Accompanied by your personal guide you will meet exotic, ancient, enigmatic Bangkok head-on. After completing this multi-transport, mobile cultural immersion seminar, you should be able to go anywhere in Bangkok by train, ferry, sky-train, taxi or tuk-tuk on your own. You will learn about the baht, bargaining and buying a meal. You may learn a bit of Thai and certainly will come to better appreciate Thai food. This is a spontaneous, pay-as-you-go -with-the-flow experience individualized for your preferences.
This is our most original and adventurous in-depth extension in Thailand. You will pay the local costs of the urban adventure including taxi, ferry, meal, tuk-tuk, toll or sky train fares for you and your guide. These costs don’t really amount to more than a few dollars, but will vary with your hotel location, ambition and appetite. Your guide will help you learn how to use the local currency, buy services and act as your interpreter. The program is flexible to focus on areas of your interest for eating, shopping, photography or sightseeing. We suggest the following general itinerary, but you can discuss your interests with your guide. Trip Itinerary
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| ANTICIPATED ITINERARY, ACTUAL ROUTE MAY VARY |
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| Day 1 § Program will vary according to your preferences | After breakfast at your hotel your guide will meet you in the lobby. You will walk, taxi or take the Sky-train to a public Chao Phrya Riverboat stop. Take the ferry to China town, observing life on the river along the way. (The ticket will be the equivalent of US$0.10-0.40 per person!) Once you arrive at the pier, you will take a walk through China Town along Sampeng Lane. Explore the fascinating “sights, smells & sounds” of this bustling, busy area of Bangkok. Visit garment shops, street vendors, food stalls, traditional Chinese drugstores, Buddhist religious supply stores, produce markets, nut and spice wholesalers and many shops selling things you will have to ask your guide to identify. You will wind through lanes, corridors, passageways, tunnels, tents and markets. Pause along the way for a tea, soda or coffee break in one of the local coffeehouses.
From China Town proceed by tuk-tuk to the flower market where you can see thousands of orchids and other flowers laid out for sale. On the way, you will visit local market halls located on the riverbanks where traders bring vegetables and other goods from the farms around Bangkok by boat. This is very colorful and photogenic scene of frenetic commerce. Continue to Wat Pho, the largest Buddhist temple grounds of Bangkok, where dozens of monks live. Besides the huge “Reclining Buddha,” visit the oldest Thai Massage School, which is located in the temple. Perhaps avail yourself of their services. If it is lunchtime, discuss your appetite and preferences with your guide. We suggest you trust him or her to order a traditional Thai meal as a chance to sample a variety of items according to your taste and sense of gustatory adventure. After lunch, discuss with your guide the route home to combine long-tailed boat, ferry, taxi, tuk-tuk or sky-train with any other special sites you might decide to include. Your guide assists you in navigating back to your hotel by about 1 pm, or according to negotiated arrangements.
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| Duration |
1 days |
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| Group Size |
1-12 |
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| Lodging |
NA |
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| Grade |
I |
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