Rabeang Pasak Treehouse Resort

I have something to confess: I have been trying to write this post for almost two weeks. I have written paragraphs of mumbo-jumbo, and then just gone back and erased it all, multiple times. The truth is, there is no story to this post, or any interesting anecdotes, or even a single photo of food! It's just going to be a no-nonsense, straight-up photo post, seeing as the main attraction of staying in a Treehouse Resort is, of course, the treehouses themselves.

The Longan Treehouse.

A few weekends ago, we had a little play-date at the Sticky Falls, and then made our way to our nearby accommodation: The Rabeang Pasak Treehouse Resort. It's only about an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai, but honestly, it's a bit of a difficult journey, and a little hard to find. I would say it's more appropriate for a romantic getaway, or a family looking for some relaxation, but for us, being stuck at the treehouses with a large group of falangs for more than one night wasn't a very attractive idea.

Yes, the place is beautiful, the food delicious, and the tree houses are an amazingly unique place to cuddle up in, but other than that, there is not much to do in the area except try and casually adopt the owner's kittens without him noticing, and name them things like "Jeremiah" or "Sofia". If that doesn't work, there are also some lonely pigs available for a deep conversation, or perhaps a fat furry caterpillar. Other than that, it's just you and a view of the sunset over some mountains, which you can find a quick stroll away from the resort.

The prices are hard to navigate, and also another reason I was reluctant to do this post. Although there was a large group of us and we were given the largest tree house (The Longan House), there still wasn't enough room or things to sleep on, and my boyfriend and I ended up staying in another tree house (The Jackfruit House). While the confusion raged on, I sat with a sunken heart hoping we wouldn't have to fork out ฿1500 for a new tree house, especially since the mistake was not ours. Also, my boyfriend and I pride ourselves on our penny-saving travelling skills, and rarely latch onto other groups who are willing to throw their big bucks around. In the end, however, it worked out all right, and we solved the problem by each chipping in for all the accommodation, and our delicious dinners (฿300 each), while the breakfast was free. All in all, it was a beautiful place run by a friendly family, but if I were to do it again, I would do it as a couple, or perhaps take a visiting relative there for a quiet weekend in the middle of nowhere.


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The jungly path to the treehouses.

A little pond behind The Rabeang House

The Rabeang House.

The Rabeang House and its miniature waterfall.

The Tamarind House. This one was kind of scary to be in!

Inside The Tamarind House.

Casually having a swing at The Tamarind House.

Climbing The Tamarind House.

It's quite a journey getting back down.

View from the Tamarind House - perfect for spying on people!

The Bamboo House.

The Bamboo House's backyard. Nice!

Another shot of the Bamboo House.

Beautiful.

The largest treehouse - The Longan House.

Steps into The Longan House.

The tiny living room in The Longan House.

Another shot of the living room.

Climbing upstairs.

The master bedroom.

A miniature chair on the balcony.

The Longan House.

The Jackfruit House - where my boyfriend and I stayed.

Our bedroom. So cosy!

The gorgeous balcony at the very top of The Jackfruit House.

A very large furry friend.

A not-so furry friend, who was also rather large.

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The Sticky Falls (Buatong Waterfall)

The middle level of the Sticky Falls.

After being in Chiang Mai for a while, you may hear foreigners talk about a waterfall you can climb up like a gecko climbs up a wall, and they might refer to it as the "Sticky Falls", or maybe, the "Limestone Waterfall". You might hear a Thai person talk about "Buatong" or "Nam Phu Chet Si", and casually refer to it as a nice place to visit. They would all be talking about the same place, and anyone will tell you it is an attraction well-worth experiencing, probably unlike any other you've had before.

What makes this waterfall different to the hundreds of others in Northern Thailand, is that its fed by a calcium-rich spring at the very top, which rushes downwards over the boulders of the waterfall. This makes them feel and appear quite "sticky", and unless you've had much experience groping calcium-hungry rocks, you will be shocked at your ability to grip them with your bare skin. On top of that, they look rather cute, being all smooth and rotund, and almost seem like fat little steps when you climb higher up the waterfall.

The falls are about 50km north of Chiang Mai, in a very quiet, tourist-free area, sans the occasional Thai family or couple. There are places to stay nearby if you want to build a weekend around the falls, such as the Mae Ngat Dam Houseboats, or the Rabeang Pasak Tree Houses. It's also a good place for a day trip, and as the area is so isolated and undeveloped, it might be wise to bring a picnic and a few beers. You can't take any food or drink down to the actual waterfall, but there are picnic tables at the top level, and plenty of wild forest to explore.



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To get there, you need to take the 1001 Highway, and that is the easiest part of the trip. If you are on the Superhighway, the 1001 turn-off is on the north side of the highway, east of Chang Phuak Road. It's the one that leads to Mae Jo. You stay on the 1001 for pretty much the whole journey. The hard part of this trip is knowing when to turn off to the waterfalls, because contrary to what earlier blog posts and articles might say, the waterfall is NOT well signposted. In fact, when we eventually realised we had already seen and passed the sign to the waterfall road, it was only because there are no other signs for 5km after that one. So if you see a big old sign that is completely washed out and faded, with a few other little indecipherable signs scattered around it, you're almost definitely on the right track. Also, it is the next road after a series of wooden huts selling vegetables and plants, along with a tiny bottle store, and probably a few friendly locals milling about. It's not hard to miss, unless you are notoriously prone to missing all things obvious, like me.

The steps down to the Sticky Falls.

Furry ground!

The limestone gives the falls a strange pale colour.

Going further down to the lower levels of the waterfall.

A beautiful place to waste a day away.

It poured down on the day we went, although we were already wet from the waterfall.

After the rain.

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