Tourists visiting Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai generally head for the famous summit of this mountain resort. To them, the long trek to the summit is a sense of accomplishment. However, little do they know that halfway to the top is a three-kilometre-long trail called Kew Mae Pan boasting pristine nature and breathtaking scenery.Doi Inthanon is Thailand's highest peak, standing 2,500 metres above sea level. In winter the breeze is cool and refreshing, even cold by standards of city folks more used to the tropical climate of Bangkok. If you are travelling there, don't forget to carry a light jacket with you.
Kew Mae Pan is famous for its red rhododendrons, a rare sight elsewhere in the country, various species of birds, the goral and nature in its purest form.
The air was chilly when we visited there recently, ideal for a trek that wasn't supposed to be that taxing, but one which still left us city slickers panting for breath as we climbed one slope after another on the circuitous trail.
Led by a Hmong guide, we hit the trail early afternoon and not long after we arrived at a spot with a sign reading "Cloud Forest". My friend checked his watch calibrated for altimeter reading: it said 2,179 metres. A thick curtain of rain clouds enveloped the forest. Everywhere there were towering trees from whose trunks hung green fern, moss and lichen. The damp air pregnant with rain felt refreshingly cool.
Our guide pointed to a tree called Ko in Thai that belongs to the same family as oaks, Fagaceae. There are four varieties of Ko trees in Thailand and all of them are found here.
"Ko is a kind of chestnut with hard-shell. Its seed is food for birds and wildlife," explained our guide.
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