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| All for me |
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| I'm really not comfortable with this level of luxury. It's little guest houses for me from now on. |
I went to Ayuttaya yesterday, and it was rather long trip out to the old capital of Thailand. I'd like to report that it was a good trip, but I contracted something which made my visit very unpleasant. There are plenty of temples there, it's an entire city of ruins to visit, and I was disappointed that I had to cut it short after visiting only three.
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| This old pagoda in Ayutthaya is now the center of a traffic circle |
I met a new friend here (friend of a friend) by the name of Boy. Most Thais have a nickname given, and I asked him what his nickname means. He said it's just the English name for a male child. That's what his parents chose. He's proprietor of a hardware store at the moment, and happy to be a lifelong resident of Ayuttaya. It was very interesting talking with him about all sorts of things from business and the economy to culture and history of Thailand and the region in general. I said I want a nickname too, and was promptly dubbed Yak. It means "Giant" (but also ironically invoking some of the sounds I was making during the day due to my ailment).
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| Boy, my gracious guide for the day |
I feel very fortunate Boy took time from his busy schedule to be my guide for as long as I could take it. I'm glad he started with some of the most impressive temples. There were some huge statues of Buddha which started the tour. The biggest ones were in pretty good shape. Just look at the size of this reclining one.
We had to wind it up with a visit to this scary-big gold one. One finger was way bigger than a person. I think it looked so big because it was enclosed in a room. It once was outdoors, and was enclosed later.
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| I was very surprised at the size of this Buddha |
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| Very beautiful ceiling |
There are so many ruins to visit in this city. Just driving around you will see extremely old pagodas right next door to businesses and neighborhoods--easy to think nothing of it if it's part of your life. There are several structures you will notice leaning quite badly. Boy explained this is due to damage from the flood waters which began to recede only last month. The entire area of Ayutthaya was flooded, in places 10 meters deep. It's hard to believe, traveling around the city and seeing the water line left on buildings, imagining what it must have been like for everything miles around to be flooded in at least waist deep water for months. The soft foundation stones of some of the structures eventually began to dissolve.
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| This is the image I most often see in association with the name Ayutthaya. Lots of tourists taking pics with it while hamming it up |
We took a break from seeing temples and went out to eat at a nice restaurant on a barge tied up to a dock. There was a big barge being pulled up or down the river every 15 minutes or so. The food was wonderful and there was a pleasant breeze that cooled things down nicely. I tried a little of the food but couldn't keep it down, so had to be a spectator for the rest of the meal. There's some yummy looking fish in my hotel fridge, I'll try a little when I get back tonight.
There is a special kind of tuktuk in Ayuttaya that I have seen nowhere else in Thailand. Boy explained that they are all very old and they keep them on the road, some looking brand new and others looking every bit their age. I'll have to ask him why they are in Ayutthaya exclusively.
One thing was very striking as I take the shuttle out is the failed 80 billion baht Hopewell Project. It's an amazing amount of waste, over one thousand concrete pillars the majority being sound. It has been proposed to use it as an extension of the Skytrain line, but the people I've asked don't think it will happen.
Well, this internet cafe has very uncomfortable chairs so I'm out of here.
