Ayutthaya - 7 October

It was an early morning start so that we could be in the lobby by 6:15 am. Carol had made arrangements for us to take an all-day excursion to see the Summer Palace in Ayutthaya. A tour guide came into the lobby and escorted us to a van. We then picked up several other people at two other hotels and then made our way to the meeting point where we would get on motor coaches for the trip.

Our guide for the day was Andy who soon became known as Dandy Andy because of all of the rings and necklaces he was sporting (see photo). He talked for the entire two hours that it took for us to drive to Ayutthaya. My poor ears. What is it with tour guides talking non-stop? Do they get paid by the word?

Some background information on Ayutthaya courtesy of the internet since I tuned out Dandy Andy during this time. Ayutthaya was the Thai capital for 417 years from 1350-1767. At its peak it had three palaces and 400 temples. In 1767 after a 15-month siege, the town was destroyed by the Burmese. End of history lesson.

Our first stop was at the temple ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. It was a monastery on the grounds of an ancient palace. It served as the royal chapel and once contained an image of the Buddha covered in 375 pounds of gold. Needless to say, I think the Burmese confiscated that one when they sacked the town. The ruins were quite beautiful but it was difficult to get a sense of what the temple must have looked like in its prime. We could get a sense of the size and some of the components to the temple but not much else. I needed one of those computer-generated images while I was walking around the area.

One of the really interesting things at the temple was the head of a Buddha that had been buried three hundred years ago under a tree. The trees roots had become entangled in the head and it had slowly emerged from the ground and was cradled by the tree. Forget the temples, I just want to see Buddha heads in roots.

After the temples, we had extra time to walk around some of the surrounding grounds of the temple. Dandy Andy made a point of stopping by the happy rooms to show us the certificate of cleanliness that the restrooms had earned by the Thai government. He was very proud of these certificates and mentioned them three times so of course I have to show you the certificates too. This whole voyage seems to have a particular emphasis on bathrooms. From the porcelain bowls in the floor in Japan to the certified happy rooms in Thailand it has been quite an education that I was totally unprepared for. To share one more piece of knowledge on this topic – the Thai also have a euphemism for using the bathroom that I just have to share. Rather than using the phrase “go to the bathroom” they say that women “go pick flowers” and men “shoot a rabbit.” Do you think I’ll be able to work that into everyday conversation when I return to Virginia?

After the temple (and the certified happy rooms), we drove to the Summer Palace. It was a gorgeous compound which is used by the King and Queen only two weeks out of the year. What a waste. It was an idyllic park – well it would have been without the hordes of tourists – with beautiful buildings and residences. We took a turbo tour of the 2 kilometer-long estate in the dreadful heat in only 45 minutes. Can you say “heatstroke” boys and girls?

By the time we were done at the palace it was 1:00 and we were starving! We got back on the bus for a 45 minute drive to the river where we boarded a boat that served us lunch and took us back to Bangkok. It took us about 2 ½ hours to get back to the city and it was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. For the first half of the trip the river banks were very similar in appearance to the Mekong Delta with dilapidated houses and over grown vegetation. What was different was the lack of boat traffic on the river. In Vietnam we were surrounded by all manner of boats but here in Thailand there was little activity – just lots of boys swimming in the river. We landed in Bangkok at 4:00 and we were taken back to our hotel. I had enjoyed the trip and was glad I had a chance to see a bit more of the Thai countryside.

As I mentioned before, the day had been blistering hot with the sun beating down on us for most of the day. I was the proud owner of a fantastic sunburn that coordinated beautifully with a pink shirt that I have. I won’t be able to tell where my shirt ends and my skin begins. Cool! I’m a chameleon!

We cleaned up and went out to the restaurant where the taxi drivers had refused to take us the night before. Sunday night traffic was actually manageable unlike Saturday night. The restaurant was worth the wait. The curry was excellent and the dessert even better – Mango with sticky rice and coconut ice cream. It sounds like an odd combination but it was so delicious.

We returned to the hotel to make sure we were around to greet Eileen who was joining us after a trip to the north of Thailand. However, we found that she had already gotten there and departed again to get some dinner. So Carol and I took the opportunity to buy a camera for Carol because the humidity had pretty much killed her old one. Not a good thing to happen when you are on a voyage around the world! 45 minutes later, she was one camera richer and many baht poorer. Back at the hotel we found Eileen ensconced on the sleeper sofa and we enjoyed getting caught up on all the activities of the past few days. We were all exhausted though and in bed by 9:30. So pitiful!