At 2,565 meters, Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain peak in Thailand and part of the foothills of the Himalayas. Doi Inthanon National Park is 482 square kilometers and is located in Chiang Mai province about two hours south of the city, or, lucky for me, an hour drive south of my town.
The park is huge, so I visited for two separate day trips. The first was to see Mae Ya Waterfall, the biggest waterfall in Northern Thailand. The photos speak for themselves.
I blocked some poor Dutch woman with her professional camera/tripod so that she would have to take this photo for me. 
Mae Ya Waterfall
On my second trip to the park I visited everything else, including the summit of Doi Inthanon. The summit itself was underwhelming. It can only be reached by driving and is just a coffee shop, gift shop, and a sign proclaiming that you’ve made it to the highest spot in Thailand. However, about 5 kilometers from the summit is the Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail. Visitors must hire a local Hmong Hill Tribe guide to guide them on the trail. It is roughly 3 kilometers and starts through the lush forest, then to the meadows near the top of the mountain, and on to a ridge with stunning panoramic views of the mountains. My guide didn’t speak any English, but we communicated a little bit with the relevant Thai words and phrases I knew, and it was very convenient to have someone who knew all the best photo opp spots on the trail.
The only attraction at the summit of the tallest mountain in Thailand…. 
Taking in the views! 
The mountain ridge-featuring my cool Thai guide. 
The pagodas in the distance. 
A rhododendron on the mountain. 
There is a deep and poetic caption for this that I’m missing. 
Do I look thoughtful and deep in this photo? 
The foothills of the Himalayas.
Aside from the summit and the trail, I spent hours motorbiking through the park (discovering that my motorbike really was not meant for driving up steep mountains) and stopping at various waterfalls, pagodas, and viewpoints along the way. I even stopped at a Hmong hill tribe village to get gas when I ran out on the middle of the mountain….and for snacks!
High class gardening on the mountain. 
The garden next to the royal pagodas near the summit. 
More pretty pagodas. 
A gas pump in the Hmong Hill Tribe village. I ran out of gas on the mountain and the directions on this pump were in Thai so I sprayed gas everywhere… 
Sirithan Waterfall 
Wachirathan Waterfall 
Mae Klang Waterfall 
Downstream of Mae Klang Waterfall was a little river beach where locals hang out! 
You can have lunch on the water at Mae Klang.