Meeting the Challenges on Our 1 Day Trekking Tour, Chiang Mia, Thailand

In order to see and learn more about the culture and beautiful scenery in the Chiang Mia area, we signed up for a 1 day tour with a company called Wendy Tour in the city. We were up early at 6 a.m. this morning as our tour bus was picking us up between 7:00 - 730 a.m. at our hotel. Det, our hotel owner was kind enough to offer us a quick breakfast before we headed out for our adventure in Chiang Mia today. We were happy staying at this small hotel with such an attentive owner who went out of his way helping us during our stay here.

We were picked up in a mini van right on the dot and travelled with 8 other tourists from Italy, Spain and elsewhere. It was a mixed group from Europe. The tour guide asked us to fill in a form requesting our name, gender, age and our passport number for insurance purposes.

When the form was passed back, I noticed that we were the oldest people taking part in today's trekking activity!

On our way to the national park, our car stopped at a pit stop for a washroom/coffee break - another good way to experience the services in Thailand.

Our first destination was the Doi Inthanon National Park, known for waterfalls, hiking trails and being home to Thailand's highest peak. Though no comparison to our Niagara Falls in Canada, the Wachirathan Waterfall was quite a beautiful sight. We learned that Thai people love their kings and queens. To show respect and love for their king, this national park and the falls were named after the King who did many good things for the Thai people.

Our group stopped there for a few minutes and took some nice pictures and off we went for the main part of the activity for today - a two hour trekking in the forest within the National Park.

We were glad that our guide decided to take us trekking in the morning as the afternoon could be too hot for this activity.  Each one of us was given a walking stick which would be like our third leg on this hike, our guide told us. Another thing he warned us was to make sure we should always stay in the same group and do not  wander away by ourselves .

Like a group of obedient students, we followed our guide  staying close to him. He shared with us many interesting stories about this mountain and the people living on it.  We walked on mud paths, climbed muddy stones to reach higher grounds, going up and up. We descended on narrow stairs built on the side of the mountain, passing by no less than three beautiful waterfalls.

Our guide also helped us to see the different vegetations as well as spider webs hanging over our heads. He demonstrated to us how to differentiate the water filled vines, providing precious water to thirty stricken mountain people, from a poisonous vine but looking similar to the life saving one. We learned a lot about nature and the precious resources offered by the mountain to its people!

The two hour trekking was not a piece of cake but we were proud that we were able to keep up with our fellow tourists who were half of our age! To some people, age is just a number. If we are determined to do something and work hard at it, most of the time we will be able to achive our goal despite our age!

RT, Trekking Tour Around Chiang Mia, Thailand 2025