Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls (Pt. 3)

We were all finished with trails and only had some waterfalls we wanted to see on the way before we left the park. Before visiting the waterfalls, we decided to stop at the Park Headquarters as there were some food stands there and we wanted a small bite to eat since we just had some rice for lunch. So we grabbed some spring rolls, ate them up and went on our way.

The first waterfall we stopped at was the Sirithan Waterfall (which is depicted by waterfall with the "1" in the map image). The cool thing about this waterfall is that if you look through the trees, you can see the waterfall begin way earlier than where the viewpoint is. Unfortunately, the boardwalk down to the river was closed for repairs, so we weren't able to see this one from another angle. But nonetheless, that was one waterfall down!

Next up was the Wachirathan Waterfall. This waterfall was cool because the viewpoint was rather close, so you got to feel all the mist coming from the falls. It also had a path that went down to the river, so we were able to see a bit of where it flowed to. A nice surprise to this waterfall was the Cafe that was located by the parking lot. Although it was closed, it provided us something we desperately needed. Our initial plan was to drive back to where we stayed the previous night (as it was close by), borrow their WiFi, and load the Google Maps back to Chiang Mai. But this Cafe had a WiFi Network and the password clearly visible, so we just used theirs instead. So now we had the route back to the car rental at the airport loaded up and ready to go!

The last waterfall we wanted to check out was the Mae Ya Waterfall. Now this one was a bit different to the others as you had to leave the Park and enter from a different checkpoint to access it. But based on the map of the Park, it didn't look like it was too far away (or so we thought). We had to stray from our loaded Google Maps route, but there were clearly labeled signs directing us to the waterfall, so we weren't worried. As we drove, we realized that this waterfall is much farther than we anticipated it to be, and if it wasn't for the signs to the waterfall, we probably would've thought we were lost. Finally, we arrived at the waterfall and enjoyed its view! It was definitely the coolest of the three, so it kinda made going out of the way worth it.

There was just one issue now, getting back... It seemed after going off route for so long without internet, something happened and the route we preloaded on Google Maps had now disappeared. Now there was definitely some stress and worries between the two of us because we lost our route, but not all was lost. Thankfully, Sarah had screenshotted the steps for the route that Google Maps provided. Additionally, one of the reasons we got a rental car was because we read about how easy of a drive it was from Chiang Mai to the Doi Inthanon National Park. It was pretty easy to get back to where we turned to go to Mae Ya, so we got back there and started going off of the steps. With Sarah's masterful navigation and Noah's expert driving, we made it back to the Chaing Mai Airport just fine and were able to give back the car just in time for its 7pm return time.

After that, we took a taxi into the city of Chiang Mai and to the hotel we would be staying at that night. It felt so nice to check-in go for a dip in the pool and then go grab some Pad Thai in a nearby restaurant. After quite the long day, we both headed to bed!Meer informatie