Thailand Outdoor Adventures

Those who use the Internet know there is much more than just looking at the graphics and information on the World Wide Web. The various Newsgroups provide a huge source of information and the opportunity for two way communication. We have observed many people asking about Adventures and Trekking in northern Thailand and some responses given by those internet users who have first hand experience trekking here in Northern Thailand are not totally positive.

We took the initiative to inquire about the problems encountered, the answers varied widely. We have determined that lack of information before visitors selected a trekking agency was the main reason for dissatisfaction. With literally hundreds of options and trekking operators in the Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai area, choosing an operator is a problem for some visitors. For this reason, we are providing a basic checklist for our readers to use when considering a trek.

First and most important is to make sure that the trekking company or guest house you are considering is registered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The TAT has strict guidelines the agency must follow to insure the trekker receives the best service with good reliable guides.

Second, don't rush into a signing up for a trek, use your option to ask questions to become a well informed consumer.

Who will be your guide? Meet and talk with him or her to find out how much they know about your special interests during the trek. A guide who knows nothing about the people or area you are visiting or who has nothing to say at all will not add to the learning experience. How many people will be in your trekking party? This an important question as going into a hill tribe village with 12 or 15 people will be overwhelming. Six persons at most is ideal and if it's possible to afford a private trek so much the better.

• Who are the people in the trekking party?

Meet and talk with the other trekkers in the group. You don't want to be stuck with people for several days you can't get along with. The professional agencies will have an orientation meeting to discuss the dos and donts of various tribal customers, and the area to be visited, the evening before starting the trek.

• What will be the food on the menu during the trek?

A lot of energy will be burned up during the long hours of walking making food very important. It's a good idea to make sure they will bring enough food. The cheapest trek is not always the best as the first expense to be cut back on is food.

• Will the hill tribe children beg for money or will the hill tribe people bother you to buy handicrafts during the trek?

This is one of the biggest problems we hear about. A good guide will teach the children not to beg or bother the trekkers to buy anything. There is nothing more annoying then being bugged constantly for money. It will ruin your whole trek.

• The next question is a trick question or the agency may just tell you what you want to hear. This is the best way to put it: Can I smoke opium or marijuana during the trek?

If they say yes avoid this agency. If you want to get stoned, do it on your own time, in your own country. Doing drugs in a hill tribe village has permanent untoward effects on the children of the village. The children look up to foreigners as wealthy and well educated persons. Some village children see hundreds of trekkers a year smoking opium. They will think that it is acceptable to do drugs and still be well educated and prosper which is false. They actually think that westerners smoke everyday so they can too. The effects are very damaging to a village and it's children. DON'T DO IT.

• How long is the ride in a vehicle until we start our trek?

Some trekking starting points are hours away. If your guide talks to you during your ride actively explaining the area you are traveling through and answering your questions, the ride will be more enjoyable. If you sit in the back of the pickup and your guide rides up front, this may the routine throughout the trek with no input from your guide. Ask your guide to ride with you in the back and tell you where you are and what's going on. He or she is getting paid to meet your needs. Keeping you well informed is one of them.

• Ask for recommendation letters from those who have been on their treks.

Some trekking operators and guides have hundreds of recommendation letters going back many years. Talk with people who have been on the trek and ask questions to satisfy yourself.

For the added plus of elephant riding during a trek expect to be on a route with more trekkers. There are many people who want elephant riding during their trek and only a few areas that offer such service. Do not expect to be the only group in a hill tribe village or area that offers elephant riding. The same goes for bamboo rafting. The treks are still fun and interesting but there will be others.

Many travelers are taking a bus from Khaosarn Road in Bangkok for a low fare. The additional cost is being paid by some guest houses here in Chiang Mai plus the guest houses offer one free night as an added bonus. If you can take advantage of this offer, go for it. Be aware they are more than eager to get you to join one of their treks. That's OK, this is how they pay for the cheap bus fare and the free night.

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Day 1 Tonight at 9 Pm you guide will meet you at your hotel in Bangkok or Chiang Mai and transfer to the bus station for the air conditioned VIP overnight bus to Mae Sot.

