Day 9 - Tour with Bae

Today was a bit quieter. We had booked a tour with few people and a guide. But since we were the only ones who booked this tour, we had our guide Bae all to ourselves. And that was worth it. Bae drove us to the highest mountain in Thailand, about 2,600 meters high. It was very cold up there. Only 12 degrees. Brrr. We didn't stay there for long. But this mountain is located in a nature reserve named after the old king Inthanon who is buried there. Long ago. But this king went up this mountain a few times with his entourage and elephants and marked exactly where he wanted to be buried when he dies. He was then buried there. Then at some point a few hundred years later, during the Vietnam War, the American troops were allowed to station themselves on the mountain and they found out that this king managed to choose the highest point in Thailand as his burial site without GPS. Our Bae told us all about this and we could ask him anything that had always been on our minds. What about the old king? Why was he so popular? What about the new king? How does your school system work? How long do students have to attend school? Is school free? Is it true that every male descendant of a family should spend a limited time in a monastery at least once in their life? What about Buddhism? Why is the year 2560 significant for you? Etc. It was all incredibly interesting. Great! Just for that, the tour was worth it. Then we were dropped off in the rainforest, where a 'native' picked us up and we took a 2-hour tour through the rainforest. The guy showed us a lot of things that we probably wouldn't have seen without him. Great. Then we walked past rice and coffee fields and got freshly brewed coffee to drink. From there, Bae picked us up again and took us home. Great day. At home, we just went out to eat and drink, nothing spectacular, and then off to bed.