Tag Archives: Doi Phahompok

Doi Phahompok National Park

I almost forgot to include a post about the remaining part of Doi Phahompok National Park. You can read the first part here.

The most popular part of Doi Phahompok National Park (Thai: อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยผ้าห่มปก) are Fang hot springs located nearby the town of the same name. The springs are very picturesque as they are located next to the mountains. On a large meadow there are randomly placed rocks of various sizes – all natural. The hot water comes to the surface and creates ponds of different shapes and sizes. The larger ones were adapted for egg boiling. We can buy a pack of eggs, submerge them in the hot water, wait for about 20 minutes and eggs are ready to eat. This way they will also contain minerals from hot springs and therefore they should be healthier.

There are few large pools with hot water available for visitors (the water is not too hot so that entire families can enjoy) as well as private hot spring cabins with round shaped stoned bathtubs. The private cabin costed 50 baht per person (about 1 euro) per hour for min. 2 people (a single person could use a private cabin by paying for 2 people).

The national park also contains some waterfalls. Unfortunately, most of them are localised in areas that are hard to reach (the roads are steep and unpaved). At the beginning I followed the way to one of the waterfalls recommended by a park ranger but eventually common sense took over and I turned back. I have only visited easily accessible Pong Nam Dam waterfall – maybe a small one, but not without its charm.

Doi Phahompok National Park (A – ticket booth, B – Kiew Lom camp ground, C – Fang hot springs)

Doi Phahompok – The mountain top

Doi Phahompok (Thai: อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยผ้าห่มปก) is the second highest mountain in Thailand (2,285 MSL) located in Chiang Mai province, not far from Fang city. It is not too popular among tourists – usually only locals go there. In order to reach the mountain top, it is necessary to use 4WD or a motorbike. The road is dirt and very challenging. One time I went up on my faithful 125 cc Honda Sonic (just take a look at photos, how dusty the road is!) and another time I went on the back of a local’s pick up truck. Outside of the season (the season goes from December until February) almost nobody comes here.

Before reaching the camp site, it is worth taking a small detour to the left, a little bit after the ticket booth (ticket for foreigners – 400 baht, about 9 euro, ticket for Thais  – 40 baht, about 1 euro) in order to see the Huai Bon cave. The cave entrance is rather small, but the cave goes on for 324 m and the corridor is anything between 2 and 25 m wide. Inside the cave, one can find many interesting rock formations, not to mention the abundance of stalactites and stalagmites. There are no lights whatsoever inside the cave so it is necessary to bring your own torch (flashlight). There are few other smaller caves in the area, but there are no signs pointing their exact location. Rarely people come to visit Huai Bon cave – I was the only visitor there. After seeing the cave, it is time to move on.

By going up, we reach a camp ground – the highest in Thailand (1,924 MSL). One can easily rent a tent. During the season, there is also a working restaurant here. There is a 3.5 km trail that allows us to reach the mountain top. The trail goes up almost all the time and can be challenging for some. The park rangers said that it takes about 2 hours to reach the summit. For me, as I am an experienced hiker, it took only one hour. First time I woke up at 4 am to reach the summit for the sunrise at 6 am, but instead I have reached the peak at 5 am and I waited over one hour for the sunrise (at that time I was also the only tourist – really the only one who was spending a night there). The second time I knew that it will take me only 1 hour to reach the summit so I started my hike later.

“Doi Phahompok” means “mountain with a flat top” and so it is – the top offers great views in all directions. The peak has 2,285 MSL, so in the morning we are above the clouds and the rising sun comes out of the sea of clouds. When we look to the west, we can see the border with Myanmar (Burma, and further into the country) and military outposts on the mountain tops. A little to the southwest one can see Doi Ang Khang (which I covered in the previous posts) if the weather is clear enough.

Doi Phahompok National Park offers other attractions nearby – famous hot springs and few waterfalls. I will cover these in the next post.

On the way I have made a stop at one temple, which houses the 300 year old wooden Buddha image – it is quite unique, and therefore, worth seeing.

Don’t forget to check out the second post about Doi Phahompok National Park by clicking here.

Doi Phahompok National Park (A – ticket booth, B – Kiew Lom camp ground, C – Fang hot springs)