Circle of Central Thailand

Hidden in a street market across the river you discover a set of rusty train tracks. You join the locals and their merchandise of chickens, vegetables and gold fish in plastic bags to find out where they lead to. You will bump along the rails between the houses of people who seem to live right on the tracks and stop at every station there is. The scenery becomes greener and the air smells like salt; you reach the Gulf of Thailand and disembark right into one of the country's biggest fish markets! Enormous shrimp, bright red lobsters, tons of squid and big, big fish actually caught in Burmese waters. No tourists here, people go about their daily affairs and smile at us, posing for your camera. This is a delta area, criss-crossed by canals, highly fertile and full of coconut plantations and fruit orchards. Green and wet. By boat we navigate narrow canals and enter the floating market of Damnoen Saduak, where old ladies sell noodle soup, pomelo, rambutan and other colorful fruit and of course souvenirs from their little wooden boats. Take a moment to step behind the souvenir stalls to discover wooden houses and bridges still lining the waterways from the past. Dark side of history comes to life in the Museum and war-cemetery in Kanchanaburi on the river Kwai. A chance to learn about the hardships of the prisoners before walking across the notorious railway bridge is part of your program. Enjoy a night under the countryside stars, after a day of fantastic impressions!

Today is elephant-day. Elephants once roamed this part of Thailand, helping in the logging industries of this region, especially Myanmar. Enjoy a jungle trekking on their broad back. One of the most favorite waterfalls for Thai people is the Erawan fall, with several tiers, one of which shaped like an elephant head. Walk into the park and visit the first two levels at a leisurely pace, enjoy your picnic lunch in the coolness of the water and maybe take a dip! Then it goes downriver and into the central plains full of sugar cane and corn, depending on the season. Trucks are piled up high with harvest and local workers ride along on top. Make sure to try a freshly pressed juice on the way. You will arrive at the former royal capital of Ayutthaya by the end of the day. This generally is a day-trippers destination and there is a countryside-calm to dining on the riverbank after the coolness of the evening takes over from the heat of the day.

Unesco declared the ruins of temples and surrounding structures a world heritage site. Wat Chai Wattanaram is particularly beautiful and was built in the same style as the famous temples in Angkor, Cambodia. Your guide transforms the ruins into their former glory while explaining what happened when the Burmese army sacked and destroyed the place, taking away all the gold once covering the temples to Burma. You will wander between much more recent palaces in Bang Pa In, an eclectic collection of royal homes in a manicured park on the bank of Chao Phraya river, incl. boat ride. Your program stops at hotel in Bangkok or train station. If clients depart Bangkok by flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the departure flight should be after 21:00 hrs onwards.