back in ayutthaya. as with sukhothai, it's been almost four years since i passed through here. i recall my last stay fondly. after leaving jenn in chiang mai, it was my first taste of travelling alone. i met a group of japanese, some local thais and had a fun night cruising and boozing on a night boat tour to celebrate loy kratong.
my time riding a moped through the polluted trafficways of chiang mai and sukhothai left me with a sinus infection that has gradually been getting worse each day. the more time i spend scooting around, breathing in the noxious fumes of other motorbikes, tuk tuks, sang thaws, trucks, buses and cars, the more congested my nose and lungs become. needless to say, i'm not looking forward to returning to bangkok.
after a five hour bus rife from sukhothai yesterday,followed by a fifteen minute ride on a motorbike taki into ayuthaya city center (*cough*), i found a guesthouse along soi 1 and dropped my bags. my head was stuffed and i could hardly think at all. at 5:00, i rented another bike (*cough*) and headed to one of the nearby ancient wats, wat ratchaburana, a stunning tower surrounded by large orange bricked stupas and the remains of hundreds of decapitated buddhas. with my muddled head, i was in no mood for phototaking. i snapped a few shots and decided to leave before the light began to fade into the magic hour of dusk. i just didn't have the motivation to stick around. a meal of spicy tom yum gai (thai style chicken soup) and i headed back to my room feeling terrible. it was not even 6:30 but i had no urge to head back outside. so i read and drifted off into sleep, hoping that the dark cluds that had begun to roll in as i wandered home would pour down and clear the thickly congested air. at 10:30pm i awoke to the blessed sound of a torrential rain. i read some more and went back to sleep.
7:30 this morning i woke up and though my sinuses were still stuffed, i did feel much better. i took breakfast with two coffees and headed off on my lime green honda moped. the clouds that had been covering the sky while i was eating breakfast (and while also being entertained by the thai jack black i had met four years prior), miraculously cleared up as i made my way along with a throng of japanese tourists into wat mahathat. this temple is famous for the much photographed head of a buddha statue that has been enmeshed in the roots of an aging banyan tree. the stupas, chedis and buddhas that litter the ruins of the grounds also make it a worthy photo subject.
i returned, revitalised, to wat ratchaburana and snapped a few more hundred photos with much better lighting than the evening prior. as i was leaving, i ran into three familiar faces; some thais i'd met who live and work at the sawatdee bar in ton sai. they were happy to see me and invited me to come along with them as they took in the sights of the temple grounds. this was their first time to ayutthaya and they were quite impressed with the grandiose towers of intricately carved stone.
after parting ways, i returned to soi 1 for a bite to eat and a chance to do some internetting while the sun passed over its high arc in the midday heat. experience has shown me that noon is not the best time for phototaking. though i know in practice that good photos can be made any time of day. a photographers ability to adapt and use what he has is one of his most valuable skills. along with an ounce of creativity and innovation. having been here before, i find myself trying to, first, recreate the photos i took four years ago (which were all shot as slides and are in storage at my parents' house) and second, to photograph what i see in new ways that are still interesting and captivating. not such an easy task. but i enjoy a good challenge.
i do believe it's time to head out once again. i have photos to make...
