Frequently asked questions | Chiang Mai Trekking | The best trekking in Chiang Mai with Piroon Nantaya

I am looking for a unique and non-touristic trekking tour - do you offer such tours?

Absolutely yes. You are looking for an unforgettable trekking adventure in Northern Thailand that is truly unique and authentic and no mass event that any given tour company is offering?
You have found it!
Chiang Mai Trekking is offering the best trekking in Chiang Mai - with the knowledge of more than 30 years as a trekking and tour guide. Start an absolutely amazing trekking adventure and delve into some of mother natures finest art with us.
Learn more abour our trekking tours.
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I am travelling alone - is there the option to join a group for a trekking tour?

Yes. If we have another group doing a trekking tour (that is not booked as a private tour) you can of course join them. This might also result in a lower price for all participants (depending on the final size of the group). Just let us know, when you would like to book a tour and if another group is booked for the same departure time and duration you can join them.
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Do you only offer 3-days/2-nights tours or can I also book a 1-day or 2-days-1-night trekking with you?

You can book your preferred duration with us. The 3-days/2-nights tour is our most booked tour but we also offer daytrips or 2-days/1-night trekking tours or tours with more than three days. You can choose your preferred duration when booking a tour with us.
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Do your tours start on specific days only?

No. We plan all our tours to match our participants personal preferences. That is one of the many reasons that make our trekking tours very special: we will tailor it to your personal wishes.
Let us know when you want to start and how long you would like to explore the nature with us. If you would like to join another group, a good idea is to give us more than one day for your preferred starting date.
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How long in advance will I have to book a tour?

We usually suggest to book about 4-6 weeks ahead.
Of course you can also ask for a tour with only two or three days ahaed oro for the next day but take in consideration: the shorter the time you ask ahead of your preferred starting date, the more difficult it might be to put together a tour for you or find a group that you can join.
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Do you offer tours in other languages than english?

It depends. We can contact freelancer tour guides that speak german or spanish or french. They are not employees of or company but have been working for us before when needed, so they know our routes. Please contact us some time in advance so we can make sure to book the freelancer guide early enough.
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I will arrive shortly before the trekking or leave right after the trekking - can you give me a ride from/to the airport?

It depends. It is part of our service to assist you in getting from and to the airport or bus/train station to our office. Please let us know in advance if you arrive just shortly before your trekking tour. If time allows, we will pick you up. If we can not arrange it in time: the cost for a taxi from the airport to our office is about 170 THB (TukTuk about 130 THB).
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Can I leave my luggage (e.g.: suitcases) somewhere while going on a trekking tour with you?

Yes. You can leave any luggage that you don't want to carry with you during the trekking with us in our office. We will keep it safe until you return from your jungle adventure.
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Is it possible to get vegetarian, vegan or halal meals during a trekking?

Yes. Please let us know any restrictions for the meals in advance so we can make sure to organize everything to cook your meals to match your personal wishes.
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What amenities can I expect at the villages in the middle of the jungle?

Do not bring a princess. We want to offer an authentic experience of the very simple life of the hill tribes so do not expect any amenities like in a hotel. There is no electricity, no hot shower (other then water being warmed by the heat of the sun) and the shower is simple (do not expect high pressure of water like in the city) as are the toilets and there is no single hotel-like room with a wonderfully soft bed with shook up pillows waiting for you - you will fall asleep on a basic mattress with a moscito net in a simple dorm... you are in the jungle not in a hotel.
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We are a family with children. Is a trekking tour suitable for us as well?

Yes. We will meet you before the trekking tour and pick a route that will suite all participants. We have had many guests with children at all ages (even with small babies). Your children will have a great time exploring the jungles with us.
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We are elderly people but consider ourselves to be fit. Will we be able to go on a trekking tour with you?

Yes. We will meet you before the trekking tour and pick a route that will suite all participants. As long as you are fit enough to walk about 5 km with some uphill and downhill and are a good walker we can find a route that will let you enjoy your tour with us.
But please also take into account the weather conditions - on hot days a trekking tour can be exhausting, on rainy days paths can be slippery.
Contact us some time in advance, so we can make up details.
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Will I see many wild animals during the trekking tour?

Do not mistake a trekking tour for a safari tour like in Africa where the main objective is to see wild animals. Our trekking tours are not safari tours. We will guide you through the amazing and lush nature of Northern Thailand. You might be lucky and spot a few wild living animals along the way and we will be happy to explain sights and sounds to you if so.
You will have the chance to meet a small elephant family living with the hill tribes that we visit. You can feed the pachyderms or take a bath with them and wash them in the shallow river (depending on the tour you book).
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You offer meeting elephants during your tour - are the animals treated well?

