The unspoiled 8-day route is for visitors fond of learning about Khmer culture and their worshiping customs in Thailand. Not only will you get lost in the mysterious Khmer-style Hindu and Buddhist temples in the North, away from the bustling capital, but you will also admire exciting products made in traditional craft villages and experience shopping sold locally at markets.
Forget the busyness of everyday life and start back to ancient times with us adventurers!
Notes:
The unspoiled 8-day route is for visitors fond of learning about Khmer culture and their worshiping customs in Thailand. Not only will you get lost in the mysterious Khmer-style Hindu and Buddhist temples in the North, away from the bustling capital, but you will also admire exciting products made in traditional craft villages and experience shopping sold locally at markets. Forget the busyness of everyday life and start back to ancient times with us adventurers!
When you arrive at Bangkok Airport, please go to the meeting point on the 2nd floor, inside the arrivals hall. Our guide will hold a sign with your name on it, or in case of multiple pick-ups, the signals may be hanging on the aluminum railing at our meeting point.
Head to the hotel after a long flight. The check-in time is 14:00. If you require early check-in with a surcharge, please book with your travel consultant. The rest time is spent relaxing or exploring vibrant Bangkok by night highly refer to below.
Morning
Enjoy breakfast and check out of the hotel, then depart for Khao Yai.
Stop by Klang Don Fruit Market, where you can find many local products, fruits, and vegetables to slake your thirst.
Visit Khao Yai National Park, Thailand's first national park, listed as a World Heritage Site for its diversity of flora and fauna.
Have lunch on your own
Afternoon
Walk through the park's center on the Haew Su Wat waterfall trail, and we rest at our hotel in Khao Yai.
Morning
Delight breakfast and check out, we set on for the north and the capital of Isan: Nakhon Ratchasima, still called Korat by locals despite its new official name.
On the way, we will stop by Dan Kwian Pottery Village and admire the unique ceramics widely used for interior and exterior decoration.
Come to Korat, and you will have exciting city exploration. The first stop is the memorial of Thao Suranari (Lady Mo), built for a woman who fought the Laotian invasion in the 19th century.
Afternoon
Driving towards Phimai, we drop into the Ban Prasat archaeological site, a worthy spot for archaeologists and explorers to find some of the excavation pits of one of the country's oldest cities.
And the final stop for this second day is the Phimai historical site, a complex that includes Prasat Hin, one of the critical Khmer temples in ancient Thailand, connected to Angkor by a Highway Ancient Khmer, and Angkor is its main direction. Then walk under the shade of banyan trees surrounded by a lake at Sai Ngam.
Back to the hotel in Korat, and please unwind after a long day.
Morning
Fully charge your energy with breakfast and packs to be ready for Buriram.
We are back at historic Phimai Park and climb over a high hill with steps up to 160m to reach Prasat Phanom Rung, which features Khmer architecture - a tall lotus bud-shaped tower with only three sides, different from the two "brothers" Angkor and Phimai.
Get to Bruriam province and discover another Khmer architecture in the Khleang and Baphuon style, Muang Tham, dedicated to Shiva. Freely have lunch on your own
Afternoon
Continue to Surin and learn at an unknown and engaging national museum about the region's history from prehistoric times and the various ethnicities living there today, such as the Khmers, Suays, and Lao, with unique languages, outfits, and language distinct traditions and customs. Ending the third day of the journey, drive to a hotel in Surin for basking.
NOTE: The museum closes on Monday and Tuesday
Morning
When you are ready at the lobby after a full breakfast, our guide will meet you to persist on the Surin excursion.
Walk around Ban Sam Kho village, a traditional village unfamiliar to tourists. You will find silk fabric production processes in most houses that have helped locals earn for a long time. Maybe it's the best place to supply you with "Pha Mai" (Thai Silk) fabric at a lower cost, from producer to consumer.
Contemplate the five wondrous sandstone and brick towers on a laterite base at Sikhoraphum temple between Surin and Sisaket, and the central stupa is a place of worship for the local god Shiva.
Then depart to Kamphaeng Yai at Sisaket and visit this little-known Khmer place. Dating from the 11th century, it consists of 6 buildings. You'll discover sculptures of the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu on crossbars and Khmer inscriptions. Every year in March, a meaningful celebration of the Khmer community is held there.
Prepare lunch on your own
Afternoon
Drive to Kong Jiam, a city located on the mighty Mekong River, the eighth-largest river in the world and the third-largest in Asia.
Stay overnight in Kong Jiam and chill out.
Morning
Today, our guide will gather with you to Mukdahan, the border town with Savannakhet in Laos, where you can stroll through the vibrant and colorful market where goods are sold and exchanged—Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China products. There is also a place where you can try rice rat curry), red ant or cobra eggs, or nettle curry, not to mention loads of fried insects and peppers for lunch.
Afternoon
Our driver and guide will lead you to Nakhon Phanom and drop in on the way to one of the region's most important temples of Isan for its inhabitants, Wat Phra That Phanom, built in purely Laotian architecture.
Next, you will have a chance to listen to history story at the small village of Ban Na Chok, where Ho Chi Minh lived from 1923 to 1929
This night, we have a unique overnight stay in a hotel at the edge of the Mekong.
Morning
Wake up early in the morning. Our expedition will begin at Sakhon Nakhon, and you will take part in the ceremony of sacred thread that a monk attaches to your wrist, a sign of merits and omens, the opportunity to make a wish.
To traditional pottery and weaving village of Ban Chiang, bamboo weaving work at Dong Yen Village, and pottery painting at Baan Pulu.
Afternoon
Down to the city's south, we reach Udon Thani, where we float on a pleasant boat trip along the "Talay Bua Daeng," literally the "Red Lotus Sea." From December to February, a lake is covered with red lotus flowers, creating a charming background for travelers to take photos.
Afterward, the car will take you to the hotel, and you can enjoy the last night of our trip.
Morning
Relish the last breakfast and check out the hotel. Let’s prepare your camera, and we will go to the Orchids farm where exotic orchid varieties such as Udon Sunshine.
Head to Nong Khai, a small border town with Laos. Here, wander in Sala Kaew Ku, a park with sculptures inspired by Buddhism and Hindu deities, some of which are 25 meters high. Sample lunch specialties and find souvenirs, Indochina crafts, and products at Tha Sadet’s market.
Afternoon
Return to Udon Thani for your flight to Bangkok Airport and say goodbye to the SunshineTravel guide as you board your departing flight. We are pleased to accompany you for the past 8 days to the wild land of Thailand. Have a safe flight, and see you on your next expedition!
