Thailand has been a country that we have always enjoyed visiting, but we have been no further than Bangkok! We love the southern area and we loved the vibe of the city, but we were excited that now we were planning to see so much more. We had camped in OTW previously in the National Parks and knew these would be perfect locations for us but we had a few more ideas that we had researched. With a month to spend travelling and exploring, and with time required in Bangkok for visas, we had a journey roughly mapped out and some of our campsites and sleeps penciled in.
We have to mention our first stop in Thailand after the border crossing because for us it was just a magical experience. We rocked up at a campsite that had just a couple of guys taking a siesta and we asked if we could camp. No English is spoken by the two guys and our Thai is non-existent .. but we managed to get by and were told of course you can stay even though we aren’t open .. just stay here and be safe. How special was that welcome. We loved our first night camp and we tried to pay the next morning but there was no way they were going to take any money. We had the best start!
The beginning of our journey took us from east to west, and close to the Malaysia border. We were mesmerized by the stunning scenery and took our time along the meandering roads. Our second spot for camping was also a fabulous find and completely by accident and because of its location we decided to give ourselves two nights and just catch a breath. We were not far from what was meant to be one of the most stunning viewpoints in this area called The Sea of Mist and so we had already decided that this would be our first stop off on our continued journey through the province of Yala.
An early start after our two nights camping took us to a large car park where we were greeted by a choice of shuttle service to the viewpoint, motorbike or tuktuk. This car park was the furthest you could take your car, so we jumped on the back of two motorbikes and made our way up the winding road to the viewpoint. There are different levels of viewing but the most famous has to be the glass walkway which can either excite or frighten you! You are 2,038 metres above sea level, so it isn’t for the faint hearted! The views as you can imagine are breathtaking and the mist that hangs first thing in the morning gives this area a real aura of mystery.
We had a number of campsites pencilled in during the first couple of weeks including the national parks, but we came to the conclusion that perhaps it was out of season for camping in Thailand as wherever we appeared there was no one in sight! Sometimes we would meet some of the campsite owners, it might be the morning after or they’d show up as word of mouth had reached them that two strange people had set up camp on their land! Wherever we landed however we were never disappointed and were blessed with some fabulous views, either on top of a mountain, in a forest or on the beach. The owners were always warm and welcoming and made sure we had what we needed.
The next part of the Thailand adventure was taking us towards Phuket. Although we had visited this area previously, we had not been island hopping and it was something that was on our bucket list! We had booked ourselves into a hotel In Phuket so we could do some much needed paperwork for our travels,including an online form for our Chinese visas, catch up on laundry as well as our social media editing and publishing. We loved our short stay in Phuket and visited the colourful Chillva Market where Mike tried some of the local delicacies! And we did what we came to do, the island hopping with of course the visit to the iconic James Bond island. We had an awesome day exploring the islands by boat and Kayak, enjoyed the local food in the restaurants and generally chillaxed and took in the beauty. Phuket is vibrant and full of colour, sound and smells .. and full of tourists .. and although we enjoyed our few nights stay we were ready to get back on the road and experience more of the beauty of the mountains, forests and seas.
We were back camping for another couple of nights in the national parks. Our first park was Laem Son which was full of beautiful pine trees; we were in the forest by the beach with the local buffalo drinking in the stream close by, it was so lovely to be back in nature without the hustle and bustle of a city. We love to set up camp and then take a stroll through the park whether it is through the forest or along the beach, here we could watch the sunset which was the perfect ending to the day. Our second campsite was another national park, Hat Wanakon, again woodland trees with a sandy beach .. but this time a sunrise to watch from the sandy shoreline. Little did we know that this would be the last camp for a while; we were now heading to Bangkok to sort out the Chinese visas.
There are of course many highlights in Bangkok, but we have a few ticked off from previous visits, so we did our research and opted for some new adventures and sites to see. We were in an AirBnB and were hoping that after four nights we would be on our way again with Chinese visas in our passports. Whilst waiting on our visas, we did a bike ride through the golden gems and the back streets of the city. We did a boat ride that took us to Asiatique, a place that was new to us and we took a trip to a dragon temple, Wat Sam Phran, outside the city to find out about the gigantic, cylindrical beast that winds itself up high.
Due to unexpected complications in our Chinese visa application, our stay in the city was extended. The online form took us a while trying to recognise that we were actually retired and then there was a waiting time for dropping off the documents and collecting the visas! However with a sense of relief at the end of a long TEN DAYS we could now continue our journey to the north of Thailand.
We were now back camping and how good was it to be in our home on wheels! We had found a lovely campsite by a weir and arrived quite late in the day with nobody around. Whilst debating as to whether we could stay and even use their hookup, along came a family on their motorbike and with google translate we had booked ourselves in for the night! We had an electric hook up, beautiful clean showers all to ourselves and three local dogs keeping guard through the night! We were blessed yet again thanks to the generosity and warm welcome of the locals in Thailand.
With an early wake up the next day we were on our way to a national park, Taksin Maharat, which through our research had shown that it was one of the best parks to visit for its views, and we were not disappointed. We found a fabulous spot with an epic view, but this time we were not alone, there were a large number of campers obviously enjoying their weekend trip away! This park had the largest Krabak tree in Thailand and so I set off to explore and try and find it. It was a bit of a hike, with a drop of 400m down a steep slope and then of course the climb up, but it was worth it! When you do get to camp with other people you do hear of some fabulous stories and we met a lovely guy Matt from Jersey in the UK, who was cycling from Asia back home. This is part of the journey we love, meeting new people and finding out about their lives.
We love a journey the more S bends the better! Today was going to be one of those days as we were going to travel part of the Mae Hong Son loop. The loop is a 600 km circular route that can start from Chiang Mai, then head through Pai, to Mae Hong Son and then Mae Sariang, with the number of hairpin bends ranging from 1,800 to 4,000. This journey took us quite a while understandably but mainly because we just wanted to stop and take in the views and appreciate where we were. The day ended by a fabulous river with a night by ourselves! I had to ring the owner and ask if we could stay, and of course with a warm welcome, and exchange of some money we were set up for the night!
We had treated ourselves for the next two nights! We had found a Yurt on top of a hill. This was a large tent on a platform on stilts sat on the side of a mountain with luxury amenities! Especially the bath with a view! This area of Northern Thailand was absolutely stunning and we just wanted to take some time out and appreciate it. We had taken provisions and you could order a Thai style BBQ to your Yurt in the evenings and sit and enjoy a beer whilst relaxing and soaking up and appreciating just being in the moment. It was a lovely two nights of just being us.
We now only had two nights left in Thailand, one was going to be a camp and the other was in a guest house close to the Thai – Laos border. We had another solo camp spot in a National park before spending our final day in northern Thailand doing some exploring and being a tourist!
Our first stop was the White Temple, which was out of this world .. it sparkled in the sunshine and looked like a glittery palace, the photos don’t really give it justice. We then drove to the Long Neck Karen village, where ladies from Myanmar make goods to sell to the tourists to help fund their families. The women wear rings around their neck to elongate it. In the past it was to protect them from the tigers, but now it is considered to be a symbol of beauty and an everyday accessory. Our final destination before leaving Thailand was a visit to the famous Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet on the Mekong river. It was a great end to a month of travelling in Thailand. We had one more sleep and we were going to be on our way to Laos.
