Visit the rice fields of Ban Pa Pong Piang and Doi Inthanon

Day 1

• Reception of guests at the hotel at 7:00 a.m.
• Journey to Doi Inthanon National Park (about 1 hour 20 minutes).
• Magnificent trekking (hiking) for about 1 hour 30 minutes through the jungle, rice fields, and cultivated plantations of the Karen people, accompanied by our local Karen guide.
• Arrival of the trek at the Karen village of Ban Mae Klang Luang and tasting of local coffee prepared by the Karen.
• About 40-minute drive to the terraced rice fields of Ban Pa Pong Piang, regarded as the most beautiful rice fields in Thailand.*
• * Note: In Thailand, rice is transplanted at the beginning of July, grows tall and green by late August, turns yellow in late October, and is harvested the first week of November. For the rest of the year (from mid-November to the end of June), the structure of the rice fields remains beautiful but there is no rice growing in them.
• Around 12:30 PM, lunch at a traditional Thai restaurant.
• Journey to the summit of Doi Inthanon (the highest point in Thailand – 2565 meters) with its breathtaking panoramas.
• Stop at the Thai National Observatory (TNO) and at the chedi dedicated to Prince Intha Witchayanon, the last king of Chiang Mai, whose ashes were transferred near the summit in 1897.
• Hike on the Ang Ka Nature Trail (about 400 meters at 2500 meters altitude): this stunning walk of about 30 minutes lets you discover a type of high-altitude moist rainforest, also called Himalayan forest, which is truly exceptional. The humidity and coolness enable incredible vegetation to develop, consisting of numerous ferns (20 species, including the endemic Araiostegia fuberiana known as the "Ang Kha fern"), mosses (including amazing sphagnum mats), and epiphyte plants which give the area a slightly mystical aspect. Many birds can be seen here, in particular the unique green-tailed sunbird (the only recorded population in the world lives here in Doi Inthanon!) and the very rare grey-faced warbler (the only population in Thailand lives in Doi Inthanon!), along with many passerines, woodcock, rusty-throated barwing, etc.
• Visit to the famous 2 chedis of the King and Queen (km 41). The first chedi (Phra Mahathat Naphamethinidon, meaning "by the strength of the earth and air") was built in 1987 to honor the 60th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). The second chedi (Naphaphone Phumi Siri, meaning "to be the strength of air and the grace of the earth") was built in 1992 to celebrate the 60th birthday of Queen Sirikit.
• Visit a market set up by the White Hmong. The Hmong sell fruits, vegetables, and their traditional products: mountain honey, fruit wines, candied fruits, bamboo worms, etc. (15 minutes)
• Visit Wachiratan Waterfall, one of the most impressive and beautiful waterfalls in northern Thailand and the country.
• Return to your hotel in Chiang Mai around 6:00 p.m.