The main thing you must know first:
Elephants are not trainable like dogs when it comes to obeying commands or stay where they are told to. Knowing this is important when wanting to meet the small elephant family.
The elephant family that our guests usually meet during our 2-day and 3-day trekking tours are living in the middle of the dense jungle with the Karen villagers. The elephants are allowed to walk freely at night and most of the day. They will be brought to the small camp some time before we get there and the mahouts will have to make sure that the pachyderms don't wander off into the jungles again - hence the elephants will be tied until we are there and meet them.
Although the small elephant family is having some routine in meeting our guests, taking a bath with them and enjoy being washed by the guests there will be times that the pachyderms are a bit tenacious and the mahout will have to raise his voice in order to get the elephants to follow the mahout to the river and lay down in the shallow water. By raising his voice, the mahout does not want to scare the elephant - he simply tries to get the attention of the animal.
We do have a close eye on how the elephants are treated by their owners as we also want the animals to be treated as good as possible.
We would not offer meeting the small elephant family if we had the feeling that the animals are not treated well and our guests do always have the chance to completely opt out of meeting the elephants during their tour by telling us in advance - we will then buy lots of bananas for the animals and our guests will instead do some more hiking.
Please do also read our flyer about Elephants in Thailand - What tourists need to know (PDF; 450 KB).
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Are the elephants we meet during the tour living free?

They are not "free" by the meaning of the word: they cannot wander off to e.g. the South of Thailand. They are living in a somewhat large area where they can wander around and munch their favorite leaves and grasses most of the day but the mahouts (just like the park rangers in ANY national park in the whole world) will make sure, that the elephants stay within the premises they are meant to stay within.
The elephants do live as close to a "free" life as possible - yes, in a smaller scale than in a large sanctuary or a huge national park. But still they are allowed to do what they want most of the day. Just like your horse or dog is allowed to do at your home or stable... the elephants of the Karen only do have a lot more freedom compared to your dog or horse as the elephants are not limited to just the very tiny area of a house or stable.
Please do also read our flyer Elephants in Thailand - Detailed information (PDF; 2,5 MB; English).
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I do not want to meet the elephants - can this part of the tour be skipped?

Of course. You can skip the meeting with the elephants. Simply let us know in advance.
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Is the trekking or the bamboo rafting physically challenging?

No. We usually meet our guests one or two days before the trekking to check their physical fitness level and plan a route that suits all participants best. We often have families with small children as our guests and in this case we also pick a route that even the children can handle and enjoy their adventure in the jungles of Northern Thailand.
The bamboo rafting is the relaxing part of the tour where you will be the passenger of the raft and we will handle the steering so that you can enjoy the wonderful nature along the creek. The water is not very deep and not very rapid so that the raft will mostly float and just needs some steering with the poles.
There is a small side node: during the hot months a trekking tour can of course be a little bit more exhausting and if it is very dry the bamboo rafting can be tricky if the creek is very, very low. During the rainy season the creek can be a little bit more rapid here and there.
Please do not mistake bamboo rafting for whitewater rafting. Trust us: You would not want to do whitewater rafting on a bamboo raft.
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Can I swim beneath the waterfall during winter season?

It depends. During the winter season (December - March) and due to the low temperatures in the mountains during the nights, the water can be pretty chilly. Depending on your personal treshold of pain you might rather not want to swim if the water is too cold for you.
Also after heavy raining it can sometimes be way too risky to do a swim in the high water.
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Do the hill tribes that will be visited during a trekking tour benefit from the tour rates or the trekking guests as well?

Yes. Anything you can buy at the jungle villages (e.g.: soft drinks, beer, handicraft souvenirs from the villagers) or that you can enjoy at the villages (like a relaxing massage) comes directly from the villagers and helps them in benefit from our guests visiting their villages in the middle of the jungles and in earning a few baht.
Part of the tour rate per guest is spend for the bamboo rafts that are hand-crafted by the villagers for our tour and another portion of the tour rate of each guest will cover the cost for the overnight stay as well as the cooking possibility for us and the very welcomed chance to take a shower after a long days trekking tour for us and our guests.
For overnight tours, our supplies for cooking your meals and breakfast that we have bought at a local market on our way to the trekking tours starting point will be brought from the dropoff at the starting point to the very remote villages by a villager on a motorbike for a reasonable transportation fee while we and our guests make our way through the lush jungles delving into the terrific and amazing nature on our way to the villages that we spend the nights at.
We are very happy that by providing our guests a glimpse into the hard life of the hill tribes and staying at their villages we also add our share for them to make some money and just as we want to offer the best experience for our guests on our tours, we also want the villagers, that we visit and know for so many years to benefit from us and our guest and this is why we give them a bit more than what they charge other trekking companies.
Last not least a part of the incredible experience that our trekking tours offer is also coming from the hill tribes that allow us to visit their village with our guests.
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Will I have the chance to get in touch with some of the inhabitants of the villages?

