Monday 03 February 2025
Afternoon excursion near Mae Rim, the waterfall park

We left the lake at Huay Teung Thao and headed north, farther from the city of Chiang Mai. We are going to a place with a waterfall or more than one (more photo opportunities), and it is in the district north of Mae Rim called Mae Taeng. The place is the Datewada Waterfall Park, and it was a lot of fun being there and taking photos while staying cool for a couple hours on a hot afternoon. This post will have many, many photos of Mukda as my role became something of a photographer for her (I took more than 100 photos).

Thailand has 77 provinces, and Chiang Mai Province is the largest by area. The Chiang Mai province is divided into 25 districts (called an amphoe), and those districts are further divided into 204 subdistricts (called a tambon). It is common to see an address written in English with these words. For example, on the sign for Wat Chedi Luang, the temple across the street from The 3-Sis Hotel where I stay, the address is written as:

Wat Chedi Luang Varaviharn
103 Phrapokklao Road
Tambon Phrasing
Amphoe Mueang
Chiang Mai

The amphoe (district) “Mueang” means “city” referring to the district making up the city of Chiang Mai.

I found a map of the districts in Chiang Mai Province on Wikipedia also listing the postal codes for each district.

Chiang Mai city is the small yellow district #1 in the center of the map. We are in the Mae Rim district, the green district #7 north of Chiang Mai, and headed to the Mae Taeng district, the purple district #6 north of Mae Rim.

Dantewada Waterfall Park

We arrived, parked, and went into Dantewada Waterfall Park. This is entirely man-made, and I think it was very well done. The waterfalls and rocks and everything look very natural. I took a photo of Mukda just after entering the waterfall park.

After walking around the coffee shop, we came to the first waterfall and then the second.

Then Mukda took a photo of me in front of the first waterfall, and I got a photo of the third. I lost count after that – there are many waterfalls, caves, foggy areas, and gardens to explore.

Then I took a photo of Mukda in front of the third waterfall, and she took a photo of me there at a different angle. After that I stopped counting the waterfalls – there were many.

We rounded a curve and were in a ravine in the fog. Here is Mukda ahead of me in that fog, posing for the camera.

Then we went into a cave behind one of the large waterfalls. I got a photo of Mukda entering the cave with water splashing all around.

There were a few two-level structures with stairs for more photo opportunities. I climbed up one and Mukda took a photo of me by a painting of a mythical warrior.

We went into another, longer cave behind a couple of the waterfalls. Here is a photo of me entering the cave, trying to not slip on the wet walkway, and then Mukda got a photo of both of us there.

After losing our friends and finding them again, we were by a large garden. Here is Mukda posing in the tall flowers.

While Yui and Anna were taking more photos in the flowers, they took one of Mukda and me chillin’ for a few minutes before we moved on.

After almost two hours enjoying the waterfalls and taking many photos, it was time to head south back to Chiang Mai. At the exit there were these two demons to bid us farewell.

Next: Air Diamond Cafe, a coffee shop in an actual Airbus A330-300