Three-Day Jungle Trek & Karen Village Stay
Three days and two nights walking the Doi Inthanon back country, sleeping at a jungle camp and in a Karen village, with seven meals included.
- Duration
- 3 days / 2 nights
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Max group
- 20 pax
Three days on foot is where this kind of trekking stops being an excursion and starts being a proper trip. You walk out of phone signal on the first morning and you do not come back until late on the third afternoon, and in between there are two nights in the forest, seven meals, a cooking lesson over a fire and a great deal of walking through country that no day tour reaches.
Day one is a warm-up with a purpose: a market stop to buy fresh supplies for the camp kitchen, a short climb by road, then about four hours walking through Karen farmland and foothills to a waterfall where lunch happens. The camp is close by. In the evening your guide teaches the group to cook Thai food with what was bought that morning, and after dinner there is a fire, and above the fire, because there is nothing else for miles, an absurd number of stars.
Day two is the village day. You walk about three hours through forest to a Karen village for lunch, then a further four hours through the jungle to a second village where you sleep — in the settlement itself, not in a camp. This is the part of the trip people talk about afterwards: sitting around after dinner in a place with no visitors, no shop, no schedule.
Day three is the longest and the most beautiful: six to seven hours over mountainous farmland to a natural waterfall where you swim and eat before walking out to the truck. You are back in Chiang Mai between five and six in the evening. Accommodation is simple — village housing and a jungle camp, no hot water and no comfort claims — and the price includes everything from the first lunch to the last. Two people minimum.
- Three days and two nights in the Doi Inthanon back country, well beyond day-trip range
- Two overnight stays: a jungle camp beside water and a night in a Karen village
- Seven meals included, several of them cooked over a fire
- Thai cooking lesson with your guide on the first evening, using produce bought that morning
- Two separate hilltribe villages visited slowly, on foot, with time to sit
- Waterfalls to swim in on all three days
- Around 14 hours of walking in total across three days
- Local English-speaking guide throughout, from the area you are walking in
- Accommodation, insurance and transport all included in one price
What's included
- ✓ Hotel pick-up and return in Chiang Mai
- ✓ English-speaking local guide for all three days
- ✓ Seven meals across the three days
- ✓ Two nights' accommodation — jungle camp and Karen village housing
- ✓ Drinking water throughout
- ✓ Thai cooking session on the first evening
- ✓ Accident insurance for the duration of the trek
- ✓ All transport to and from the trailheads
- Breakfast on day one, before pick-up
- A lightweight sleeping bag or liner if you want one (nights can be cool in the winter months)
- Alcoholic drinks
- Purchases and donations in the villages
- Comprehensive travel and medical insurance — strongly recommended for multi-day trekking
- Gratuities for your guide
- Day 1 — 07:30–08:00
Pick-up and market
Collection from your hotel and a forty-minute drive to a local market to buy fresh supplies for the camp kitchen. Then twenty minutes further up into the mountains to the Karen village where the walking starts.
- Day 1 — 09:30–13:30
Four hours to the waterfall
Walking through farmland and the foothills where the hilltribe communities live, with long mountain views and waterfalls on the way. Lunch at a waterfall with time to swim.
- Day 1 — 16:30
Jungle camp
A further stretch of walking brings you to the camp for the night. Settle in, wash off the day.
- Day 1 — 18:00
Cooking lesson and campfire
Your guide teaches the group to cook Thai dishes with the morning's market produce. Dinner around the fire afterwards, with no light pollution and a great deal of sky.
- Day 2 — 07:30
Breakfast and departure
Breakfast at the camp, pack up and set off along the forest.
- Day 2 — 08:30–11:30
Three hours through the forest
Deeper into the jungle, with your guide explaining how the Karen live off this land — what is farmed, what is foraged, what is left alone.
- Day 2 — 12:00
Lunch in a Karen village
Arrival at a Karen village for lunch and time to walk around the settlement.
- Day 2 — 13:00–17:00
Four hours to the second village
The afternoon crosses jungle to a second village, where you stay the night — dinner with the community, Karen cooking and culture, and a fire in the evening.
- Day 3 — 07:30
Breakfast in the village
Breakfast, goodbyes and the last day's packing.
- Day 3 — 08:30–15:00
Six to seven hours over the mountain farmland
The longest and finest walking day, climbing through mountainous farmland and forest to a natural waterfall where you swim, rest and have lunch.
- Day 3 — 15:30
Walk out and drive back
Down to the truck and the drive back to the city.
- Day 3 — 17:00–18:00
Back in Chiang Mai
Drop-off at your hotel between five and six in the evening.
Basic and authentic. One night at a jungle camp and one night in Karen village housing. Expect simple bedding, no hot water and no mains comforts. It is clean and it is safe, but it is not a lodge — that is the trade you make for sleeping where you sleep.
Roughly four hours on day one, about seven hours in two stretches on day two, and six to seven hours on day three — around fourteen hours of walking in total. Days two and three are long, so reasonable fitness matters.
Seven meals in total, from lunch on day one through to lunch on day three. Breakfast on day one, before pick-up, is not included. Vegetarian and other dietary needs can usually be catered for with notice.
Bedding is provided, but between November and February nights in the mountains get genuinely cold and many people are happier with a lightweight sleeping bag or liner of their own. A torch is essential in any season.
November to February is dry and cool with the clearest views, and it is also the coldest at night. June to October is green and dramatic with strong waterfalls, but the paths are muddy and leeches are possible. March to May is hot and can be hazy.
Patchy to none. Assume you will be offline for most of three days and charge everything before you leave. A power bank is a good idea if you are using your phone as a camera.
As early as you can — the trek needs a minimum of two people, and village and camp arrangements are made in advance. Several days' notice is sensible for a three-day departure.