Bangkok Betty

---

It was a long flight from Vancouver to Bangkok but apart from Peters personal tv thing on the plane not working- it was a very pleasant flight.
Bangkok is more of a gateway for travellers who are inbetween destinations than a destination in itself. However it proved to be a good place to recover from our jetlag and organise visas etc; even seeing the odd temple or two. It was also a great place to pick up some cheap clothes at the famous Kho Sahn Road. The main things that we noticed whilst in Bangkok was how many backpackers there are and how good Thai food is!!!
After a few days recovering in the heat, humidity and chaos that is Bagkokk we boarded a train to Ayuthaya. On the train we met a very nice elderly Thai man who sat next to Peter and asked a miriad of questions whilst giving a historical, political, environmental and social lesson of Thailand. At this time the seat next to Triona was taken up by a lady and her 2 children, hence Trionas lap was taken up by one of these kids as it was plonked on top of her. So I guess this is Thailand! But let me assure you this seating arrangement did not bother us at all, these are the things that you always remember.
Ayuthuya used to be the capital of Thailand and as a result of this it has a large array of some very inspiring wats and temples.The first day that we were in town we decided to go on a boat trip around and see some of these. The strange thing about temples is that even though it is crazy and chaotic outside as soon as you step into the grounds- all the noise and choas seems to dissipate and you feel very calm and relaxed. This is further aided by the calm and tranquil way that the monks walk around carrying out there daily routines.
The next day we explored some of the wats in the centre of town which were all very impressive aswell. This included an iconic picture of a buddha head entwined in tree roots.
We had hoped to travel another hour north for a day trip to Lopburi so that we could visit some monkeys that run wild in a temple there. But we decided that we needed to keep moving North to Chang Mai. However luckily for us as the train travelled North and we passed the village of Lopburi we were lucky enough to be only a few metres away from around 100 or so monkeys. So perhaps it was a good thing that we did not go to this town as we were planning on bringing onions which makes monkeys go crazy. This is fine if there is around 15 monkeys but who knows what would happen if there are 100. Maybe we should have just thrown some onions out of the train window and watched the monkeys reaction from a safe and moving distance.

---

Comments

[Phil Paton]

Quick note
Hey Peter and Triona, still reading your very interesting novel (it has to be published!). Best regards. Phil