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Southeast Asia 2011: Thailand Festivals and Events

Posted by Andrea on February 17, 2011 (Updated: 2016-09-15) | 1 Comment

When we asked Jaeb what festivals she was looking forward to, she gave us some of her favorites. Plan a trip to participate in one this year!

Songkran Festival celebrates the traditional Thai New Year, and it is celebrated from April 13-15th. Do not even bother trying to stay dry, as the main way to celebrate this festival is by throwing water on anyone and everyone. Probably because it is during the hottest time of the year!

Loy Krathong Festival: In Thai “Loy” means to float and “Krathong” means a circular object with decoration of banana leaves, flowers, a candle and incense sticks. The floating of a Krathong signifies floating away ill fortune as well as expressing apologies to Khongkha or Ganga, the River Goddess. This year the festival is on November 10th.

Rocket Festival in Yasothorn: The festival’s origins lie in a custom of firing rockets into the sky at the start of the rice-growing season to remind King of the sky, to send promised rain. The festival now takes the form of a competition to see whose rocket will stay aloft for the longest time. It is celebrated May 11th-15th.

International Wax Sculpture Festival in Ubon Ratchathani: The candle festival is unique to Ubon Ratchathani province and the customs and traditions related to this Buddhist festival have been diligently preserved by local communities. You can visit the candle and sculpture making communities and meet some of the artists before the grand procession at the end of the month showing off all of the works of art. This festival runs from July 1-31st.

wax carving — Artists work all month to carve their wax sculptures

Jumbo Banquet at Nakorn Phathom. There are the buffets to be thankful for the elephants for their hard work and there is the elephant theme show and also jumbo queen contest. – May 1st

elephant buffet — Elephants enjoying their buffet of fruits and vegetables

Southeast Asia 2011: Thailand!

Posted by Andrea on February 16, 2011 (Updated: 2011-02-17) | 2 Comments

We asked Jaeb, our Thailand tour director, to fill us in on her top things for 2011. For the next few days we will tell you what she is excited about this year, from where to visit, what to see and where to stay!

What are your top five places and things to do in 2011 in your country?

Places to go:

-Visit the pride of Thailand, The Grand Palace, and then enjoy a massage at Wat Pho. Make sure you find the elephant drop off spot at the Palace!

-Visit Ayutthaya, but skip the day tour and instead cyle at night to see the temples.

Ayutaya at night — Ayutthaya bike tour at night

– Flight of the Gibbon in Chiang Mai is a unique way to see the Thai rainforest. With over 3km of zip lines, this is the largest and highest rainforest canopy tour in the world!

– In Mae Hong Sorn, visit Bua Thong field to see the hills covered in blooming sunflowers. They bloom during November, and the gorgeous colors are worth planning a trip during that time.

– Koh Lipe is a small island in the Southern part of the Andaman Sea, and it is a great place to snorkel and dive in relative solitude. This place is not busy yet, so make sure to visit it soon! Boats leave from Pak Bara and Koh Lanta daily.

Things to do like a local in Bangkok

-Shopping at Siam area and tasting Thai iced tea, or in Thai, Cha yen.

-Shopping at The biggest market in the world, the Chatuchak “Weekend Market”

-Have a drink at Vertigo, the rooftop bar at the Banyan Tree hotel. The view of the city at night is amazing!

Vertigo Bar, Bangkok, Thailand — Drinks at Vertigo are a must for the awesome view!

-Sampling food and walking in China Town at night

China Town, Bangkok, Thailand — China Town at night

-Wandering around the Flower Market in the morning and trying Pad Thai at a well known restaurant near Wat Ratchanadda

Latest News: Journeys Within Tour Company Offers Special Pricing On Southeast Asia Tours

Posted by Andrea on February 13, 2011 (Updated: 2011-02-13) | Leave a comment

TRUCKEE, Calif.-Journeys Within, the premier boutique Southeast Asia tour company, recently announced special pricing on their once in a lifetime tours to countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam for 2011.

“Each year, prices for the next high season in Southeast Asia increase in July,” said Andrea Ross, owner of Journeys Within. “This year, because of the increase in travel around the world, we’re expecting higher increases than usual. To avoid these higher prices and to help our guests get a better rate, we are offering our 2010 rates for any travelers that confirm their tours before May.”

In the last few years there has been a large increase in last minute bookings, travelers taking advantage of last-minute specials as well as waiting to feel more secure in their job before committing to an itinerary. As the economy is on the upswing, travel bookings are predicted to increase in 2011, along with the cost of travel, thus these last minute bookings won’t get the deals, in fact, planning ahead may be where the savings are. To avoid inevitable price jumps that will occur as the demand for travel increases, guests are encouraged to book in advance in order to take advantage of the lower prices of 2010. Booking travel plans early versus waiting until the last minute also ensures seamless travel experiences that include better service and thoughtfully planned itineraries.

