Chiang Mai questions - urgent!
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Nov 10, 2012 8:31 AM Last Post By: altmtl
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Chiang Mai questions - urgent!
Hello everyone, I am just looking for some guidance regarding organizing tours and things in Chiang Mai. I am currently in Bangkok and am planning on heading up to chiang Mai in a few days. Today I went to the tourist office in Bangkok to see about booking a train ticket there and I ended up booking the train there, pick up from the station, accommodation at Mandala House (pricey) for six nights, a three day/two night group jungle trek with food and everything included, and also my ticket for the slow boat into Laos. I tend to like to book these things ahead of time for the peace of mind, but after paying about $450 Canadian for it all I cant say I feel too peaceful. Am I a sucker and this is a major rip off? Or is it maybe a good call for this time of year in Thailand? I just have a feeling it could be done much, much cheaper on my own... I have about five months of travelling ahead of me so I am trying to stick to a reasonable budget. Any advice would be MUCH appreciated!!!!1
Quick answer: much cheaper......Quick answer 2) if you want to prebook everything prior to coming then that may be a fair price but I wouldn't know as we didn't do it that way.... Thee are many 'travel agencies' in Chiang mai and you can with a small bit of time book all of this yourself for way cheaper
Edited by: dZilla
3
Today I went to the tourist office in Bangkok
You mean a travel agent, right? The only "official" tourist office is the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and they don't sell such things. Anyway, when you book at an agent you're going to pay a bit more and there are some agents in Bangkok which charge WAY more. You could have easliy just come here to Chiang Mai and got things cheaper, but anyway you've paid already and the are no refunds. Chalk it up to experience and hope what you've booked lives up to expectations. Incidentally locally booked 3-day treks go for around 1600 baht and the slow boat package usually goes for around the same. BK-CM trains usually go for about 600-800 baht depending on class. Paying $450 Canadian for those plus a guesthouse (Mandala House web price 800-1100b certainly not the cheapest place in town) probably isn't a massive overcharge but you could have saved some money with the pay as you go approach which is very easy.
4
OP - The only real question is if you're happy. If what you get for what you paid makes you happy then nothing else matters. In life most anyone can find someone who did something for less than they did or find something they paid more for than someone else. So what.I seriously doubt you're a sucker or got ripped-off. You may be paying more than doing it on your own, but as stated, we don't know the quality of what you'll be offered.
If you end up happy and enjoy your trip that's all that matters.
Good luck.
5
I'd have to agree with the others - you paid too much and over planned, but #4 does make a good point, you obviously can afford it and now have peace of mind, but as #2 pointed out - "The unknown is the quality of the services offered" - You may find the slow boat to Laos less than comfortable... http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2243438
