Chiang Mai:

We started our trip in the northern part of Thailand in Chiang Mai. We wanted to be in Chiang Mai for the annual lantern festival also known as Yi Peng & Loy Krathong. Yi Peng is the Festival of Lights celebrated during the last full moon of the 12th month lunar calendar. The releasing of lanterns symbolizes letting go of negativity from the past year and making wishes for the new year. The lanterns light up the sky for 3 nights all throughout Chiang Mai creating a magical sky. People gathered from all over the world to participate and witness the breathtaking sky light up with lanterns. The energy of the town was so electric!

Loy Krathong also occurs during the same time, however this festival honors the water goddesses by releasing a Krathong or hand woven basket down the river. The Krathongs were hand made from banana leaves and other natural resources, filled with a candle and incense. The river is lit up with krathongs floating down the river honoring the water and asking for forgiveness from any pollution it has endured. The whole week consisted of ceremonies and other events throughout the city in celebration of the festivals. If you ever visit Chiang Mai, I highly suggest visiting during the festival which is usually in November, it was such an amazing experience!

A few tips about for the festival:

Do not buy tickets in advance for a tour or any organized event. The agenda is posted on their government website so you can create your own agenda and participate as you wish. A tour is not necessary and a waste of money.
Krathongs and lanterns are sold everywhere throughout town during the week.
Night 1 of the festival is the busiest night for releasing lanterns into the sky, though the other nights had plenty in the sky too.
Any bridge over Ping river will be packed with people for hours, if you want to avoid larger crowds maybe get a spot just before sun down.
Be aware of your surroundings, not all lanterns actually make it up to the sky, some hit trees or wires on the way up and fall down onto people or drip!
The river is also packed with people, light your Krathong once you actually get down to the platform otherwise you may burn your incense and candle out too soon.
Bring a marker to write on your lantern and a your own lighter. Make a wish :)

While we were in Chiang Mai we visited the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary which was about a 2 hour drive outside of the city. The half day tour we did included transportation and lunch. We had such a great time playing with the elephants and bathing them. We did our research and found this sanctuary to be one of the most ethical ones as they treat the elephants well. Their mission includes rescuing elephants from being mistreated and nursing them back to health. Once they are strong enough they are then released back to the jungle. There are a ton of sanctuary’s to choose from, make sure you do your research and NO RIDING!!

We also did Sammy’s Organic Cooking Class which was a blast, Sammy is such a riot! He picked us up early and took us to a local market where he educated us on the different ingredients and he purchased fresh produce for our class. There was about 12 of us total, the group we were with was an amazing group of people that had just finished a 4 day retreat with some elephants where they treated them with sound bath therapy, how amazing!! Sammy has an organic farm at his house which looked much like a jungle. He grows banana, lemongrass, tumeric, ginger, mango and more. We cooked our choice of curry, soup and pad thai. Then took a food coma break in his beautiful hammocks throughout his garden while sipping lemongrass tea for digestion. Then made spring rolls and mango sticky rice. We were 100% in a food coma after, but everything was amazing! Sammy and his wife were such a joy to learn from and be around all day. It seemed like a Thai cooking class was one of the must do’s while in Thailand and there are plenty of options for this as well.

Overall Chiang Mai was a beautiful cultural town full of night bazaars, street food, local markets and of course cheap massages. Everyone talks about how amazing the street food is and it was until I got sick on the second or third day. So, I can’t really vouch for the street food being amazing since I tried to avoid it after that haha. I am so happy we were able to experience the festival, I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time in Chiang Mai otherwise. Full disclosure, I love being near the water, so it wasn’t my favorite.

Phi Phi Island:

We spent 2 nights on Phi Phi Islands which was beautiful, but party central. Phi phi had a much younger crowd and lots of Americans. It was super fun but 2 nights was definitely plenty. The nightlife included drinks sold by the buckets, dancing on the beach, fire shows and Muay Thai boxing. It was definitely an experience! On our second day there we did a private long tail boat ride to Maya Beach (which is currently closed for restoration from tourism) and Monkey Beach, definitely a must! We snorkeled around Maya Beach which was gorgeous, tons of colorful fish everywhere! On our ride back we watched the beautiful sunset over the water. Getting to Phi Phi from Phuket requires a ferry ride, which was very well organized, you can book online or get tickets anywhere in town or possible from your hotel.

Koh Samui:

Lastly, we made it to Koh Samui which was recommended by many along our travels. We decided to take the 7 hour trip across Thailand to make it to Samui and stay for 4 nights. To get across involves a ferry, bus ride and then another ferry - a long haul but worth it. We purchased tickets locally the night before, which was again well organized and available everywhere. We spent most of our time relaxing on the beaches including Crystal Beach, Chaweng Beach and Lamai Beach. Chaweng was definitely the most lively for nightlife, but overall the whole island was pretty quiet. We stayed near Lamai beach which was very laid back and perfect for sunrise. Some other things to do on Samui include: Na Muang waterfall (gorgeous falls and you can swim in the pool of water under the falls), hiking, visit Big Buddha Temple and rent a scooter to drive around the island.

Bangkok:

We started and finished in Bangkok mainly for cheaper flight options, so we only spent a little bit of time exploring. Bangkok is a very busy city full of tourists. There are plenty of options for shopping, eating and tourist landmarks. We visited the MahaNakhon towers, the newest and tallest building in Thailand. The view overlooking Bangkok was incredible, I recommend going in the evening for sunset...insane! It’s mostly full of tourists taking pictures, but definitely something cool to check out! We also visited the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC) which had a lot of really cool photographs and exhibits throughout. The Grand Palace is also worth a visit, however they are very strict on clothing and will not let you in unless you are in pants and a t-shirt. Bangkok is much more Americanized then any of the other areas in Thailand we visited, definitely not worth spending too much time here. Really cool city but there’s more to see outside Bangkok!

Please reach out if you have any questions on Thailand, I would love to chat and help you find your way around!

Anayat ❤