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RTW Trip Day #53: The Bua Tong "Sticky" Waterfall and the Elephant Poopoopaper Park in Chiang Mai
- andrewsco3
- Nov 21
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 21
20 November 2025
Steps: 5,312
This morning we left the city and made our way to Bua Tong, better known as the Sticky Falls. It is such a fun waterfall to explore with kids as you can climb straight up the limestone rocks without slipping.
Getting to the Sticky falls
It took us a while to finally get on the road, as we spent almost an hour trying to find ourselves a ride to the falls. We had tried booking the ‘hire by the hour’ feature through Grab, but we had three drivers cancel on us, two of them after turning up at the hotel.
We looked into getting a Grab there and hoping we could get one back, but we weren’t sure whether there would be many drivers around, as presumably most drivers might take back the people they dropped off. In any case the cost was 800 baht one way to the falls, so with our second planned stop, it could have got expensive.
In the end we finally found a driver, but we had to agree to pay an extra 500 baht on top of the Grab fee for him to drive us there. It was about an hour drive to the falls, plus we wanted an extra stop to the Elephant Poopoopaper Park on the way back, so I didn’t think that 1800 baht was too bad for around 5 hours.
The Bua Tong "Sticky" Waterfall
The Bua Tong Falls are known as the “sticky falls” because the rock looks like it should be slippery, but the high-mineral content limestone rocks provide incredible grip. It takes a moment to trust it, but before long we were climbing straight up the falls in bare feet. It's such a fun and unique experience to be able to walk up a waterfall!
We started off by heading down the wooden steps to the bottom of the falls - if you don't want to wear shoes you can leave them at the top.
The lower sections of the falls were more gentle and would be great for younger kids. There were signs saying that no children 7 years or younger could play in the falls, but I don't think this was being enforced at all. Our girls loved the top sections of the falls, where a rope has been installed to help you climb up the steeper parts.
Watch out where you put you hands! As we made our way up the middle section of the falls, a lady pointed out a poisonous green pit viper!
The girls had so much fun that we ended up going down and climbing up the falls again, even though we had a taxi driver waiting for us on the clock!
If you are in Chiang Mai with kids, they will have so much fun here, although I'd recommend going as early as you can to avoid the crowds.
The Elephant Poopoopaper Park
On the way back from the sticky falls, we stopped at the Elephant Poopoopaper Park, which was surprisingly really interesting and the kids learnt something, had lots of poop related laughs and came away saying it was one of the most entertaining activities that we've done.
When we arrived we were told that the next two tours were full, but you really don’t need one to explore the park. The signage is clear and easy to follow and you can take your time without being part of a big group.
A tour group came through behind us and it was a pretty large group, so wandering on our own actually felt like the better option. Just follow the piles of poop and you’ll know exactly where to go.
You start by learning how they take elephant poop and boil it and then clean it. It’s surprising to see that after all that the fibres are completely odorless and feel almost like straw.
From there you move through each step of turning those fibres into paper. You see how they mix the pulp, spread it into frames, press out the water and leave the sheets to dry in the sun.
The final products are colourful notebooks cards and all sorts of stationery and it’s a fun way to watch the whole process come together from start to finish.
You can even make your own craft at the end by decorating a product with the dried paper shapes. Jess really enjoyed that part and it was a great way to wrap up the visit.
Previous Day #52: Exploring Old Town Chiang Mai
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