Day 2

This morning you will be met at the bus station, breakfast then transfer by vehicle to the small town of Umphang passing a refugee camp of around 40,000 Hill Tribe refugees from Burma. You will have lunch and settle into your bungalows. Your local guide will brief you on the terrain and obstacles you will be facing during your trek. This will also include safety briefing, do’s and don’ts and a white water rafting lesson. Overnight here (B,L,D)

Day 3

This morning enjoy breakfast served on the banks of the Umphang River with it's beautiful morning mist and surrounding mountains. We then board the raft for a leisurely 3 hour journey through canyons with high limestone cliffs and many waterfalls. You should see many families of monkeys climbing the cliffs n the mountain canyons. We will stop and have lunch then raft again to a Karen hill tribe village for the evening. You will have an excellent all you can eat family style Thai dinner prepared for you including fresh fish caught in the very clean river. Your accommodations are traditional bamboo bungalows. Toilets and showers are available here.(B,L,D)

Join us rafting through mountain canyons and jungle on one of the most beautiful rivers in Thailand at Umphang. Lots of waterfalls, rapids, colorful birds and monkeys on this 4 day journey. We stop for 1 night in a hill tribe village and 2 nights camping. From the end of the rafting it takes 2 days to reach civilization by elephant.

Day 4 This morning after breakfast we go for an exciting 2 and ½ hours of white water rafting to our camp site along the river bank. After lunch we raft and hike to another waterfall and return to the camp for dinner and the evening. (B,L,D).

Here in part 2 video we continue rafting on the river, go over a couple of rapids, our guides make cups and spoons out of bamboo, see a beautiful kingfisher, more excellent cliffs and start the tour of the Karen hill tribe village.

Day 5

Today we must use elephants to carry supplies and porter us across streams and marshes. This area is so remote it takes almost 2 days to get to the nearest road. There are no trails so your guides will cut their way through the jungle in some areas. To cross over a mountain range you can ride the elephants if you wish as the trail is almost straight up and down.

Here in part 3 video we finish the tour of the village, do some white water rafting, see monkeys and beautiful Tee Lau Lay waterfall.

The elephants need to use their elbows and knees in some places to get up the mountain. Lunch will be on the trail. Tonight will be camping again along a stream where everyone can clean up and swim. Dinner will be cooked for you here. You guides will have picked many vegetables and herbs from the jungle and other interesting food such as insects, fish and reptiles for you to try. (B,L,D)

Here in the video part 4 we leave our camp site and travel over mountains and streams by elephant through the jungle. We have a baby elephant with us that is very cute. We heard Gibbon in the distance but did not see them.

Day 6 This morning we join the guides in washing the elephants in the stream and breakfast before hiking for about 2 hours to our pick up point then return to Umphang to shower and lunch then on to Mae Sot for the evening bus back to Bangkok or Chiang Mai. (B,L,D))

In this final video we finish our adventure by camping near waterfalls and swim in the beautiful stream. Our guide show how to make a small animal trap and other interesting things out of bamboo. We then ride elephants to our pick up point.

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Day 1

We will meet in Chiang Mai and depart by private air conditioned mini van for Doi Inthanon national Park. We will visit the summit of of the highest mountain in Thailand. We then take a short hike through the real cloud forest. We then travel by vehicle to another trail for a beautiful 3 hour trek trough old growth forest. You guide will show you the different edible plants and medicines. The views are spectacular and animals such as Civet and deer have been seen.

Hiking near Chiang Mai at Doi Inthanon national Park video. This was taken in March when it was well over 40 degrees C. or 100 F. in Chiang Mai. Where we were hiking or trekking it was around a cool 18 C. or 66 F. Beautiful forest, waterfalls and vistas, edible plants and medicines.

We then visit a Hmong Hill Trbe Market then have lunch at the Royal Project with all organic food. We then walk through the Project to a beautiful waterfall, gardens and the Hmong Hill Tribe village. OPTION:30 minute to 1 hour elephant riding before going to the park.

We then go to your bungalow near a Karen Hill Tribe village. Here your local guide and his family will make dinner for you. After dinner you will have a camp fire in front of your bungalow. The bungalow has hot shower and western style toilet.

Day 2

This morning after breakfast at the bungalows we depart by vehicle and travel higher in the mountains for a 6 hour hike. Lunch will be brought with us to eat on the trail. We travel along a beautiful stream with many waterfalls. Return to the bugalows for the evening.

Went with 2 lady visitors to Doi Inthanon Natioal Park near Chiang Mai Thailand.. We first rode an elephant then hiked to a large waterfall and went swimming, visited a traditional Karen hill tribe village and trek through the cloud forest video.

Day 3 This morning after breakfast at your bungalow we tour the Karen hill tribe village visit the school, local coffee shop and trout farm. We then travel by vehicle to a different part of the park near the town of Chom Tong. We travel through beautiful terraced rice fields to Nam Toke Mae Ya waterfall, the largest in north Thailand. Here we will have bar-b-que chicken, Papay salad and fruit for lunch. Then climbing and wading under the falls. Return to Chiang mai.

