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Saturday we got up early to visit Ayutthaya, a city 1.5 hours north of Bangkok. After slipping on my bum in the bathroom and seriously damaging something, we had to run to the station to make the 7am train. So we get there and its queues galore. Luckily there was another lovely thai man at the station who saw we were in a pickle and led us to a kiosk without a queue! So we made it onto the train just in time and felt such satisfaction you would not beleive.
The journey was cool; the train was one of those old-fashioned rickety ones where the windows open all the way down. It was strange to see people living right at the side of the train tracks; not just the odd few but actual little towns with shops and cafes in shacks, and people hanging out their washing and just walking about. Even when we got off the train it was onto the tracks, and for a minute we thought we were in the middle of nowhere, until the train moved to uncover the station on the other side as if by magic! We walked a little way and found the river that surrounds the city, which we went across on a tiny ferry. We rented a bicycle from a guesthouse and cycled around the city.
Now for a bit of history! Ayutthaya means "Undefeated City" and used to be Thailand's capital. During the war with Burma the city was invaded and the temples burnt to the ground, and the Burmese chopped the heads off all the buddhist statues which is a strange sight as there are so many. I really liked seeing these old temples in comparison to the new ones in Bangkok (as Jess and Sarah said "that's good, we saw some alive temples and now we've seen some dead ones" lol) Good day in general, apart from finding a cockroach in the hotel and Sarah wanting a picture with it. Strange girl.
On Sunday we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market. They had everything on sale from jewellery, clothes and books - to squirrels and dogs! It was very busy and colourful, and we took lots of pictures of it. After the market we wanted to see a shrine which we had read about in our guidebook. However we were taken to the wrong one (maybe because Sarah managed to spit water all over our taxi driver after finding something hilarious, he wasn't too happy after that and we all went very quiet) The shrine we saw by accident was a very nice shrine, it was full of people celebrating and singing and lighting incence, and there was lovely traditional thai dancing involved (but this was not the shrine we had read about, oh no!) During our time here and on the walk to the next shrine we heard a lot of commotion, and looked up to find the protesting red shirts riding through the city honking their horns and tooting. When they saw us video-ing them they smiled and waved at the camera. You could really feel the tension in the atmosphere as all the thai people stopped talking, and the celebrations quietened down. It even scared us a little bit! The red shirts are peaceful protestors, but the thai people don't like the disturbance and trouble it causes the tourism industry. There was a protest planned for the next day, so we had already bought our train tickets out of the capital for that night.
Now back to this shrine. This was no ordinary shrine, as you will see in our pictures! The shrine is in a corner of a car park behind a hotel, and it is where women come to bring offerings in the hope that they will be granted good fertility. As such, the shrine is filled with phallus shaped statues! It made for an interesting viewing, to say the least :P
We finished our time as a group together in Bangkok at the lovely Hualamphong Station, waiting for our respective transport to arrive, generally having a laugh about our few days together in the city. Amazing few days that we won't be forgetting in a hurry! Now we have the overnight train to Chiang Mai to look forward to :)
Love Jaime and Naomi x x
- comments
mum Hi again. Great to hear the latest news.Sounds like you're having a fun time. I'm amazed you r still able to get up early !!( Making 7am train) Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see any of your photos. It doesn't want to show me any. Hope its just my machine nd that you haven't lost them. much love mum xxxx
Judith Hi Jem and Naomi Fantastice reading about your adventures! You paint a lovely picture of what you are doing. Got a message today via your friends to look at my emails - did so and there wasn't one FROM YOU, so decideD to email you this way, hope it gets to you soon. We are all well at home, Muffin sends a BIG PURRRRRR..... He misses you both as he is attacking the furniture again! Keep having fun Judith and Dad/Peter