The Capitals of Siam

Spending as long in southern Thailand as I did, I was a bit restless by the time I finally moved on; I really wanted to see other places and things, but still climb. This is one reason that the places aside from Ton Sai have been so splendid. What a blessing a hot shower in a city can be after staying in Ton Sai where you never 'really' get clean from the freezing cold ones; let alone sweating constantly. Also, this was a place where the entertainment on a rest day is going to Railay to stare at tourists as if they are zoo animals (or beached whales). Yeah, culture is important, and I was ready to get my fill of it. This is why Kuala Lampur, Bangkok, Cambodge, and now northern Thailand have been so fantastic for me...

Upon leaving Cambodge and returning once again to Thailand, I was given a 14 day tourist visa at the border (if curious why so short, see December entry), and stayed a night in Bangkok.

The next day I jumped on a bus headed north to Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Ayutthaya is located at the conjunction of the Lopburi, Prasak and Chao Phraya Rivers. It was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong and was the capital of what was then known as Siam. This is why Thailand is often called Siam.
Through out my travels, every contry I journey to, be it on this side of the planet or the other; everywhere has ancient history of the people and also arcitecture. Except the US (at least not much anyway), and it has been fascinating to wrap my mind around a place this old while I come from a country so young.

Over the next 417 years Ayutthaya was ruled by 33 kings and repelled 23 (WOW!!!) Burmese invasions, before the Burmese finally succeeded in razing it to the ground and pilfered much of the relics and Buddha statues and melted them down for the gold.


In the city's prime, it was surrounded by a 12-kilometer-long wall which was five meters thick and six meters high with 99 gates. It had brick and clay roads and canals to transport water into the city.

When I visited this city, it was really the first time I actually had to use the Thai dictionary. Everywhere else I had been so far, I could get by with pointing or talking enough to where I said so many different words and phrased things in many ways that the person I would talk to finally understands one or two of the words, and it was no problem. Ayutthaya however was a bit of a different game. I found a guest house finally after walking about 2 hours with all my travel gear and climbing gear, and setteled in. I arranged to rent a bike which I took out the next day to see the sights. Amazing....



















This is a temple that holds a marvelously large Bronze Buddha statue.
















This is a famous reclining Buddha figure often seen in photos of Thailand. The thing is HUGE! Look at how small I am compared to it! It is adorned in a robe as monks wear to protect it from the elements as well a it being tradition for revered Buddha figures to wear robes.
















The next day, it was time to move on again and I took a bus north to Sukothai.

Sukothai means 'the dawn of happiness'.
It was founded in the 13th century as the Kingdom's first capital overseeing a period seen as a Thai golden age. Thai arts and culture prospered throughout the reign of eight Sukhothai kings, including King Ramkhamhaeng, who created the Thai alphabet. Gradual decline began in 1365, with the city eventually became a subservient state to Ayutthaya where the capital was moved.


Flowers sold in the market and used to adorn the temples.



The first night I arrived in Sukhothai there was a city festival, and this photo is from a concert where the Thai band 'Clash' preformed.

Totally different to think about ancient kingdoms then attend a Thai punk rock concert! None the less, the festival was great fun!

The next day, I hired a tuk-tuk to take me around the historical park to see the sights. Beautiful.



















The park is beautiful and kept in great condition.


This is a large Buddha statue...so big!




























Intricate paper decorations, much like the one I bought from the little girl in Cambodge I wrote about.






A breathtakingly large Buddha relic with gold-leaf pressings covering the hands.
























Look how small my hand is compared to it!!
Thai people sell little birds in small cages that you can buy to release at the temple for good luck.
Good for the bird, good for me. And I kept the cage...broke it and threw it away. Typical.


The long walk up the stone path to a Wat that was built overlooking the city from a hill-top.





It was a beautiful view.




























This is a beautifully preserved Wat adorned with white elephant statues around the base.
Elephants or 'chang' are very significant in Thai culture and are considered one of the 10 sacred animals in Buddhism.
Next entry will be on Chiang Mai, stay tuned because that one will be positively enlightening.

Angkor Wat, Cambodge

I left Bangkok and headed east to Cambodia, or as you say in Khmer; which is the national language 'Cambodge". The bus ride was pretty long, I left my guest house in Bangkok at 7:30am, we actually hit the road around 8:30am and came to the border station between Thailand and Cambodia around 2pm. I got my visa and made my border crossing with outta hitch. There was a bus switch on the Cambodge side, and man oh man; what a difference! Lets just say that the Thailand side was nice and relaxing, I read my book ('Buddha', by Depak Choppra-it's remarkable), and slept most of that segment. On the other hand, the Cambodge side...well...it was a bit of an adventure. Although Thailand is a poor country, Cambodge is much more impoverished.
The bus seats were much smaller, and there was no air-con, and then it began to rain. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem roughin-it because we all know that earlier this year in Central America I was roughin-it, and then in southern Thailand, I was totally dirt-baggin. So this was exciting for sure!
Due to the rain, and road being dirt most of the way, and it became apparent after about 2 hours of driving that we had to use caution on this particular road. More time passed, and we began to slid around. More rain came down. Then as we kept going, we saw cars ahead of us sliding all over the road, and some motorbikes that slid out of control and into the ditch on the side of the road. With time...it was inevitable for us also slide around...and so...we slid...A LOT. The back of the bus was fish-tailing toward the ditch and the tires just weren't catching.

