Buathong: The Sticky Waterfalls of Chiang Mai

To be honest, I was a bad tourist in Chiang Mai. I never ended up doing any of the typical day trips around the city, and I was there nearly two weeks. Blame it on my election depression fog and a general lack of interest in doing anything other than writing and eating khao soi. But one day I did make it out of the city. Destination: the Sticky Waterfalls, officially known as the Buathong Waterfalls. I had heard about this place on a podcast: A near mythical waterfall about an hour out of the city, which you could climb due to the ”sticky” geologic properties of the limestone rocks.

Well, that sounded pretty badass.

I roped Katie and Jessica into joining me and we met at Chiang Mai Gate to find a red songthaew to take us there. Every southeast Asian city has its own version of tuktuks or taxis and in Chiang Mai the most ubiquitous is the songthaew, a red pickup truck with benches in the back. It took us a couple tries to find a driver who understood where we wanted to go, but eventually we managed to find one who would drive us to the waterfalls, wait there for a few hours while we explored, and drive us back, for 1200 baht (about $33 total). We sped out of the city and our driver stopped at a market. ”Five minutes,” he said, going to get himself some lunch. We waited in the songthaew. When he returned, he popped his head in the back and handed us three ears of boiled corn. We were touched at the gesture and happily began to snack as we took off again.

If you have ever wanted to feel like a superhero, I highly recommend visiting the Buathong waterfalls. It feels counterintuitive as you first set foot on the rocks. Everything in your body is saying: are you crazy? Humans aren’t meant to climb up rocks underneath rushing water! But somehow, it works, and before long the three of us were scrambling up the falls with glee.

The day was clear and warm, the water just chilled enough, and there were seemingly hundreds of jewel toned butterflies flitting about as we cooled down in the pools at the bottom of the falls.

There were only a handful of other foreign and Thai tourists there, which made the afternoon completely relaxing. It was one of my favorite things I have done in Thailand, or anywhere in the world, really.