Chiang Rai Coffee, Tea and Tribes Tour

Day 1 Chiang Mai – Wawee

Huay Luek Hmong market

Your driver and guide will meet you at the hotel in Chiang Mai for your Chiang Rai Coffee, Tea and Tribes Tour. We will drive to Chiang Dao and onwards to Chai Prakan. There is time for a coffee along the way and taking pictures. After Chiang Dao, the road becomes very scenic and winding. We pass the old Chiang Dao Hill Resort. At the Huay Luek Royal Project, we will stop for a while. People of the Hmong tribe are selling fresh produce from their farms. Your guide will tell you about the Royal Projects.

Tub Tao Cave

Before Chai Prakan, we will leave the main road to visit the Tub Tao Cave. We visit this beautiful cave that has, in fact, two caves. For the cave that goes deep into this limestone mountain, you will need some physical agility. It can be slippery, and you will have to go through some narrow spaces. You will get a bit dirty. It’s worth it because it’s a stunning cave. You can also stay in the front chambers and admire the Buddha statues. From Tub Tao Cave we go to Thaton.

Boat trip on the Kok River

We briefly stop at a temple with a teak wooden Buddha statue. In Thaton, we enjoy a late local lunch before we board a local boat for a short ride on the Kok River to Mae Salak Village. Here we disembark and hop on the van. The last stretch to Wawee is very scenic. We will stop several times to take in the beautiful views. It is a stunning drive. At the end of the afternoon, we will arrive at the Lao Lee Resort. Overnight will be at Laolee Resort.

Day 2 Wawee – Chiang Rai

Doi Kaad Phi

We leave the resort in the early morning, before daybreak, and drive for a short while to the start of the trail that leads to the summit of Doi Kad Phi (or Doi Kat Phi).

It is not a strenuous hike up to the summit of Doi Kaad Phi. From this mountain top, you have beautiful views over the countryside. In weekends and during the cold season there might be Thai tourists. If we are lucky, we are the only ones. We will stay for a while on this beautiful spot and enjoy the fresh mountain air and fantastic views. After this, we descend the same way.

Doi Chang Coffee

We’ll drive back to the resort where we will have breakfast with Chinese Wawee tea. It’s time to check out and start our journey to Chiang Rai. We’ll follow a beautiful road to the town of Wawee. Here we will visit a tea factory where we will taste local tea and learn about tea cultivation. We’ll continue to Doi Chang, home of Doi Chang Coffee. Many of the people working the Doi Chang coffee plantations are Akha. We will be the guest of a lesser-known coffee brand, managed by one of our Lisu friends. We will have lunch here and visit the coffee plantation. We’ll have a coffee, of course as well! The coffee plantation is very interesting as it also has lots of other trees such as macadamia, passion fruit, santol, guava and many more.

By now it will be time to drive the last stretch to Chiang Rai. Last stop of the day will be the famous “White Temple” Wat Rong Khun. It was designed by Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat in 1997. We spent some time admiring this beautiful temple before we continue to Chiang Rai. We’ll drop you off at the hotel. We hope you enjoyed our Chiang Rai Coffee, Tea and Tribes tour.