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Activities
1 Chiangmai Green Alternative Tours 31 Thanon Chiangmai– Lamphun 053 247374 or 084 611 1711 www.chiangmaigreen.com Eco-friendly and culturally sensitive operation that offers a fascinating diversity of worthwhile nature field trips. Sharing the proceeds with knowledgeable local guides, they can take you up Doi Suthep, Doi Inthanon or Doi Chiang Dao, be it for bird-watching or even seed-collecting, in association with Chiang Mai University, to learn about local plant species. You can also visit a local organic farm for one or two days.
2 Chiang Mai Mountain Biking 1 Thanon Samlarn 081 024 7046 www.mountainbikingchiangmai.com Mountain-biking trips, ranging from single-track downhill rides, mostly on Doi Suthep, to cross-country leisure or hike-and-bike trips.
3 Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures 55/3 Thanon Ratchaphakinai 053 207102 or 086 911 1470 www.thailandclimbing.com Runs climbing courses to Crazy Horse, Buttress, a limestone outcrop in the San Kamphaeng area, 50km east of town, which offers highly varied climbing with more than seventy routes, as well as caving courses, and offer equipment rental and sales, private guides and a partner-finding service.
4 Click and Travel 158/40 Thanon Chiang Mai– Hod 053 281553 www.clickandtravelonline.com www.chiangmaicycling.org Cycling tours of Chiang Mai and the north, lasting from half a day to two weeks.
5 Contact Travel Chiangmailand, 420/3 Thanon Chang Klan 053 204664–5 www.activethailand.com Sells a wide range of adventure tours, including whitewater rafting, trekking, cycling and kayaking.
6 Eagle House Treks 16 Soi 3, Thanon Chang Moi Kao 053 235387 www.eaglehouse.com Runs the standard type of trek, with elephants and rafting, but to carefully chosen quiet areas and with an educational bent, and passes on a proportion of costs towards funding projects in hill-tribe villages.
7 Flight of the Gibbon 112/9 Tasala 089 970 5511 www.treetopasia.com Offers full-day rainforest canopy tours on zip lines and sky bridges.
8 Kayak rental Wat Faham, Thanon Fa Ham Kayak rental for a gentle independent paddle up and down the Ping River in town. Price: B100
9 Mae Ping River Cruises Depart from the jetty beside the Wawee Coffee restaurant, on the east bank just north of Nawarat Bridge 053 274822 or 081 884 4621 www.maepingrivercruise.com Cruises in a converted rice barge along the Ping River, through lush countryside north of town Opening time: Boats leave every couple of hours and take 1hr 40minPrice: B250
10 The Peak Thanon Chang Klan 053 800567–8 www.thepeakadventure.com Has a fifteen-metre rock-climbing wall where you can take one-day courses and arrange climbing trips to Crazy Horse Buttress, a limestone outcrop in the San Kamphaeng area, 50km east of town, which offers highly varied climbing with more than seventy routes, or Kiew Lom Reservoir near Lampang, including camping and kayaking, as well as climbing and caving trips in the Soppong area and abseiling down Vachiratharn Falls at Doi Inthanon.
11 Scorpion-tailed boat cruises Depart from a pier on Thanon Charoenrat north of Nakhon Ping Bridge 081 960 9398 www.scorpiontailed.com Opening time: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm; 1hr 30minPrice: B500 per person Boat cruises down the River Ping in a reconstruction of vessels that plied the river a century ago.
12 Trekking Collective 3/5 Thanon Loi Khro 053 280340 www.trekkingcollective.com Pricey but high-quality customized treks from one to ten days and can cater for specific interests such as bird-watching; it is involved in community programmes to help tribal people.