Chiang Mai Travel Guide -> Sightseeing -> Mae Sa Valley

 

 
About 30 minutes by car outside of Chiang Mai lies the pretty mountain resort of Mae Sa. Organized tours are offered, but it is more fun to go on your own. You should leave Chiang Mai at about 9 am. You will need either a rental car or a motor bike as public transportation is not frequent. 

Mae Sa lies in the mountains north-west of Chiang Mai. If you are driving yourself you have to travel south on highway 108 and turn to highway 1269 after about 16 kilometers (follow the signs to Mae Sa). Follow this road around Doi Pui until you reach Mae Sa Elephant Camp , located on the banks of a small river. Their daily elephant show starts at 9.30 am, so if you left Chiang Mai at 9.00 am you should be there in time. 


Bathing Time at mae Sa Elephant Camp
The camp is large, they have more than 70 elephants (and as many mahouts). At the beginning of the program the elephants are bathed in the river. Take care, the adult animals sometimes try to give the spectators a "shower" from their trunks. There is also always at least one baby that tries to scramble to the riverbank to beg for bananas or sugarcane (offered for this purpose from a couple of vendors to the visitors). After bathing comes the show where the animals perform in a large arena uphill all kinds of tricks, like standing on their hind legs, moving teak logs around, and so on. After the show comes the nicest part- visitors are invited to take an elephant ride - you can book either half an hour or a full hors, the latter is recommended. (The cost is 1000 Baht per elephant; two adults can sit on one). 

Being carried up the hills into the rain forest, perched high in a howdah, is an experience that you should really not miss. The elephant walks slowly, the mahout sitting on the neck, hums a little song to the animal, but otherwise it is quiet and you can listen to the birds singing and the cicadas chirping. Beautiful butterflies can be watched, especially after the beginning of the rainy season. You will probably be sorry when the rise is over!


Jungle Ride
After the visit to the elephant camp drive on to the Mae Sa Resort; it offers flower gardens, handicraft workshops, a restaurant and guesthouse (from its terrace you have a good view of the valley), a massage therapy center, and more. The flowers are for the visitor from the northern hemisphere nothing special (but for Thais of course fascinating and exotic!) - snapdragons, tagetes, cosmos,. delphinium, etc. but they are nice, of course. Walk around, bathe your feet in the brook that runs through the resort, browse through the shops and have a small meal at the restaurant, before you return to Chiang Mai. 

On the way back is the Mae Rim Orchid Nursery that grows a variety of vandas, dendrobiums (including fragrant ones!), phalaenopsis, and so on. The entrance is 20 Baht and the flowers are really beautiful, so it is worth the money. You can buy orchid seedlings in flasks, but do this only if you are sure you home country will not put them under quarantine, the little plants would not survive this. (By the way, the seedling will take 4 to 5 years before they flower for the first time). Also offered is a large selection of gilded orchids, used as costume jewelry. 

On the other side of the road is a butterfly farm that you can also visit if you like to. Farther down the road you will see advertisements for the Mae Sa waterfall, though outside the rainy season it is more a trickle than anything else - but check yourself if you want to be sure :-) 
 

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Last Updated 10.02.2007

Designed, Created, and Administered by INM InterNet Marketing Agency. Copyright Photos, Text, and Design 1997 - 2007. All Rights Reserved. Please read our Copyright Notice and our Disclaimer ! Webmaster
Last Updated 10.02.2007
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