In 1964, at the age of 64, she hiked to the top of Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest peak, in Chiang Mai Province. She had been used to hiking from Bhubing Palace, accompanied by border control police and two physicians. Soon she felt that she had covered all she could within the immediate vicinity, and yearned to conquer Doi Inthanon, which was visible from the palace windows. In those days there was no access road to the top, so the princess mother spent two nights camping out during her hike, the first night at Pang Somdet, and the following night at Ban Pha Mon. A large number of hill tribe villagers turned up to welcome her. The tribes people's lack of access to medical care concerned her. When she returned the following year, she brought with her two physicians, and her visits to these remote areas by helicopter eventually earned her the name "Mae Fah Luang" among the hill tribes, meaning 'royal mother from the sky', referring to her arrival by helicopter with physicians, nurses, medicines, food, and clothing.