ON THE TOP OF DOI INTHANON

Oh, what a beautiful day this was.

We were on a daytrip in DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK,
situated about an hour from Chiang Mai centre. We were picked up at our hotel and driven around the national park for a whole day, but the highlight was no doubt the beautiful temples, this breathtaking sight of the King and Queen Pagoda, iconically placed on the top of a mountain, close to the absolute highest spot in Thailand.

This beautiful purple buildning above is the QUEEN PAGODA.
Our guide Diamond said it was because the queen liked purple. I can understand why.

Oh and the gardens!

The darker one is the KING PAGODA.

I don't know if brown is his favorite colour though...

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During our tour, we also got to see two waterfalls,
WATCHIRATAN WATERFALL...

...and the SIRITHAN WATERFALL...

...both of which was... well, it's not really worth doing any detours just to see them.
If they're on your trip, fine, if not - make sure that you get some more time at the Pagodas instead because 40 minutes, the time we had, was good, but we could have easily stayed the double.

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Our last stop was THE ROYAL PROJECT,a plantation founded by the King and Queen.
It was great!

...Not because we were particuraly intrested in the gardens after the disney-esque temples on the mountains, but because it was time for a coffeebreak.
They grew their own coffee there so we bought each of us an ice latte.

Maybe it was the scenery. Maybe it was the sun and the heat and the chance to sit in the shadow for a while and enjoy a cold drink, but I still long for just one more sip of that ice latte. 

(This'll probably be my last time writing
since Jonathan most likely is going to kill me
after publishing this photo...)

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ABOUT THIS TRIP 

OUR TRIP INCLUDED:

SIRITHAN WATERFALL
KAREN HILL TRIBE VISIT
WATCHIRATAN WATERFALL
HIGHEST PEAK IN THAILAND
NATURE TRAIL
VISIT THE ROYAL PROJECT

It also included entry fees, guide, lunch by the Watchiratan waterfall, insurance and pick up and drop off from hotel.



WE PAID:
1150 THB per person.

- We chose a Group Join In- tour via Travelhub (this is the link to our exact trip), partially because it was cheaper, but also because it gave us an opportunity to meet people and gather travel inspo.



TIME NEEDED:
This was a full day tour that started about 8:30 and finished about 17:00.

- We could have shorten it at least half an hour by skipping the Karen Hill Tribe. We were sceptical about this one from the beguinning, since we really don't care about homemade garments, and also because there is a debate whether or not it's ethically OK to make the tribe people a tourist attraction. We chose not to take pictures of this part.



OUR THOUGHTS:

We thought a planned and guided daytrip was a great way to see the national park. Our guide was very familiar with the surroundings which gave the trip an extra depth that you might miss out on if you just hire a taxidriver to drive you around all day.

Still, we met people that had done just that and they were very happy with it, so the choice is up to you. As long as you'll be standing on that mountain with the bright colored garden behind you and the breathtaking scenery in front of you, you'll be fine.

If we were to do it again, we might have taken a taxi just to see the parts we actually wanted to see and stay as long as we like, but this trip suited us fine for this time. The price was good, it was conveinient, it was comfortable - and don't forget those mouthwatering ice lattes.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO
DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK?


WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS
THE BEST WAY TO EXPERIENCE IT?


TELL US IN THE COMMENTS!