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Travel Tips
1) When do I wai?
The wai is the traditional way of greeting and saying farewell in Thailand. It is made by placing your hands as if in prayer and holding them close to your body. The fingertips should be between your chin and the top of your nose. The wai should not be confused with the handshake in western cultures. It is not only a sign of greeting but is also a sign of respect. Many visitors are puzzled at when to wai. The correct answer would be much to long for this newsletter, but a safe general rule is to never wai first but always return a wai. 2) Smiles. It takes any newcomer only a few minutes to understand why Thailand is known as the "land of smiles". Thais have been brought up to smile and it is often used as a defense when minor mishaps occur. A western visitor should remember that a smile and a civil voice will get you the best deal and service. 3) Sawatdee. The greeting of Sawatdee is used like the wai. It can be used at any time of the day or night and is used both as a greeting and a farewell. It literally means "may you prosper" and should always be used with the Kha for women or Khrap for men. Kha and Khrap are used at the end of each sentence and again using them shows respect.  |
Comments, questions, additional information , and suggestions on articles in this newsletter may be posted on the Facebook page for Hand Held Trips to Thailand.
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Tours The prices for all tours are pretty much all inclusive. This means that from the time you are picked up at the airport until the time you are returned to the airport for transfer home, everything is included in the price you have paid for the tour. Things included are: 1) Accommodations in air conditioned rooms unless specifically mentioned in the daily itinerary, such as the Flotel. 2) Meals included are stipulated in the daily itinerary, but as a minimum include all breakfasts. Some tours include all meals. 3) All in country transportation is included. This means all flights, boats, buses, trains, elephant, horse carriage, samlows, ox carts, etc. that are mentioned in the itinerary are included. 4) Entrance fees to all sites and venues are included. 5) Tips to Thai guides and drivers are paid. What are you responsible for? 1) International flight to and from Bangkok. 2) Drinks other than coffee or tea at meals. 3) Tips to bell hops. 4) Your own travel/medical insurance. 5) Laundry and personal expenses. 6) Meals other than those stipulated in the daily itinerary. |
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Prices
2012 Tour 4 ( November)
Christmas shopping tour Dates and complete itinerary have been posted.
Price is $3390.00 per person in double room.
2012 Tour 5 (December)
Relaxing tour itinerary and price now published on the web site.
Price is $3460.00 per person in double room.
2013 Tour 1 (January 27th - February 9th, 2013)
Bangkok, Mae Hong Son, Chiange Mai, and the beach at Krabi. Includes village of the long necked women and the annual flower festival in Chiang Mai.
Price is $2846.00 per person in double room.
Prices are in United States dollars per person in half twin rooms. Single supplements vary and are printed on the web site. Please contact Lee@H2t3tours.com for additional information.
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The year is going by so fast and it is time to start thinking of tours for 2013. Leisure + Travel magaine has just named Bangkok the number one city in the world for cities to see. While I am in agreement with their choice, I am still inclined to think you can not see Thailand without spending as much time as possible in the more remote and rural areas.
The 2012 Tour 4 will place emphasis on the Loy Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai plus attendance at a three day cooking school. Don't forget, the last tour of this year (Tour 5) will be the first time one of my tours will go to the beautiful area of Krabi. You will still have time to return home in plenty of time for the end-of-the-world (if you are still doing your planning with the Mayan calendar).
Tour one for 2013 has been finalized and will include Bangkok, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Krabi. Highlights will include the village of the long necked women, Chiang Mai's annual flower festival and much leisure time at the beach at Krabi.
I am trying to get prices for Tour 2 finalized and working on tour 3 as this is being written. Tour two will once again go to the Isaan area of Thailand. This is the area that is overlooked by most American tourists but one of the friendliest places to visit. Tour 3 will be another summer tour and will once again include the far north of Thailand plus the Lenten Candle Festival and Parades of Ubonratchathani. This will be a fifteen day tour.
You can always check the web site for the projected dates of any of the tours. Also, for complete information and the itinerary for any tour, go to the Tours page of the web site. If you click on the highlighted words of each tour it will take you to a brief itinerary. At the end of each brief itinerary is a second link that leads to the daily itinerary of each tour. This will give you a breakdown of what will be happening each day of the tour.
