Overnight at the Palong People: a family adventure

Price per person in THB
2 persons3 persons4 persons5 persons6 persons7 persons8 persons
7,500  6,000  5,100  4,600  4,200  3,900  3,700
Difficulty
40%

During this private tour, you will meet the Dara-ang (Palong) people and spend the night in their village. Your overnight will benefit the local people. As this is a private tour, we will adjust the pace to your wishes and needs. Our guides have lots of experience working with children and will make this an educational and fun experience for them. If you have children under 8 years of age, please contact us for a special rate: info@green-trails.com

Total driving time:
Day one: two hours
Day two: two hours

 

From: 7,500.00 ฿

mountains of Chiang Dao
Chiang Dao mountains

Overnight at the Palong People: a family adventure

Day 1: Chiang Mai- Palong village

Family Trekking Adventure: local market and bamboo rafting

Your guide and driver will pick you up at 0800 at your hotel for your Family trekking Adventure. Your transportation will be an airconditioned minivan with safety belts. The minivan will be on standby during your trip and will transfer your luggage to the village, where you will spend the night. During the trekking, you will only have to carry your camera, raincoat, and drinking water.

Here you can find more about the history and background of hill tribe trekking in Chiang Mai. You will drive to the north into the mountains near Chiang Dao. The first stop will be the Mae Malai local market. Your guide will do some shopping for the coming days, and he will take you along and explain all about the different ingredients he will use for meals during the trek. Then, enjoy a river trip by bamboo raft. Your helmsmen will maneuver the raft through the gentle rapids. We will provide life jackets. Please wear them and have a look at our bamboo rafting policy.

Woman at a market
Vendor at the Mae Malai Market

Hike to the Palong village Mae Chon

Continue to a Palong village near Chiang Dao where we will have lunch. After lunch, we will start trekking. The trail has a few steep hills, but most of the trek is relatively easy. Together we walk about two hours with many stops along the way. Your guide will explain specific trees and plants in the forest. There will be time for taking pictures.

Palong kids with visitors Chiang Dao Palong hilltribe trekking
Meeting the Palong people

Visit a fruit plantation

After arrival in the village, the children will participate in activities in the village. These will vary from picking fruit, collecting vegetables for dinner, feeding the pigs, and taking part in sports with children from the village. You will visit a fruit plantation. Many varieties of fruit, herbs, and vegetables are growing in his backyard. It will depend on the season, but you will see bananas, jackfruit, guava, papaya, longan, and many other varieties. You will see mountain rice and bamboo, which is edible. We will pick some of the ingredients for our dinner in this garden.

Learn some local cooking!

The parents can relax, explore the village or learn some Thai cooking by helping the guide prepare the dinner. He will tell you about the herbs and ingredients he uses. After dinner, your guide will take you to one of the village houses where you will meet some of the villagers. The Palong people are originally from Myanmar and escaped to Thailand in 1984.
Overnight will be in one of the village homestays.

Matresses with mosquito nets family trekking adventure
Overnight in the village

Day 2: Palong Village – Chiang Mai

Visit the village school

After the sounds of nature and the locals woke you up, your guide will prepare breakfast. Start the 2nd day of your Chiang Dao Family Trekking Adventure. After breakfast, your guide will show you around the village. He will explain about the village shrine and the ‘huja rawl’, the ‘village heart’.Then we will visit the local school*. The children will donate pens and paper to the school.
After this, we will say goodbye to the villagers and start trekking for about 1.5 hours to the Karen village Thakilek. Along the way, we will stop at Lahu village Ban Huay Bong, where we will visit the fascinating spirit temple and a blacksmith.

The lovely Sticky Waterfalls

After this, we will continue trekking to the Karen village. After that, drive to the restaurant where we have lunch. Drive back to Chiang Mai. The next stop will be the Buatong Waterfall. This beautiful waterfall is also known as the sticky waterfall. We will spend time here relaxing and bathing in the crystal clear water of these falls.

The rocks on which the falls flow are limestone and not slippery. You will see other people climb on the falls. You might want to try it, but please be careful! Drive back to Chiang Mai. We will drop you at your hotel at around 5 pm. It is the end of your Chiang Dao Family Trekking Adventure.

*Unless the school is closed of course which is the case on the weekend or on holidays. The donation will be made anyway.

Four kids on Sticky waterfall family trekking adventure
Kids on the Sticky Waterfalls

Highlights

Comfortable transportation

Authentic local market

Bamboo rafting

Flexible and convenient jungle trekking

Palong tribal culture

Village overnight

Visit local school

Lahu village and spirit temple

Karen village

The Buatong aka “Sticky” waterfalls

Inclusions

What is included:

English speaking guide
Transportation by AC minibus
Accommodation in a local house
Two lunches, one dinner, and one breakfast
Drinking water during meals
Coffee and tea
Bamboo rafting (about 45 minutes)
Limited medical insurance
Use of sheet bag or sleeping bag
Use of Mosquito net
Use of Backpack (on request)
Toilet paper & Soap
Towel
A flashlight is provided in the village
100 THB donation per person to the school balloons for children

What is not included?

Other drinks except for water during meals
Personal expenses
Tips

Timeline

Day 1
08.00 – Departure from the hotel
09.00 – Visit a local market
09.15 – Drive to the bamboo rafting camp
09.45 – Arrival at the camp
10.00 – Start the bamboo rafting
10.40 – Finish the rafting trip
11.00 – Departure to Chiang Dao
12.00 – Lunch at the village
13.00 – Start hiking about two hours
15.00 – Arrive at the Palong village where we stay overnight
15.30 – Visit around the village and Sukhum’s garden
16.30 – Help your guide cook dinner
18.00 – Dinner at the village before free at leisure

Day 2
08.30 – Walk around the village
09.30 – Start hiking for about one hour to a Lahu village
10.30 – Visit the Lahu village and spirit temple
11.00 – Drive to a Karen village
11.15 – Visit the village
11.30 – Depart from the village
12.00 – Lunch at a local restaurant
13.30 – Visit the Sticky Waterfalls
15.00 – Drive back to Chiang Mai
16.30 – Drop off at the hotel

What to bring

Short sleeve shirts for the day time (bring a spare one, just in case)
Long sleeves for the evening (especially in the winter Nov – Feb it can be a bit cold)
Shoes with good grip (especially in the raining season from May – Sep)
A hat or cap
Sunscreen
Flip flops
Sunglasses
Your personal toiletries
Personal medication
Fully charged batteries or even an extra battery for your camera.
1000-1500 Thai Baht per person in small notes (not bigger than 500 Thai Baht and plenty of 100 Thai Baht notes). This is for souvenirs, drinks and tips.