History of Ancient Ruins....

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya

       Time ticks by quickly, camouflaged by the heat of the day and before you know it, days have passed without writing and filling you all in on the busyness of each of our days. If we wrote more often we know full well, it would be easier to capture in words, all the exciting things we are doing and seeing every day. We will work on writing more often. :)

      After many action packed days blurred together by no sense of time there is lots to share.  After 7 days spent in the hustle and bustle of busy Bangkok we boarded the train to head north to Ayuttuaya ( a-u-tia).  We bought 3rd class tickets which cost 15Baht each (around 50 cents) and embarked on the 2 hour, un-air conditioned, lucky if you get a seat, train ride.  Surprisingly, it wasn't to bad at all and we did manage to get seats together.  Ayuttuaya is normally only visited as a day trip from Bangkok but to truly take in all the sights it is best to spend at least a full day there. It is an island city that used to be the capital of Thailand. Surrounded by ancient ruins, the city once boasted a 6 meter high, 5 meter thick wall that surrounded it. In1765, after several attempts, the Burmese Army conquered and burned it to the ground, which is still evident amongst the ruins to this day. The first night we took a 2 hour river boat that stopped at 3 ruin sites. True to a tour (and not our type of travel) we were rushed.  The idea was to get to see the sites when the sun was setting but the clouds started to darken and the guide was anxious to get us back before the rain came...he was unsuccessful. On our boat were 2 french backpackers who were on month 6.  It made us wonder where we would be 6 months from now??

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya

Many tourists book a tour or rent peddle bikes to tour around but in the heat and in an attempt to see as much as possible in 1 day, we rented a scooter and to Dean's pure delight we were off. We started early but the heat came quickly. Luckily for us we followed the lead of the locals and bought umbrellas to carry around to shade us from the sun. Kelly's broke moments after opening it but she used it anyways. They worked wonders and were probably the only saving grace that let us explore for the whole day.  The ruins were truly amazing and each different in their own way. Wat Mahathat perhaps is one of the most well known Wats with a partial Buddha statue left. All that remains is the head of the Buddha, which is now surrounded by the roots of a tree. Dean has seen it on tv many times and to be able to see it in real life was a privilege. During our adventure that day we stumbled across an elephant temple where you can pay to ride and feed the elephants. We again, chose to not ride the elephants as it does seem somewhat cruel that although these ones actually seemed well taken care of, they are still a captive animal, not free in their natural habitat. We did decide to feed them though because captive or not, they still need to eat.  Here was also where we met the baby elephant. He, unlike the adults, was roaming around free with the tourists. Posing for pictures and drinking out of  a big gulp cup. You could take your picture with him, fed him and touch him. It was an experience that we won't forget. He was so sweet!!  After a long day in the sun and seeing some amazing sights we settled at a restaurant along the street for dinner. Here we saw a family of 4 (the children were probably around 10) come into town all with backpacks in tow. We couldn't help but smile and secretly wonder if maybe that will be us with our family in 10 or so years :)

We left the next morning to head a little further North to Paimai (pronounced Pie-My). This town is completely off the backpackers trail and we probably won't meet any others who decide to make the trek here. Again, our reason to come here was to see more ruins. These ruins were built by the Khmer people as long ago as the 10th century. It was exciting for us because they are linked with the ruins at Angkor Wat in Cambodia that we visited 4 years ago. There is an ancient road that leads from these ruins straight to Angkor Wat. And this is the blue print for what Angkor Wat became, eventually becoming one of the 7 wonders of the world.

After our first experience on the 3rd class train we thought we had it covered and could do it again for what was suppose to be a 3 hour ride. We were wrong. It was very hot and the seats were very very uncomfortable. And true to Thai transportation reputation, over a 4 hour journey. The only thing that helped pass the time was a 73 year old lady sitting next too us, who in broken English was very excited to talk with us.  She was such a nice lady who not only shared many stories about herself (much of which we really didn't understand and did a lot of smiling and nodding) but also was adamant on sharing her food with us. She shared her 2 different types of mango and introduced us to dipping it in a mixture of salt,sugar and chilies. Which is true to Thai's 5 culinary flavors, sweet, sour, bitter, salty and hot.  It was too spicy for Kelly but Dean seemed to enjoy it. She said it would make us strong if we ate it. She also bought some pastry's from someone selling them on the train. They were filled with different potato and meat fillings. She again insisted on us trying them. When we said we liked them she flagged the seller over to us for us to buy the last box.  Not only did she converse and share her food with us she wrote down directions of where we wanted to go after getting of the train, in Thai for us to give to our taxi driver!! She was the type of lady that you always hope you meet during your journeys but rarely do.

After a very long train ride and a confusing and crowded bus ride we arrived in Paimai very dirty and exhausted! We were dropped off the bus in the center of town and for the first time in Thailand no tuk-tuks or cab drivers swarmed us. We actually had no idea where we were or where we were going. Lucky for us, the town is small and a local pointed towards the hotel. It was just around the corner and we were greeted with a smile and an air conditioned room that we payed $14 for. That night we only saw 2 other tourists. We were off the beaten path.  We woke early to head across the street to the ruins (they are in the middle of the city and the city is very small...very convenient for us) We were the only tourists there and had the whole site to ourselves for the first little bit.  It did bring us back 4 years, to what we had seen in Angkor Wat. It is a neat experience to have your mind wander back over 1000 years to what this place was like when it was built. What were the people like, what did they eat, drink, do, discuss...who were they??? When no one is around it is easy to let your mind go.

     We spent the afternoon at the museum and then went back to the ruins to take photos with the evening light and sky.  Unfortunately for us, the sun disappeared quickly and we missed many of the shots we were hoping for.  One thing we now know for sure is, that no matter how hard you try and plan to capture the beauty, wonder and awe of such magnificent places with a camera, the real thing and the image left in your mind will never compare.  We will leave here with a beautiful imprint that we just couldn't capture properly for you all.

     Tomorrow we leave here. To be perfectly honest we still don't know exactly where we are heading.  We think we will head south towards the beaches. YAY!!!! But the number one rule with backpacking is to always expect the unexpected.   So in saying that, another adventure and surprise awaits for us tomorrow and that is so exciting!

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