Now that we have booked the tickets, and know the when, the next step is to figure out the where.  Our current plan is to try and avoid a fixed schedule as much as possible – this should allow us first of all to not have to figure out hotel reservations and such for 7 weeks all from here, but with the side benefits of not being stuck in a specific hotel if we arrive and find out it does not match the web description, or of we decide that a particular area is more interesting than expected and which to stay longer.

That said, we do have to try and figure out roughly the areas we want to see so that we can have a general plan.  Thailand is roughly the size of Spain in land area, but with the long tail going down towards Malaysia it is more spread out, so even with about 7 weeks ‘in country’ there is no way to see it all without doing some sort of very stressful power tour – and this trip is all about the slow casual pace, so power touring is out!

There are about 65 Million people in Thailand, and 10 Million of those live in Bangkok, so for those of you that know me, you will understand that a lot of time there is not high on my list 🙂  We are told by others that have been there and some of the travel guides we have been reading that there are a few things worth actually seeing there and so we will try and spend 2 or 3 days there either at the start of our trip or right at the end.

So far we are talking about spending a little time in the northern part of the country, staying in Chiang Mai (towards the north-west corner) and taking day trips to see the sights.  The north is all inland and mountainous, but is where a lot of the things that Thailand is known for come from.  Much of the manufacturing is done in this region, so if you are sitting at your teak patio furniture this summer and it was made in Thailand, there is a good chance it was made in or around Chaing Mai.  This city also seems to be a focal point for learning Thai cooking, something both Jackie and I are interested in, so schedule permitting we may take some time to learn a few dishes for when we come home.  The inland part of the country is also where much of the traditional Thai crops are grown – Thailand is the world’s largest producer of rice – and it would be interesting to see some rice paddies in full production, and show the kids that it does not actually come from a bag at the supermarket.

The bulk of the time we intend to spend in the south, in the costal areas – no point in going to the tropics without staying near the beach!!  Our thinking is to hop our way down the coast and some of the islands and spend a week or so in each of several places.  Spots that have made the short list so far include: Hua Hin, Koh Samet, and Koh Samui on the Gulf of Thailand side, and Krabi, Koh Phi Phi Don (pictured) and Phuket on the Andaman Sea side.  (Phuket itself is an island about the size of O’ahu in Hawaii and consists of a dozen or so beach towns that you could easily spend a handful of days in each town.)

With already 6 or 7 places on the list it looks like it is time to do some more research……