Moving back in time

First of all a little catch up news. On Sunday, Bonnye had to leave for a business trip to Singapore so we hung out in the AM and then visited crazy Chatuchek market in the afternoon. We wanted to supplement the dishes we bought last year and Gary got a few more of his favorite tissue tee shirts. it seems one of them represents a winning card used for gambling and gambling is illegal in Thailand. Thai men get a real chuckle out of the shirt.

Monday we took a great tour to Ayutthaya which was the Capitol of Thailand for 400 years in the 12-14 th century. We got on to a really nice tour boat in Bangkok and met our guide, Ng. We stopped at a teak museum. The museum has fiberglass statues of revered monks from up to 300 years ago to the present. Those statues are so realistic you would swear that they are breathing. We continued to travel up the river, were served a copious buffet, and then just the 3 of us got into a private car to the city of Ayutthaya. We joined one other couple and got bicycles. Ng guided us around the city and to multiple sites. She was really knowledgeable and gave us more history than we could ever absorb. The ruins are very extensive and we rode all around the city visiting different sights. when you consider that these ruins are thousands of years old and they are in remarkable shape. Some of the temples are still active. It was really hot and humid so the breezes from moving bikes were blessing! Riding bikes in Thai traffic was thrilling. Afterwards we got to our we really funky little hotel which was in this back alley. The owners were in Vietnam and had left non- English speaking grandma behind, but we worked things out. Took her a while to figure out the AC so we went looking for dinner in the oppressive heat. Way too hot to eat at the night market, couldn't t find an indoor restaurant anywhere, but ended up eating the perfect salad meal at a roadside stand that at least had tables.

They light up the ruins at night which is really pretty and just a bit spooky.

Tuesday was a travel day to Sukothai and we thoroughly enjoyed our 31/2 hour air conditioned train ride followed by 11/2 hour air conditioned bus ride on a really hot day. The tuk tuk rides in between and finally to our hotel helped us appreciate the nice cool travel . We noticed several enormous gold Buddhas perched on random hillsides as we traveled.

Today we're off to visit Sukothai, the Capitol of Siam ( Thailand) prior to Ayutthaya.