Trekking with Lunch cooked by Bamboo in the Chiang Rai jungle

A fantastic day where the guide provided choices of difficulty. Excellent lunch with take home surprise.

Starting from Chiang Rai, we went for a one-day jungle walk and visit of hill tribe villages. We thoroughly enjoyed the excursion not only because of the amazing experience of discovering landscape and plants in the jungle West of Chiang Rai, but even more so thanks to the exceptional personality of Arju, the founder of RU and our guide. Arju who has family links to China grew up in an Akha village where he learned all the traditional skills required to live in the jungle. Fluent in English and well-reflected, he excelled in providing us with an understanding of the various layers of the roots and contemporary culture of the hill tribe villages, including amazing demonstrations of how to cook a delicious meal on an open fire with bamboo utensils freshly cut and how to use a machete for everyday jungle life.

We spent a lovely day trekking in Chiang Rai jungle with our guide Aryu. He made us a tasty lunch on the fire with only bamboo ustensils and banana leaves, all in a jungle shelter he made himself. He also made lots of bamboo crafts for us along the way, our kids absolutely loved it. We saw beautiful scenery, jungle, waterfall, rice and pineapple plantations as well as local villages. We really enjoyed the day and highly recommend this trek. (Wear good shoes and bring lots of water).

We had a fantastic trip, and would highly recommend. Lunch was delicious, beautiful waterfall and rice fields. The trekking is hard but worth it.

If you are looking for a truly authentic northern Thai experience, this is a must-do. Aryu was very knowledgeable and has been a tour guide for 15 years. He recently decided to start his own company, which is why there aren’t many reviews yet. We hiked 10km through the jungle and stopped at a nearby village when it started raining hard on us. The lunch he cooked for us using the bamboo was very delicious and interesting to learn about. Aryu also made many things for us out of bamboo while we were hiking. We saw a beautiful waterfall, many hillside villages, and soaked our feet in a hot spring after. Highly recommend this experience!!

This was an amazing experience! Aryu was a wonderful guide. The hike went through the jungle, tea plantation. Bamboo forest, villages, and an incredible waterfall. Aryu is a local from the area and knows the forest well. The trek was beautiful and very real. Bring proper footwear and wear long pants. The bamboo lunch was really a highlight as he managed to make three different meals: a bamboo soup, amazing grilled pork, bamboo rice and a special bamboo omelette which was set up in this little area under the shade of trees. Our guide provided us with a real sense of the area and made us little bamboo souvenirs like a cup and chopsticks. He even helped us out with sorting out our bus situation for the next day when we had issues booking tickets. This is a great option for more sustainable tourism as Aryu is an independent guide but has been giving this tour for ten or so more years. Out of a three week trip between Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia this was an absolute height and can not recommend enough!

Every day is school day if you trek with theses guides. The guides were friendly, informative & made sure we were able to take advantage of all they had to offer The trek through the villages, meeting the inhabitants & learning about how they live/work in the mountain was memorable. Cooking with & eating with bamboo utensils was both delicious & an experience . We were able to taste all the fruits, veg & tea that grows in the jungle as well as take part in the preparation & cooking. The waterfall was both beautiful & peaceful . The hot spring at the end was wonderful, especially the foot bath for our tired feet. A truly memorable day.

We had a great day with Ayru. He has extremely good local knowledge which made the walk so interesting. He has good language and interpersonal skills. We learnt so much about the local people and ecology. We would thoroughly recommend this trip. The bamboo lunch was brilliant.

Our trip was led by Aryu, who grew up in the area we visited and still lives in the area. He and his family are part of the Akha community. He speaks fluent English, is very personable, and is an excellent back-woods chef. Our all-day trek through jungle, tea plantations, pineapple fields, and rubber tree groves spanned 8.7 miles with 1870 feet of elevation…so not for the unadventurous. Some of the trail was challenging due to overhanging bamboo or rough terrain, but two active 60-somethings were able to hack it fine. Highlights of the trip included spectacular viewpoints overlooking hill tribal villages, a spectacular waterfall, and the incredible meal prepared by Aryu over a campfire using bamboo cooking materials that he crafted before our eyes. Although the trek took us at times in somewhat remote areas, there were ample opportunities for bathroom breaks and purchasing of cold beverages during the trek. This trip was clearly one of the highlights of our trip to Thailand and I can recommend it highly for those seeking to learn more about the hill tribes of Chiang Rai and having a taste for adventure.

This tour has been amazing, thanks to our guide Aryu, too. We passed the day trekking in the jungle with Aryu giving us information on the surroundings and his personal story. We had luch in the middle of the jungle, visited tea plantation and some village. Highly recommended.