Doi Inthanon

From Chiang Mai we took a great day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park.

Doi Inthanon is Thailand’s highest point, at 2,565 metres, and was about fifteen degrees cooler than Chiang Mai. The very steep drive into the hills even found us a little breathless at times as we wandered around.

It was a very pleasant walk around some of the trails near the summit, before we moved on to the Twin Royal Pagodas.

These stunningly beautiful structures, overlooking the valley, were built in 1987 and 1992 to celebrate the 60th birthday of the then King and Queen. The interiors, also, are beautifully decorated.

A third pagoda is under construction; apparently it will house some Buddha relics.

On our way back down the mountain we stopped at a couple of villages, or at least markets built alongside the road, pulling up conveniently adjacent to places to buy things.

We also took a walk alongside some rice fields, which come complete with farm stay cabins should you wish to commune closely with a lot of insects.

After a final village demonstration, a lady weaving cloth while seated on the ground most un-ergonomically, we drove to Wachirathan Waterfall.

Or, actually, the waterfall came to us. It bucketed down for our entire visit to what was a quite spectacular viewpoint. At least, though, there were no crowds.

The driver, who had barely used the wipers during earlier showers, had them cranked all the way up to “intermittent” as we headed for home.

All that was left after this was to try and stay awake for the easy drive back to Chiang Mai, where some sundowners and dinner awaited.Read more