Visit one of Thailand's most popular tourist attractions while discovering a number of less-visited wonders along the way.

Depart Bangkok before nine with your guide and private car. Urban sprawl gives way to shimmering fields where salt is slowly extracted from seawater by the warm sun. Drop by the lovely King Rama II Park in Ratchaburi for a stroll through its botanical gardens and view sculptures from Siamese mythology. A traditional teak mansion houses a splendid collection of puppets and traditional musical instruments.

Visit Thailand's most famous floating market, where you will board a charming wooden boat for a cruise around this colorful bazaar from the center of the activity. As you are paddled along the waterway you can sample an enormous variety of fresh produce, tantalizing treats, and old fashioned recipes. Try your hand at bargaining for folk toys, traditional medicines, fresh honey, or the usual kitchy tourist trinkets for the folks back home. The canal winds along coconut and banana plantations where you can watch natural brown sugar being coaxed from the sweet drippings of sugar palm flowers. Spry local villagers who row past you in a fascinating flotilla, dressed in hand-woven silk sarong and palm frond hats, make the market a charming experience and help keep the touristic excesses at bay. After your cruise, sit in the shade and eat your fill of fresh local cuisine.

Next stop is the tallest stupa in Thailand, rising from the center of Nakhon Pathom. It was here, as Thai tradition tells it, that Buddhism was first introduced to the region more than two thousand years ago. A short ride from town is one of the world's oddest and most interesting wax museums. The Museum of Human Imagery has five main exhibits: renowned monks (created so amazingly lifelike that you'll see bewildered school children nose-to-nose with the captivating statues; a majestic throne room with all eight of the former Chakri dynasty Kings in their magnificent regal finery, a rather startling and moving exhibition on the history of slavery in Thailand (which was abolished in 1905), mythological creatures and characters from Thai literature, and a crowd-pleasing village scene of traditional children's games that includes a wacky adult-male-only game called "bald head smashing contest" depicting the "seven kinds of baldness".

Head back to Bangkok for a final stop at the magnificent Royal Barge Museum, a dry-dock exhibit housing the sleek and superbly crafted boats which form the central grouping of the rarely seen, sacred Royal Krathin ceremony in which the King delivers saffron-colored robes to monks at the Temple of the Dawn. Here you can watch a video of the chanting, muscular oarsmen as they dip paddles of gold in synchronized rhythm as they glide down the River of Kings. Each beautifully proportioned craft has a prow decorated with mythological mascots: a seven-headed Naga dragon, the half man/half hawk Garuda, and the gilded, celestial swan Suphanahong, the glittering highlight of this fantastical armada.
 

Cost for one or two guests when purchased along with on or our our all inclusive packages, or purchased separately     Purchased with package 171 115 84 5,656 Purchased Separately 196 132 96 6,464

Includes private guide, car and driver, and boat cruise. Not included: meals or drinks. Prices based on exchange rates of 1 January 08 and are subject to fluctuation.

Where We Shine:
Purple Dragon specializes in programs which are off the beaten path of commercial tourism and immerse our guests in the rich and lively traditions of Thai daily life. Your tour is private and you have the undivided attention of your guide. Our guests often remark that the highlight of their holiday was the charming company of our trained guides.