Ayuthaya

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First I've got to say happy holidays to ya'll! XOXO and hope that you all have survived your family get togethers and have plans for a great new year's eve.

Now back to our regular program. ;-) We took another clickety clackety train to the ancient city of Ayuthaya which is a small "island" formed by three rivers running around it. It's loaded with temple complexes which were destroyed hundreds of years ago by hell raisers in Burma and Khmers from present day Cambodia.

We got lucky again and there was an annual festival going on with another light and sound show. And there's a huge fair/carnival with food booths, vendors selling wallets and "it slices and dices" items, stupid carnival games with darts and rings to toss on bottles, etc. But there was a really good one where you would win a bottle of booze if you could knock a block hanging off the top of a can without knocking the can over with a little sling shot. Yeah, they always make it look easy. But we did see one guy win. Birds better steer clear of that guy!

We had planned to head south next and then cross the border into Cambodia. But suddenly we realized that our 30 day visas were almost up, so we have to amscram to Cambodia before we overstay our welcome. Jeez, that was a fast 30 days. Thailand is such an easy place to hang out!

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Photos

Giant gold Buddah
Isn't it ironic that the Buddah never wanted representations of him to be made? He only wanted people to follow his teachings. Humans need something to associate with I guess.

Buddah head wrapped in tree roots
This is one of the most photographed sites in Ayuthaya. I always thought the head was really big but it's only about twice as large as a normal head. Another one of those, "hmm, reality is different than just seeing pics."

Another temple ruin
I wish I could grow giant birds of paradise like this in my backyard.

going Buddah bonkers
I'm kinda Buddah'd out now.

Elephant feeding
Hard to tell who's fatter and more wrinkly. ;-) These guys were hanging out in an ancient elephant corral where the kings rounded up wild elephants hundreds of years ago.

Jazz bar
Four kids who grew up together and later went to college together learned to play jazz because they loved the king who loved jazz. How sweet is that?! They opened this bar together so that they would have a place to play jazz. (Gawd their parents must hate having spent that money on college!) Note the Santa hat and Christmas tree. They try to make us foreigners happy. :)

Thai version of Donnie & Marie
How wholesome are they? The "Clean Food, Good Food" sign in the back I find so cute. It's a little plate with a spoon and fork, the only utensils that Thais use. When you see this sign you know that a restaurant has passed the health department's inspection. It's one of the many things that makes Thailand pretty cool.

Um, actually, this has never...
crossed my mind as something I'd want to do. Bluck!

Carnival games
Ooh, the prizes are hooch! That's something you'd never see at a carnival in the US.

Epic elephant battle
They held mock battles, elephants included, portraying the invasions made by the Burmese and the Khmers. Quite impressive. Amazing how you can train an animal that large who could squish you like a bug.

paper lanterns
During the sound and light show they released these lanterns which give off a beautiful glow as they climb higher then eventually burn out in the distance. Imagine the wild fires that these things would likely start if released in CA!

Temple & moon
Ageless

fear factor live
We bought a bag of assorted fried bugs. This big grasshopper was actually the best because it was crunchy. The rest were worms and grubs which weren't crunchy but also not gooshy as feared. They all tasted the same, like the oil they were fried in.

big meanie!
Toby ate this itty bitty fried baby bird. I could only imagine the poor little thing struggling to peck it's way out of the shell simply to be plucked up and thrown into a wok. Waah! He said it tasted, not surprisingly, like chicken.

Thai Ramayana dance
Nice shoulder pads, eh?!

Traditional Thai dancing
So many similarities with Indonesia. Same, same but different. Ah, you won't get that reference unless you've been to SE Asia. When someone tries to sell you some Oakley sunglasses and you say they're not real they say, "
same, same, but different." Happens ALL the time. There are t-shirts everywhere with this saying on it.

Comments

[kris]

Buddha image
I have heard that there were no images of the Buddha until Alexander the Great came through that area. The Greeks were big on stone carving and they started the carving of Buddha images. I saw some 100 BC Buddha sculptures in a museum once and they look like an Indian man with a mustache dressed in a robe. As if it were a mixture of Greek and Indian styles. But no long ears or top knot hair or any of those icons we see now.

[Mom]

Beautiful Thailand
No wonder you like Thailand so well! The elephant looks like he likes you and is 'gentle'. Guess looks are deceiving. You are both braver or nuttier than I, no bugs and birds for me! Have a wonderful, memorable New Year's Eve in Saigon. Love, Mom

[Joleen]

Happy New Year!
Hi Lisa and Toby, Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip. I think I too would pass on the insects...