Pattaya

My journey began at Pattaya. As soon as I had landed at Bangkok airport, I took a bus  heading to Pattaya. All the departures are at the lowest level of the airport. You just need to ask at the good counter. Which sometimes can be confusing because even if you ask Thais people,  they may give you contrary answers willing to help you the best they can. So don’t worry and just ask until you are very sure. Arriving at Pattaya the bus didn’t stop where it should have, which is something quite common in Thailand. Try to find you bearings and find where it has dropped you because it won’t bring you anywhere else. Once again asking is the key here.

You can find a more precise opinion of Pattaya here

Ayutthaya

After few days in Pattaya I left the city to go to Ayutthaya. I had to go there by Bangkok where I took a minibus/taxi at one of the many station of the capitale. The stop is in the middle of the city and you will need to find another transport  to go where you want because the city is huge. Take care not to get fooled  by some tourist trap which wait you at the bus stop. I was promised a tour of the city with a Tuk Tuk and ten minutes later I was in a taxi. I gently explained the driver it was not what I was told and I wanted to first drop my stuffs at my guesthouse. So with a little bit of negociation, he gave me a lift there.

You can find a more precise opinion of Ayutthaya here

Lopburi

Well advised by the owner of the guesthouse in Ayutthaya, I decided to change my plans and don’t go to Kamphaengphet but stop to Lopburi heading to Phitsanulok by train. Very well advised as you can read it here.

You can find a more precise opinion of Lopburi here

Sukhothai

The day after, I left for Sukhothai still by bus. Since I didn’t booked any room for the nights I was spending there, it was the first thing I did. PrawetNakhon alley offer you enough choice if you don’t know where to go. You can also eat at most of the guesthouse here, they all have some kind of restaurant/bar area where you can sit, even if you don’t take a room there. I consacred the following day to visit the historical site.

You can find a more precise opinion of Sukhothai here

Chang Mai

The next destination was Chang Mai

Arrived very early in the morning I first consacred my time to find somewhere to stay. After strolling in the old city’s streets, I stumbled on one, in an old house all made of tek wood with a very low price. The city was all about the celebration of the queen’s birthday. Everywehere there was sky blue flags, symbol of her majesty. I stayed few days there and everything I saw was within the walls of the old city. There are far enough temples deserving to spend few days. At Wat Chedi Luang, you can talk with some monks at a place where they sit waiting for a nice chat with everyone passing by. At that time most of the monks got prepared to go north to assisted to  some celebrations for the queen’s birthday. All using taxis, you can imagine the show it was with something like one hundred monks.

You can find a more precise opinion of Chang Mai here

Chiang Rai

I spend only one day in Chiang Rai, I arrived in the afternoon and left the day after in the morning.

Even if Chiang Rai is totally in the north of Thailand and you don’t have much time to visit that particular region, it still worth the long trip to go there, only for the white temple, Wat Rong Khun. I had a huge lucky to have this day a wonderful blue sky full of flully clouds, making the sight something very fairytalish.

On the evening I went to the night market which is one of the most known and renowned of Thailand. I could find there some gifts to offer to my friends when I came back in France.

You can find a more precise opinion of Chiang Rai here

Lampang

Willing to go East, my next destination was quite far to make it in one day. So I decide to make a stop, in the city of Lampang,to do the trip in two steps, which is an old colonial city.

Because I didn’t find an guesthouse, I took a very basic hotel room. The interesting spots of that city being quite far from each other to do by feet, I choose to rent a bike to make a tour of the temples I selected. Finally Lampang is really peacefull because it is not so touristic and it is not very huge. So it was a good break between two parts of my travel.

You can find a more precise opinion of Lampang here

Nong Khai

To make it to Nong Khai from Lampang, there is a long bus ride. Because I don’t want to lose time, I am used to take night buses. The night is not usually with a good sleep but you have more time to spend later.

I bookmarked a smal guesthouse on the riverside of the Mekong, with a nice terasse to have breakfast with a great view. Unfortunalety the weather was not great with most of the time a grey sky and even some rain. Once again I rent a bike to go to the sculpture park Salakeawkoo. Because I still had a lot of time on that day I prolonged my ride  through some rice fields, taking time to stop to buy an ice cream served on some green bread (so probably green tea bread, probably).

You can find a more precise opinion of Nong Khai here

Parc National de Khao Yai

I love travelling by trains and Thailand didn’t disapointed me on that point. The landscapes are wonderful and there are street vendors in the cars itself, selling you all kind of foods. Every five minutes there would be someone new with something new too. So train is the transportation I choose to get to Pak Song, city close to the nationnal park Khao Yai.

A night arrivals forced me to take a hotel room not very nice or welcoming . On the next morning I found a very friendly guesthouse a bit outside the city. Once again the weather is against me. During my visit of the Khao Yai, it began to rain once again but this time I had the luck to be able to experience Thaï rain in all its glory. My little walk in the jungle ended under torrents of rain and completly drenched. And cherry on the cake the ranger that was suposed to guide me, was not interesting at all. He even didn’t make an effort to show me anything or to talk to me. So I didn’t gave me all the money I was suposed to and because he was not able to speak english, he couldn’t plead his cause well.

You can find a more precise opinion of Khao Yai here

Koh Chang

My last destination for this trip was Koh Chang. It’s an island in the south east of Thaïland. The guesthouse I choose had a variety of little stilt houses of three or four meters high. I was on the west coats of the island, not far for Lonely beach. I was easy for me to go Bang Boa by small taxis. But i prefered to rent a motor bike to go to White Sand Beach and the Salak Phet Bay. On that bay I found some canoe to rent for the day for an imbelievable low price. That allowed me a nice ride on the ocean, to the desert island of Phrao Nai and Phrao Nok where I found a recently abandonned touristc resort.

You can find a more precise opinion of Koh Chang  here

The way back to France was by Bangkok airport which I went by a bus I took in Trat.