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Thailand Mountain Trail has spent several years to investigate the most remote mountain trails in Northern Thailand before creating an important network of hiking footpaths. Thanks to our extensive knowledge of these mountain areas and our long relationship with local people, our company is the only one in Chiang Mai to organize trips and bring runners in these remote tribal areas.
This 2-day trip will lead us to the middle of TMT.1 route in the heart of the Karen areas, the most important ethnic minority living in Thailand. We will run through beautiful valleys and villages on wild footpaths in remote areas that only our guides know. At night we will eat and sleep in local families in typical bamboo huts. Running with TMT is a unique experience both on and off the trails!
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRIP
7'500
PICK UP AT YOUR HOTEL (8.00-8.30 AM)
MAE SA VALLEY (30 MIN TRANSFER FROM TMT)
JUNGLE, RICE PADDIES
KAREN VILLAGES & LOCAL FAMILY
HUAY NAM SAI (1H TRANSFER TO TMT)
DROP OFF AT YOUR HOTEL (5.00-6.00 PM)
ALL INCLUSIVE
SEE DETAILS (LINK)
5-6 HOURS RUNNING DAILY
60% SINGLE TRACK / 40% DOUBLE TRACK
AVAILABLE ALL YEAR
RECOMMENDED TIME: JULY > DECEMBER
We start our running trip by hiking up in the mountains on a steep ascent until we arrive at a couple of Hmong settlements. Leaving the fields, suddenly we enter a wild jungle. It’s a long crossing until we reach a new valley. Emerging from a long stretch of jungle and seeing the horizon opens again is a fantastic feeling; it’s like taking a sudden lungful of air after a long period of holding your breath.
It’s a long and wild part in the jungle; sometimes we even have to find our way or to make it with a machete. It’s a special atmosphere we enjoy until the first rice fields. After 20 kilometers in the jungle, we finally reach the first rice paddies carved into the hillsides, like huge staircases of greenery. Crossing the terraced rice fields is an obstacle race for tired runners. To run across the strips of grass without falling, one has to learn how to keep balance.
When we see the first roofs of the village, the Karen village of Mae Kha is not far away. It’s a wonderful place to stay overnight. People live simply and are happy to welcome us; they live in deep contact with nature. After enjoying a deserved shower directly at a waterfall, we will share a meal for dinner with local families. We will sleep in comfortable wood houses beside the rice fields.
In the morning of the 2nd day, we particularly appreciate the unique scenery on fields and valleys at sunrise while having breakfast. We quit the village with regret by one of its mountain slopes, gradually leaving its wattle and daub roofs behind us. We run again through rice fields and up to the mountains until Wat Prabat Si Loi. This sacred temple is known for its 4 Buddha footprint; it’s a quiet place and a majestic temple surrounded by green nature.
The 2nd part of the day brings us deeply into the Karen areas. We run on a beautiful and long double-track path down the valleys and enjoy some nice scenery on the green hills. Soon we are in larger valleys surrounded by tropical forests and rice fields. Only a few people live there, but if we are lucky, we will cross local people in the fields or in a small Karen village in lovely wood houses.
The route is flat for a couple of kilometers and gives us the opportunity to run softly and relax our heavy legs. We need it before entering a new wild bamboo jungle, the last part of the trip and the last difficulty to tackle with. Finally, after we leave the jungle, the view opens again, and we can observe the high 8ountains further up. That’s where TMT.1 route continues, but for us this is the end of our trip.
MAE KHA PIANG (KAREN VILLAGE)
The Karen village of Mae Kha Piang is one of the most beautiful villages we know in Thailand. And hopefully it is not visited by any tourist. Arriving there after a long 1st trekking day, we will immediately appreciate the quietness, the freshness as the beauty of this village surrounded by jungle and rice paddies. We will spend the night with a family we have known for 10 years and who we have built our own bungalows with. The cold shower, the welcome and the smile of its people, the delicious food and the night in local wood houses will leave an unforgettable memory and give us strength back before the 2nd day of our trip.
