Chiang Mai: White Water Rafting

About an hour and a half out of Chiang Mai is a lush mountain valley which I will refer to as Tourist Valley. I don't know the actual name of this area but it runs along the Mae Tang River.

Here you can do just about any and every activity offered by the tour agencies in Chiang Mai: trekking, bamboo rafting, quad biking, white water rafting, elephant trekking/riding/bathing/feeding, hill tribe visit, home stays, purpose-built village visits, zip-lining... It's like Disney World only there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different tour companies that operate in the valley. The valley has been completely transformed into a tourist zone, there's even a fake village where 'long necked' women sit around posing at looms waiting for visitors to come and take pictures of them. Another tourist pointed out that concentrating all these activities to one area is probably better for environment than having tourists run amok over a wider expanse of jungle.

Inevitably, with eight days in Chiang Mai and nothing much to occupy us, we found ourselves being transported by minibus to Tourist Valley.

We booked to go white water rafting with Chiang Mai Adventures. The trip promised grade four rapids; previously Ric and I have both rafted up to grade three rapids so we were excited by the prospect of a more exhilarating trip. It did not disappoint.

The rapids were great; throwing us into the air as we plunged down waterfalls, bouncing us up over rocks and soaking us with crashing waves of river water. The scenery was beautiful too; tropical jungle of both sides, we even saw an elephant crossing the river in front of us, close enough to touch.

The agency even provided photos for us: 

Cost: 1,200 Baht each (should have been 1,400 but we asked for a little discount). Includes: transport to and from hotel, lunch, safety talk, photos, experienced guide.