Location: River Kwai, Kanchanaburi, west Thailand
Accommodation: Wooden bungalows in home garden or with local family, simple but nice, fan and air-con, twin-bedrooms, private bathrooms.
If you were born Thai, you would naturally know how to do delicious & creative cooking as we mostly do. If you weren’t, then come enjoy explore the secrets of Thai cuisine with us. Our cooking lessons, with some flexibility, are authentic and passed on from generations to generations. Explore, experiment, adjusting to your taste and, last but not least, creativity, is key words to remembers. This is how we Thai people have developed our cuisine that has now a world-class reputation for its variety and healthy nutrition. You might be amazed to know there is a hundred and ten selections of Thai dishes to be chosen from when going out for dinner or lunch. The selected menu of your cooking holiday here is to make sure that you can get materials and keep practicing your Thai cooking once you return home. Sure, Tom Yam Gung and Tom Khai Gai can not be missed out.
Throughout a perfect holiday combing cooking and tours, you will enjoy Thai hospitality spending time with a local Thai family at Baan Chang Tammarind Woodland and exploring a unique beauty of Kanchanaburi.
Located just 4 kms from the Bridge over the River Kwai, our Baan Chang Tammarind Woodland was built in a contemporary Thai style, simply furnished but cosy atmosphere releasing warm and welcoming Asian spells. The 3 storey house is surrounded by woodland comprising tropical trees and plants some of which stay green all year round like our famous tammarind (makam in Thai). Simple but nice wooden bungalows in the woodland, if needed, is a nice & peaceful place to stay. Our private fitness room is to make sure that you always stay healthy and do not gain weight on your return to your country. It is well equipped with high quality treadmill and bicycle. Weight lifting can be done but no trainer is provided.
In its 2 acres, the house offers plenty of room for gardening and planting which includes mango, jackfruit, coconut palm tree, ruby fruit, banana and custard apple etc. Certain amount of room is also sacrificed for its kitchen garden where a number of tropical herbs are found: holy and sweet basils, kaffir lime, lemon grass, pepper wine, ginger & galangal, chili etc.
We can take you to visit an organic farm of our neighbours who supply various kind of chemical-free vegetables to us and local villagers living around here.
The family has 5 dogs together, both Thai and hybrid, all but one are black. They are all friendly, lovely and good company when going for a walk or jogging in the garden.
What makes this holiday different?
- We promote our Thai culture and the kingdom of Thailand in various aspects, from Thai cooking lessons to the unforgettable visits to our natural heritage
- We support local economics by bringing cash to small producers at local level who supply food, cooking materials and local souvenirs such as sticky rice wine, bamboo handicrafts, woven cloths and other agricultural products that tourists can shop back home.
- We help generate substitute income to some other local people who get practically involved in running different parts of this responsible tourism.
- We promote a healthy holiday by providing healthy and balanced food throughout the trip, much of it is chemical-free.
Itinerary
Day 1: Early morning pick up from Bangkok and to the infamous Floating Market in Damnoensaduak, Ratchaburi. Glimpses of local lifestyle and colours of fruits and food during a canal tour. Verylate morning, continue westward to Kanchanaburi (1.30 hours drive) and then Baan Chang Tamarind Woodland, 6 kms. from the town centre or 4 kms. from the Bridge over the River Kwai. Welcome drinks and lunch at home. Afternoon escorted city tour and river trip along the RiverKwai (the Bridge & the war cemetery & local lifestyle). Dinner out at a floating restaurant by the river in the town.
Day 2: Morning Cooking Lesson: Hallmark of Thai Cooking 1 (Gaeng Kieo Waan (Green Curry) and Tom Ka Gai (Chicken in Coconut Soup), teaching & demonstration. Lunch. Afternoon visit to Erawan National Park. Enjoy a nature walk, swimming and relaxing in its heavenly emerald-coloured pool at your own pace. Dinner at home.
Day 3: Early wake up and go to a local morning market to shop fresh meat, vegetables, herbs and fruits. Morning Cooking Lesson: Hallmark of Thai Cooking 2 (Tom Yam Gung (Spicy Prawn Soup) and Fried Rice with vegetables, teaching & demonstration.
Free early afternoon: you can do swimming at a 4 star resort, 5 kms. or enjoy reading on a nice verandah at home surrounded by woodland. Optional horse riding course is available at the HorseRiding Camp next door Traditional Thai is included.
Late Afternoon cooking lesson: Spicy Delights, Asian Secrets to Stay Healthy Teaching and demonstration how to make spicy salads from vegetables rich in nutrition. Enjoy a very light & healthy dinner (what you have cooked!) at home.
Day 4: Full day excursion out of the town – walking along the Death Railway remnant at the well known Hellfire Pass Memorial. Lunch at a local restaurant. Have a wonderful experience of elephant riding and then leisurely enjoy bamboo rafting and a train ride along the legendary River Kwai. Visit a local shop selling a variety of herbal products ranging from tea to bathroom items, and from aroma oil to pure cotton cloths. These quality products are made from local materials by local people. Transfer back to BKK. End of the service by Jumbo Travel.
Included:
1. Round-trip transfer by a/c van from/to Bangkok and in Kanchanaburi
2. 3 nights accommodation in a family-run bungalows (twin sharing basis)
3. Visits to the places mentioned and all private tours as mentioned above
4. Home cooking classes as mentioned with local Thai residents
5. 11 meals, drinking water, coffee/tea and cool towels
6. English-speaking guide
7. Travel insurance
Excluded & Optional:
1. Soft drink, beer and alcohol
2. Personal expenses
What makes this holiday different?
- We promote our Thai culture and the kingdom of Thailand in various aspects, from Thai cooking lessons to the unforgettable visits to our natural heritage
- We support local economics by bringing cash to small producers at local level who supply food, cooking materials and local souvenirs such as sticky rice wine, bamboo handicrafts, woven cloths and other agricultural products that tourists can shop back home.
- We help generate substitute income to some other local people who get practically involved in running different parts of this responsible tourism.
- We promote a healthy holiday by providing healthy and balanced food throughout the trip, much of it is chemical-free.
