It's Getting Hot in Here
Ayutthaya, Thailand
March 24, 2009
The breakfast buffet at the hotel was quite large, but the food was not hot. I also noticed bugs on the cucumbers and pineapples. The toast and pancakes with honey were OK though.
We walked North on our street and took a ferry across to the island. Then we walked South down that street to go to the Ayutthaya Historical Study Center (I was following Bill). We spent some time there learning about what life was like when Ayutthaya was a powerful kingdom in the 14 - 16th centuries. The displays and information were OK, but the writing was so hard to read. It was nice to be in the a/c though!
Bill had not applied sunscreen so we did that before moving on. He is so delicate!
We took a tuk tuk to Wat Phra Si Samphet which was originally built in the late 14th century Wat Phra Si Sanphet. It has 3 large chedis (normally contain relics of Buddha or royalty) in the Shri Lanka style. Over a period of time, the site was expanded. The 3rd chedi was built to house the remains of King Rama II. This site was sacked and looted during the Burmese attack of 1767. It was really impressive. The Thai people have done a good job at preserving this and other Wats here.
We ate at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. We had steamed buns filled with different things - pork, crab and soi (sweet). It is so hot and we had lots of water and coke.
We went to Wat Ratchaburana which was built in the early 15th century. It is the cremation site of 2 brothers who died trying to succeed their father to the throne, King Inthara Cha I. We climbed up the Khmer style chedi and down inside of it. There are some ancient frescos that you can see, but it is hard to make out the images clearly.
Wat Maha That was one of the largest and most important temples for Ayutthaya Buddha in Overgrown Tree. It was built in the late 14th century by King Borommaracha. It has the sandstone head of a Buddha lodged in a tree on this site. You have probably seen pictures of this. It is pretty famous - Justin and Scott from Destinations were there!
Outside the Wat we were able to have a green tea (iced) and gatorade (we could have used that in Myanmar).
We walked to the market and a lady intercepted us on the way to the boat launch. She offered to take us around the island in a covered boat for 400 bhat - SOLD! We will do anything to get out of the sun right now.
We cruised around and she chose 2 stops for us - Wat Chai Watthanaram and Wat Phanan Choeng.
Wat Chai Watthanaram was not on the island. We entered through the back door and had to make our way around construction. This temple was built by King Prasat Thong in 1630. It has one large Prong with 8 smaller ones surrounding it. There are some really nicely preserved stucco reliefs (some of Buddha teaching his mom) Wat Chai Wattanaram. There are many headless Buddhas all around this temple too. It was a really great spot and probably our favourite one today.
We stopped at a non-ancient temple, Wat Phanan Choeng. It was decorated in red and gold and had a HUGE golden Buddha. People were donating money to have large streams of gold gauzing tossed up to be wrapped around Buddha. There were many smaller Buddha statues too. Outside the main temple area many people were making offerings with candles and gold leaf. We decided to join in and added some gold leaf to one of the big happy Buddha's.
We went outside and Bill rang the bells that call the monks to prayer.
We finished our boat ride and went to Chainam (China/Thailand/Vietnam) Restaurant on the water front. Bill had fried rice with crab that was very good. I had pork with tomato, chilli and onion on rice. We were even able to get them to make an iced tea for me without sugar! It was good.
While we were sitting there I could see something in the water Our Tour Guide Taking a Siesta. It was a very large monitor lizard trying to catch something to eat. He succeeded to catch a fish and gobbled it down. There is no way you could get me in that water, meanwhile we have seen kids playing in it all afternoon!
Bill's skin is a lovely shade of red right now. I think the sun was too intense today! We headed to an internet cafe to load some pics and kill some time before our overnight train. While at the cafe Bill's worst fear comes true. He is savagely attacked by a stray dog (is startled when the owner of the cafe's dog licks his leg)! LOL! Poor Bill!
We went back to the hotel, cleaned up and collected our bags. In front of the train station a stage is set up and there is a play going on in traditional costumes for a large crowd. I was hungry and tried to find some corn on the cob, but there was not any.
We waited for the train that was supposed to depart at 21:01 (9:01). It did not arrive until 9:25. It is better than Myanmar, but it is no Austria!
We both had a Singha beer. I am hoping that it will help me to sleep, but it just made me have to pee more (right on the tracks). It is going to be a long 13 hours!
The train is fine when you are sitting up, but sways a lot when you lie down. We went to sleep around midnight, but the lights are on and neither of us sleep well (I was on the top bunk all by my lonesome).
