The moment I discovered the Monk's Trail, it was on my "Things to do in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand" bucket list right away. I love hiking and have been hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) trail in the USA and the Camino in Portugal. Currently I am traveling the world with one way flight as a digital nomad, working location independent.
When I woke up at 6.30 AM on my free Friday, I knew that this is the day to do the hike. Some quick breackfast from 7ELEVEN and I was on my way. I had heard a lot of nice things about the University Park and as it was on my way, I decided to check the park also out. The Chiang Mai University Park was absolutely beautiful, peaceful and chill place to relax. I spend some time trying to navigate the route, but finally I was on my way. One nice caffee stop and 9 km in total later I was at the Monk's Trail trailhead. I was in my element. Finally some hiking to do! The trail was quite (literally) straight forward and having a lot of people hiking it, it was easy to follow.
The beginning was a little bit steep, but after the initial 10 minutes, it got quite easy and of course beautiful. After the first 45 minutes of hiking I was at the Wat Pha Lat temple complex. It was absolutely stunning and the highlight of my day. The temple complex was just in middle of the nature, peaceful and silent and the journey to get there made it even more great as an experience.
After the Wat Pha Lat I proceeded hiking on a trail which is also referred as a much more steep and challenging route. First I climbed out to the road and it was fun! After that some more 1.6 km of steepness, 400 metres of road walk and yep, I had made it. I got some food and then explored the Doi Suthep. Entrance was 30 baht.
After such a fun hiking day the temple complex was quite underwhelming. I walked around and took the red Songthaew back home to Nimman. It was 80 baht, defilitely a tourist price, but I really did not care at that point, as I was done with walking. 19 km in 30C heat and the hills were enough for that day.
Only on my way back I understoon HOW high I had hiked up to, as the first 15 minutes, the car was just going down and down the mountain. Definitely recommend the Monk's trail the whole way up to Doi Suthep, it was one of the highlights of my visit to Chiang Mai for sure.

Video of my life in Chiang Mai:    • Just Another Tuesday Living in Chiang...  
My journey on the PCT:    • PCT thru hike 2022  

Daily posts on Instagram:   / walkingestonian