Long Neck Karen Village & Five Hill Tribes — Half Day
A morning in the hills of Mae Rim: an orchid farm, a royal temple, five hill-tribe communities, tribal dancing, a buffalo mud spa and lunch cooked together.
- Duration
- Half day (approx. 5–6 hours, 08:00–14:00)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Max group
- 20 pax
The half day is the version for people who do not want to give up a whole day, and it is well judged: you are collected at eight, and by early afternoon you are back in the city having done considerably more than most full-day tours manage.
It opens with about half an hour of driving to an orchid farm, then a stop at Wat Pa Dara Phirom, a royal temple in Mae Rim that most visitors drive straight past. From there you climb into the hills to the tea-plantation homestead where five hill-tribe communities live, including the Long Neck Karen.
What happens there is genuinely hands-on rather than a walk-through. There is traditional dancing, there is a mud spa with the buffalo, there is a natural mud treatment you apply yourself, and then — the best part — you cook lunch together with the Long Neck Karen households in their own style and eat it with them. Traditional tribal dress and a photography service are available at the site.
Pick-up is between eight and half past and you are back at your hotel between one and two in the afternoon, which leaves the rest of the day free. The same programme runs as a full day if you want the ATV riding, the crafts and the shooting as well.
- An orchid farm and the royal temple of Wat Pa Dara Phirom on the way up
- Five hill-tribe communities including the Long Neck Karen village
- Traditional tribal dancing performed by the communities
- A mud spa with the buffalo, plus a natural mud treatment you apply yourself
- Cooking lunch together with the Long Neck Karen households and eating with them
- Tribal dress and a photography service available at the site
- Back in Chiang Mai by early afternoon — the rest of the day is yours
What's included
- ✓ Return transport from your hotel in Chiang Mai
- ✓ Guide for the morning
- ✓ Lunch, cooked together with the hill-tribe households
- ✓ Visits to the orchid farm and Wat Pa Dara Phirom
- ✓ Entrance and activities at the five hill-tribe villages
- ✓ The buffalo mud spa and the natural mud treatment
- Breakfast before pick-up
- ATV riding — that is part of the operator's full-day programme (catalogue reference T25), or bookable separately as a timed ride
- Drinks beyond what is served with lunch
- Purchases and crafts bought from the households
- Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
- Gratuities for your guide
- 08:00–08:30
Hotel pick-up
Collection from your hotel in Chiang Mai and the drive north to Mae Rim.
- 09:00
Orchid farm
About half an hour of driving brings you to an orchid farm — a short, pretty stop before the climb into the hills.
- 09:45
Wat Pa Dara Phirom
A visit to Wat Pa Dara Phirom Phra Aram Luang, a royal temple in Mae Rim, quiet and largely free of tour groups.
- 10:30
The hill-tribe villages
Up to the tea-plantation homestead and the five communities that live there, including the Long Neck Karen village, with time to look at the weaving and the households.
- 11:15
Dancing and the mud spa
Traditional tribal dancing, then the mud spa with the buffalo and photographs with them, followed by a natural mud treatment you apply yourself.
- 12:15
Cooking and eating lunch together
Lunch is cooked together with the Long Neck Karen households in their own style and eaten with them — the best part of the morning.
- 13:00–14:00
Back at your hotel
The drive back down and drop-off in Chiang Mai between one and two in the afternoon.
No. The half-day programme is the cultural version — orchid farm, temple, villages, dancing, mud spa and cooking. The full-day version of the same programme adds ATV riding, the crafts and the shooting; or book one of the separate timed ATV sessions at the same site.
A mud pool that the site's water buffalo use, which you get into with them, followed by a natural mud treatment you rub on yourself. Bring clothes you do not care about and a towel.
Yes — that is what the brochure describes and it is the highlight for most people: cooking in the traditional style alongside the Long Neck Karen households and then eating together.
Ask before photographing individuals, buy crafts directly from the households, and do not give money or sweets to children. These communities host visitors deliberately, and what you spend there stays there.
Between one and two in the afternoon, which is early enough to do something else with your day.
Usually yes, since the lunch is cooked on the spot, but tell us when you book so the households can plan for it.