Travelers who book a tour with Journeys Within between now and May for travel through December of 2011, will receive the 2010 pricing. For more information, visit archive.journeys-within.com… Read more »

Guiding Lights: Ron, Bangkok Thailand

Posted by Andrea on June 2, 2009 (Updated: 2011-02-12) | Leave a comment

1. How do you become a guide in Thailand?

When I was student my favorite was English class and I did it very well.But it’s not easy to keep that part in my everyday life cos working without English usage.So I decided to take a tour guide course in 2001 from Archaeology Faculty of Silpakorn University and that my adventure began.

2. Why did you want to be a guide?

I ‘ve always known my advantage is English,and I’m a kind of easy learning person and for sure traveling is my life.For being a tour guide I can do what I really want and enjoy it,that makes me be who I am.I can learn everything from my guests,they’re from all over the world.

3. What is the hardest part about being a guide?

To know everything is the hardest part of my job,but also the most challenge for me.My guests they have different characters and lifestyle and interrest and background.So it makes me feel like I can be everything ,friend ,son , lecturer or student for them.

4. What are your favorite sites to show guest?

Definitely The Grand Palace,The pride of Thailand.

5.Where do you like to take guests to eat?

Any local Thai restaurant.we’re local so we know many of them.Once I invited my guests for dinner with me at a local restaurant,not a fancy at all, and they really enjoyed it.But I have to make sure that they really like hot and spicy authentic Thai food.

6. Favorite guests and why?

My guests they have their own style and character,then it’s hard to tell.But I do have my favorite Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Bob and Caroline. Because we had been through the hard time together. They were here in Bangkok while the Airport was closed so Journeys Within booked them on the tour for 3 days at The Bridge Over The River Kwai. We had good time there and forgot all the bad things for a while. Finally we made it, they caught the flight Back home. This was the second time they came to Bangkok with Journeys Within and they still remembered me when we second met .… Read more »

Leavin’ on a jet plane…

Posted by Andrea on May 20, 2009 (Updated: 2011-02-12) | Leave a comment

I always get a bit nostalgic when it comes time to switch continents. The truth is I love both my homes and in Cambodia I miss the calm of my Truckee house, and the girls in my Truckee office, but when in Truckee I miss my staff and friends in Cambodia and the constant adventures that happen while living in Southeast Asia. With Saturday and our flight home approaching fast I pulled some of my favorite moments from the last eight months, it made me realize…we’ve been busy!

October:
We left snow covered ground in Truckee and headed back to the tropics. The kids were more than happy to get back in the swing of tuk tuk’s and chicken feet:

October Back to Cambodia

October Eating Chicken Feet at a Wedding

November:
Couper turned two along with Sabai and we had a great visit from my parents. I also had a busy and rewarding trip to Laos to visit hotels, try out some new tours and visit the JWOC language school. I ended that trip with a visit to Bangkok where I went to a Salsa competition (as a spectator):

November Birthday Cake

November Visiting Luang Prabang and the JWOC school

December:
A busy month at the B&B, but Brandon and I managed to sneak in a trip to the farm in Koh Ker and Callie was in her first (we imagine of many) performance:

December, Romantic trip to Koh Ker

December At the school Christmas Party

January:
A busy month for JWOC with a documentary being filmed on clean water in Cambodia. I hopped over for a weekend in LA for a Nikaya Trade Show and we enjoyed a family night at Angkor Wat. The month ended with a fun mother son and nanny trip to Phnom Penh:

January Working on A Drop in the Bucket

January Nikaya trade show in LA

January Night Tour At Angkor Wat

January Phnom Penh with Couper and Mom

February:
We had a new class of scholarship students at JWOC, our biggest class ever, but I had to take a trip to Bangkok to bid a fond farewell to Thailand Director Waew:

February Working with a new class of JWOC scholarship students

February In Bangkok for Waew's goodbye party

March:
Narla graduated! and we took a much-needed family vacation to the beach enjoying Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and Krabi and ending with some time in Bangkok:

March Narla graduates

March Thailand Beaches

March McDonalds in Bangkok

April:
After celebrating the Khmer New Year Callie and I decided to head North to Chiang Mai where we tried out a new elephant experience and some new hotels, a great mother daughter trip for us:

April New Years BBQ dinner

April In the tuk tuk in Chiang Mai

April Mahout Training in Chiang Mai

May:
This month has been a blur, we delivered sewing machines to the prison for our new program for Nikaya, we did a spur of the moment trip to Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh for Mother’s Day and we have the Grand Opening of the new JWOC Center this Saturday!

May Delivering sewing machines to the prison

May Mother's Day trip to Sihanoukville

This doesn’t even touch on the amazing guests and volunteers we had and the huge leaps the kids have made in school and swimming and just growing up in general. It’s been a fun time and I am looking forward to summer in the states and then back for more soon!… Read more »

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