Forest Bathing in the Rainy Season at Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai

Doi Inthanon, in Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai, is Thailand’s highest peak at 2,565 metres and home to a wealth of natural attractions — the grand waterfalls of Mae Ya, Mae Klang, and Wachirathan, the Kew Mae Pan nature trail, the stunning stalactites of Borichinda Cave, and a remarkable diversity of birds and plant life.

While Doi Inthanon is best known as a winter destination, drawing visitors eager for cool air, seas of mist, and blooms like wild Himalayan cherry and rhododendron, the rainy season reveals a different, equally astonishing side of its natural beauty.

The Ang Ka Nature Trail, a roughly 300-metre boardwalk forming a circular loop, can be explored independently in about half an hour to an hour.

The path winds deep into lush rainforest, passing through wooden tunnels in places. Dubbed the “ancient forest,” this is the highest freshwater swamp-forest ecosystem in the country and a vital catchment area for Thailand. In the rainy season, the forest turns a deep, saturated green, the ground carpeted in mosses and ferns, with moss even climbing up the roots, branches and trunks of the great trees, creating the feeling of wandering through a fairy tale or fantasy film set.

While taking it all in, keep an eye out for Khao Tok Ruesi, the largest moss species in Thailand, found only at elevations above 1,000 metres.

Getting there: Fly to Chiang Mai with THAI. Click here