| Cover
story: 10 Apr |
Vol.
25 No. 1 |
Soft
Adventure Tours |
At
Mae Wang National Park |
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Chiang
Mai is one of the most important provinces of the north.
A large number of tourists from around the world visit
this province all year round. Chiang Mai is an old city
with a long history. That's why it has become the centre
of the Lanna works of art, artefacts and culture.
What's more, Chiang Mai's topography is mostly forests
and mountains with rivers and streams in abundance,
so it is considered a paradise for not only nature lovers
but also adventurers who love to go jungle trekking,
elephant trekking or rafting.
(Photo by courtesy of TAT)
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Mae Wang County, only 35 km from Chiang Mai city, is
an interesting destination suitable for tourists who
are fond of the beauty of nature and love to experience
a soft adventure.
(Photo by courtesy of TAT)
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Mae Wang National Park
Straddling several national forest reserves covering
around 700 sq km, Mae Wang National Park is in Doi-lo
Sub-county, Chiang Mai Province. Types of forests found
here are mixed deciduous forests, deciduous dipterocarp
forests, hill evergreen forests and coniferous forests.
Wildlife seen here are mammals, reptiles, amphibians,
aquatic animals, birds and butterflies.
Popular tourist activities are trekking, rafting on
bamboo rafts along the Mae Wang River and elephant trekking
to be embraced in the verdant forests.
Let's get a soft adventure at
Mae Wang National Park.
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Topography
Mae Wang National Park consists of mountain ranges of
Mount Thanon Thongchai stretching from north to south.The
park is situated at the height of 400-1,900 metres above
sea level with Doi Pha Tang as the highest peak. This
mountain is a source of three rivers, viz. the Mae Chaem,
the Mae Wang and the Mae Tuen, all of which flow into
the Mae Ping River.
Attractions
Pha Cho Cliff is a natural phenomenon
occurring when the Mae Ping changed its course several
hundred years ago, resulting in the large and beautiful
30-metre-high layers of sediment.
Pha Cho Cliff |
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Kiu Sua Ten, situated only 1 km from Pha Cho,
is another natural phenomenon.
Pha Daeng Cliff is a famous tourist
attraction in Mae Chaem County. Travellers have to walk
to the cliff on which are engraved ancient alphabets
of unknown age.
One of the beautiful waterfalls that
are waiting to welcome you at
Mae Wang National Park.
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Mae Wang Waterfall This charming one-leap waterfall
is 20 metres high and 10 metres wide. It serves as the
source of the Mae Wang River. The pool here which has
water all year round is suitable for swimming.
Mae Puai Waterfall The fall is about
25 metres high and 35 metres wide. It is excellent for
those seeking tranquility because this is a secluded
waterfall.
Pong Samit Waterfall is accessible
only by foot. The fall is about 25 metres high and 5
metres wide with water all year round.
Pha Mon Waterfall This large waterfall
has three leaps with a height of 30 metres and a width
of 25 metres. It is accessible by cars all year round.
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Tat
Mok Waterfall This one-leap waterfall is the
source of the Mae Tuen River.
Mount Pha
Tang is 1,909 metres above the average sea
level. The weather is cool throughout the year. It rains
occasionally in the cool and hot seasons. Mount Pha
Tang is a sheer cliff facing constant strong winds,
so no plants can grow here.
Pong Cho Reservoir
at the lower part of the park offers visitors a scenic
view.
In addition, other waterfalls such as Pla Duk
Daeng, Pong Noi, Khun Puai and Muang
Ang are also beautiful.
Recommended Activities
Rafting along the Mae Chaem River
The Mae Chaem River is to the north of this national
park. Along both sides of the river, you will enjoy
studying deciduous forests.
Rafting along the Mae Wang River
The Mae Wang is a long but not wide river with some
isles and rocks amid the swift current. Degrees of
difficulty are only 1-2 which is more suitable for
bamboo rafting than the dinghy rafting. Its shady
scenery will make you feel relaxed. A rafting trip
on a bamboo raft takes about one hour. Two to four
passengers can go on a raft with the steersman at
the bow of the raft.
Along the rafting course are luxuriant forests. This
makes rafting a form of joyous natural study. This
is different from trekking on foot in that travellers
can feel the cool water splashing on their bodies
when the raft passing rocks. Rafters can admire the
scenic landscape along the rafting course as well.
They will get to know plants, birds, insects, butterflies
and several kinds of fish. All these are pleasurable
rewards given by nature.
Rafting along the Mae Wang River can be operated
all year round except in the rainy season (June -
October) when the current is very strong and too dangerous
for rafting.
Elephant Trekking at
Mae Wang
An interesting activity when you are in Mae Wang County
is elephant riding. Swaying on an elephant back slowly
lumbering through the forests under a mahout's control
is a kind of pleasant travelling. This activity is
suitable for everybody. Riding on elephant back allows
you to get close to nature like trekking but you will
not get too tired due to walking.
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You can reward the elephants with
bananas for their cuteness.
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Anyway, it can't be said that riding on elephant
backs is totally comfort. There are times when elephants
lumber up or down hills and the passengers on their
backs will have to get a good grip on the howdah and
balance themselves well in order not to fall off.
Also, the passengers have to dodge from branches of
trees and plants brushing against their heads. Sometimes,
some elephants will walk off the trail to eat some
leaves. The mahout will let them do so for a while
and then drive them back onto their track.
At some points, the elephants will have to cross streams.
The playful ones who love playing in the water will
stand for a relatively long time in the streams and
use their trunks to spray water to their passengers.
So, be prepared to get wet as well. The charm of the
forests makes time fly so fast that you will forget
that one hour has passed already.
Tourists having a good time on elephant back.
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After coming back to the starting point, the elephant
camp will prepare a large amount of bananas for tourists
to buy for the elephants. These lovely and clever
elephants will linger near the bananas and raise their
trunk in front of them in a cute manner to ask for
the fruits. Almost all tourists can't help falling
in love with them and buy several hands of bananas
for these jumbos.
In conclusion, when you are in Chiang Mai and would
like to go into the forests but have limited time, Mae
Wang National Park is a recommended place. It takes
only one hour to travel from Chiang Mai City to the
park. For your convenience, please contact a travel
agent to arrange everything for you. See lists of travel
agents on pages 50-52.
Special thanks to Chiang Mai Municipality for arranging
a press tour to Ching Mai
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