Chasin’ Waterfalls (Day 4)

Day 4: Pang Ung – Mae Hong Son – Maeaukoluang Waterfall – Doi Inthanon

This was our kilometre day, we had a lot of ground to cover. We were headed to Surin waterfall but along the way stopped in Mae Hong Song off Hwy 108 to restock on water and visit the local market. We both love the local markets for many reasons: you can usually have a small sample to try things, it’s cheap and it’s very cultural. We continued on to Surin but when we got to the intersection and saw it was another 20km just to get there we opted for a smaller waterfall, Maeaukoluang, that was 1km away. It was beautiful with multiple levels and different pools to swim in. No one else was there so it was a more intimate environment, if you know what I mean. There was large washroom facilities there that were not functioning but probably do in high season.

We had the intention of camping at Doi Inthanon National Park but didn’t know whether the campsites were, at the summit or base? So we headed for the summit at 2565 MSL (meters above sea level) where the temperature was quickly approaching 10 degC in the evening. The summit was definitely worth seeing and we wished we went earlier so we could have went into the Thai National Observatory. They also had a temple up at the summit where one of the previous Kings bones were kept as well as a Neutron Monitoring Station that was off limits to us;what is that anyways?? We watched a beautiful sunset from the highest point in Thailand but knew we should get on our way since we still had to find a place to sleep! We went to the national park where camping cost 60 THB and to rent two mats to sleep on was 40 THB. This campground was right in town and definitely would not have been the normal place we would stay but it was really dark and late, plus we were exhausted. Also there was no campfires allowed or cooking facilities so we went into town to get some delicious Thai food for 80 THB. 

Expenses: 550 THB = $20 CAD
Distance: 279.1 km

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