Forests and endless rice fields

Day 1: Chiang Mai – Mae Kampong

After breakfast, your guide will meet you at the hotel. It’s a beautiful drive to Mae Orn and onwards to Mae Kampong. Along the way, we stop to buy the ingredients for our lunch and fruit of the season. After this, we will continue to Mae Kampong. Here we will have a drink before we board a local truck that brings us to the starting point of our hike. It’s just a short walk to the Kew Fin viewpoint. You can see Doi Luang Chiang Dao, Thailand’s third-highest mountain, and Chiang Mai on a clear day. We are on the edge of the Chaeson National Park.

Forest bathing in Mae Kampong’s lush forest

You can choose between a difficult and a less difficult walk: you can hike up to the summit of Doi Mon Lan, which is about 45 mins up, and then descend to Mae Kampong, or you can take a trail directly down to the village. Mae Kampong itself has become a popular destination, especially for local tourists in the cold season. Few visitors hike the forest trails around Mae Kampong, though. However, it is a fantastic hike through the forest. There is time for some “forest bathing”: in short, relax and feel the healing force of the forest! Try to spot a tree, for instance, the Pinus Kesiya, a native pine tree. It is one of the most prevalent trees at this elevation in North Thailand. During our walk, we have enough time to stop to take pictures of some of the colorful flowers we encounter in the forest.

Homestay in Mae Kampong

Along the way, we will enjoy a picnic lunch. After lunch, we will continue to the Mae Kampong waterfall. The villagers of Mae Kampong made a living from growing Bai Miang before tourists arrived. Your guide will explain Bai Miang and other plants in the forest. After arrival back in Mae Kampong, we will check into our homestay. We will recommend a small restaurant where you can have dinner on your own. After dinner, a traditional massage is available on own cost. Overnight will be at a small guesthouse in the village. Temperatures in Mae Kampong are on average about 5C lower than in Chiang Mai, so enjoy the cool weather. By the way, we also offer a one-day tour to Mae Kampong.

Day 2: Mae Kampong – Baan Thi – Chiang Mai

Sankamphaeng Hot Springs

We will rise early to visit the local temple and give alms to the monks. Breakfast will be at your homestay. After breakfast, we will start our journey back to Chiang Mai. Our first stop will be the Wat Prathat Doi Hang Bat. We will walk up the Naga staircase to this small and seldom visited temple. After arrival at the temple, we have a nice view of the rice fields and Doi Suthep Mountain.

After this, we will continue to Ban Thi District. It is a beautiful area with extensive rice fields, sugar palms with mountains in the background. It’s a lovely, typical Northern Thai countryside with villages, temples, and markets.

The country of the Tai Lue

The next destination is a village of the Tai Lue people who originally come from Yunnan in South China. About 200 years ago, they migrated from Shan State in Myanmar to areas around Chiang Mai, such as Ban Thi and Doi Saket. The Lue people have their own language, but very few people still speak Tai Lue. The alphabet of Tai Lue is similar to the Northern Thai language. We will visit their small museum and make a relaxing bicycle ride through the rice fields. We will stop at several houses where people make rice cakes and small bamboo baskets.

Phet Viriya, the master woodcarver

The last stop today is the workshop and museum of Phet Viriya, called Baan Jang Nak. It is the House of Many Elephants. Phet’s ancestors are Tai Lue from Muang Yong, aka Mong Yawng in Shan State. They are called Tai Yong but are, in fact, Tai Lue. Phet is the master carver of wooden elephants. Baan Jang Nak is one of our favorite places in Chiang Mai and receives few visitors, surprisingly. Moreover, Phet made beautiful paintings depicting the migration of his ancestors to Chiang Mai. After this, it is time to drive back to Chiang Mai. Along the way, we can stop at a small umbrella and parasol factory, if you wish. Finally, we will drop you off at your hotel.