How to spend 4 days and 3 nights in Chiang Mai? Explore the ancient city, ride an elephant, go boating, and enjoy a jungle adventure.

Text and photos by Guo Renrong

Want to pray for a year of peace at Chiang Mai’s most famous Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in northern Thailand?

Have you ever ridden a Segway to explore the ancient city of Chiang Mai?

Travel to the northern Thai jungle and become Tarzan for a day—enjoy a thrilling zip-lining adventure. If you’re excited, why not plan a trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, just like I did? You can take a daily direct Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, then transfer to a domestic flight to Thailand’s second-largest city, Chiang Mai. Here’s my travel itinerary for this trip:

Day 1: Arrive in Chiang Mai > Check in at Kantary Hills Hotel
Day 2: Wat Phra That Doi Suthep > Segway tour of the ancient city > Flying Squirrel jungle adventure > Stay at Kantary Hills Hotel
Day 3: Mae Taeng Elephant Camp > White-water rafting > Black Forest Restaurant > Stay at Kantary Hills Hotel
Day 4: Lunch > Head to the airport > Return to Taipei

After arriving in Chiang Mai, drive straight to check in.

Kantary Hills Hotel feels like home. I booked a one-bedroom, one-living-room suite. The living room is quite spacious with a full set of sofas, and the kitchen has a complete set of cookware. There’s also a thoughtful washing machine—so we don’t have to bring too many clothes on the trip.

Make sure to swim a couple of times before sunset—it’s so refreshing.

Wake up early on the second day to visit the highly revered Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a landmark of Chiang Mai, and offer prayers. Remember to donate some incense money and light two candles.

Pick a bud of a lotus flower that hasn’t bloomed yet, walk clockwise around the golden stupa three times, and while walking, focus your mind, make a sincere wish, and specify how you’ll fulfill your vow. I believe the deities will definitely help you.

By the way, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is also known as the “Temple of the Golden Buddha on the Mountain” or “Double Dragon Temple” because of the two giant golden dragons guarding the entrance staircase. Many Chinese tourists also call it the Double Dragon Temple.

After leaving the Double Dragon Temple, it’s recommended that you rent a Segway from the adventure center right across from the Tha Pae Gate.

This two-wheeled vehicle is really fun and fully automatic—you don’t need to accelerate. It’s entirely controlled by your balance to move forward, backward, and turn. At first, the instructor will teach you to lean forward to move ahead and lean back to reverse. It’s really entertaining.

It takes about two hours and costs 1,799 baht to explore the ancient city of Lamphun on a Segway for two hours. Once we finish practicing, let’s get going!!!

Oh—and I suggest asking the instructor to take us through Chiang Mai’s local markets.

You can also visit nearby temples to pray and calm your mind. It’s much more interesting than the traditional tuk-tuk tours of the ancient city. However, this shop currently only has six Segways, so it’s not suitable for large groups.

On the third day, you can take a bus to the Mae Taeng Elephant Camp in northern Chiang Mai to watch the elephants’ amusing performances.

What impressed me the most is that these elephants can actually paint—especially one named Suda, who is incredibly smart. I think the paintings it created are even better than mine—humans are no match for elephants. Ha, I need to reflect on that.

Kids can buy a bunch of bananas for 20 baht to feed the elephants.

These elephants are all well-trained. They can even pull off soccer-level penalty kicks. It’s really impressive.

On the way back, you can also arrange to ride a water buffalo cart back to the entrance. The tires of the water buffalo cart are made entirely of wood, not regular rubber—so you can imagine just how bumpy it is.

Oh, and the ticket to the elephant school comes with a free buffet lunch. After eating, gear up for the white-water rafting challenge.

Put on your life jacket and helmet. Before the real fun begins, the instructor will teach us basic rafting techniques on the shore—when to lower the paddle, when to paddle forward, when to paddle backward, how to save energy, and when to duck into the raft. After a 10-minute briefing, we can officially set off.

When you encounter huge rapids along the way, follow the instructor’s directions.
That helps prevent accidents.

After 30 minutes of working together, we completed this mission. To be honest, the stream here isn’t as rapid as Taiwan’s Hualien’s Shakadang River — it’s suitable for beginners at an intermediate level. But there are two or three thrilling rapids in the middle that were pretty exciting~^^ Everyone who gets the chance to visit Mae Taeng should definitely give it a try!

Next, I’m taking you to one of my favorite restaurants in Chiang Mai — Black Forest Restaurant. Its original Thai name is actually Khao Mao Khao Fang, which has nothing to do with “Black Forest.” The name “Black Forest” was given by the Chinese community. Why is it called Black Forest? Check out the picture below.

Doesn’t it feel like you’re dining in a Black Forest, as if you’re having dinner in the Amazon jungle? One of my favorite dishes there is Spicy Fried Chicken (Prik Gai Thod). That night, I even ordered three more plates because I couldn’t get enough. It’s different from regular fried chicken — it’s stir-fried with diced fried chilies. It’s the first time in over 30 visits to Thailand that I’ve tried something this delicious. I swear I’ll come back to Chiang Mai just for this dish!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Curry Fried Shrimp

Day 4 (also the last day of the trip), I woke up early and headed to the mountains, about an hour from downtown Chiang Mai, to experience the newest jungle activity — Flying Squirrels. There are over ten companies offering jungle zip-lining in northern Thailand, but today’s featured company, Flying Squirrels, is the newest and offers the most variety. The longest zip-line spans an impressive 600 meters — truly amazing!

Before the flight, equipment is crucial — professional staff will help you gear up.

Then, we hopped into a pickup truck and drove deeper into the mountains. Honestly, as long as you’re not too afraid of heights and don’t keep looking down, zip-lining is really easy — no effort needed at all, just sit down and go. The zip-line will carry you across automatically, but remember to bend your knees before reaching the platform so you don’t hit it!

See, I was even holding a camera and taking a selfie — totally going all out!

Besides the traditional zip-lines, this company also offers suspension bridges, aerial bikes,

rope bridges, and even spider-man crawling.

Entertainment host — Guo Renrong’s Food, Fun & Travel Support Squad