One day in Ayutthaya
on My Thai (Thailand), 03/Apr/2011 08:59, 34 days ago
As of late there’s not been much to report, hence my erratic blogging!Until a few days ago it’d been a month since I’d last caught up with anyone but one of my volunteer friends had to make a trip to Bangers last week for visa business (when is it ever anything else?) so I was excited about the rare prospect of a little farang company.Our catch up happened to coincide with the launch of VSO’s slinky new logo so we put on our purple clothes and joined the staff for a few drinks near Sukhumvit.Perhaps it’s just the cynic in me but, at a time when the volunteer Home Country Funded Allowance is being cut from £5.20 to £4 a day, I have to wonder at the expense that’s gone into the rebranding. Still, it looks pretty so job well done!Anyway, I think I'm just bitter because I didn't get one of the flash pins the staff were wearing.BeforeAfterThe next day saw an impromptu trip to Ayutthaya, the former Thai capital.It was only an hour or so out of Bangkok so the journey was easy and luckily the historical park is small enough to race through in a day or so.The town is filled with the ruins of various wats and, as all the signs took pleasure in telling us, their destruction was caused when those pesky Burmese invaded around 250 years ago. And they say that Thais don’t hold a grudge!Our evening walk to grab food at a night market proved the Lonely Planet is justified in its warning about evil packs of the rabies brigade but thankfully the heat of the following day subdued them enough for us to move around without attack.We rented a couple of rickety old bikes to ride around some of the main sites and, bar a few tourist coaches, the town was pretty quiet.Highlights included the eerie atmosphere created by the many headless Buddha statues scattered amongst the ruins and a tree which has grown around the head of one such statue.I'm convinced there's a field somewhere that's filled with disembodied Buddha heads for as far as the eye can see!Holiday snaps below...