Chiang Rai's Secret Beauty Spots

I keep finding great places to go and hide away for a few hours. I like peace and quiet and I sure can't stand to be around crowds. Now I'll use this thread to share the secret places I like to visit and relax. None of them are touristy. They're just little places I find that few others know about... and certainly not in any guide books.

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To the southeast of Chiang Rai city (around 5 or 10 minutes drive on highway 1020) is the small town of Tha Sai, which is at the northern tip of the Doi Pui Mountain (NOT the same Doi Pui as the one in Chiang Mai). Upon this mountain, the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand (MCOT) have erected a series of huge television and communications transmitters...

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As a result, it is easy to drive to the peak of this mountain in an ordinary car, along the sealed single lane track that has been constructed, right up to the transmitters. Assuming you are driving from Chiang Rai city, once you have almost passed through Tha Sai (if you blink, you will miss it), the road to the mountain is on the right and the following signpost marks the entrance...

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It's about three kilometres to the peak. There is hardly anywhere to get a good view because the forest is so dense. However, a short distance before the transmitters, you will see the following sign...

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You will just be able to make out a path through the trees...

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After about 50 yards, you will see a big rock sticking out into a clearing of the trees. Be careful, there is a deadly drop down the mountain directly below this rock. You should also watch out for snakes. The chances of anyone else being here are next to nil. You can sit here and enjoy the view of the countryside to the north...

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This spot is also now my field office ... We go there to relax sometimes and there's an EDGE signal strong enough to work from my laptop with a cellphone Internet connection. Mrs Mandi knits. What more could I ask for?...

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nice. I'm always looking for getaway spots like this in nature. With no people around and sounds of nature. It was really hard to find when I was in Beijing.

I notice that there is quite a difference in the colours of the landscape in diffeent seasons there.. what time of year were the two photos taken? Seems a lush wet time of year and a very dry time of year.

Good observation Mr F. Indeed, the first picture was taken at the tail end of the wet season, and the latter was taken a couple of weeks ago, during the dry season and when the rice fields are between crops. The difference in colour is very noticeable when you compare the pictures, but you tend not to notice it so much when you're living there because it happens over a period of months.

Another thing to notice in the second picture is that the smoke haze is already starting to build up... that very unpleasant time of year is almost here again.