All of the passengers got out to push in order to prevent the bus from going into the river. Soon we were back on the road again, but slowly making our way. About one kilometer later we slid again, and this time we knew we wouldn't be able to go any further in the bus. It was pitch black outside by this point, and cars were backed up for as far as we could see in both directions since the road was un-drivable.

Our options?

Wait it out and sleep in the bus until the morning when the road be more dry...or walk.

Against my will everyone decided to walk. There was NO WAY I was going to stay on the bus alone in the middle of no where. So I had to walk also. Not just walking and carrying ALL of our bags was a pain in the butt, I could handle that. HOWEVER...since the road was so terrible, if we were going to walk, we wouldn't be able to wear shoes. Walking barefoot...in the MUD...for who knows HOW FAR was not an appealing idea, ESPECIALLY, since it was so slippery, I was sure to fall flat on my face with all my stuff. Not to mention how unappealing it was to be walking with who knows WHAT kind of bugs, snakes, or other wild creatures were lurking in the bushes along the road...in the PITCH BLACK night!!

But 45 minutes later, we arrived on the pavement, safe and sound, where cars could drive, and our bus driver called a guest house with a free shuttle service if we stayed there. For $5 a night, no problem!
The town was Siem Reap; where Angkor Wat is located, and thus my reason for visiting Cambodge. The guest house was located not far from the temples, and the room was really nice. I'm pretty sure if this guest house was in the States, the room would be well over $100 a night. Needless to say, I felt pampered once again and was happy to have arrived to say the least.
The rest of my time in Cambodge was amazing...take a look for yourself.



The traffic in Siem Reap is so bad and the roads are mostly dirt so everyone in open air vehicles wear scarves or dust masks to help with the pollution and poor air quality.



















The open-air food market where my guest house was is always alive with activity no matter what the hour is.

Early morning you will see farmers from near-by lands headed to town, pulling their carts on the streets with their products they have to sell.
Even at night locals are buying and selling goods.










These are flowers for sale to adorn the temples.




















This is how meats get from the from farms to the restaurants.


















BANANAS!











Other fruits.

































The ancient city of Angkor....

My ticket into Angkor...friggin expensive.
































Three to a motortbike while touring around Angkor....pretty normal in these parts.

Bayon and Angkor Thom....























Gotta show respect.











Amazingly preserved.





























Monks making a pilgrimage to visit Angkor.



Ta Keo.













The famous Ta Phrom.

Striking how old this place is...sometimes I forget that as old as trees are, there are things older...that exsisted long before that seed even arrived in that ecosystem.















































































The ancient city of Angkor Wat at sunrise...






























































































Angkor Wat can be a nice place to sit and think if you can get high enough up that you are away from the hordes of tourists.












Banteay Srey.




























Banteay Kdei.

While walking to one of the sites, I came upon these two little boys with their baby sister in a basket. So funny, but it is the only way they can carry her around by sharing the weight of her when she is in the basket.









Meanwhile, the mom was selling mangoes to tourists. This is a normal day for them I assume.













The statues along this bridge have been beheaded and then sold to collectors for lots of money by thieves over the years. Angkor Wat is fully protected and is a heritage site nowadays.


































































This is one of my favorite photos from my trip that I have taken so far....the colors, the lighting, and the angles are amazing. I think I will draw it when I am home...
























Many of the ancient statues and relics have been stolen and sold for large amounts of money to collectors around the world, this Buddha figure is one of many that have fallen victim.














Ta Som.














This is little girl was completely enchanting, she took the bus alone to Angkor to sell goods to tourists; while her mama was at home with the baby. She was being watched over by a woman that had this booth behind us, and that woman was gone getting lunch.

Meanwhile, the little girl fell inlove with my shells in my hair, and I showed her them. Then while I was bent down she asked if I wanted to play a game...tic-tac-toe. I said yes of course! Then the woman came back and admonished her for not selling me anything. She looked scared, so I bought the little paper decorations she was selling, and a pack of postcards which some of you will be getting in the mail! :)

Phnom Balheng, where you can view the sunset over the entire Angkor complex.
This is a photo of a monk on a pilgrimage to Cambodge, taking a photo of it.


















This is a family sneaking over the wall into Angkor to sell goods to tourists since they cannot afford admission.

















The Cambodge countryside...
































Markets just outside of Angkor where locals come from all over to sell goods to the tourists that may not make it into town to shop, and prices are much much higher here!







Monks visiting a village and a woman showing respect.











This was a Cambodge theatre I attended where traditional song and dance was preformed to show the history of their culture.