A few friends of ours had a holiday so we took them to Doi Inthanon National Park and stayed overnight. We visited waterfalls, hilltribe villages, a trout fish farm and Karen hill tribe coffee house where they grow and process their own coffee. Here is the Video.

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What an absolutely incredible trekking experience. We enjoyed our time in northern Thailand greatly, and will have memories of the hill tribe villagers an the jungles surrounding Chiang Mai for years to come. Our two guides were the best we could have ever hoped for and worthy of every recommendation given them in the future. Let them know that we appreciated their help and company immensely.

DAY ONE You will depart Chiang Mai at 9 am by private vehicle and travel high in the mountains 90 Kilometers north of Chiang Mai to an altitude about 1400 meters. Along the way we will stop at a local market to purchase food needed for the trip. We will arrive at a beautiful quiet Lahu village where we have our lunch before we start hiking for about 4 hours in old growth forest trail with tall trees and beautiful vistas to another village and overnight.

DAY TWO This morning after an all you can eat breakfast of toast, jam, eggs, fruit, coffee, and tea we start our journey. Your guide will purchase a live chicken to take along for dinner tonight. We will hike up into the mountains passing colorful hill tribe people working their Tea fields on almost vertical slopes. We will then follow a stream passing many waterfalls as we enter the jungle. We will stop many times to harvest wild fruits and berries along with mushrooms, bamboo shoots, herbs and spices. Your guide will explain the many medical uses for some of the plants growing wild in the jungle.

We will stop at a waterfall to enjoy a hearty lunch the guides brought along for us. One of the guides will travel ahead of us to spot colorful birds, orchids, wild flowers, butterflies, and interesting wildlife to show to us. Around three or four in the afternoon we will reach our camp site where we will spend the evening. Our guides will place banana leaves on a bamboo frame that will be our hut for sleeping. All cups, rice bowls, chopsticks, spoons, and cooking utensils will be made out of bamboo. The rice will be wrapped in banana leaves and placed in bamboo. Vegetables and spices harvested from the jungle and food brought along with us will be placed in bamboo tubes for cooking. Chicken is placed on bamboo sticks and cooked over the fire. While the guides are preparing your delicious dinner, you can freshen up at a nearby waterfall. Dinner is served by candle light.

DAY THREE

After a hearty breakfast we continue through the jungle for a 4 hour hike to our primitive bamboo bungalow in the forest.We will arrive in time for lunch then walk 10 minutes to a waterfall where you can relax for a while or take a swim. The back to the bungalow where you can make your own cups and bowls from bamboo, your guide will instruct you. You will then learn to prepare and cook Thai food for dinner. Dinner and overnight here at the bungalow. Cold beer and soft drinks are available for purchase to drink around the camp fire.

Day Four

This morning after a nice breakfast we walk along a stream for 3 hours to a nice village where you will visit the school and have lunch. Our vehicle will meet us here for the ride back to Chiang Mai and your hotel or guest house.

Day Four This morning after a nice breakfast we walk along a stream for 3 hours to a nice village where you will visit the school and have lunch. Our vehicle will meet us here for the ride back to Chiang Mai and your hotel or guest house.

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You can easily cover many kilometers in a day without getting tired because you spend more time looking then walking. You pay more attention to the sounds and beauty of the forest so you discover many wonderful things you would normally miss if just hiking. As you read this article you will learn more about Doi Inthanon than just birds but also about the environment in which they live. BIRDS OF DOI INTHANON, Chiang Mai Thailand. Of the total of 382 species of birds so far known from Doi Inthanon, at least 266 species are resident or were formerly resident on the mountain. The status of a further 12 species is unclear, but breeding is suspected in many of these. The remainder ( 104 species) are nonbreeding winter visitors or passage migrants. If the known distribution of species is examined in relation to ecological zone, it can be seen that by far the highest species total has been recorded in the moist, tall hill evergreen forest lying between 1500 and 2000 meters (Zone 2). While this may be partly due to coverage (some other vegetation types, for example, pine forest, are less frequently visited by birdwatchers and certainly support a few more species than recorded here) this nevertheless does appear to accurately reflect the real differences in bird species diversity among these various zones. The small area of hill evergreen forest above 2000 meters (Zone 1), has probably been covered even more intensively than Zone 2 and although it supports a number of rare and local high elevation species which are not found elsewhere, it yet supports fewer species overall than does Zone 2.

