Hiking the Pha Dok Siew and Kew Mae Pan nature trails at Doi Inthanon National Park

9 January 2018

This was a day out from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park, home to Thailand’s highest peak. Instead of visiting the peak of Doi Inthanon, which in all honesty was not too impressive, we hiked two of the most popular nature trails, namely the Pha Dok Siew and Kew Mae Pan nature trails.

Doi Inthanon is located about two hours by car from Chiang Mai. There are many tours agencies offering trips to Doi Inthanon with itinerary that included hiking on one of the above trails. Alternatively, we could hire a private car with guide/driver for the day and customised our own itinerary. And that was what we did.

Our driver cum guide Joy (his full name is Pronchadin Potiya) came with his wife to pick us up promptly at 7.30 AM from Hotel De Nara, a small boutique hotel located within the Old City. It is good to start early to avoid the traffic and also allow more time at the mountain. We travelled to Doi Inthanon in his spacious van that could comfortably fit the 6 of us.

Joy brought us to hike the Pha Dok Siew trail first as it tends to be cloudy along the Kew Mae Pan trail in the morning. Kew Mae Pan sits at 2,200 meters above sea level, just a few hundred meters below Thailand’s highest peak (2,565 meters) and has a panoramic viewpoint. Going in the afternoon offers a greater chance of getting a clear sky at Kew Mae Pan.

At 9.30 AM, about half way to the peak of Doi Inthanon, we arrived at the trailhead of the Pha Dok Siew nature trail. There were already many cars and groups at the trailhead. Apparently, there was some kind of organised event this morning. We met up with a Karen hill-tribe guide that Joy had pre-arranged. It is compulsory to hire a hill-tribe guide (200 THB fee) who lives in this area to lead the way.

We quickly started on our hike before the crowds swamped the place. While Joy accompanied us on the hike, his wife drove the van to the end point of the trail to wait for us.

The first part of the trail involved walking through the forest till we reached the start of a series of waterfalls.  Entering the forest, Joy pointed out interesting things for us to see. 

We passed by a flower plantation that is part of the Royal Project where villagers were given assistance and incentives to do flowers cultivation instead of poppy plants (opium).

White chrysanthemum in the nursery.

We passed a clump of bamboos with holes cut in them. Our guide Joy explained that the local tribesmen hunt for fat, white grubs that lived in the hollow bamboo stems. Thank goodness, there was none seen in the bamboo clumps as I would not be surprised if Joy would want us to try them.

Inspecting the bamboo stems, some with holes cut in them.

A close-up shot of a fearless bird that came up real close to us.

A little bird came up close to us while we were examining the bamboo grove. Its nest must be near and it was trying to draw our attention away from the nest. 

We saw a tree with a cluster of black butterfly cocoons and traces of mole burrows on the ground.

We soon reached the start of a series of waterfall. The trail led us downhill, next to the falls, and was quite steep at some places.  

Long exposure shot of the flowing river.

Bamboo bridge at the foot of the Pha Dok Siew waterfall.

After crossing the river at the foot of the waterfall, we left the forest and saw terraces, cut into the hillside for rice cultivation. If we had come during the rice growing season, we could expect to see rice fields of green or gold. By January, the rice was already harvested and strawberries were being grown on these terraces.

Nice views of terraces on the way to Mae Klang Luang.

The men in Hmong tribes are smart! Women work on the fields while the men do the selling!

We made an impromptu stop at a hut and enjoyed freshly harvested strawberries at a fraction of the price found back home.

20 THB per cup!

Onions are planted at the ends of each row of strawberry plants. The onions attract insects that may otherwise attack the strawberries.

Newly constructed accommodations for tourists.

Approaching the village, we passed by Arabica coffee fields which are cultivated by the villagers instead of poppy. Once again, this is a result of the Royal Project.

We had a nice coffee break once we arrived at Mae Klang Luang. Freshly brewed mountain coffee tasted best after an hour of mild exertions. As a way to contribute to the Karen hill-tribe community, we purchased a few bags of the coffee powder that were on sale at the coffee stall.

We took a walk through the small Karen village to observe their way of life. The huts were mostly on stilts, some with pigs tied below. Unlike my previous visit, there were no little piglets seen. Joy told us these pigs also served as “watchdogs” as they would make noise if strangers approach the huts.

This time round, I learnt about the life in these villages. Many village facilities are actually shared resources for communal use. For example, a tap that supply water to the village, shared public bathrooms and toilets. 

There is also a rice bank in the village. The rice bank operates like a normal bank. Instead of money, rice are deposited into the rice bank and managed by selected village elders. Villagers could borrow rice from the rice bank when they need the rice to eat (e.g. poor harvest) or to cultivate new crops. They have to return the borrowed rice plus interest in the form of rice at the end of loan period. The interest charged by the rice bank is much lower than if the villagers were to borrow money from outside the village. Any “profits” made by the rice bank are distributed to the villagers. This is quite an interesting system to help the village be self-sufficient.

After the brief walk through the Karen hill-tribe village, we drove further up Doi Inthanon to have lunch by a roadside eating place with many food stalls. It seemed that this is the only decent place in Doi Inthanon for lunch. Our lunch consists of local Thai dishes that were pre-ordered by Joy. Everyone in my group felt that the food was better than the dinner we had at the expensive and over-rated restaurant opposite our hotel the previous night.

