The trails are back open! But the schools aren’t

Ahh, beloved Doi Suthep – the temple that sits at the very top of Chiang Mai. When the pollution isn’t bad, you can see it from just about every spot in the city. It’s gold, shiny, and hard to miss.

As for getting there…

Most people just drive straight to the top, like I’ve done before. Actually, a lot of people don’t know about the trail as it’s kind hard to find. I got a lot of funny stares from just ~emerging~ out of the jungle, and running across the road only to crawl back over a tree.

To get to the trail, known by locals as the “Monk’s Trail” you have to first hike halfway up to a temple called Wat Pha Lat. I’ve only ever hiked that far before today. The rest of the hike is a straight SLOPE, and you have to climb a little. AKA going down was V difficult.

My favorite thing about this hike is that the second half of the trail is pretty hidden. Once you go past the first temple and reach the road, you have to hop the rail guard, run across the road, and then hop another rail guard.

It’s fun, beautiful, and definitely tiring (in the best way)!

Wat Pha Lat temple