A surprisingly large total (139 species) has been recorded from deforested areas and cultivation above 1000 m (Zone 4). However, only 59% of the species in this zone are resident, compared with 78% in Zone 2. Fewer species still have been recorded from the deciduous habitats (Zones 6 and 7).

Black-Throated Sunbird Doi Inthanon is of particular conservation importance for those species which inhabit the moist hill evergreen forests of the upper slopes. Some, such as the Chestnut-tailed Minla and White-browed Shortwing, which are abundant around the summit of Doi Inthanon, occur in Thailand only on those few higher mountain summits which have considerable areas of hill evergreen forest above 1800 m. Doi Inthanon contains the only significant protected populations of such species in Thailand. The Ashy-throated Leaf-Warbler is found nowhere else in Thailand while an endemic race of the Green-tailed Sunbird (Aethopyga nipa/ensis angkanensis) is also completely confined to the summit of Doi Inthanon. Both species are among the more abundant birds found around the summit of the mountain.

Doi Inthanon comprises some of the tallest and best preserved montane forest found anywhere in the entire country. The predominance of massive, huge-boled trees may be of particular significance for trunk-foraging species such as the Brown-throated Treecreeper. The profusion of epiphytes and the lush, moist understorey also contribute to the great variety of foraging niches for small, insectivorous birds.

Many larger birds, such as the White-winged Wood-Duck and most hornbills, have probably been extirpated due to hunting pressure. Great Hornbills were last reported by Dickinson (1964) and although a single Rufous-necked Hornbill (a species which is threatened throughout its world range from the Himalayas across to Northern Indochina) was reliably seen as recently as 1986, it is however, appear to have fared better: Black Eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle and Mountain Hawk-Eagle are all frequently seen. Although both galliformes and pigeons have also suffered adversely from illegal hunting, some species are still fairly common .

Doi Inthanon National Park near Chiang Mai Thailand is by far the best birding area in the Kingdom. Our local guide lives in the Park, speaks English very well and knows the locations of various birds. This saves you valuable time thus seeing more species per day. There will also be time to enjoy the hill tribe villages and hiking on beautiful trails.

Here is a list of the birds that I spotted at Doi Inthanon between Nov. 2005 and March. 2010. It will give you a good idea of what you can see on a 2 day trip to the park. We provide transportation to, from and in the Park from Chiang Mai Thailand. A guide from Chiang Mai and driver will also go along with you. Because of the different altitudes from 100 to over 2000 meters, a wide variety of species can be seen.

Here is a video of some of the colorful birds found in Doi INthanon National Park Thailand. Included are the Golden Throated Barbet, Chestnut-crowned Laughing Thrush, Green-tailed Sunbird, Siberian Blue Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, Maroon Oriole, Grey-chinned Minivet, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Common Buzzard, Red-throated Flycatcher, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Grey Wagtail, Blue Whistling Thrush, Grey-backed Shrike, White-throated Kingfisher, Flavesent Bulbul, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, Dark-backed Sibia, White-capped Water Redstart, Dark-sided Thrush, Duarian Leafbird, Blue-throated Barbet, Blue-winged leafbird, Pied Bushchat, Plumbeous Redstart, Short-billed Minivet, Black-crested Bulbul.

Bird video I took of birds at Doi Inthanon. Got a real good shot of the Blue-whistling Thrush and Green-tailed Sunbird. Other birds include the Grey-cheeked Fulveta, Asian Emerald Cuckoo (female), Blue-winged Leafbird, Grey-eyed Bulbul, Rufous-backed Sibia, Scarlet Minivet, Ashy Drongo, Ashy Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Pale-blue Flycatcher, Blue-throated Barbet, Crested Serpent Eagle and Barn Swallow.

Accommodations are in a clean Bamboo Bungalow with private toilet and shower. Meals will also be provided to meet your taste. You will be given the colorful Birds of Thailand field guidebook along with a Doi Inthanon Birds Checklist.

Includes:

• Airport or train station transfers in Chiang Mai,

  hotel in Chiang Mai before and after the birding trip if needed.

• Transportation by private air conditioned vehicle

  throughout the birdwatching trip.

• 2 nights in the park in comfortable

  bamboo bungalow with private bath, double occupancy.

• English speaking experienced local birding guide

  who live in the park and knows all the birds by sight and sound and knows

  where that special bird you want to see resides in the park

• All meals, breakfast, lunches, and dinners.

• All entrance fees and taxes.

• This is a private bird watching tour for a group

  of 6 persons.

• Colorful Thailand

  field guidebook along with a Doi Inthanon Birds Checklist.

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