3 Days Chiang Mai Hmong and Karen Ethnic Culture Tour with Doi Inthanon National Park

We highly recommend this trip to all nature lovers who would like to take it easy while enjoying the unique flora and fauna surrounding the highest mountain in Thailand. Some easy trekking is involved, but nothing difficult which makes this trip suitable for everyone. A great way to explore Doi Inthanon national park Thailand!

You learn about traditional Karen and Hmong hill tribe communities, their farming methods and taste their food. You explore the lush jungle and stop at some amazing waterfalls, and to wrap it all up, you have a day full of exciting water sports!

TRIP SUMMARY:

Area: Doi Inthanon National Park, Mae Wang | Fitness level **

Day 1

We pick you up at 7:30 AM from your accommodation in Chiang Mai and drive to Doi Inthanon national park. On the way we make a short stop at a local market to stock up on anything we might need during the two days in national park.

Once inside the national park, our first stop is Mae Ya waterfall, a huge cascading waterfall. This is a great place for a break from driving, you can stretch your legs and enjoy the scene.

From the waterfall we keep driving towards the peak of Doi Inthanon. Before we reach it, we stop at King’s and Queen’s twin pagodas, and have a walk in the arboretum surrounding the pagodas. Then it’s straight to the highest point in Thailand where we enjoy misty and cool air at high altitude. We have a lunch break.

Then we drive down the mountain to a trekking start point and trek to Mae Klang Luang hill tribe village where we have dinner and spend a night in jungle bungalows. This is a great chance to learn about their culture and taste their traditional food.

Day 2

We have breakfast and then set off to explore the traditional Hmong and Karen hill tribe villages around the headquarters of Doi Inthanon national park Thailand. We trek for approximately two hours and also visit Royal Agriculture Project, which is our King’s project to help local hill tribes grow organic produce instead of producing opium. We also visit another big waterfall and take a lunch break before we leave Doi Inthanon national park and drive towards another national park – Mae Wang.

Spicy Villa Eco-Lodges are our stop for the evening. Before dinner you have a cooking class and learn to prepare a couple of traditional northern Thai dishes from organic, fresh ingredients, picked at our organic farm. You spend a night in a jungle hut.

Day 3

After breakfast we drive down to the Mae Wang valley for a fun day of water sports!

We go bamboo rafting, river tubing and canoeing. Depending on the season, some of these activities might not be available due to low river volume or too dangerous rapids. Your guide assesses the situation, to make sure everything is safe for you.

If more than one of the activities is not available, you visit a local elephant camp instead at no additional charge.

You can also visit the elephant camp if all of the activities are available, but additional charge of 40 USD per person applies.

We have lunch before driving back to Chiang Mai city.