To anyone with plans of visiting Thailand someday, the North is a must. While I would recommend taking the journey from Chiang Mai to Lampang to everyone, the drive off the beaten path is NOT for the faint of heart.
If I began to try and explain this drive to anyone, I would fall short every single time of how incredible it was. At first, I was skeptical on taking this route, or even going at all due to the ascends and descends of this narrow, winding, unforgiving road. And for a first time motorbike driver, the recommendations would have fallen very short from an outsiders perspective. SORRY MOM.
But I'm so happy we decided on going. Being on a motorbike driving through the mountains showed me a huge sense of self that I hadn't had prior. It was difficult, it was scary, but the little voice in my head kept repeating "keep your wits about you." And after a while, I found myself smiling and giggling like a wild hyena when my confidence got stronger, with the wind smacking me in the face as I persisted on.
The views; the foliage, the greenery, the mountain ranges in the distance were unlike anything I have ever seen. The Thai countryside is breathtaking. Driving through tropical forests, small villages, and sharing the road with the locals who would smile and wave, beep and shout in awe as we passed one another were huge highlights!
One of my favorite parts about this trip was that we decided to go the day of, after we realized that the hostel we stayed in the previous night would hold our big backpacks overnight.. so, we booked the only hostel that was available for same day booking in Lampang then took off on our bikes at around 10am. With little expectations of anything, little knowledge of the journey we were about to embark on, under packed without our big backpacks that we left for dead in the middle of another hostels hallway two hours away, but fuck it, we said, let's do it.
How To Get There
There's a few ways to get to Lampang, but with not much going on in this town, I found that the journey up was the reward. You can take busy highway 11 to get there which is a lot easier, but you would be driving to a place with little expectation other than a quiet area with no more than a bunch of temples dotted around.
The road that we decided on, took a fair amount of patience and effort to figure out how to get to. Google Maps will take you on the highway, while Maps Me, on another, more scenic highway route. In order to find the locals way, that has no numbers nor real street signs, you have to play around with Maps Me*. First, from Chiang Mai, you have to put in a point of interest to be taken to, then from there, put another point of interest. etc. and eventually Maps Me will give in and bring you down the beaten path.
With all said, a rental car is an option, BUT a motorbike is your best bet as these roads are narrow with sharp turns. Plus, I'm not sure you'd be able to get that same sense of liberation while sitting in a car.
Points Of Interest
- Forrest Cafe
- Mae Kam Pong Waterfall
- Chae Son National Park
- Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat (this is the last stop before getting to Lampang, they stop driving people to the top at 4:30 pm and the last time to get back down to the parking lot is 6pm.. you'll want at least an hour and a half when you get to the drop off at the top, as there is a bit of a foot trek to get to the peak once you're dropped off)
Points of interest were far and few, which gave us more time to spend enjoying each place!
We drove through Chae Son National Park, and are we glad we stopped to wander! This park has natural hot springs that aren't your typical, hot tub hangout. The locals actually boil their eggs in them! There's also a waterfall in this national park, as well as a river that you can explore and cool off in!
first photo - Mae Kam Pong Waterfall
second photo - For Rest Cafe (photos do NOT give this place justice!)
Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat - this place was incredible. All of these photos are at the peak of a mountain. The pagodas you see in the second photo are said to have been carried up piece by piece by a local monk and about 50 workers around a decade ago. This place was so quite you could hear a pin drop, at times it felt like we had it all to ourselves!
Good To Know
- Patience, diligence and ZERO self doubt are required in order to survive!!! Just kidding, you'll survive but have confidence in yourself or you're fucked
- With all the stops in between, depending on the time you spend at each location, your trip will take about 7-9 hrs before arriving in Lampang
- That being said, BRING WARM CLOTHES, I can't stress this enough, you will inevitably be driving after sunset when the air gets cool and the wind digs into your bones... we made that mistake and were in absolute misery from being so cold
- The only time you're going to see a foreigner (westerner) is at Mae Kam Pong Waterfall, other than that, it seemed we were the only tourists, other than the occasional Chinese tourist, around during our entire trip, which we loved
- You can make this a day trip from Chiang Mai, but in doing so I would say your best bet is to leave at around 7am and expect to get back around 8pm.. I wouldn't recommend this option, but it's viable
* Maps Me is an app that allows you to download the map of the area in which you're visiting so you don't need service on your phone to get navigation
If you have any questions at all, or need more guidance if you plan on taking this journey, don't hesitate to reach out!
xo, dani
