empire southwards. Ethnic Tai clans…
The new tourism Bible or just more trouble than it’s worth!? Ok, so it’s ‘democratized’ travel reviewing – now anyone can be Joe Cummings for 5 minutes – you no longer have to write a letter to The Times to get your name in ‘print’. But it also totally undermines guide books and travel web-sites and it’s tempting for the…
Just about to fly from Bangkok back to Chiang Mai after finishing a recent Cambodia Overland tour (but more of that in a later post) so, since we don’t have time to write much, here are a few photographs of the bustling alleys of Phnom Penh’s Psa Tuol Tompoung – better known of course as the Russian Market. It was…
Pix by guests on this New Year special, North Thailand – Hills of Mae Salong tour. Songkran, the Thai New Year, falls on April 13th each year – corresponding to the Theravada Buddhist New Year, also celebrated in Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Sri Lanka. (The date for the Mahayana Buddhist annual celebration, in Vietnam or China, for instance, changes every…
As we see it a tour of Laos or Vietnam, should include a tour of Lao and Vietnamese food so here’s a brief rundown on the All Points East meal thinking, or as we’ve titled it, responsible eating in Southeast Asia. Local food and meals are an essential part of any culture therefore an essential part of enjoying new and…
According to this article, the word for blue and green is the same in Hmong, though I reckon that probably depends on which Hmong dialect one is referring to and our White Hmong mate says that’s nonsense! There is certainly some confusion between Green and Blue Hmong though, and indeed the aforementioned article also categorizes the Black Hmong of Sapa…
Although the ambulant Akha street vendors of Khao San, Tha Pae Gate and other tourist hot spots are very successful and the Lisus in Pai night market do well in the high season, across Southeast Asia it’s the enterprising and commercially minded Hmong that dominate the hill-tribe handicraft market. Their bright colours and bold patterns can be and have been,…
The famous Chiang Mai Sunday Market – known locally as just Walking Street – is a vast affair stretching from the tourist hub of Tha Pae Gate as far as the ancient temple of Wat Pra Singh in the Old Town as well as, taking in many of the side streets along the way. (In fact, it seems to grow…
A few Northern Laos tour photos for your perusal with Wi having just crossed the Mekong at Chiang Khong this morning with her group on a Northern Laos and the Golden Triangle tour and now heading north into Laos where their first stop will be Luang Nam Tha. After spending Chinese New Year in Chiang Mai the party travelled north…