Not the Thailand I expected

This was my second GA tour. My first was the Grand Tour of Turkey, which I loved. This tour was good but it wasn't the Thailand I was expecting. Basically hitting the 3 main cities, we saw very little of the rural, agricultural side of Thailand. In fact, what we saw at almost every stop was a Buddhist Temple. I enjoyed this, and particularly learning how Buddhism, and the local Temples, affect Thai life, but truthfully they began to blur together. I enjoyed the Thai people, who were very gracious and (with a few notable exceptions) not pushy. I have to admit the jet leg affected me the whole first week, I was getting by on very little sleep. Some highlights: the hotels were spectacular. Far superior to anything I could have ever afforded on my own. The hotel in Chang Mai was nothing short of stunning. After we walked in our rooms we all came rushing back in to the hall to exclaim over the opulence to each other. Alas, we were on the go so much there wasn't time to enjoy the hotels. When exhaustion hit a few members they opted to stay in the hotels and enjoy the amenities for the afternoon rather than tour. I had high expectations for Thailand, always a dream of mine, and I have to say it fell a little short of my dream. And the Karen Hill tribe? Drop it. Fake and pushy. However, the Cambodia extension was worth every penny and every drop of sweat and lost sleep. Cambodia was the Thailand of my dreams, more jungle, more ruins. LOVED it. I did the entire tour as a single and found everyone to be very congenial; there were several singles. No one was ever shy about grabbling your camera so you could actually be in the spectacular shot! A few Thailand highlights: the longtail boat rides to the floating markets, the elephant ride and the Royal Palace complex. I did feel that in some areas we should have slowed down and enjoyed the better things a place had to offer than to rush through, and see EVERYTHING. I know this is the constant quandary a tour company must face. Cambodia: One hour and forty minutes for Angkor Wat, the main event we had all payed a lot of money for the Cambodia extension?Seriously? It's 500 acres. And 40 minutes in Ta Prohm which everyone unanimously voted their favorite and wanted to linger, but we needed to drive and "conquer" one more temple before we caught our plane. And we literally walked straight through the second temple without stopping or turning left or right, couldn't even tell you the name. LINGER at Ta Prohm and drop the second stop. And our full day in Cambodia I think we hit 7? 8? temples. Cut it back to the 4-5 best and stop the rush, or get us back to our hotels a little earlier to recoup. The heat in Cambodia end of February was intense, we started early, and for good reason. Our tour guide in Thailand was Vit. He was very good. A former monk, he had a perspective that I loved, helping us to understand and appreciate Buddhism. Guide in Cambodia was Khet, his perspective of the Khmer Rouge was something I'll never forget. The food was fine. Large buffets where I could always find something. I won't be hitting a Chinese buffet for a long time to come. I am not an adventurous eater, but there were always some western choices. If you love beautiful ruins push yourself for the Cambodia extension. It's worth it. But if you really love beautiful ruins do the Turkey tour instead, which I would rate higher, despite LONG bus rides.

Best of Thailand

During this tour, we really got around the country. The tour starts in Bangkok, but it certainly doesn't stop there. We made it up to the Golden Triangle, and everywhere in between. The Buddhist temples were beautiful. They were venerated by tourists from all over Asia, and many from the United States. The British, Australian and Dutch cemetary for soldiers who built the "Bridge over the River Kwai," was especially moving. I would also recommend the Cambodian extension. The Angkor Wat temple complex is awe inspiring, and at this time in history, you get to see a part of Cambodia that is rebuilding itself.

Wife's retirement tour

We were met at the airport and in good hands throughout the journey. Saw a ton of temples and experienced Thailand from early to late. Not much down time on this tour. We stayed in gorgeous hotels and had wonderful food. Buffets most of the time so you could pick and choose what you wanted. The Thai are kind, gentle people and they love to negotiate. The dollar goes far and the trinkets are all reasonable. Bought more tailored suits and shirts than I needed. My wife enjoyed the gem and silk factory tours. Pack light, pants for the temple tours, shorts and tee shirts will do other than that. Comfortable shoes a must. Hat for the sun. Light jacket will do you for the morning boat ride in the northern provinces. Cambodia was alike in many ways but different in many more and worth seeing. Their temples are mostly ruins as opposed to the active temples in Thailand but spectacular none the less. See the cultural show for dinner if you can. Drank tons of water. 95 degrees in February.

