A Royal Reason to Visit Thailand

UCLA Extension is hosting a tour to Thailand for the 50th anniversary of the king of Thailand’s accession to the throne.

As special guests of the royal Thai family, participants will attend the golden jubilee celebration. The tour, June 1-10, includes visits to royal palaces and ancient temples, along with an excursion on elephant into the jungles of northern Thailand.

The itinerary begins with four nights in Bangkok, including visits to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the once-forbidden grounds of the Grand Palace complex, and the Royal Museum, which houses crown jewels and royal art treasures.

On the second evening, participants have dinner on a cruise up the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn. Also on the schedule is a visit to the Vimarn Mek Palace, the world’s largest golden teak building and favorite residence of King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910). After talks on Thai history and culture at Rangsit and Chulalongkorn universities, participants travel to Ayuthaya, the country’s capital for more than 400 years, and its temple and palace ruins.

Next are four nights in Chiang Mai to see the Wat Phra Temple on a mountain overlooking the city, and a lecture on Theravada Buddhism and its role in Thai culture. Participants also visit a hill tribe village, where a faculty member of Chiang Mai University lectures on the culture of the hill tribes.

Cost: $2,560 per person, including round-trip transportation from Los Angeles, accommodations, entrance fees, most meals and tuition; a single supplement is available for an additional $350. An optional extension to visit the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which takes place June 10-14, is $1,400 (double occupancy). The extension itinerary includes tours of Phnom Penh, including the Royal Palace and National Museum, and the Angkor area, including the magnificent Angkor Wat and Praksid Palace.

Contact: Thailand Tour, the Humanities, UCLA Extension, 10995 LeConte Ave., Suite 711, Los Angeles, CA 90024; telephone (310) 825-2272.

Historical China

A tour of historical China and its waterways, including a Yangtze River cruise, will run from May 12 to June 1. Accompanied by Wellington Chan of the history department of Occidental College, participants will visit Beijing to see the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, and the cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, Guilin and Shanghai.

Cost: $3,000 per person, double occupancy, including travel within China, hotels, some meals, sightseeing, an acrobatic show in Shanghai and baggage handling. Not included: air fare to China. Contact: the Travel Arrangers, 1194 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91106; tel. (818) 793-1466.

Walk-Ride in Canada

An 11-night Canadian adventure from July 28 to Aug. 7 begins with a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join fellow hikers for six days of walking through the Nova Scotia countryside, stays in historic inns--including Halliburton House, an 1809 inn, and gourmet meals. Van support is available at all times. Participants then board the train for an overnight journey in sleeper compartments into Montreal. The group will spend four days exploring shops, theaters and museums. The group will stay at the Chateau Versailles, a French family-owned hotel, for three nights; breakfast is included. There is free time for theater and museums outings, shopping or sightseeing.

Cost: $2,300 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals, airport transfers and sightseeing. Contact: Adventures With Alice Travel, 1082 S. Seaward Ave., Ventura, CA 93001; tel. (800) 549-9071.

More Rails

The Rocky Mountaineer Rail Adventure is part of a nine-day escorted tour of the Canadian Rockies and Western Canada that begins May 23. After a flight to Calgary, Alberta, participants head to Banff to take a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain for a view, visit Lake Louise and drive along Icefields Parkway, where more than 100 glaciers can be seen. Travelers also ride across the Columbia ice fields, where the ice is said to be more than 1,000 feet thick. Participants will take a two-day Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Banff to Vancouver, British Columbia, where sights include Stanley Park with its many totem poles, old Gastown, Granville Island and Chinatown. There will be free time for exploring, browsing and taking advantage of the favorable currency exchange rate.

A 90-minute ferry ride through the Gulf Islands takes travelers to Victoria, which resembles a British Empire outpost. High tea will be served at the Empress Hotel, and guests will visit Butchart Gardens.

Cost: $1,689 per person, double occupancy, includes air fare, train fare, ground transportation, transfers, first-class lodging, several meals, admissions and luggage handling. Contact: Siesta Tours USA, 24681 La Plaza, No. 300, Dana Point, CA 92629; tel. (800) 733-2252.

Great, Great Britain

A local travel club, Travel With Norma, is planning a trip to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that leaves Los Angeles June 25 and returns July 17.

Participants will visit London, Bath, the Cotswolds, Plymouth, Cardiff, Wexford, Killarney, Limerick, Dublin, Chester, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, Glasgow, Aviemore, York and many other cities.

Some sites include: Stonehenge, Land’s End, Mayflower Steps, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home, Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Warwick Castle, Waterford Crystal Factory, Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, Irish Woolen Mill, a bagpipe concert, Lock Ness motor-coach tour, Hadrian’s Wall, York Minster, the British Museum, Belleck Pottery Factory, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Cambridge and Kings College.

Cost: $3,289 per person, double occupancy, including air fare and land transportation, hotels, porterage at all hotels, full English breakfasts and dinners daily, motor coach with lavatory, sightseeing tours in London, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, York and other cities on the itinerary.

Contact: Travel With Norma, 929 N. Primrose Ave., Rialto, CA 92376; tel. (909) 874-2727.

Van Gogh Trails

Travelers can follow in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh, through Amsterdam, Arles in the south of France, Paris and the charming village of Auver-sur-Oise, where he lived the last days of his life, on a trip that begins May 30 to June 13. Guests visit the opulent Palace of Versailles, see the garden masterpiece of Monet’s home in Giverny, Aix-en-Provence, where Cezanne painted, and Avignon, one of the great art centers in France. Participants will explore the caves of Lascaux to see prehistoric art, and sample the night life of Monte Carlo.

The itinerary provides frequent stops to explore and photograph sights, with guided tours of key attractions.

Cost: $3,599 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, 13 nights in hotels, some meals, entrance fees, motor-coach transportation and guide services of an art historian. Contact: Wind Song Tours & Travel; 1500 Greenview Drive, La Habra, CA 90631; tel. (714) 871-1172.

Good Golf

Five Star Touring is offering a Scottish Highland Golf Cruise aboard the Vertrouwen, a luxury boat with four cabins, just enough for two foursomes. This package features five rounds of golf at Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Boat of Garten, Newtonmore and Gleneagles, with five nights on the boat and one night at Gleneagles Hotel. The cruise starts in Inverness and goes through the Caledonian Canal and the Highlands of Scotland before ending in Banavie. Five golf cruises are offered between May and September. Cost: cruise-only fares start at $2,390 and include green fees. Contact: Five Star Touring; 60 E. 42nd St., Suite 612, New York, NY 10165; tel. (800) 792-7827.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.