Jantima's Blog

Updates are gonna come as a summary of the last few days now, I'll fill them in in detail when i get home!

a different ruin i thought
Bangkok:

For the rest of my time in Bangkok i decided to see some more of the city, i.e not Kao San road, which I'm pretty sure a lot of foreigners don't actually bother to do. Lumphini park is quite nice, though after the parks I've seen in China it wasn't a patch on any of those. Does have elephant shaped hedges though!

         The guidebooks say you have to have a ride on the sky train, and if anyone is coming and thinks 'oh i better go on one, so i can say I've done it' i wouldn't bother, unless you've never been on a train, as thats all it is (oh it does have air con, woo). Trawling the streets again i got absolutely soaked, and frankly i was already sick of that.

another temple
         The final evening on Kao San was certainly an eventful one, and another example of classic Ben stupidity. I decided I'd sit outside my guest house and observe the water fight for the evening, and was asked by a group if i wanted to join them, which i did. They proceeded to engage in the festivities (dragging me in), and offer me drinks until i accepted (i was actually saying no, seriously!) however as the evening wore on it became more and more obvious that one of the women had much more on her mind than simply the water fight. Hence the usual Ben scenario of me being like 'uuh, i don't think thats such a good idea, i have an early bus tomorrow' etc, and her being like, come on, were not going do anything to you we'll bring you back here etc! Anyway it was left that she was gonna go to this bar on Kao San, and 'meet me' around the bar area. Hope she's not still waiting there now(to clarify, i never said i would, I'm not that much of a dick!  ). Just another classic example of me failing to see the obvious i guess, when will i learn.

buddha dans le sun
        I did also have the fantastic experience of making my own bedbug kebab in this guest house too, as i awoke to find one crawling on my bed, and figured that reception wouldn't understand why i wanted to move room, i skewered it with a needle! I believe the going rate for one on the street is 10 Baht, so i don't know what they were so unhappy about, they got it for free!

      Ayuthaya

 My guest house is called Moradok Thai, and for anyone ever coming here, i would seriously recommend it. It an old wooden structure set amongst palm trees, various plants and animals, and has a very secluded, atmospheric feel to it, like being in the jungle. Then there's the people, who are practically like family now, and after two days there, i;ve promised I'll go back to see them, and i may well do so after changmai. The oldest member of the family Songsri, has taken me under her wing as her 'lok Thai', and she is thew sweetest, kindest old lady i reckon I'll ever meet. Sorry mum, you've been replaced!

buddha up close
         Ayuthaya itself makes a very enjoyable place to rent a bike and ride around: a former capital of the country, it contains many leftover ruins from the palace and residing buildings that were here at the time, before it was sacked so to speak. A shame that Songkram has made it so hard to get around, as here thew festive atmosphere is as bad as Kao San. except that here it all done out of the back of pick up trucks and open ended buses and tuk tuks, whereas Kao San was mainly foot based. I think without realising I've been in the two places where the festival is celebrated the most. Spent my evenings here drinking Chang beer and luminous cocktails with the more permanent residents (more people who keep coming back), the owners and their family, and had a Thai style cook it yourself barbecue, much like the Mongolian barbecue, only much better. 

Elephants in songkran, ayuythaya
       Sukhothai.

With Songkram over, i boarder the bus for pretty much a full day of travel, and in the evening i just sat with a few other travelers, relaxed and had a Chang or two. Today i rented a bicycle to tour the ruins here, similar to Auythaya's in style; this was the capital of Thailand that superseded Ayuthaya, however the ruins are packed much more compactly here, making exploration much more doable in this heat. The ruins feature numerous chedi, Stupa and Wat's as well as several Buddha images. set amongst lush tropical landscapes, lakes pond and in several places moats. With the shade from the trees it makes a very nice cycle ride.

          I also been foraging today, getting these edible nuts from the tree that are so sweet i think I'm gonna need some false teeth in about a week (and i only ate two!) and even some mango's. God, I'm basically living in the jungle now, next thing I'll be communicating with all the wild dogs here, then maybe they wont try and eat me when i turn up late at the guest house (happened last night).

i laughed anyway

my new best friends

my new mum, songsri

sirry, get used to lots of temple pics

stupid thais

temples in ayuythaya

temples in ayuythaya 2

the guys from moradok

the water fights in ayuythaya

yep, its a temple