How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Our guide James (real name Chakhree) was a real foodie and he took a lot of time at the food markets encouraging us to taste all the unfamiliar fruit, veg and... insects!  He also showed us how to prepare Thai dishes and we cooked them on the open fire at the tribal houses. James really made our holiday, if we wanted to do something in particular during our free time he sorted out the arrangements and he was really good with the children in the group.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

"We took very small sleeping bags with us for the trek but they weren't really necessary as a blanket and pillow was provided, a sleeping bag liner is probably all you need. I would definitely recommend ear plugs as the cockerels are very loud between 3 and 5am!  They are also essential for the noisy sleeper train along with an eye mask.
On the trek we used sandals on day 2 as we were in the river so much. With hindsight I'd have taken my boots as the steep hill sections were ankle deep in mud and very slippery.  I also would recommend proper trekking sandals - cheap sandals or crocs literally fell apart.
On the whole tour we spent around £375 per person which includes about £40 for optional activities and £40 for souvenirs ( I loved the Karen tribe woven scarves)."

Do you have anything else to add?

At Mae Hong Son encourage the whole family to try the full body mud spa - a really enjoyable and fun experience!   Try and grab some tourist maps of Bangkok and Changmai to get the most from your free time and make sure you try the crazy Tuk Tuks.

The Perfect Family Adventure. Beautiful temples in Bangkok, Chang Mai and Mae Hong Son. Kids found the overnight sleeper train very exciting and had lots of fun in the bunk beds.  I would advise you to take eye masks as the lights are not switched off on train through the  whole night and the curtain screen does not keep the bunk beds area dark enough. ( I noticed that our guide did have an eye mask, so he'd obviously been on this train journey before!!)  The night markets in Chang Mai were full of hustle and bustle and the food courts offered delicious meals which were excellent value.  In fact the food was wonderful everywhere we ate and again at a very good price.  The kids  also loved sleeping in the tribal villages in large rooms above "noisy" cockerells and pigs.  I realised that cockerells do not wake up at dawn but more like 3 o'clock in the morning!!- perhaps ear plugs might have helped then!! Take some toilet rolls and lots of wipes for the trek.  Energy bars are also handy during the trek. There is plenty of opportunity to interact with locals in the hilltribes and it might be handy to take some postcards of where you come from to show it to them and perhaps leave it as a gift.  We all also enjoyed the bamboo rafting, elephant riding and snorkelling.  One of the main highlights of our trip was the Songkran festival which is not in the dossier - it is the Thai New Year  which is celebrated  around April - it lasts around 3 days with fun water fights and stunning  parades with beautiful floats.  A few other tips - we did not take our sleeping bag as you can rent them out there from explore and  use them only for the trek, so it saves you carrying them around with you all through your trip and  helps keeps extra space in your luggage for all that shopping to bring back home!!  Overall a wonderful holiday which we thoroughly enjoyed. We had an amazing local  Explore guide who we called "John" whose real name is Boon Chuay - he was fantastic and helped make our holiday truly special. (FTH 3rd April 2010)