Wat Pha Lat, our favourite temple in Chiang Mai

Wat Pha Lat, a forest temple on the way up Doi Suthep

Chiang Mai has more than 300 temples, and most travellers see three of them: Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang and, of course, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep at the top of the mountain. On the road up, about 6 km after the climb starts, sits one that far fewer people know. Wat Pha Lat, the "temple on the sloping rock", is in our eyes the most pleasant of all the temples in Chiang Mai. Not for its gilding or its grandeur, but for its atmosphere. The jungle reclaims the stone, a stream replaces the tourist din, and it's a temple you have to earn.

Wat Pha Lat is a forest temple on the Doi Suthep road. Entry is free, there is no ticket office, and a donation helps the resident monks.

It suffers from a cruel paradox. It sits on the way to the most visited attraction in the city, yet nearly everyone drives past in a hurry to reach the summit. The red songthaews, the shared taxis of Chiang Mai, climb the bends without a pause, and nothing from the road marks the temple except a sign like many others. That discretion explains why the place has kept its character. There are no souvenir sellers and no queues, just a few monks going about their business, and often nobody else, especially in the low season.

If you're building a trip to northern Thailand, this is the stop that makes the temple list feel less like a checklist.

The legend of the white elephant

The story of Wat Pha Lat is tied to Doi Suthep by a founding legend. In the 14th century, King Kuena of Chiang Mai received a sacred relic of the Buddha. To choose where the temple that would house it should stand, he placed the relic on a white elephant and let the animal wander into the jungle. It climbed the mountain, stopped to rest on a sloping rock, then went on to the summit, where it trumpeted three times. The king took this as an omen and ordered a temple built at the top.

The rock where the elephant paused is where Wat Pha Lat stands. That is the legend; history is a little more down to earth. Wat Pha Lat served as a resting stage for monks on their way up the mountain, long before the road existed. Work on the modern road began in 1934 and finished in 1935, and the temple's restoration started in 1934 too, paid for by a wealthy Burmese wood merchant.

Either way, it has always been a place to slow down before the climb.

What you find at Wat Pha Lat

Not one building but a scatter of shrines

Forget the single hall inside an enclosure wall. Wat Pha Lat is a group of structures spread along the hillside and joined by stone paths, wooden bridges and moss-covered stairways. You don't visit it so much as get gradually lost in it, and come across hidden corners at every bend.

Here, a stone Buddha sits at the foot of an old tree. There, a golden stupa is half covered in vegetation, as if the forest were slowly taking it back. Further on, incense burns on a small altar guarded by nagas and elephant statues, weathered by time.

The stream, the ferns and the light

A stream cascades through the rocks and runs under the wooden bridges and around the statues. Its murmur follows you everywhere, with birdsong and the rustle of bamboo on top. After the rainy season, which ends in October or November, the stream turns into a small waterfall.

The canopy filters the sun into a golden half-light. Giant ferns cling to the rocks, moss covers every stone and lianas hang from the high branches. Now and then a ray of light lands on a Buddha or a chedi, and the effect is almost cinematic.

Meditation and monk chats at an active temple

This is a working meditation temple, not a ruin. Several monks live here in small wooden huts scattered through the forest, and an open meditation hall welcomes practitioners, local and foreign.

The temple sometimes offers "monk chats": one-to-one conversations with a monk, where you can learn the basics of meditation and ask about Buddhism. They're informal and warm.

You don't need to meditate formally to feel the effect. Sit on a stone bench by the stream, close your eyes and listen for twenty minutes, and the calm arrives by itself. Chiang Mai, which you can see from above from the temple, feels a long way off.

How to get to Wat Pha Lat from Chiang Mai

Wat Pha Lat is about 6 km up the Doi Suthep road from the start of the climb. You can reach it by scooter, car or taxi, or on foot by the Monk's Trail, a 30 to 45 minute walk from behind the Chiang Mai University campus.

• Monk's Trail: the most memorable way, on foot from the university.
• Scooter or car: drive up the Doi Suthep road and park below the temple.
• Taxi or Grab: ask for "Wat Pha Lat".

Not sure how to fit Wat Pha Lat into your days in northern Thailand? Our local experts can build it into a tailor-made route.

Walking the Monk's Trail

The Monk's Trail to Wat Pha Lat is about 2.4 km there and back. Most guides put the walk to the temple at 30 to 45 minutes one way.

The path starts behind the Chiang Mai University campus and climbs through forest where the trees are wrapped in orange monastic cloth. It was the main route up the mountain until the road opened in 1934, which is why it carries the name. Walking it is the most memorable way to arrive, and you reach the temple already in the right frame of mind. Pick your date with the best time to visit Thailand in mind, since a forest climb in the wet months is a different outing.

By scooter, car or taxi

On the Doi Suthep road, look for a discreet sign on the left. It points to a path leading down to the car park. If you'd rather not drive the bends yourself, a taxi or Grab will take you to Wat Pha Lat if you name it. Don't count on a red songthaew: they don't stop at the temple.

Wat Pha Lat and Doi Suthep: what to do next

Visit Wat Pha Lat first, then continue to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. We recommend it in that order. The two temples are in very different styles, and the contrast heightens each of them: the forest silence first, the summit second.

Among the hundreds of temples in Chiang Mai, Wat Pha Lat reminds you why such places were built at all: as spaces of inner peace, not as attractions. If you'd like help planning Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep and the quieter corners around them, tell us what you enjoy and a local expert will design the trip with you. Our Thailand travel guide covers the rest of the country.