Stunning mountaintop pagodas off the tourist track in Thailand [drone photos]

Deep in Lampang Province not too far from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, these beautiful mountaintop pagodas are real hidden gems. I have spent years traveling a lot in Thailand and I only vaguely knew of them. I finally got around to visiting Wat Chalermprakiat on a recent Northern Thailand road trip and I can't recommend this place highly enough.

While the pagodas look ancient, they were actually built in 2004 to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the reign of King Rama IV. You'll probably want a car or motorbike to get there, but there is probably a way to do it on public transport. The road up is too narrow to let people drive so official Songthaews (pickup trucks with 2 rows of benches in the back) take people up from a temple at the bottom. From the top of the road it's still an 800 meter climb along a road and a steel staircase. It's worth it. The temples and views are stunning, and I'm really not even that into temples.

Happy to answer any questions you have in a comment below. I'll be editing together a drone video as well so give a follow if you'd like to see that. Cheers!
shot with DJI Mavic Pro and Lumix GH5