My blog isn’t much of a diary so far (I have my paper notepad for that after all) but I am going to write a short summary article from every country I visit to give you an idea where I went, what I saw and did. My time in Thailand has come to an end, so let’s have a look at my Thailand itinerary! 

BANGKOK

I started my backpacking trip in Bangkok. I flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport and it just made sense to stay in the Thai capital for a few days. Mostly, I spent my days walking around, riding the Skytrain, taking boat rides, getting used to being in Asia and seeing some of the sights.

While I avoided going inside the VERY popular temples like The Grand Palace or Wat Pho and even visiting Khao San Road, I enjoyed great views of the city after climbing up The Golden Mount.

I wrote more about my favourite things in Bangkok here.

CHIANG MAI

I ended up taking an overnight bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. My original plan was to take the sleeper train but unfortunately it’s too popular and all the tickets were sold out days in advance (don’t travel during the Chinese New Year’s celebrations, I guess).

But it all worked out in the end – the bus was cheaper and faster than the train and surprisingly comfortable! You have a lot of legroom, are provided with a blanket, the seats recline almost all the way down and you get some free snacks and drinks.

Chiang Mai is a much more relaxed city than Bangkok (still very touristy, though) and I spent about two weeks there. That means plenty of time for temple hopping (there are over 300 Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai!), market browsing, drinking cheap smoothies, getting to know Thai food, walking the streets, riding songthaews and just chilling in this very cool northern city.

While in Chiang Mai, I also went to…

• Doi Suthep: The most famous Buddhist temple on a hill overlooking Chiang Mai (expect masses of tourists).
• Wat Phra That Doi Kham: A much better alternative to Doi Suthep, which I wrote about here.
• Doi Inthanon National Park: The highest mountain of Thailand with two stunning pagodas at the top (also in this article).
• Elephant Sanctuary: Amazing day meeting elephants without riding them! You should definitely read about this once-in-a-lifetime experience here 😉 (with tips how you can have one, too!)
• Huay Tung Tao Lake: A beautiful lake near Chiang Mai, popular among locals.

CHIANG RAI

Chiang Rai is another town in the north of Thailand. I took a 3-hour bus from Chiang Mai and spent two nights. Chiang Rai felt a little bit like a smaller version of Chiang Mai. Less crowded, less to do and way too many western cafés and restaurants (I still went for a 35 THB noodle soup in a local eatery…).

The main reason people travel to Chiang Rai is to see the amazing White Temple. Naturally, I visited this temple and must say it is one of the coolest buildings you’ll ever see. Unfortunately it was VERY crowded and I didn’t explore as many details as I would have liked. I felt a bit rushed at times (there is a guide shouting to “keep moving” when you are on the bridge entering the temple) and had to navigate through a sea of selfie sticks.

There is another, possibly even more beautiful temple in Chiang Rai, which not many people seem to know about: the Blue Temple. It’s just so amazingly blue and I loved it! You can easily walk there from the town centre if you want to enjoy another unusual temple.

…and that’s about it. I didn’t go to the south, but I’m planning to come back and explore the beautiful Thai islands another time.

From Chiang Rai, I took an overnight bus back to Bangkok to catch a flight to my next destination. Vietnam!

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