Should we learn Thai? Can we take the train to Tibet? What’s the best place to walk the Great Wall of China? What did you think of Nepal? A friend recently asked me for advice on his upcoming three-month trip to Thailand, Nepal and China and my recommendations and warnings may be of interest to others hoping to travel to these destinations. This post deals with Thailand while the next two will cover China (including Tibet) and Nepal.

Most people arrive in Thailand through its capital, Bangkok, which some people love while others absolutely hate. It has some interesting things to see – the Royal Palace, beautiful temples, and great shopping – but the traffic, noise and crowds usually send people traveling either north to the mountains and forests or south to the beaches on the peninsula.

A visit to the north usually focuses on temples, markets and local arts & crafts. In Ayutthaya, water taxis will take you to the wats lining the river in the same way worshippers traveled centuries ago. There are many other things to see and do such as visit markets and markets, take elephant rides, walk through parks and gardens, and shopping for souvenirs.

The town of Lopburi is monkey heaven – and people heaven for fans of monkeys – with a temple dedicated and inhabited by our simian relatives who entertain with their antics (see photo). The walled city of Chiang Mai is well known to travelers for its night market and, just outside of the city, you can enjoy elephant or river raft rides and visit native villages. The border city of Nongkhai has fantastic silk shops selling relatively inexpensive – considering the quality – clothing and fabric.

Travelers flock to Southern Thailand for its beaches and diving sites. We’ve only been to one town on the peninsula – Ao Nang in Krabi province – and we found it to be nice but very tourist oriented. The beaches were pretty good and the expeditions to the many islands with enormous sandstone formations were great. Krabi is an hour’s plane ride south from Bangkok on the peninsula and is very hot and humid year long. It was in the high 90F/30s in January with humidity in the 90 to 95 percent range.

We were able to manage okay speaking only English with a few polite words in Thai (please, thank you, hello, goodbye). Chang Mai , Lopburi and certainly Bangkok have enough tourists that there many English-language signs and the people are used to our wild gesticulating with broad grins on our faces to express whatever it is we need. In Bangkok, we stayed in a decidedly non-tourist area and managed okay by pantomiming and always smiling.

Next week, China and Tibet.

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