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Today we ventured into the Doi Inthanon national park in Thailand.
Our first stop of the day was Wachirathan Waterfall and as it was such a sunny day the spray from the waterfall created a double rainbow. The was so much spray from the waterfall that I was soaked within 30 seconds.
There were stalls, like every tourist destination, but one of the stalls just below the pringles (or Thai equivalent) was a basket with a cat a five 1 week old kittens (see album for cat pictures).
We were then to taken to a Mae Klang Luang Coffee village where a mountain tribe lived. They have been here for over 100 years and they have their own language. When they arrived all those years ago they used to grow opium. The Thai government educated them how to grow coffee and make money from that instead.
We were taken to two different coffee growers to sample their wares. The first was a woman who roasted her own coffee in a pan and roasted to a medium roast, about 12 minutes. I was allowed to hand grind the coffee beans and then she passed the hot coffee through a sieve 4-5 times. This coffee was so fruity and delicious. The second grower was a man who used the coffee roaster owned by the tribe, he had made two roasts a light, about 10 minutes, and a dark, about 16 minutes. The light roast was very floral and sour while the dark was more bitter. I have bought some of this coffee to bring home with me.
The village was beautiful and we got to see many plants and the rice fields that had just been harvests.
After lunch we went up to the Doi Inthanon Summit, the tallest mountain in Thailand. Up there, there were two trails and an Thai Air Force base. The first of the trails the Forest of the Sky trail contained the highest point in Thailand and was 150 metres long. The second the Angkha nature trail was 320 metres and was more like walking through a jungle. At one point there was a steep staircase that lead down to the shrine of an Air force officer who had died in 2014.
The final stop of the day was to see the Pagodas. On top of the Doi Inthanon mountain the Air Force had built two pagodas to house relics of the Buddha. They were built in 1987 and 1992 to honour the King and Queen's 60th birthdays.
The King’s Pagoda, Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon, is square in shape with four tiers, each one representing a stage in Buddhist philosophy, from everyday life up to enlightenment. It’s decorated with gold-plated Buddha images and beautiful carvings, so there’s a lot to pause and take in if you enjoy the detail.
The Queen’s Pagoda, Phra Mahathat Naphaphonphumisiri, is circular with seven tiers, said to reflect the seven colours of the rainbow, a symbol of peace and unity. The outside is covered in sparkling coloured glass mosaics and right at the top is a massive bronze bell that weighs over 7,000 kilograms.