Rice Grains

On my previous entry I didn't even get through the first tour. I will try to condense the rest of our time--somewhat.:) After the bamboo raft ride we went to a monkey center where several monkeys put on a half-hour show. One monkey gave us all little kisses on the cheek. Another monkey did pushups, and yet another lifted weights.

And one monkey stoles someone's soda and drank the rest of it while riding a bicycle.:) Cute!

From the monkey show we traveled on to the orchid and butterfly farm. Beautiful!

When we were dropped off back at the hotel, we asked to have our picture taken with Bee, our guide, who works for a company called SAM, http://samassist.com/New%20System/index.asp . This company is the one who did all the hotel reservations for our Southeast Asia Anabaptist Retreat back in April. I've been quite impressed with their services. And Bee was a great tour guide, lots of fun.

The next day we took a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, where we were to see some waterfalls and also visit the highest peak in Thailand, 2,565 meters above sea level. The day turned out to be a foggy, rainy, chilly day, but we had so much fun in spite of the weather. We had to laugh when we reached the top, normally having a spectacular (I assume) view. All we could see was fog upon more fog.

The waterfalls were very beautiful, though the pictures didn't turn out so very well due to the rain and fog.

After our first waterfall, we journeyed to a small Karen village. The Karen group is one of the various hill tribes in the area. Our guide told us that most of the hill tribes are Christian. The village had one building where we could watch women weaving cotton into scarves, tablecloths, and bedspreads. Beautiful!

In the village I also found a very friendly kitty that I wanted to take home with me. I wish you could see the tail better; it is only a 2/3 tail or so. Many cats in Thailand have this somewhat shortened tail--looks incomplete to me. Supposedly it is genetic.

We went on our way to the next waterfall.

The next place we visited was a garden type area with two pagodas, one built in honor of the king and one built in honor of the queen. The pictures below are of the queen's pagoda. Notice the fog.:)

Leaving the pagodas, we drove on to a few roadside stands where Karen people were selling mostly dried fruit and silver jewelry. Since they offered us samples of various fruits, I felt a bit obligated to buy something. I am not a lover of dried fruit, but I bought a bag of dried mango, which I ended up giving to Twila. Those of you who know her must ask her what she did with the mangos.:)

We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and then headed for our final destination, the highest point of the mountain. By that time it was raining quite heavily, but everyone was a good sport about it. Below is a picture of the group, including our tour guide and a young couple from Holland, complete with umbrellas!

And last, but not least. Or maybe it is least! I'll let you decipher the sign we saw on our way out of the park. If you can't figure out its message, email me.:)