2-Week Thailand Itinerary
- katlynsaley
- Feb 28, 2018
- 5 min read
With not having a ton of vacation time, but still wanting to see as much as possible in Thailand (and soak it in) we decided to travel for just about 2-weeks including travel to and from Malawi.
So, with that being said I boarded a plane from Malawi at 1:00pm with a 30 hour journey ahead of me. I felt so lucky with my route to Bangkok; my layovers weren’t too long, my airlines were nice, and the cost of my round trip ticket was only $660 (flying out of Lilongwe is so expensive, no matter where you go)…thank you Skyscanner!
I arrived in Bangkok the following day around 6:00pm, where I waited for Brandalyn to arrive. She landed around 8:30pm so I had a bit of time to fill. When she landed, she collected her back, we went through customs, and found somewhere to eat. China Town ended up being the favorite choice.
After filling our bellies B and I had a long night ahead of sleeping in the airport (yes I am still a Peace Corps Volunteer trying to save a buck). With a flight to Chiang Mai right away in the early morning we figured it didn’t make much sense to go out into Bangkok to find a place to sleep, when we could find a comfy (well not really) bench to sleep on.
The next morning we boarded Thai AirAsia to Chiang Mai (this ticket cost us each around $40, but a lot of travel time). It was Valentine’s Day so the airline gave us a free Krispy Cream donuts! Yum!
B and I spent 3 days in Chiang Mai and spent most of our time getting massages, visiting the stunning temples, taking a cooking class, shopping at the night market, and just exploring. If you’re headed to Chiang Mai, all of these things on my list are definitely things you should check out.
During our stay we opted to stay at an Air BNB called Houzzel360 owned by a very nice Thai women. We would certainly recommend this place to any traveler as it was in a perfect location, breakfast was included (even as a take away option), and the rooms were clean.
I could have easily spend a week in Chiang Mai just handing out! This is a must visit to any tourist travelling to Thailand. To read more about the specifics of our time in Chiang Mai, visit my other blog post.
From Chiang Mai we flew back through Bangkok (~$34) and to Krabi (round-trip ~$85) for the second half of our trip and to visit the stunning beaches of Ao Nang. If you Google “Trip to Thailand,” beware that there are SOOOO MANY options, and it’s not easy to choose. After much research, blog reading, and debate, we chose Krabi because it look absolutely beautiful, and seemed more quiet and less of a party seen than Phuket.
In total we spent 3 nights/4 days on Tonsai Beach, which is just a specific beach in the Ao Nang area. During our time here we soaked up the sun, adventured through the beach town of Railay East and West, and took a wonderful boat trip to the Hong Islands.
While staying on Tonsai Beach we stayed at Mountain View Bungalow, which we found on Air BNB. This place is absolutely huge and has more than 100 rooms available to guests. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here; it was cheap, clean, but a downside was that it didn’t serve breakfast.
Again, Tonsai Beach was a beautiful stop on our 2-week adventure and I would recommend it to anyone. Specifically, if you are a rock climber, this is the place to go!
From Tonsai Beach we took the boat back to Ao Nang, and then a local bus to Krabi Town. Taking the local bus was by far the cheapest option, and with google maps and experience with taking minibuses everywhere in Malawi we were up for the adventure.
We only had 1 day/night in Krabi Town and our main reason for taking the time to spend the day here was to go to Tiger Cave Temple. Let me say it was worth it and everyone should stop here if they have the chance. B and I climbed the 1,230 steps the top (which only took us 30 minutes may I add) where we had the most amazing very view. Go here if you can, it’ll be worth your time!
In Krabi Town we stayed at Tambon Pak Nam, which was only like a 5 minute walk from where the local bus dropped us on the main road. We didn't spend much time in the room here, but it was a nice place to stay. They organized both our transport to Tiger Cave Temple and to the airport the next morning for reasonable prices. They also offer trips to Ao Nang and have a lot of information posted on their bulletin board.
Read more about Krabi and all the deets in my detailed blog post here!
From Krabi we had an early flight back to Bangkok the next day (6:20am flight to be exact), but this left us a full two days to explore the city before we headed back to Malawi. Personally, I think 2 days was enough time for us to get what we wanted out of Bangkok, especially after being in Chiang Mai and Krabi.
If you aren't planning on renting a car, then I would advise to definitely learn how to take the local buses around (taxis are VERY expensive - we took one from the airport to our Air BNB). Bangkok is a HUGE city not only in population, but in size, so everything is very spread out.
With that being said we took our time and relaxed. We got another massage, ate Mexican food, saw Black Panther in an IMAX theater and did take the local bus out a bit from where we were staying (Home Dreams7 on Air BNB). With google maps you can pretty much get anywhere if you use the bus feature! I must say I was really impressed.
The big thing we did in Bangkok, besides WALK lots of miles from place to place, and go see Black Panther, was take the bus to Khao San Road - the biggest tourist street in the city. From where we were staying it was like an hour bus ride, with a 20 minute walk, but it was an interesting street to check out. They certainly aren't lying when they say "it's the street of tourists." Wow. There was people, food, hostels, booze, and shopping everywhere!
After 2 days in Bangkok we made the long trek back to Malawi! Bangkok --> Muscat --> Nairobi --> Lusaka --> Lilongwe. We arrived at 2:00am in the Warm Heart and I was happy to be back to my own bed.
Until next time....
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