Where The Valley Slows Down
A tea-growing village a thousand metres up a forested valley, an hour from the city and a century from it.
Mae Kampong was built by people who came up the valley to grow miang — fermented tea leaf — and stayed. The village runs along both sides of a stream, wooden houses on stilts, with a waterfall at the top and coffee roasted on the doorsteps. It has become popular, and on weekends the single lane through it is busy. Come on a weekday and it is still what it was.
The road east through San Kamphaeng is unremarkable for the first forty kilometres. Then it turns up, and the last stretch climbs steeply through forest to the village.
The route
Stop by stop, with the drive between each.
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San Kamphaeng hot springs
Optional, and better on the way back. Geysers, mineral pools and eggs boiled in the spring water.
34 kilometres from the city, in gardens under the hills. The water comes up at close to 100°C and one vent throws a jet as high as fifteen metres; there are pools to sit in, and eggs are boiled in the spring at the top.
Tourism Directory →Ministry of Tourism & Sports · Ministry of Tourism & Sports, Thailand 55 min · 35 km - 2
Wat Kantha Phueksa
The village temple, built out over the stream on wooden posts. Small, quiet and photographed constantly, so go early.
The village temple at Mae Kampong. Its wihan is teak, and the mountain air is damp enough that the roof stays green with moss the whole year.
Tourism Directory →Ministry of Tourism & Sports · Ministry of Tourism & Sports, Thailand 35 min · 21 km - 3
The village lane
Coffee houses, a few weaving and tea workshops, homestays in the old wooden houses. Park once and walk; the lane is narrow and mostly not for vehicles.
Mae Kampong's one lane follows the stream up the valley between wooden houses built out over the water, with tea and coffee grown under the forest above. The village runs its own homestays, and the lane is best walked slowly, stopping for miang, the fermented tea leaf the village was built on.
Wikipedia →Zeuzcloud8 · CC BY 4.0 0 min · 0 km - 4
Mae Kampong Waterfall
Seven tiers behind the village, reached on a path from the top of the lane. The upper levels are quiet.
The waterfall above the village, closed in by forest on all sides. It is a short walk up from the houses.
Tourism Directory →Ministry of Tourism & Sports · Ministry of Tourism & Sports, Thailand 3 min · 1 km - 5
Kiew Fin viewpoint
Above the village, looking out over layered ridges. On a cold-season morning the valley below fills with cloud.
A pull-off on the ridge road with a long view down the valley, at its best at first light when cloud still sits on the valley floor and the ridges stand out of it in rows.
Wikimedia Commons →Ritthichai Siangdee · CC BY-SA 4.0 13 min · 3 km
Best time to go
November to February for cold mornings and cloud in the valley. The green season is lush and the waterfall is at its best, but the climb is slippery. Weekdays over weekends, always — this is a village of a few hundred people and the weekend crowds change its character completely.
Before you set off
The last eight kilometres are steep in both directions; use low gear down as well as up. Parking in the village is limited, which is another argument for two wheels. Homestays fill in the cool season, so book ahead if you are staying. These are homes, not a heritage exhibit — ask before photographing people or interiors.
