Hi everyone,

I personally have always found everyone's detailed reports helpful for informing my travels, and figured I would write this up in case it was useful for even just one person on this sub. I spent two weeks in Thailand and am a pretty seasoned solo traveller, but this was only my second time solo in SEA and I had a great time. For reference, I am 25F from Canada. Without further ado...

Bangkok: 2 days/nights

*Accommodation\*: Bodega Bangkok Party Hostel (3/5 stars - the showers and dorms were clean and comfortable, decent amenities, but the location is somewhat isolated/far from Khao San Road and in a more expensive area of Bangkok. I also found both the local and "Western" staff to be exceptionally rude and unhelpful, which is where the stars are knocked off).

Day 1: I arrived from London, UK, so was tired and jetlagged from the trip. Mostly just oriented myself around the hostel and grabbed some street food with other guests.

Day 2: Took the BTS Skytrain and then the Chao Phraya Express boat (so fun!!) along the river and visited the various temples (Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun.). Tip: Make sure you know the opening and closing times for each temple and plan your trip accordingly. I assumed they all open/closed at the same time and almost missed my favourite one - the Grand Palace. In the evening I had drinks with the hostel and we went out to Khao San Road, but unfortunately I got drunk too quickly and blacked out, so was sent back to the hostel in a tuk-tuk.

Chiang Mai: 5 days/nights

*Accommodation\*: Stamps Backpackers (4/5 stars - I went on the recommendation of Redditors here and this place did not disappoint! It's truly geared towards solo travellers and they have something going on every night, plus the staff are so nice and helpful! My only complaint is that the beds are rock hard and the AC is not on during the day with no windows open, so it was boiling and uncomfortable for midday naps. The no-AC-in-the-day thing is true for hostels across much of Thailand but I found it quite unbearable at this particular hostel for some reason).

Day 3: Mostly just chilled and chatted with other guests as I arrived from Bangkok mid-afternoon. Oriented myself around the hostel and had some food. I also got a fantastic Brazilian wax for half the price I'd pay in Canada, and can give you the name of the place if that's of interest to anyone here :)

Day 4: Took a Grab (download this!) with two other girls from the hostel to Huey Tung Tao lake and it was amazing! It's loved by locals and there are these beautiful huts all around a lake which serve you lunch, and it was nice to take a dip in the water since it was so effing hot. We stayed for about 3 hours, came back, visited some temples, went to the Night Bazaar, had a massage, and then got drinks at the hostel and went out to a bar nearby.

Day 5: I went to Elephant Nature Park. I had never seen an elephant before and it was incredible - we got to feed and pet them, and learn about how they were being rehabilitated after having been abused in circuses and logging operations. It is worth mentioning that we did not get to bathe the elephants, this is a new policy that was implemented last year. I didn't know that when I booked and was admittedly pretty disappointed when I arrived and found out, but I suppose it is better for the elephants this way. When I came back I took a nap and then got drinks with the other guests.

Day 6: Went to go see the Avengers Endgame movie with friends I'd made at the hostel, and then I got another massage. In the evening I went to a stunning restaurant on the river (called The Good View I believe).

Day 7: I took a half-day cooking class in the morning with Thai Farm Cooking School. THIS WAS AWESOME, honestly I'm a shit cook and I had a fabulous day and made really tasty food. Our host cracked jokes the whole time and I was lucky in that the group was tiny (me and another couple) so I got lots of attention and help. In the evening I went to the Sunday night market which had tons of food and clothing stalls, it was lots of fun!

Koh Lanta: 4 days/nights

*Accommodation*: I stayed in Non La Mer Hostel for 2 nights (3/5 - was shutting down due to low season so things were dirty/uncared for and bar was closed, staff couldn't really care less about helping anyone, but it wasn't awful) and then as the hostel shut down for low season I stayed in Pearl Lanta Beach Resort to treat myself (5/5 - this was a super cheap resort with an amazing pool, nice staff, clean room and luxe rainfall shower).

Day 8: I took a stupid early flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi, then a terrifying private car/speedboat transfer to Koh Lanta. I kept getting stared at here (not sure if this is due to the fact that I'm a WOC) and felt hugely uncomfortable my first few hours, which was exacerbated by the fact that no one would rent a scooter to me (it was my first time and I figured that since KL was just one large road it'd be a good place to learn). I suppose I could've lied and said I'd used one before but I didn't feel comfortable doing so.

Anyway, I got crazy lucky and there was an outrageously nice guy from the hostel who offered to drive me around on his scooter so we went up and down the island visiting various beaches and had a phenomenal time together.

Day 9: I spent the day on the 4 islands snorkelling tour and LOVED it!

Days 10-11: Got day drunk, napped, and read my crime thriller novel at the resort and took things easy. By this time I think I'd caught a mild stomach bug so didn't want to overexert myself/stray too far from a bathroom.

Note: I was looking for an island that wouldn't be too party-heavy since I'm starting to move away from that, and went to Koh Lanta based on the recommendations of this sub and my friends. However I will admit that I felt like I'd chosen the wrong island. Due to it being low season tons of things were closed and it felt a bit too dead, though this might appeal to others. Next time I think I'll check out Railay Beach or Koh Tao.

Bangkok again: 2 days/nights

*Accommodation*: Rembrandt Hotel and Suites (4/5 - It's a nice but somewhat old hotel. Really not much to say about it other than that it served its purpose as a nice end-of-trip pitstop to recharge before my long journey back).

Day 12: By this point I think my stomach bug and the heat pains were catching up with me. I went to Chatuchak weekend market for a few hours, then visited the Siam Paragon and Terminal 21 malls for some AC and to relax. In the evening I got a massage and then met up with a girl I'd met on a previous leg of my trip. We went to Above Eleven skybar - the food and atmosphere were out of this world (I had the Peruvian cow heart - yum!).

Day 13-14: Was totally pooped and needed to chill so I went to go see Detective Pikachu, then packed my bags and grabbed my flight at 2:15 a.m.

... That's it! Please let me know if this report was too detailed, not detailed enough, or whether you have any questions. I am more than happy to answer them. :)