General
This is a perfect tour for mountaineers who enjoy challenging treks. While, for the most part, this is a difficult uphill trek, you will be rewarded with spectacular sunset and sunrise at the peak and stunning views of surrounding mountain ranges covered in a sea of mist in the early morning.
Please note: This tour is only available from 1st November to 31st March. The rest of the year, the trails are closed.
Day 1
Your guide picks you up at 07.30 am from Chiang Mai. We then drive for 45 minutes to a local market to get supplies for the trek. Afterwards, we continue to drive for another hour to Chiang Dao cave. On the way, we make a short brunch stop and see how locals cook sweet sticky rice with coconut milk in bamboo.
We explore the caves for 45 minutes and afterwards continue to drive through the jungle and uphill to the other side of Chiang Dao mountain until we reach our trekking start point where we have lunch.
We start trekking at 1,100 metres above sea level. We hike uphill; the trail is steep to sloped with some flat areas. We trek for about four hours and a half (about 6 and a half kilometers) until just below the peak of Doi Luang Chiang Dao where we set up our tents and have some refreshments.
Before sunset, we do a short climb to the peak which takes 25 minutes. At 2,225 meters above sea level, we enjoy the views at sunset. We might be lucky and see the sea of fog below us. After sunset, we hike back to our camp area, have dinner and spend the night.
Day 2
Today, we wake up before sunrise and trek for 45 minutes to the peak of the another mountain to watch the sunrise from there. Enjoy the stunning views at a break of a new day. We have a cup of tea or coffee with the sunrise.
When we’re ready, we return to our campsite and have breakfast before we start trekking. We first trek back on the same trail for about an hour until we reach an intersection and take a different trail for one and a half to two hours to national park’s headquarters (8.5 km).
Here we have lunch and meet our driver who will take us to our next hiking start point about 10 km away. We hike for about one and a half hour to Lahu tribe village with mountainous landscape surrounded by tea gardens.
We have dinner and spend the night with the villagers at 1,200 meters above sea level.
Day 3
After breakfast, we hike for about one and a half hour on a dirt road surrounded by jungle and take a small trail to visit a waterfall on the way. We also have lunch at the waterfall and boil water in bamboo for our tea or coffee. After lunch, we continue hiking for another 45 minutes to our pick up point at the local village.
We drive back to Chiang Mai for about one and a half hour.