Northern Nan province is the Thailand most people never see: long ridges folded one behind another, forest the colour of wet slate, and villages where the language, the clothes and the food change from one valley to the next. Doi Phu Kha sits in the middle of it, inside a national park that covers the highest mountains in the province and runs close to the Laos border.
The park is known for plants, and it is one of the places where you can see wild Himalayan cherry blossom in Thailand. The trees flower pink in the cool season, usually around the turn of the year, and when they do, a few lucky weeks bring Thai visitors in the thousands. The forest is a mix of evergreen hill forest, oak and pine, with orchids, ferns and rhododendron, and the air smells of damp earth and resin. Hill peoples including Hmong, Mien and Lua have lived on these slopes for generations, and their villages cling to terraces and clearings. A greeting and a smile go a long way, and photographing people calls for asking first.
The riding up here is the draw. The roads in northern Nan are narrow, steep and twisty, some of the finest in Thailand, and traffic is almost non-existent. Bends tighten and the surface can be broken in places, with patches of gravel or mud after rain, and cattle sometimes wander across the road. The rainy season, roughly from June to October, brings landslides and slick surfaces, and the cool dry months from November to February are the best for riding, though mornings can be cold and misty. Be careful on the downhills, where brakes work hard.
Services are sparse. Chiang Klang, about twenty-six kilometres away, is the nearest town with proper petrol stations and shops, so fill the tank there and carry water and snacks before heading into the park. Small village stalls may sell noodles or sticky rice with grilled pork, and park accommodation is simple, with basic bungalows and camping. A rain jacket and a warm layer are not optional.
Start early, take your time, and leave daylight for the way back. Phone signal can disappear in the valleys, and the mountain dark falls quickly once the sun drops behind the ridge.