Thailand was awesome

My wife and I really liked the tour, great hotels (much better than on previous tours) and beautiful, friendly people. Our tour guide Louis was very good at organizing our "on you own" meals so we had fast service and great food. He did everything possible to make this a good experience...that being said, he was not so good at manageing our time, any evening we had as a free evening was not to be enjoyed because the bus was always late to get back to the hotel, some days as much as 3 hours. The bus we were on was not very comfortable and water pourd out of the ceiling from the A/C. Not good! In my opinion, there were too many new Buddist Temples in the tour, I would have liked to have more time to explore on my own but we were very happy with the runis. I guess it depends on what you wanted to see. The C ambodia leg of the trip was great, the hotel was very nice and had the best food of the tour, and that says a lot as most of the food was very good, and Angkor Wat was not to be missed. The favorite part of the trip was the Elephant Camp at Chang Mai, riding the elephants through the jungle and up the river was quite an experience.

Awesome Trip!

I had a fabulous time! I really enjoyed riding the elephant and the bamboo raft ride down the river. That was the best day of the trip!

Unbeatable Thailand

This was my 4th trip with Go Ahead and it was the best so far! Mr. Louis was a fantastic, fun and friendly guide and the trip would not have been the same without him. He made this journey even better with his presence and knowledge. The highlights of the tour for me were Ayutthaya, the Rickshaw ride (a must!), Sukhothai Historical Park, the villages, Doi Suthep, the Elephant camp and all of the amazing meals we had. There were even more amazing little things we saw along the way. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for their next adventure. While it is a very busy tour, it was worth it. You see so much in 11 days and you'll gain so much from visiting with the locals, trying new food and seeing the way life works in the countryside.

an adventure

I loved it, but to make the tour even better, 1. upgrade the bus. Too many travelers got car sick from the bus swaying. It was old and needed shocks. 2. Louis was a knowledgeable guide and gave away lots of treats, but he had a heavy accent. Maybe if he a the Whisper it would have been better for him and us. Trying to walk and listen with him at least 20 feet away at times was just too much. The elephant camp is a must see as this is what all of my group talked about all the way home.

best of Thailand

This was a very cultural tour....very diverse. We visited active and ancient temples, ruins, a silk factory, folkloric shows, and modern market places. We were able to speak to market shop owners, fortune tellers, monks, and others. We rode an elephant through the forest and water,then took a bamboo raft ride on the river. Our tour guide was very knowledgable, friendly, helpful, and generous. He was very proud of his country, and shared its culinary delights at every opportunity.

Best of Thailand

The trip in general was spoiled because of the poor condition of the bus. The suspension/shocks were not functioning. This caused the bus to sway sharply side to side - the passenger was constantly banged into the window or into his neighbor. This swaying also made most of us sick to our stomachs - requiring medication. Reading was impossible - sleeping - no way. The poorly maintained suspension made us wonder what other maintence problems were not being addressed. On certain days, no time was given for lunch breaks. 7 hours between meals is not healthy and many of us are diabetic. The day we "walked/forced marched" several blocks in the intensive heat in order to give the busdriver less hassel with the traffic. I thought I would pass-out from the heat. When we finally reached the Palace, I was unable to enjoy the visit as I felt faint and sick to my stomach. Why you would put, mostly older focks, through this stress is thoughtless at best. The tour director appeared to be clueless. His English was very poor and I was frequently unable to understand him. He had no sense of time management. No lunch breaks - ? He would begin information talks with only a few of the group present. By the time, the entire group arrived he was finished talking.

Good overview with just average tour guide

The Thailand trip is challenging not because of walking required but due to the time spent in the bus and the traffic that was encountered. The bus needed better suspension so it swayed excessively. The guide, Louis, repeatedly gave information while we were on the bus that was difficult to hear and understand due to a combination of his poor english and to the excessive noice from other travelers. I have never been on a tour where the guide did not have control of the group. Daily Louis would give us the extimated arrival time to sites and the hotel and we NEVER arrived when he said. Several nights we were in the bus from 7am to 7pm. I enjoyed all of the sites we visited with the exception of the Wat Chantaram Temple. We arrived too late to enter the main temple (even though Louis kept saying we would get there on time) so we visited a side tempel which was dirty, in poor repair and definitely not wourth the stop. Also there were about 50 abandoned dogs laying around. Then we tried to go to another section of the temple complex and the bus couldn't fit under the gate. We finally went to a very nice restaurant to have lunch (very late). On the first day of our tour we never even got a chance to have lunch. Louis seemed surprised that we would want a lunch break. My favorite sites were the grand palace in Bangkok, Sukhothai Historical park, Ayuthaya and the elephant camp. We did the RIckshaw ride add on and asked to be brought back early. Also the dinner show in Chang mai was just OK, not exceptional and food was poor. The hotel in Bangkok, Chang Rai and Chang Mai were all very nice and the food very good.