Trekking and Rafting in Huay Nam Dang National Park

Day 1: Chiang Mai – Karen village

Mae Malai local market

Your guide will meet you at the hotel at 0800. We will drive to the area where we will start our Huay Nam Dang trekking begins. Here you can find more about the history and background of hill tribe trekking in Chiang Mai.

Our first stop will be at the local market at Mae Malai. Here your guide will do his shopping for the coming days. You can join him in this fascinating market. He will explain the different ingredients he will be using for dinner. There are some unusual things for sale at this market.

Mork Fah Waterfall

After Mae Malai, we continue to the beautiful Mork Fah waterfall, where you can have a swim and relax. This waterfall is part of the Doi Suthep Doi Pui National Park. After our wet waterfall experience, we will enjoy a simple but delicious lunch at a roadside restaurant. After lunch, we will continue to the Pong Deuad Hot Springs, where we will start trekking. These hot springs are already in Huay Nam Dang National Park, where our trekking takes place. We will hike for about four hours through the lush forest at a leisure pace. There is time to take a rest and to take pictures.

The trail goes up and down until we reach a plateau covered with huge pine trees. These are the Pinus Kesiya, one of the pine trees native to North Thailand. We take our time to enjoy the fantastic views. After this, we walk down to the Karen village, where we will spend the night.

Overnight in Karen village

After arrival in the village, you can relax, explore the village or learn some Thai cooking by helping your guide prepare the dinner. He can explain the herbs and ingredients he uses. Learn to cook on a woodfire in a wok. It is not easy, but great fun! After dinner, your guide will take you to one of the village houses to meet some of the villagers. We will try to teach you some words in the Karen language. An elementary word to remember is Tablu, a greeting and means “thanks.”

Overnight will be in the Karen village.

Day 2: Karen Village – Chiang Mai

Breakfast and trekking

Wake up on the second day of your Huay Nam Dang trekking. Your guide will cook breakfast. After breakfast, we will start trekking into the forest for a trek lasting two to three hours, visiting the rice and vegetable fields of the villages along the way, and learn about the villager’s traditional methods of cultivation. Living in a national park restricts the villagers in their agriculture: slash and burn is out of the question. Enjoy the lovely natural beauty. We have all the time in the world for our trekking so stop whenever you want to rest or to take pictures.

Afternoon trekking through the national park

After lunch, you will continue trekking for about two hours to the Karen village of Baan Mae Ma Nai, where we will spend the night. You will also have the chance to fish at Mae Tang River using local tools and learn how to construct a bamboo raft before. The evening is free of planned activities for you to explore or relax at your leisure. You can join your guide again in the kitchen. Cooking on a wood fire is really an art. Walk around the village and chat with the locals. “tablu” is the greeting, which you have learned already.

Day 3: Karen village – rafting – Chiang Mai

The best bamboo rafting in North Thailand

Breakfast at the community. After breakfast, we will trek for out about one hour to the Taeng River (Mae Taeng). Our bamboo rafts are waiting for us. We will provide life jackets. Please wear them and read our bamboo raft policy.

Enjoy a wonderful bamboo raft trip along the Mae Tang River to a Black Lahu village. Here we will stop for a while. Your guide will explain about the Black Lahu people. We will raft to a Shan village where we will have lunch. Drive back to Chiang Mai by truck, where your Huay Nam Dang trekking ends. We will drop you at your hotel at around 1600.

We also offer a two days program to Huay Nam Dang National Park.