Because Thailand has a wonderful amount of national holidays, we recently enjoyed a five day weekend. I’m not really sure you can still call it a weekend when you only work for two days of the week but whatever it was, it was much appreciated.
We wanted to get out of town so we decided to head up north. The plan: enjoy the culinary delights of Chiang Mai and see some of the surrounding countryside.
Doi Inthanon is the highest point in Thailand, not far from Chiang Mai city and is within a national park full of waterfalls and scenic views. Many people go there on a day trip from the city but we liked the idea of leisurely exploring over two days.
We rented little scooters and set out for the hills. The very top was rather disappointing, there were no views and the imposing observatory was quite an eye sore. Of course, there were plenty of signs for the obligatory ‘pictures or it didn’t happen’ moment.
A little further down there were two pagodas in some pretty gardens. When the clouds came in it felt beautifully eerie (and very cold!) and when they’re clear, the views are wonderful. It is a very peaceful place to take a break and relax.
We stayed on the other side of the national park in Mae Chaem and the journey there from the top was my favourite part of the trip. The way down is always the best because you can see so much and the winding roads did not disappoint. We spent a wonderfully quiet evening on the edge of a sleepy village – our view of the endless rice fields interrupted only by the odd hill.
Day two was all about waterfalls and this was a bit more of a disappointment. There are many waterfalls in the area and we went to three of them. Watchirathan Waterfall was the most impressive and they were all pretty, but I was disappointed that you were not allowed to swim or paddle in any of them.
We were keen to go for some walks whilst we were there and we found some nature trails but they were all either closed or partially closed. I have read that you can hire a guide for a more extensive hike but we were too disorganised to make this happen.
We had a great time, mainly just being out in the countryside and having nothing to do was a huge treat for us. I thought that the upkeep of the park could be a lot better – paths around the nature trails and waterfalls were not well maintained. Considering we paid 1,200 baht in park fees over the two days, that was disappointing.
If you want to get out of Chiang Mai city but don’t have time or energy for one of the longer motorbike routes, it’s a solid alternative.
