I’d been craving a particularly big adventure, so last weekend Jack and I headed to Chiang Mai to book a tour to Doi Inthanon. We hadn’t seen much of the beautiful natural wonders in Thailand so this was long overdue. I wanted some waterfalls, damnit!
Since haggling is a part of everyday life here, we weren’t sure if we should book online or see if we can get a cheaper price at a travel agency. Turns out tours are one of the few things that are not haggleable—lesson learned. We paid about $33 each for a full day (9-5) group tour, which seemed reasonable enough anyway and turned out to be well worth it!
Doi Inthanon is known as “The Roof of Thailand,” being its tallest mountain at 2565m (8415 ft) above sea level. It is named after Chiang Mai's last sovereign, King Inthawichayanon, who worked hard to preserve the forests in the north.
The company picked us up at our hotel at about 8:30 in an air-conditioned minibus, where we met another couple (the woman was Thai and the man Turkish). After picking up a Chinese woman and her son, a couple from France, and a couple from Bahrain (as our bus represented almost all corners of the globe), we headed out. The drive to the mountain was about an hour and 15 minutes (~65km away).
The first place we stopped was the Sirithan Waterfall:
And we saw our first bit of wildlife, this fuzzy little monster:
Unfortunately our guide Amy wouldn’t let us climb down to the base. She said only the local hilltribes know how to safely get down there. But our next stop was a Karen village of Baan Sop Had so maybe I’ll ask them for myself.
Most of the Karen people live in Burma, but about 400,000 live in Thailand, making it the largest hilltribe group by far. (And actually, the term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion, or material characteristics. Huh.)
The pace of life is much slower here, especially when it’s so hot.
The primary crops for this area are coffee and rice.
But the primary export is smiles (nyuk nyuk):
Amy informed us that tribe life has changed a lot since the addition of electricity in the village, but a lot of the women still spend their days weaving.
Before leaving, we headed into the shop where we could buy clothing, bags, and scarves made locally. Amy showed us a white dress that is traditionally worn by a Karen woman until she is married. Then she gets to wear all the pretty colors!
Shopkeepers keeping busy:
A few quick shots of cuteness and we were off:
The next stop was the Wachirathan Waterfall, and it was of course amazing. This one actually had a lot of trails available so we could walk all around it and cool off in its mist. Carefully though—three people have died by trying to take pictures here and falling in.
Next we made our way to the highest spot in Thailand (turned out to be a 45 minute drive farther still up the mountain), where we were welcomed by elephants. The journey from here was foggy, mossy, and mystical.
Also at the top of the mountain is the King Inthanon Memorial Shrine, where a plaque explains:
It was wonderfully cool up here, but unfortunately there is no lookout point because it is so dangerous (and foggy). Our next stop was the pagodas of Naphamethanidon (‘by the strength of the land and air’) and Naphapholphumisiri (‘being the strength of the air and the grace of the land’)—say those names three times fast. These pagodas were built for the current king and queen’s 60th birthdays by the Royal Thai Air Force. Their massive beauty is truly a testament to how much the Thai people love their King and Queen. Even though it was very foggy, they were incredible!
We visited the queen’s pagoda first:
Around each pagoda is a gorgeous garden, and this one was getting some work done:
The King’s pagoda:
Our final stop on the tour was The Royal Project market. Long ago, many people would grow opium on the mountain even though it is illegal. The King knew that if he cracked down on this problem, many people would lose their livelihood so he gave them an alternative. He provided them with free seeds to start growing flowers, fruits, and coffee and taught them modern agricultural practices. Now they have their own market as well as selling things in the city.
After a bit of shopping, we headed back to Chiang Mai. The day was incredibly exhausting by totally amazing. Time to relax to this evening view from our hotel:
Since haggling is a part of everyday life here, we weren’t sure if we should book online or see if we can get a cheaper price at a travel agency. Turns out tours are one of the few things that are not haggleable—lesson learned. We paid about $33 each for a full day (9-5) group tour, which seemed reasonable enough anyway and turned out to be well worth it!
