TRAVEL. ADVENTURE

The Valley Where Butterflies are Dancing and Time Stands Still

A day venturing out in the wild looking for trails to explore

I’m stepping over something that appears like a ladder to me but it could be just as well a barrier. Behind it is a trail. In my eyes the hiking trail I read up on. Which is a bit of a lie. The only information on that trail I found is the coordinates of the starting point. It’s something. But not much.

My husband is behind me asking if I see the trail. I nod and start hiking up the mountain. The path goes pretty steep up in the forest but that is nothing unusual in Thailand. The forest floor is covered in fallen leaves and we see ourselves already slipping down here on the way back.

From all the trails I read up on in Doi Phu Kha National Park, this one was the most “dodgy” one. Not like I found a lot of information on the others but this one was seriously sparsely described which is why I chose to hike the others first.

On day three in the park, I would say we have acclimatized to the altitude and got used to hiking in the dense jungle without seeing a single human being for hours.

But despite not meeting any people on the previous trails, the paths were all well-maintained. This one in comparison didn’t look that clear from the beginning and only got more overgrown the higher we went.

I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it was a few months since someone last cleared the trail or if it was two years. Plants grow just so quickly in an environment like this one and it is difficult to read tracks.

Eventually, the bushes got as tall as our shoulders and we could barely look ahead. Cutting a path through the thicket with a stick in my hand I kind of realized I had to give in.

There was no reason for continuing this hike. The path had clearly not been maintained and I don’t even know where it leads to. Therefore we turned around, hiked back down, and got in the car. A bit disappointed but happy as well. We tried. We really tried but the trail just wasn’t there.

The ranger at headquarters had told us earlier all the caves were closed inside the park (due to the pandemic) which would have been an alternative activity for us.

After three days in this very remote national park in Thailand, we got to a point where we said there’s nothing more to explore for us. Not with our limited conversation options with the locals.

We drove down the mountains, all the way back into the Nan Valley. This is where I found another attraction marked on Google maps. Written out as a waterfall I didn’t expect much due to being in the dry season but I hoped to find at least some trail we could hike on.

And I was more than just surprised when we got to the parking and I could see water flowing.

It was around lunchtime and quite hot since we left the high altitude. We followed a trail next to the flowing river and loved hearing water in combination with the loud chirping of the cicadas.

While we did see a handful of people at the parking lot and the immediate surroundings of the water, as soon as we stepped onto this trail, we were again on our own.

This path was walked a lot and much easier to move forward on than the one we had tried earlier. But it wasn’t a never-ending trail either.

After walking on the mountain slopes of the canyon, we got back to the water where the hiking trail also seemed to disappear.

We took our shoes off and cooled our feet in the refreshing mountain water.

I also took the chance to capture some long-exposure shots with the help of the live function of my husband’s iPhone.

We had done now two hikes already even though they were small ones, they were still exercising. Getting back to the parking lot we decided to walk the trail further down.

We had watched a few locals on it and were curious about where this path would lead.

Farmland of course, where else?

Hugging the foot of the mountain this little farm road was built in between the water ditch used for watering the plants and the terraced fields.

The clucking of chicken and cock-a-doodle-doo was to be heard all the time.

But something else drew my attention while we were enjoying this simple walk in the countryside.

Butterflies.

There were butterflies everywhere. Next to the path lots of wildflowers started to bloom and these beautiful creatures flew from one blossom to the next one.

Sometimes the butterflies didn’t even seem to be interested in all the flowers. They were just dancing through the sky.

Taking off from a plant and flying high, then diving down and rising up again just before touching the soil. They would fly in circles around the tall standing wildflowers and us as well.

While we didn't have a destination to get to or somewhere to be in time, I decided this was the moment to take out my camera and test my skills and patience in trying to capture these dancing beauties.

There were a few butterflies that stood out to me. This black one above me was shining so brightly with those blue dots and it was one of the larger ones. I would guess he was almost the size of my hand. With open wings of course.

Another one just never sat down on any plant and I had to capture him mid-air. In which I succeeded and that made me very proud. And happy.

Yes, happiness is what would describe this walk through the countryside the most.

And while I can hear all the other insects complaining because I only talk about the butterflies, there were more of them. Dragonflies, bees, flies, and countless other insects were humming through the valley buzzing above our heads.

We didn’t come across many locals, but the ones we met, smiled back at us which a huge grin on their faces.

I don’t think many foreigners come down this way.

Eventually, we turned around. Not because we got tired but our stomach decided it was time to eat something.

Another great day out in the wild of Thailand’s remote North.

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” — Henry David Thoreau

Read more on our adventures in Thailand’s north:

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