10 steps of the Mae Sa Waterfalls

It was a Sunday morning in late April and was not so nice, there were these horrible black clouds rolling around the mountain tops right out-side Lanna House, we had ordered sunshine for our stay but it was not to be.

What can anyone do on a dark and rainy day?

The Mae Sa Waterfalls in Chiang Mai offered a solution, minibus packed with lots of carrier bags for the cameras off we went down into Chiang Mai then up the Mae Rim- Samoeng road to the falls. At the base there was coffee and BBQ chicken for all then off for the long hike to the top, luckily as we had no umbrellas the wonderful staff loaned them to us.

The rain wasn’t too bad by now but the river was running at rapid speed due to the earlier heavy rainfall and quite orangey brown in color, the wind was blowing but we were fairly protected by the heavy forest looming overhead.

Cameras at the ready we trudged on to conquer the 10 falls ahead of us along the hand made footpath of concrete and rocks cut into the mountain side. The earlier falls due to the sheer volume of water were exhilarating and as we climbed then did become less intent, if you suffer any heart disorders or muscle strains don not go you will never make it.

The trek to the top, whilst exhausting, was well worth it and so much to see on the way up, even local Thai’s picnicking under the overhanging rocks massive trees some of which were very impressive with their winding trunks of many parts.

As we neared the summit the rain stopped, blue skies sprinkled a little sunshine through the undergrowth. Coming down was the easy bit giving us much more time to view the Wild Orchids, some amazing crazy shaped trees, Tarzan vines and so much more.

A great couple of hours or so rain or not, whilst it is cooler in the mountains under the trees the rain was warm enough to be comfortable and the plastic bags did an excellent job for the cameras.

Well worth a visit especially if you get a sunny day.