Basically all of the inhabitants of the villages that we visit on the different tours (e.g.: where you spend the night at) do not speak English at all or only very, very little and they do of course have their own life and duties during the day and in the evenings most of them take care of their families. Do not mistake our trekking tours with tours to villages that are made up for tourists (e.g.: Long Neck villages) - we want to deliver authentic experiences. Hence, the villages we visit during our tours and their inhabitants are not just there to look nice for tourists. The villagers are living a hard live and are working a hard days work every day and we absolutely do understand if they rather like to mind their own business after a day full of work. We encourage our guests to wander around in the villages and try to make contacts if they feel like the villagers would like to say hello - keep in mind that only a few of them do understand/speak english at all.
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Do you also offer sightseeing tours around Chiang Mai?

Yes we do. All the Sightseeing Tours will be accompanied by Piroon himself and he will happily share all his knowledge about the sights, culture, temples, nature sights, people and everything that is there to know about a specific sight you visit with him. If you would like to go somewhere special, simply contact us in advance or add this information when booking. Get some inspiration of our most booked Sightseeing Tours.
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Can you recommend a guesthouse or hotel in Chiang Mai?

Yes we can. We ourselves also offer eight rooms in our own guesthouse in the Old City of Chiang Mai: Baan Nantaya. If you are looking for something more luxury you can contact us and we will recommend a hotel that suits your personal and monetary specifications.
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Do you also arrange customized special tours (e.g: with trekking, mountain biking, zip lining, ATV driving)?

We are mainly a trekking tours company and this is what we do absolutely best.
We can customize a trekking tour to perfectly fit your personal preferences - be it with sleeping in tents in the middle of the jungle or a week long trekking tour without seeing any paved roads.
We also offer great private Sightseeing Tours to all the major sights around Chiang Mai.
Anything else we can organize for you with other companies before or after your trekking or sightseeing tour with us - we will pick partners that we have already booked for other guests and have gotten positive feedback about - if possible.
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What does the accidant insurance cover that Chiang Mai Trekking provides for their guest?

We provide an accidant insurance for all our guests during the trekking tour. This insurance covers the cost for injuries during the trekking tour up to an amount of 500,000 THB. The insurance does not cover any loss of personal belongings.
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Chiang Mai Trekking

Our trekking tour - the highlight of your trip to Thailand

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Absolutely unique and authentic | Chiang Mai Trekking | The best trekking in Chiang Mai with Piroon Nantaya

Chiang Mai Trekking - what makes us so special

The best promotion: what our guests say about us

2023-08-07, 12:18 PM
Two-Day Trekking Tour

Andrea, Germany

We had a wonderful two-day trekking tour with our guide Mr. A who had a lot of experience and always found the right balance between being approachable for any questions and letting us enjoy the nature as a family. The hiking was just about right in difficulty even for our eight year old son and the ... [More...]

2023-04-22, 6:16 AM
Amazing experience

Cece and Assib, Germany

We took a 2 days/1 night private trekking tour with Date and it was an amazing experience. We were picked up at our guesthouse, could leave our backpacks at their office and take only our daypacks on the trip itself. Date did a great job caring for us. On the way to the village, he explained all kinds ... [More...]

2023-04-07, 5:31 PM
Tolles Guesthouse und tolle Trekkingtour

Angela, Germany

Wir haben eine Woche in dem Guesthouse gewohnt. Die Zimmer sind sehr schÃ¶n, das FrÃ¼hstÃ¼ck groÃartig und Piroon und Baan super hilfsbereit. Die Trekkingtour mit unseren Guide Buca war ein tolles Erlebnis. Er hat genau gesehen, wann uns eine Pause gut tut, uns viel erklÃ¤rt und abends mit ... [More...]

Chiang Mai Trekking - memories of our guests

This is what you can expect on a trekking tour with us

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3-days/2-nights Trekking Tour | Chiang Mai Trekking | The best trekking in Chiang Mai with Piroon Nantaya