Introduction to ‘The Old Trade Route’

Chiang Mai is often referred to as the ‘Rose of the North’. The description is accurate, but it applies to the Province and not to just the city itself. Advertising and marketing people, in seeking to promote their city-based products have, by borrowing the phrase, employed a certain degree of artistic license.

That the city of Chiang Mai is full of interesting tourist attractions -- ranging from temples to handicraft markets -- is not in doubt, but it is a city of contrasts. The economic boom of the ‘80s, and progress in general, have laid modern hotels and boutique shops located next to teakwood houses from another era. Pedicabs and trishaws vie for position on the road with late model Mercedes; handcart-mounted foodstalls hug the curbs in front of plush restaurants. The city is a mosaic of the old and the new, of traditional slow pace and modern rush side by side. Chiang Mai certainly has its own distinctive and unique character. A more fitting description of the city would be that Chiang Mai is the gateway to the Rose Garden of the North.

To see the North as it is often depicted in promotional literature, one must leave the city behind and get out into the provinces to where little has changed in the past few decades. Perhaps the best way to do this is to follow one of the road systems radiating out from, and returning back to, Chiang Mai in a rough loop that runs through the heartlands of the North. Using the road system as a general axis, the potential for detours to places and attractions of interest is virtually unlimited!

In surveying the region over ten years ago, Track of the Tiger  deemed that the ‘Old Trade Route’ that runs from Chiang Mai through Chiang Dao, Fang, Ban Thaton, down the Maekok River to Chiang Rai, up to Mae Sai, the Golden Triangle and Chiang Saen, and then back to Chiang Mai via Wiang Pa Pao, afforded the greatest balance of beautiful scenery, soft adventure type activity potential, and access to the widest range of ethnic minority groups in the North.

Confident in our assessment, and wanting to ensure our guests of a genuine ‘grass roots’ holiday experience, we built our Adventure Tour Bases, Maekok River Lodge & Maekok River Village Resort, not in the city, but on the banks of the Kok River in Ban Thaton.

Travel with us along this ‘Old Trade Route’ and the rich tapestry of Northern Thai life unfolds before you. The scenery constantly changes from verdant green rice paddy to rugged granite hills, from dense jungle edging the road to shaded riverside rest points that entice you to linger.

Along its length some fourteen different ethnic groups live in harmony with each other and with nature, as is the way in farming communities and with those who live close to the land. From Black Lahu fisherman to Kuomintang tea planter, Karen mahout to Thai farmer, Lisu hunter to Akha weaver, each is as colourful in costume and character as the scenic beauty of the landscape you pass through.

In building Maekok River Lodge, our Adventure Tour Base on the bank of the Maekok River in Ban Thaton, and now, Maekok River Village Resort, we have expressed our confidence in the attractions of the route and established ourselves as more than just a ‘tour operation’.

Our commitment to minimizing the effects of tourism on the hilltribe and rural communities is based not on the market appeal of an ‘eco-friendly’ approach, but on the sound business principle that, ‘If the integrity of the attractions cannot be sustained, then neither can our operation’.

In the knowledge that many foreigners feel uncomfortable about the effects of their visits to hilltribe villages, we have developed an etiquette for such visits that is beneficial to both the hilltribes and the visitor alike (see Hill tribe Visit Etiquette in our Tourist Information Handbook).

Out of our adventure tour base in Ban Thaton, there are two equally appealing routes north to Mae Sai and the Golden Triangle: the well-known river route; and the newly viable route through Mae Salong, Doi Tung and Doi Pa Mi.

Following a 2-day, 1-night programme, you must choose one route or the other; on some of our longer programmes, however, you can cover them both.

As the main attractions lie between Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle along the ‘Old Trade Route’, our programmes are designed to maximize your available time at these attractions, invariably setting off for the drive back to Chiang Mai from the Golden Triangle around dusk.

The Old Trade Route packaged Adventure Tour programmes in this site are specifically designed as excursion tours from Chiang Mai. Clients can however leave most programmes in Chiang Rai instead (see programmes codes ending in ‘B’ (e.g, SA 401B ).

Should you require something with a more leisurely pace, an itinerary that ends in Chiang Rai, or one that includes several nights there; or should you want a custom-designed itinerary, be it a 4WD programme, a difficult trek, or something at a lower cost for a small family, then review the options provided in Section 3 of this Website.

Yours sincerely,
Shane K Beary
Managing Director
Track of the Tiger Co. Ltd.