September 24th, 2019
Today is our last full day in Thailand and this part of Asia! We go to Nepal tomorrow, home to some of the world’s tallest mountains. As it turns out today we decided to prepare for this by visiting Thailand’s highest peak. Our friend Tiara found a free yoga class in the morning that we decided to go to. We had some hiccups getting out and on our motorbikes; by the time we got to the class it was totally full. We tried to find a space and still do the class but neither Brendan nor I were feeling It, and somewhat quickly decided to sit it out. Tiara then also stopped and said we should go get breakfast instead. I felt bad for her not to finish the class, but she insisted so we went to breakfast.
After that the three of us hit the road to Doi Inthanon National Park. I thought it was only 1.5 hours away, but it turned out to be closer to three hours away. It was a really long ride. The park was totally huge (with little villages inside etc.). There were all kinds of signs for waterfalls, hiking trails, and hot springs. I should have done more research before we went so we could have had a better plan on what we wanted to do. It took so long to get there; we basically just drove all the way to the top so we could get the summit view.
It was really cold up there! This was the coldest I have been the entire time we have been in Asia. It was very cloudy, and the view was less than spectacular. Five km from the top are twin pagodas with nice gardens around them. We went there and took some pictures and by that time we pretty much needed to get on the road again to go back and return the bikes before the shop closed at 6pm.
I wasn’t that impressed with the park especially for the cost to get in (almost $12 a person) and for how far away it was from Chiang Mai. If I had planned it better and we were able to experience more of what it had to offer, maybe my opinion would be different. However, if you only have a day to do a trip out of Chiang Mai I definitely think going to Chiang Rai to see the white temple is your better option.
We were so tired by the time we got back, we had one last dinner together at a street food market then we packed and got ready for our early morning flight.