Ruins and Wats

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From Kanchanaburi I travelled to Ayuthaya, a small city just north of Bangkok. Ayuthaya was once the capital of the Siam Empire - ( which I never got the dates written down so will add in later. Damn!! This is why I should write these at the time)

Littered all around the city there were ageless ruins and Wats (temples) from this time, many destroyed by the Burmese before the fall of the Siam empire. It was strange to walk out of the traffic straight into the relative silence of a semi destroyed temple, and be faced by rows upon rows of Buddha statues built into the walls. Silent sentinals watching all. I say this - many had actually had their heads stolen or removed and put into museums to prevent this - it still felt an eerily peaceful place. In Wat Phra Mahathat, a Buddha statue had been overgrown by the roots of the tree it stood by, giving the impression that the face had emerged from within the tree.

Ayuthaya also had a really great, laidback atmosphere about it. Each night a new group of travellers would arrive and each night would be passed talking and drinking cold beers until the early hours of the morning. One night a French girl was passing through whose English was not particularly good (although better than my French or any other language I attempt to speak). The conversation would jump randomly between English and French with no warning as she discovered that between another British guy and my school learnt French we could just about understand each other. Sadly the guy from Lichtenstein was buggered - despite having perfect English, he had no clue what was being said in the weird amalgamation of language that had been created.

The guesthouse I stayed in was virtually full of the Thai equivalent of the Hell's Angels, in town for a gig by one of the biggest bands in the country. My first morning I awoke early, took a shower and heard a couple of people waiting outside. I decided that I'd still take my time and not rush - it was still early. As I left the bathroom I saw twenty leather clad, boot wearing bikers all in a line on the landing - I walked past quickly towards my room with my head down to avoid their glance. Come on, they had boots on!!

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