Arrive Check into Aruntara Riverside Hotel. This will be our home-base during our program time in Chiang Mai. It’s alovely, quiet hotel located along the banks of Chiang Mai’s Ping river. Group Welcome Dinner and Introductions with other travelers and staff.

Morning Orientation at hotel with sessions on: - Program Details - Thai Language and Society - Cultural Do’s and Don’ts - How to stay safe and healthy in Thailand Afternoon City Tour Late Afternoon Fresh Market Tour and Thai Cooking Course. Dinner will be the food you cook during the course!

Morning Workshop on Teaching in Thailand Visit to School Service Sites and meet teachers and students. Late Afternoon Planning session and stationary store visit. Dinner on your own.

Morning Buddhist monk chat with bilingual monk Afternoon Visit to Doi Suthep Temple (iconic northern Thai temple settled on mountain top, with sweeping views of the city below) Hmong Hill tribe visit, tour of mountain botanical gardens. Dinner at hotel

Morning One day visit to Elephant Nursery - Learn about the elephants - Feed and Play with elephants - Trek with elephants in mountains - Bathe elephants in mountain river Afternoon Dinner and Shopping at Chiang Mai Sunday Night Walking Street.

First day of service, Morning Teaching English as a Second Language at a small primary school for underprivileged children. Volunteers will co-teach in pairs or small groups. Lunch at school with students and teachers Afternoon further preparation and dinner on your own. Free shuttle from hotel to touristy places in town will be provided for those who would like to venture out.

Morning Second day of Service Lunch at school with students and teachers Afternoon visit to Home for Single Mother’s in Crisis Foundation. Learn about the work they do, and the plight of women in the rural areas of Asia. Free time to visit old city area of Chiang Mai Dinner – Padtai at local restaurant.

Morning Third day of Service Lunch at school with students and teachers and presentation of Thai Educational System and meeting with teachers and administration to discuss challenges in their schools and lives as educators here in Thailand. Afternoon Traditional Thai massage at local spa Visit to Art in Paradise, a 3D art museum. Dinner and Shopping at Chiang Mai Night Bazaar        

Morning Fourth day of Service Lunch at school with students and teachers Afternoon Planning and prep for English Camp at hotel. Dinner on your own

All Day English Day Camp! This will be the finale of our service at the school. Here our group will arrange fun and interactive games and activities to do with the students in a rotation basis. One pair or small group of volunteers will do an activity (cake walk, making sandwiches, bingo, etc.) 4-5 times throughout the day. The end of the day will be a closing ceremony with speeches and thank yous. Dinner at Hotel

Morning Chiang Mai Main Market Tour and Fruit Party at hotel. Mid-Afternoon Meeting with Local Fulbrighters. Presentation on the work these individuals and groups do in the region. Cocktail party and Dinner with Local Fulbrighters.    

Goodbyes, Packing Up, Evals, Check out of hotel, and participants are escorted to Chiang Mai airport, and staff assist in checking in for flights.

Check out of Chiang Mai Hotel, and fly to Bangkok on late morning flight, probably arriving late morning (around 11:30 or so). Travel from airport, to hotel. Check in, and group lunch there at hotel Afternoon Meeting with Local Bangkok Fulbright community at hotel. Evening walk and dinner at the backpacker famous Khao San Road. This is only around a 10 minute walk from our hotel.

Bangkok Tour Day - this PDF will give detailed information on the temples to be visited

The Real Bangkok - Old, New, and Everything in between. Please excuse the long notes here, but there's a lot to explain. On this day, we will mostly take local-transportation to experience Bangkok like a local. Starting with Bangkok meter taxis to Tae Wez Pier. Here we will walk through the old wooden pier building and buy bread scraps to feed the river fish. We'll take the long river taxi boat down the river and see Bangkok from a local's perspective, as we zoom past clusters of old river homes and huge high-rise condos. Exiting at Taksin Bridge, we'll take the modern Bangkok Sky train to get a half bird's eye view of the center of the city After getting off the Sky train, we'll walk to the Jim Thompson House and Museum. We'll take a tour of this very unique home to an American man who revived the Thai silk industry. Lunch will be had at the restaurant there at the museum, which is a special place to visit all on it's own. Besides the mouth-watering gourmet Thai cuisine offered here, the places is dripping with amazing decor and style. Another couple Sky train stops up, and a brief walk, will be our stop at "Central World Shopping Center". This shopping center is the center of Bangkok's new high-society fashion and big money. Here we will sit at a coffee shop and have a session on Thai politics - which is a very interesting and unique subject. The reason we are having this discussion here (at Central World), is because the large open area in front of Central World was the site of a massive, months long political protest by "red shirt" political activists. Near the end of their protest they set fire and partly burned down a portion of the shopping center in May of 2010. Dinner at "The Deck" which is a restaurant along the river, directly across from Wat Arun (temple of the dawn). We will be sure to get here before sunset, as when the sun sets, the temple actually glitters and shines. It's quite the sight!

Check out and depart for airport