Thailand Trip of a Lifetime

In 2019, we arranged for a private tour of Thailand for October/November 2020 as a pre-tour to our Viking Mekong River cruise. Covid stopped that: we rebooked for 2021 and again covid. Contact with Mr. Lam at the agency assured us that our deposit remained safe with them and we continued to hope and plan that we would be able to visit Asia. In June 2023, I contacted Asia Pioneer and Ms. Elly Do took us through our previous itinerary and we worked together to enhance it. Ms Elly suggested places and activities that enriched our time in Thailand. Bangkok-temples, wats, pagodas, palace, floating market, train market, dry and wet markets, long tail boat rides, street food tours and coconut ice cream. Then on to Kanchanaburi where the Thai/Burma railway was built during the war, riding the train over the Bridge over the River Kwai and viewing the local crops such as sugar cane and tapioca bushes. History of this time is seen at the Railway Museum. Then to Ayutthaya where the Buddha head is wrapped with tree roots. We had the best guide Mr. OH and driver, Mr. SAKI who were so knowledgeable, anticipated our every need and were so much fun to be with. Mr. SAKI was always ready with an ice cold cloth for us to wipe down after being out in the heat and humidity. Then we were off to Chang Rai and Chang Mai and the temples of that area, with a stop at the House of Opium museum and a stop at the Golden Triangle where we had a long boat ride on the river. We saw coffee plantations, elephant sanctuary for rescued beasts, had a blessing from monks following almsgiving ceremony, visited Karen hill tribe villages and enjoyed Khum Lanna retreat with cooking classes, cool mountain air and massages.
We ended our trip in Hanoi and were delighted that Ms. Elly came from her Hanoi office to meet us. Ms. Elly has excellent English. We spoke via WhatsApp when we were making arrangements. She responded quickly to any emailed questions. Documents arrived in a timely manner.
Thanks Ms Elly and Asia Pioneer Travel.