Earlier this year, I wrote in this space about an 18-day tour to Thailand costing from just $1,560 per person (sharing a double room), air inclusive. Now Grand Circle has come in with a similar tour at $65 less--that's just $1,495 for September 17 and December 4 departures. Other October through December prices begin at $1,595. The $1,495 price works out to only $83 a day for this "Thailand & the Golden Triangle" tour.
For a slightly shorter stay (15 days, 13 nights), the cost of Grand Circle's "Jewels of Thailand" package starts at $1,295, just over $86 per day, including airfare. Both packages start from Los Angeles, with add-on flights from other U.S. cities ranging up to $200. Both include lodging in Thailand at first-class hotels, most meals, up to eight sightseeing tours, internal flights in Thailand, roundtrip hotel-airport transfers, and more.
On the 15-day tour, you spend six nights in Bangkok, visiting such sights as the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha and attending a Thai culture & festivals presentation. You then fly to Chiang Mai in the Golden Triangle for a weeklong stay, where you visit the famed Night Bazaar, many temples, the Hill Tribe Museum and a working elephant camp. Then it's back to Bangkok for one more night and return to North America. Five optional excursions, if you take them all, add up to an extra $110.
On the 18-day tour, you spend six nights in Bangkok, seeing the same sights as above, then fly to Chiang Rai (also in the Golden Triangle) for four nights, where you visit the Opium Museum, a hill tribe village and more. The final six nights are spent in Chiang Mai, with sights as mentioned above. The tour ends again with a night back in Bangkok before returning to the USA. There are five optional tours for sale, totaling $100 for all of them.
Grand Circle caters to mature traveler, but anyone can enjoy the company's commitment to making the world a little better place to live. Going on ten years, the Grand Circle Foundation has donated more than $10 million to cultural, educational and environmental organizations around the world. In Thailand, that means grants to the Hill Tribe Daycare Center for vital supplies, to the Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University in Chiang Mai for a computer center, and to the Mahamakut Buddhist University there for renovations.
For reservations, brochures or more information, phone Grand Circle at 800/221-2610 or visit www.gct.com.