Still hot... We have spent a few days in Ayutthaya, aka "temple town" It is full of old ruins of temples, I think from 13th Century. They are all rather impressive, though unfortunatley most of the Buddhas have lost their heads, think they gat a bit battered when some people invaded (we think maybe from Burma, donkeys years ago) Well worth a visit though we did discover that the lovely ladies on the door are quite reluctant to give out tickets, rumor is abound that they pocket the money themselves! I don't think they earn a whole lot, so I guess if they get away with it then congrats to them for being canny!
Stayed in a lovely guesthouse (Baan Lotus) which was a bit of a circular walk from the train station(thanks to Lonely planets misguided directions...) However we first had to take a little ferry across the river, and I mean little ferry, with a big backpack attached, I was very paranoid of falling in! Was kinda like a dinghy boat with about 15 people, us with rucksacks and 2 people with bicycles. Wish I had taken a photo, but didnt dare move really!
The guesthouse has a lilly pond (lake) out back, and a nice seating area, pontoon type thing. So many birdies chirping away and lots of crickets and small insects that make similar noisy noises. And I thought I saw a baby crocodile! ha, turns out it was a lizard, maybe a salamander, about 1meter long swam across the pond then ran up a palm tree to catch the last of the days rays! They also had a rooster who like every other rooster I have ever encountered can't tell the time... Early morning wake up calls, and reminders that he was there throughout the day, some cute chickens though, all cheeping about following their mum!
And the sorriest looking dogs I have ever seen, there are a plethora of stray dogs roaming the streets, looking in a very bad way. I think they need to start a sterilisation programme for all the dogs. Seems strange as some people had the most pampered pets as well, and there were a lot of pet stores.Hey ho, completeley different culture, apparentley in Buddhism it is not the done thing to kill these animals, though I think in the UK the RSPCA would put the majority of them down.
There was an interesting night market here too, and we sampled a few delights, namely veggies rice and cashew nuts! Not a patch on Mr Yims in Bangkok - a lovely street vendor selling all veggie food cooked right in front of you, really tasty curries, we will be back there when we go back to Bangkok! The market was for locals, and was interesting to see people out and about, we have discovered that during the day pretty much everyone is indoors, and its about 6pm that people start emerging! There is a largeish muslim population and a lot of halal food stores in the markets.
The temples at Ayutthaya are all lit up at night, and look pretty fab, and as this is about the best time of day to walk about its a nice touch!
We took the train from Ayutthaya yesterday to Phitsanulok, 2nd class with air con yey! All for about 350Baht...that would be about 6 quid? Free tea when you get on, and then a dubious looking lunch is provided. Toilets a bit smelly, and with a fresh air view to the outdoors, but hands down beats Branson anyday!
We have spent yesterday afternoon and this morning in Phitsanulok, had a mooch at a few temples, Matt went shopping and purchased some shorts. Saw about a millions birds sqwawking and pooing on the electricity wire bilboards by the roundabouts must have been having their evening get together! Loads more motorbikes here then anywhere else, actually makes crossing the road easier. Today we take a train to Lampang where I am planning on taking us to the Elephant Conservation Centre, they look after all the oldie ellies from around thailand, and sounds like out of all the elephant places this is one of the fairer places and they dont have elephants doing tricks for the tourists. We did see some Elephants at Ayutthaya but they were doing tourist rides, loked healthy enought (certainly healthier than the donkeys/ponies...) and was a bit disconcerting cycling so close to an enourmous creature!!
Will try and put some pics up now
xxx
