Climb up a waterfall that cannot be slippery
Barefoot, against the water
Bua Thong is about 60 km north of Chiang Mai in Mae Taeng. Three tiers, roughly 100 metres of climbable rock in total, ropes fixed on the steeper pitches, and no entry fee.
Why it's unique
The spring above the falls carries a heavy load of dissolved calcium bicarbonate. Where the water meets air the calcium comes out of solution and crystallises onto the rock as tufa, a porous limestone with a surface like coarse sandpaper. That surface does two things at once: it gives grip, and it will not host algae. Algae is what makes every other wet rock lethal.
So the ordinary relationship with a waterfall inverts. You do not stand at the bottom and look up. You put your bare feet on it and walk up the middle of the water.
Before you go
Barefoot, not sandals. The grip is skin against tufa and any sole at all removes the whole effect. People who keep their shoes on slip, which is how a waterfall you cannot slip on gets a reputation for being slippery.
Weekday mornings are close to empty. It is genuinely free, with no entry fee of any kind, which is unusual enough here that visitors assume they have missed a ticket booth.
It is 1.5 hours each way and there is no public transport worth the name. Either hire a scooter for the day or take a car.