Tour 1 - January 19 - January 29, 2006
Tour 2 - January 31 - February 10, 2006
Only $2795 Per Person

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Day 1
Depart USA for Bangkok, Thailand

Day 2
Arrival Bangkok in late evening.

Day 3

Depart from hotel to visit the Grand Palace and the temple of the Emerald Buddha, which represents over 200 years of Royal history. Then Thonburi Canals boat ride to Wat Arun. Dinner at hotel.

  The Grand Palace is surrounded by walls built in 1783. The length of the four walls totals 5700 feet. Within these walls are situated government offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha besides the royal residences.
  Rivers and canals referred to maenam and khlong in Thai have always been vital forms of communication. When the capital of Thailand was moved to Bangkok in 1782 (the beginning of the Rattanakosin period), the capital was laced with canals, so Bangkok was sometimes called the "VENICE OF THE EAST" by European visitors.
  The famous Wat Arun, perhaps better known as the Temple of the Dawn, is one of the best known landmarks and one of the most published images of Bangkok. It consists of a massive elongated prang (Khmer-style tower), and is surrounded by four smaller prangs. The prang is described as 300 feet high. It is decorated by bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China, a hallmark of the reign of King Rama III.

Day 4
Early rise to visit Floating Market, then continue on River Kwai to Jungle Raft in a remote Mon Village 3 hours out of Bangkok. Visit elephant village Lunch on the way. Dinner at Jungle Raft Water Hotel - Visit village school, picture of elephant, local exchange activities. Free time for rest of the day to explore the Mon village and exchange with most friendly local villagers.
  Day in and day out from about 8 a.m. to about 11 a.m. the Floating Market is routinely crowded with hundrreds of vendors and purchasers floating in their small rowing boats selling and buying or exchanging their goods. What they purchase are particularly food, fruit and vegetable which mostly brought from their own orchards.
  Just slightly over 120 kilometers from Bangkok, to the northwest, located at a junction of rivers, including the Meklang, which is perhaps better known as Menam Kwae or the River Kwai. (This is location of the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai, originally built by prisoners of war and forced laborers during the Second World War.) Without indulging in the war times, River Kwai is a tranquil - albeit our own long tail boat - and heavenly scene: the limestone caves, hilltribe villages and beautiful waterfalls in the vicinity all help to make this one of the most fascinating places to visit.
  The elephant village along the River Kwai is a must stop place. You will have real close encounters to the tame elephants, who are operated by riders. You may even meet the Belgian girl Janet who married a Thai and a proud elephant rider herself. The ride is about 20 minutes and costs 300 Baht (or about 8 dollars)

In the evening, we stay at Jungle Raft hotel, a series of rafts tied together to form a long array of thatched roof tops on the River Kwai itself. The rooms are of twin beds with a bathroom, with toilet and simple shower but no electricity or hot water. But none is needed at this surreal place that is almost from a different world from our hectic daily lives.
Mon is a minority nationality in Thailand. It has its own language, which is taught at the village school. Mon Dancing in the evening on the Jungle Raft is an ear-deafening experience with its variety of drum beats in the quiet surroundings of the night and oil lanterns. The girls and boys from the village perform to you what they perceive to be the most beautiful sequels from the angels.


Day 5
Depart back to Bangkok. On the way, visit the ruins of Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand. Dinner at hotel.

The ancient city of Ayutthaya, Thai capital for 417 years, is one of Thailand's major tourist attractions. Ayutthaya ( 72 kilometers north of Bangkok ) boasts numerous magnificent ruins. Such ruins indicate that Ayutthaya was one of Indo- China's most prosperous cities. The Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Historical Park, avast strectch of historical site in the heart of Ayutthaya city, has been included in UNESCO list of World Heritage since December 13,1991.


Day 6
Free morning, departure at 10:00 am to airport to Siem Reap. After arrival transfer to hotel for check-in. Then departure to Tonle Sap for boat trip to see floating villages and village exhibitions. Dinner with local folk dancing at local restaurant.
  When you leave Bangkok, there is a departure tax of 500 baht, or about $12. When you arrive at Siem Reap, Cambodia, you will need to apply a visa (which would take about 5 minutes) and pay US$20 for the visa and one whole page in your passport for the whole page size stamp.
  Nestled between rice paddies and stretched along the Siem Reap River rests the small provincial capital of Siem Reap Town, gateway to the millennium-old temple ruins of the Khmer Empire. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including Bayon, Banteay Srey and the legendary Angkor Wat whose artistic and archaeological significance and visual impact put it in a class with the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal. Unlike many other world class monuments, the ruins of Angkor are as yet not as spoiled by commercialism and over-development. This may not be true in a couple of years.

Tonle Sap is seasonable river in the heart of Cambodia. Hundreds of thousands of natives live their whole lives on the river and the banks around the river.


Day 7
Departure to visit South Gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Elephant terrace, Phimean Akas, and Leper King. Lunch, then Artisan D'Angkor, a traditional Khmer craft shopping place. Dinner at hotel.

Angkor Thom is the inner royal city, built by the end of the 12th century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, shortly after Angkor had been conquered and burnt down by the Chams. This inner royal city was built as a quadrangle and bordered by a 100-metres-wide moat and an 8-metres-high wall. Angkor Thom is geometrically oriented: it covers an area which is an exact quadrangle; the sides of this quadrangle run exactly in North-South and East-West direction. A gate opens exactly in the middle of each wall, connecting, through a bridge over the moat, the royal city with the outside. Exactly in the center of Angkor Thom are the temple grounds of the Bayon.


Day 8
Depart for visit to Bantey Srei, Neak Pean, Ta Promh and Takeo temples. Then visit to Angkor Wat.
Lunch and Dinner at local restaurant
  Banteay Srei is an exquisite miniature; a fairy tale palace in the heart of an immense and mysterious forest.

There are two great complexes of ancient ruins in southeast Asia, one at Bagan, Burma, the other at Angkor in Cambodia. The temples of Angkor, built from 879 - 1191AD, when the Khmer civilization was at the height of its development, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From the great citadel of Angkor, the kings of the Khmer empire ruled over a vast domain that reached from what is now southern Vietnam to Yunnan, China and from Vietnam westward to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 temples in all, are the surviving religious remains of a grand social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were all built of wood and are long since decayed and gone.


Day 9
Visit Elementary School and Silk Farm then to airport for flight back to Bangkok

The Departure tax from Cambodia is US$25 per person, payable at the airport.


Day 10
Free day at Bangkok (lunch/dinner not included)

Day 11
Leave Thailand early flight back to the states, arrival back at home on the same day.

To see more related pictures click on the link below.
http://regenttour.com/bangkok/index.htm

Thailand History and Currency News
Known for centuries by outsiders as Siam, Thailand is an enchanting Buddhist Kingdom where past and present mingle in perfect harmony.

Many hundred years ago, Thai people founded their Kingdom in the Southern part of China which is now called Yunnan. A great number of Thai migrated South as far as the Chao Phya Basin. Thai founded their independent state at Sukhothai Period (1238-1378). The period is often called "The Dawn of Happiness". However, in 1350 the mightier state of Ayudhya exerted its influence over Sukhothai. During Ayudhya Period (1350-1767) the Kings adopted the Khmer (Cambodia) cultural inflences

Thai is the national and official language. English is the second language which is widely understood in cities.

The basic monetary unit in Thailand is the Baht. Currently one U.S. dollars exchanges for about 38 Baht. The exchange rate is usually better outside at the Money Exchange Kiosks ($1:38.80b) than in hotel ($1:38b or less).

Copyright 1999-2005 David Ault
The Conscious Company
All rights reserved.