Finally, just a reminder, I will only accompany tours with six or more persons. However, when less than six persons sign up for a tour, I will make arrangements to have a very good English speaking Thai guide(s) who will act on my behalf. |
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Sala Kaew Koo Sculpture Park
 | | Naga protecting the Buddha. Photo by Khun Wachara , tour guide, 2012 |
A visit to this sculpture park near Nong Khai, in northeastern Thailand is almost impossible to describe. Bizarre yet relaxing to walk through, T
the park is eerie, quiet, relaxing, but disturbing. There are, what seems to be, over one hundred sculptures in the well maintained and very attractively laid out garden. Most of the concrete sculptures are very large. The statue in the picture above is over 80 feet tall, and can be seen from long distances outside the park.
 | | Statues in the sculpture garden. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012 |
The park started in 1978 by the charismatic Luang Pu Bunieua Sulilat. Luang Pu had fled Laos in 1974 after starting a similar garden there. Luang Pu has been called a Brahmanic yogi-priest-shaman. The sculptures are his interpretation of many Hindu and Buddhist legends and stories. But, even the casual observer will discover that there was a fixation with snakes. He did not do all the work himself but relied on his followers who were untrained workers. After his death in 1996, the main shrine building was built according to the plans and drawings Luang Pu had made. This shrine is equally as strange as the garden and in fact is even more bazaar. The mummified body of Luang Pu is on the third floor under a glass dome.
 | | Statues in the garden. (Notice that the kitten in the hands of Buddha is alive and not part of sculpture.) Photo by Lee Porter on tour 2012. |
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Khao Yai National Park
 | | Waterfall in Khao Yai National Park. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012. |
The first of Thailand's many National Parks is still the second largest park in the kingdom. It was established on September 18, 1962. In 1984 the park was made an ASEAN Heritage Park and in 2005 it was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is a favorite destination for Thai tourists but only recently has it become the destination of more than a few foreign tourists. Thais pay a 40 Baht entrance fee but foreign tourist will pay 400 Baht.
 | | Greeter at Khao Yai National Park. Photo by Lee Porter, 2012. |
There are thousands of species of plants in the park including many orchid varieties. Over 300 species of birds, including several varieties of horn-bills, can be found in the park. Many species of mammals can be found in the park including tigers, leopards, barking deer, gaur, wild elephants, bear, gibbons, macaques, and wild boars. Signs in English warning drivers of snake crossings are indicators that snakes including some very large pythons are also present.
 | | Khao Yai trail to one of the waterfalls. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012. |
While many visitors stay on the roads that wind through the park, there is an extensive set of hiking trails. Over 50 km of trails from easy to very difficult are available. Not all of these trails are for the uninitiated. It is best to hike with a guide and usually with long pants to keep from bringing home leeches. One thing that should not be missed is viewing some of the many wonderful waterfalls in the park. |
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Tham Erawan
 | | Statue of Erawan with steps behind leading to the cave. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012 |
One of the most impressive of the many caves in Thailand is the Erawan Cavein the province of Nong Bualamphu. While there are many small and unremarkable caves in the kingdom, the Erawan Cave deserves mention because of its size. There are stalagmites formations in the large cavern. One of these stalagmite formations is said to resemble the elephant Erawan. The cave is in a limestone mountain and is also known as the Elephant Cave. To get to the cave one must climb stairs from the statue of the three headed elephant (Erawan). I have not personnaly counted the number of stairs but after climbing them the first time, I prefer to think it is the 600 steps mentioned in places and not anything less!
 | | Statue of Buddha at entrance of cave. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012. |
When one reaches the top, another very large statue of the Buddha is seated at the entrance of the cave. Remember, the Thais visit this cave as a Buddhist shrine and not like the show-and-tell caverns in the U.S. Throughout the cavern one will find small alters and people paying homage as in any house of worship. The cave has a second entrance on the other side of the mountain and by climbing more steps one can pass completely thru the mountain. The view from the observation deck on the other side of the mountain is very rewarding and worth the few extra stairs.
 | | Light shining through into the cave. Photo by Khun Wachara, tour guide, 2012. |
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The months have flown by once again and I am trying to put thoughts together to get this newsletter out on time. I simply can not thank you enough for your help and support.
After checking the weather each day this summer, Bangkok, was actually 4 to 12 degrees cooler than the weather hear in the DC area. This makes me feel that summer trips might not be so hot after all. Besides summer would be a great time for teachers and students who can not travel in the winter.
All three of the articles this time are about places we visited on the tour to Isaan. I will be including information on several more in forthcoming newsletters. I am very fortunate to have had a guide who was also a photographer. Khun Wachara Tantidontanet, the guide has sent many of his pictures to me and has given me permission to use them in my newsletter.
Once again, a big THANK YOU to those of you who share this newsletter. You have my sincere appreciation. It is one of the ways new readers are added. Each month a few more people sign up with your help. When you forward the newsletter, the recipient is not automatically added to the mailing list, but they must sign up for future issues.
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Sincerely,
Lee Porter
H2T3 Tours, LLC
P.O. Box 2114
Springfield, VA 22152
571-244-4363
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