What to do in the rainy season

Posted by admin on May 21st, 2007 filed in Attractions, Day trips

The rainy season has definitely arrived, it’s rained every day so far in May and we’ve hardly seen the sun, five more months to go! It might be risky to plan a multi-day excursion into the North but there are plenty of great outdoor areas very near the city for a quick outing in between rain.

I love living in Chiang Mai because I can jump on my motorbike and be in the forest within 15 minutes. Many people here never leave the suburbs, some sad old lifestyling ex-pats can’t even make it out of the old town where they are limited to cheap guest houses and bars full of money-sucking girls. What a shame. Day trips from Chiang Mai

The most obvious escape is Doi Suithep and Doi Pui, and you needn’t go much further than the zoo to enjoy the great atmosphere of Huay Kaew Waterfall. But if you drive/ride a bit further up the road towards the temple (about 5 mins) you’ll see there are several more smaller waterfalls on this same stream, and Thai students love going there. It’s a great place to chill out and have your own private spot. You can also go into Monthathal waterfall (after 5pm so there is no one at the gate to charge you 200 baht!) which has a big hiking trail up to several tiers of waterfall and eventually pops out at the forestry head quarters just above the temple.

But there’s so much more to the Chiang Mai area. For example everyone knows the Mae Sa valley with its elephant back riding and waterfall and various attractions, but the Mae Rim valley nearby has some wonderful backroads to explore by bicycle among the rice fields. The road to Tard mork waterfall is particularly wonderful and it’s easy to find dirt roads and trails to follow into the forest. More on Mae Sa.

But one of my favourite areas (because it’s close to my house) is behind Wat Doi Kham near the new night safari. There is a closed valley with a small village there and some great trails that lead up the side of the mountain following small streams. If you look carefully and explore you can find some excellent nature trails that lead up streams to some good picnic spots.

On the other side of the valley, in Mae On, is probably the most potential for exploring, far more interesting than the big mountain of Doi Suithep, because it has many small hills and undulating landscape. You need to poke around abit, aimlessly ride down coutnry roads towards the hills, starting in the village of Mae On, just off the road going to the Sanpkampeng caves.

In these foothills are plenty of reserviors with dirt roads around them and endless trails to explore on foot. You have to explore a bit to find them, there are several, but it’s not easy to explain how to find them. All the same there are loads of places to take a walk and discover some delightful streams, little waterfalls and picnic spots that no one else knows about.

Another great excursion which is quite popular and under-used is Ob Kham national park, which is about 40 minutes drive away, south of the city. Follow the canal road South for about 20kms from Suithep (ton payom) market and look carefully for the sign to turn off on the left. Then drive for another 10kms descending down to a river that runs through a small gorge, set about with grassy picnic areas, amenities and an ideal river for a summer dip! Often you will find Thais here but it never gets crowded. It’s Chiang Mai’s best kept secret.

You can also go camping. In addition to a camp ground on top of Doi Pui, there is loads of public land which you can go exploring and find a private site in the hills or national parks, where you can pitch a tent overnight and really feel like you are out of the city.

The great thing about Chiang Mai is that one minute you can be in a modern shopping mall and then within 30 minutes be in an environment that seems completely remote, so that you wouldn’t even think there is a city nearby. Even in the rainy season you can suddenly plan an afternoon excursion when you have a sunny day and soon be in nature without much fuss.