We arrived at the trailhead of the Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail for our second hike of the day at slightly past 1 PM. Walking the 3.2 km long trail is free of charge (already covered by the National Park entrance fee). For our own safety, hiring a local hill-tribe guide for a small fee of 200 THB to lead each group along the trail is mandatory.

 

Booking in at the ranger’s desk at the start of the Kew Mae Pan trail. Local Hmong hill tribe people who are highly expert on the route are waiting at the side to be hired as guides.

Kew Mae Pan is located at much higher altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and it was cooler than the Pha Dok Siew trail. In fact, a thermometer at the ranger’s station showed the temperature at 17 degree C. 

Signboard showing the circular Kew Mae Pan route with 21 route markers or stations. The trail is 3.2 km long and takes about 2 to 4 hours to complete.

We were each given a light weight bamboo hiking stick by our appointed hill-tribe guide and we followed him and Joy into the first section of the trail.

This section from Stations 1 to 6 is known as the cloud forest, with plenty of moss and ferns. Clouds regularly descend on the forest, providing much moisture to support moss and ferns.

A climb into the dense cloud forest with trees and ground full of moss and ferns.

We soon came to a small waterfall that is not too impressive, except for the fact that the water from this fall eventually flows into the Ping River next to Chiang Mai and then made its way to the Chao Praya River in Bangkok.

Humble Mae Pan Waterfall at Station 3 along the trail. Water from this waterfall that eventually flows into the mighty Chao Praya River, far far away.

Joy, once again, pointed out interesting things for us to see along the trail.

Paw prints of tree climbing bear on the trunk of a moss covered tree along the Kew Mae Pan trail.

Dew drops on moss at 2 PM in the afternoon!

Leaving the forest, we came to a scenic open savannah that marked the start of the second section of the Kew Mae Pan trail.  Although it was breezy, it was not too chilly. In fact, the breeze was perfect for cooling us down after the uphill walk through the forest.

There is a panoramic lookout point soon after. Depending on the weather, one could sometimes experience magnificent views of a sea of cloud below. For those who are unlucky, they may even see nothing but fog!

We were blessed. The sky is cloudy but the cloud ceiling is high.

Station 9 is the panoramic viewpoint. A place to enjoy the views and fresh air.

 

Clouds were rolling in but they were above us and we were lucky to see the nice views below.

Descending from the viewpoint, we soon arrived at a narrow ridge called the Mae Pan Ridge or Kew Mae Pan. “Kew” means Ridge in Thai.

 

There are contrasting vegetation on the two slopes of the ridge. The vegetation on the right side of the ridge facing the wind and sun is stunted. Wind and rain removed the top soil through erosion, leaving poor soil on this side of the ridge. The vegetation on the left side, protected from these hazards, received moisture from the cloud condensation into good soil and are hence lush and green.

 

Hiking along the narrow ridge.

Kew Mae Pan explanation signboard explains the contrasting vegetation between the two slopes.

The weather at the mountain top could change within minutes. Grey cumulus clouds soon rolled by but there was no rain. The rays of light peeking through gaps in the clouds were a sight to behold.

 

Red flowers of the Rhododendron seen only between december and February. 

Many red flowers of the Rhododendron were seen along the ridge. The Rhododendron is one of the plants that can survive the harsh conditions on the right side of the ridge. 

White wild orchid.

We met some young monks along the narrow trail. Monks are respected figures in Thailand. We stood to one side to let them pass us.

We learnt that there was a convention for monks in Chiang Mai, with monks coming from all over Thailand. They had some free time for sightseeing and Kew Mae Pan trail was an excellent outing to enjoy nature and fabulous breath-taking views.

The sight of the King and Queen chedis marked the end of the second and most enjoyable section of the Kew Mae Pan Trail.

King and Queen Chedis as seen along the Kew Mae Pan trail. The mountain in the background has the nickname “Tiger Mountain” because it looked like the side profile of a tiger’s head.

The last section of the trail was through the forest. This was a physically challenging section with a few ascends and descends and stairs to climb. We had to stop a couple of times to catch our breath.

 

Near the end of this section, at Station 20, there is a raised wooden platform for hikers to rest while enjoying the sounds of nature.

Battery almost flat by the time we reached Station 20.

After completing the Kew Mae Pan trail, we did a brief stop at the King and Queen Chedis. These chedis or pagodas were built by the Royal Thai Air Force to honour the 60th birthday anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1987, and the 60th birthday anniversary of Queen Sirikit in 1992, respectively.

 

We enjoyed walking round the beautiful landscaped gardens and the panoramic views from there.

Light shining through a heart shaped gap in the dark clouds as seen from Doi Inthanon.

 

We left Doi Inthanon at about 5.30 PM and arrived back at Chiang Mai at about 7.30 PM. Overall, it had been a great day of hiking at Doi Inthanon. 

 

Trip planning notes:

The Kew Mae Pan trail is opened from 6.00am to 4.00pm (for the last visitor to get in). It is closed during the rainy season, from June to October every year.

Entry to Doi Inthanon National Park cost 300 THB/person for foreigners.

Entry to the King and Queen Chedis cost 40 THB/person.

Hiring a local guide (200 THB) is mandatory to walk the trail.

The journey from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon (one way) takes 1.5 to 2 hours by car or motorbike. Start the day as early as possible to maximise time at the national park.

For a Do-It-Yourself or customised itinerary, it is best to hire a car with driver. Contact for Joy, our excellent guide cum driver: http://www.thailand-private-drivers.com/.