Ayutthaya & Severe Temple Overload Problem (S.T.O.P.)

The first time I came to Thailand, I was 14 and visiting with Siratas and her family who kindly showed me around their wonderful city Bangkok. My lasting impression of the country for the next 16 years until my return was one of temples, gold and King everywhere. Now that I'm here again it's funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same. McDonald's is now everywhere and no longer considered "high-end dining" as it was then, there are lots of other tourists / blondes walking about this time, and I can get by with English almost everywhere in the city as people have obviously adapted to the flood of bargainhunters.... BUT, still temples, gold and King everywhere. Which is nice as that is at least something authentically Thailand.



OK, so much for the politically correct - and quite heartfelt - appreciation. Seriously, after ONE DAY on a tour of Ayutthaya, I am suffering Temple-Overload. There's only so much I can take and looking back at my pictures, they all look vaguely the same. Yes, there's different styles - Vietnamese, Chinese, Sri Lankan and Cambodian influences abound. Different states of disrepair - from the shiny and new to the crumbling and bare. It's pretty, it's amazing, but if I have to see one more temple I may FREAK-OUT.... Doesn't bode too well for my upcoming 2 month trip into China then... :)

I booked a tour to go see the old city of Ayutthaya - 3rd capital of Thailand, actually longest serving so far as Bangkok still has a few years to go to take over that record. If any of this is wrong, blame my guide for the day Paisahn. First stop was the main palace in the area. I wish I could do it justice - incredibly beautiful buildings and gardens - and the BEST bit of all??? You can hire a golf cart to drive around the estate! hahahah Of course, I stupidly forgot to take a picture, but I was assigned lucky "number 7" (for those of you not in the know, that's my nickname btw, it was clearly Meant To Be). I tootled around the place happily with Matt - fellow traveller from New Zealand who chipped into the golf-cart-fund. Definitely the better way to travel in the unrelenting heat and sun. Only downside is that the carts are fitted with limiters, and I could skip faster than their top speed!

Next stop on the tour was an old temple site - one that had been all but destroyed in the war with Cambodia (I think...in the constant barrage of information I'm not sure the right bits stuck...)

Above are pictures of me with one of the few Buddha statues that kept its head (most were decapitated), a picture of one of the temples with a shrine mostly intact, and me posing in front of a view with 3 shrines with different influences... the middle one is in the Cambodian style! Despite being slathered in Factor 30, I still got burned just walking around.

Again the sheep boarded the bus en route to the next stop - another Wat (Temple / Shrine) with a large golden Buddha statue, and a smaller building housing the oldest Black Greenstone Buddha in the world (picture below right). Another first for me! Everything is beautifully made, intricate, shiny... :P Unfortunately the thought uppermost in my mind was "when can I get back into airconditioned confines?" I'm such a culture barbarian!

4th stop was the massive lying Buddha on the right - this one NOT made of gold like the one in Bangkok because apparently it just washes off in the rain and its too expensive to have to keep reapplying it... So its covered in yellow/gold/orange fabric instead. Kind of looks like a massive duvet and I was wondering what it looked like underneath...but good little girl that I am I resisted taking a peek (no pun intended). :)

The last point on the itinerary was a 3 HOUR!!!! (lunch) cruise back to Bangkok. I must admit, it was much nicer than sitting in a coach for a change. I met a couple who were on their honeymoon - Tracy and Adam - and it turns out that tracy was in the musical Hairspray in New York (the nerdy best friend) and I would have seen her in the role when I visited with my mum in October 2005! What a small world! She gave up all the fame to move to California and start a new company called http://www.cleangeorge.com. The site's not really up and running yet - but remember you heard about it here first!