Doi Inthanon is known as “The Roof of Thailand,” being its tallest mountain at 2565m (8415 ft) above sea level. It is named after Chiang Mai's last sovereign, King Inthawichayanon, who worked hard to preserve the forests in the north.
The company picked us up at our hotel at about 8:30 in an air-conditioned minibus, where we met another couple (the woman was Thai and the man Turkish). After picking up a Chinese woman and her son, a couple from France, and a couple from Bahrain (as our bus represented almost all corners of the globe), we headed out. The drive to the mountain was about an hour and 15 minutes (~65km away).
The first place we stopped was the Sirithan Waterfall:
And we saw our first bit of wildlife, this fuzzy little monster:
Unfortunately our guide Amy wouldn’t let us climb down to the base. She said only the local hilltribes know how to safely get down there. But our next stop was a Karen village of Baan Sop Had so maybe I’ll ask them for myself.
Most of the Karen people live in Burma, but about 400,000 live in Thailand, making it the largest hilltribe group by far. (And actually, the term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion, or material characteristics. Huh.)
The pace of life is much slower here, especially when it’s so hot.
The primary crops for this area are coffee and rice.
But the primary export is smiles (nyuk nyuk):
Amy informed us that tribe life has changed a lot since the addition of electricity in the village, but a lot of the women still spend their days weaving.
Before leaving, we headed into the shop where we could buy clothing, bags, and scarves made locally. Amy showed us a white dress that is traditionally worn by a Karen woman until she is married. Then she gets to wear all the pretty colors!
Shopkeepers keeping busy:
A few quick shots of cuteness and we were off:
The next stop was the Wachirathan Waterfall, and it was of course amazing. This one actually had a lot of trails available so we could walk all around it and cool off in its mist. Carefully though—three people have died by trying to take pictures here and falling in.
Next we made our way to the highest spot in Thailand (turned out to be a 45 minute drive farther still up the mountain), where we were welcomed by elephants. The journey from here was foggy, mossy, and mystical.
Also at the top of the mountain is the King Inthanon Memorial Shrine, where a plaque explains:
In March 1915, Chao Dara Rasmi, the royal consort of King Chulalongkorn [Rama V], went on an excursion to the peak of Doi Inthanon and ordered to erect here a memorial shrine in which to deposit the ashes of [his] father, King Inthanon, the 7th ruling prince of Chiang Mai (19870-1897).
In 1975 the Air Force built a small chedi next to the shine in commemoration and in honour of H.M. the King.
On 20 May 1986, a group of northern princes and their descendants, monks, Air Force personnel and ordinary citizens jointly built a new shrine over the base of the old shrine which had broken down.Some people say that King Inthanon’s ashes are here, but our guide Amy said the shrine is just symbolic.
It was wonderfully cool up here, but unfortunately there is no lookout point because it is so dangerous (and foggy). Our next stop was the pagodas of Naphamethanidon (‘by the strength of the land and air’) and Naphapholphumisiri (‘being the strength of the air and the grace of the land’)—say those names three times fast. These pagodas were built for the current king and queen’s 60th birthdays by the Royal Thai Air Force. Their massive beauty is truly a testament to how much the Thai people love their King and Queen. Even though it was very foggy, they were incredible!
We visited the queen’s pagoda first:
Around each pagoda is a gorgeous garden, and this one was getting some work done:
The King’s pagoda:
Our final stop on the tour was The Royal Project market. Long ago, many people would grow opium on the mountain even though it is illegal. The King knew that if he cracked down on this problem, many people would lose their livelihood so he gave them an alternative. He provided them with free seeds to start growing flowers, fruits, and coffee and taught them modern agricultural practices. Now they have their own market as well as selling things in the city.
After a bit of shopping, we headed back to Chiang Mai. The day was incredibly exhausting by totally amazing. Time to relax to this evening view from our hotel:
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