Kayaking Chiang Mai’s Ping River

Although Chiang Mai is not exactly known for kayaking, it is indeed possible to paddle the Ping River that flows through the city. Downtown, the river offers a fun urban paddle as you pass by various restaurants, bars, and bridges. As you move away from the city center, you get an increasingly rural experience with wildlife, cottages and farms.

We rented a tandem kayak from “Chiang Mai Mountain Biking & Kayaks”, an adventure company located in downtown Chiang Mai. The company offers numerous kayaking and mountain biking tours in the region, as well as white water rafting tours during the wet season. For a more independent experience, you can also rent a kayak from them, which is what we did. For an extra fee, they drove us to a launch point about 12km outside the city, and then picked us back up from downtown Chiang Mai at the end of the trip.

The first 6km of the paddle gave us a satisfying nature fix, with birds, mountain scenery, and pretty foliage. We also came across some interesting structures. Not quite sure what they’re for, but they looked neat!

At about the halfway point, we pulled up at a riverside resort for a little lunch break, where we enjoyed an infinity pool and an absolutely phenomenal red curry.

As we continued toward Chiang Mai, the afternoon sun made for an increasingly magical (if hot) paddle.

We were tempted by this riverside bar, but the good folks at Mountain Biking & Kayaks were waiting for us, so we decided to press onward.

Made it back to the city!