Villages and Bamboo Forests: Trekking in Northern Thailand

Here Andrea explores traveler expectations and how an influx of tourism can affect the authenticity of local experiences. She also introduces one of our new tours — a natural trek meant to explore the beauty of Northern Thailand …

Ten years ago trekking in Northern Thailand was a pretty amazing experience. You could often walk for a day, passing through villages and seeing waterfalls and jungle, truly feeling you had escaped into another world. Sadly, in the last 10 years that experience has become something of a myth.

Villages that used to be surprised to see tourists now dress in traditional costume and set out souvenir stalls each morning. The increase in tourism in Thailand has changed the landscape in Northern Thailand, literally. Rice paddies are making way for shopping centers and small villages are becoming tourist hot spots.

As villages took advantage of the tourist numbers and the sale of their culture became commonplace many guests became disappointed in the experience, feeling as though they were pandered to and not getting a true feel for authentic Northern Thailand.

I felt we were caught in the middle — if we visited the more tourist-oriented villages guests were able to see the traditional hill tribe costumes and cultures, but they were also pressured to buy locally made products and often felt uncomfortable. However when we visited villages not set up for tourist visitors the hill tribe members dressed in jeans and t shirts were a disappointment to visitors and not the image they were expecting.

For a while we even stopped trekking in Northern Thailand as we just felt our guests would not be happy with the options available. In the last few years though we’ve been able to discover some new places and we have added some treks and jungle experiences, including bird watching, to our repertoire.

This last week I was able to try out one of our treks with my mom, Nicole and my kids. It was a pleasant surprise and I’m excited to be able to offer it to our guests. While you don’t get to see day to day life as much as we do in Laos and Cambodia, it is a good look at hill tribe villages and I think a balance between the tourist traps and seeing the “real thing”.

Above all else is was a wonderful opportunity to see rural Thailand and the beautiful bamboo forest. Here’s the description that will be included in future itineraries for those interested in trekking the bamboo forest:

Your guide will meet you from your hotel at 7:30 a.m., as this early start allows you to get on the trail before it gets too hot. Drive two hours to Chiang Dao where you will start your walk. I highly recommend a stop at a roadside coffee shop…an iced coffee or Chai Yen helps get you moving! Once in Ban Pang Tong  you’ll be dropped at the end of a dirt road. Hike up the road as your guide tells you about different flowers and birds you see along the way.

At the end of the road is a lovely village of the Lao Ho people. Here animism is still practiced and the local people are more wary of visitors and can be shy. Your guide will show you the different style of homes and you might get some shy waves from the kids. Leaving the village you’ll climb a steep hill for some amazing views of the rice fields and the village from above…don’t worry, this is the steepest hill of the day. Walk for a while in the sun seeing the fields and how the hill tribes survive through agriculture.

You’ll stop for a break in a farmers hut overlooking the valley and then as you continue walking you’ll enter the bamboo forest.

This beautiful area has a peace and calm about it as the bamboo rustles and groans and birds call. Walk this track and feel free to ask the guide questions or just soak up the beauty of your surroundings. Along the way you may see villages collecting wood, cutting down bamboo or hunting.

After a couple of hours you’ll emerge into a valley with huge limestone cliffs towering around you and fields of rice and corn on either side of the trail.

Follow the path into a Karen village and meet some of the locals to see their home and have a break after the walk. In this village there are often hill tribe women selling souvenirs, but they aren’t the Karen, who are a more shy and reserved group, but rather the Akha from a nearby village, who are much more outgoing and interested in the tourist market. From here you have a few options: Option 1: Pick up bicycles and continue on to a Palong Village as well as a beautiful rides through the flatlands of Chiang Dao, seeing water buffalo, rice fields and day to day traditional Thai life. You will be met by your van at the main road after a two hour bike ride.

Option 2: You will be met in the Karen village by your driver and taken to the nearby caves where you can explore by lamplight with a local guide.

Option 3: Visit a local elephant camp, one of the oldest camps around and say hello to the elephants before taking a one hour bamboo raft down the river. After a day of trekking this cool ride is a relaxing a refreshing end to the day.

On our trek, we went with option 2. We had a late lunch at a local restaurant famous for its pork and Phad Thai and then the kids loved exploring the caves and seeing the local temple.

We all fell asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel! It was a great day and Peo, our guide, was a pleasure to be around. He spent time telling the kids about what we were seeing and doing, but also giving us space to just take it all in.

I’m pleased that we have a trekking option that I think really highlights the best of the hill tribes in Chiang Mai. It isn’t a costume parade, but you get a sense of life in the rural countryside and you get to really experience the beauty of the country. Also, my kids had a great time and didn’t cry once! Totally a win!!