Bangkok , Day Two: Ayutthaya and Lumpini park

The events described in this post took place on or about July 2nd, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'



As I already related to you, I retired early after a long day of sight-seeing and temple-gawking. But fear not gentle reader.... It's not that I am succumbing to old age just yet. It was not out of weariness that I hit the hay early, but out of a knowledge of what the next day had in store that I crawled into my bed at nary a ten o'clock. I did this because I knew that I would have to be up early in the morn. A bus would be waiting for me early to take me to the old capital of the Thai empire... Ayutthaya!!!

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The tour I had already booked went up to Ayutthaya. It's a magnificent sight. The ruins themselves are broken into about 11 different sites (maybe more) We hit 4-5. There were so many cool sites in the ruins that I really can't go into it here. Nonetheless, it was an absolutely fantastic experience. I hope that the pictures above can paint the faintest portrait of how awesome it was. There were so many really great places in the tour, but I must say the reclining Buddha was one of my favorites, it was immense!!! On the way back, we got to get in a ferry boat and cruise down the river, That was awesome and relaxing, as well as a great way to end a day full of visual stimulation.

After the tour I took a few hours in downtown Bangkok (Silom, where my hotel was). One of the cool things about where I was (beside the close proximity to 2 Starbucks in walking distance) was Lumpini park. It's kind of Thailand's answer to Central Park or the Boston Commons. As you can see from the pictures, it's quite beautiful. The landscaping was quite pretty, and the atmosphere was generally chilled and quite convivial. The kicker for me was (and this is not a unique thing for Bangkok), is the amount of dogs that were just hanging out everywhere. It's such a departure from the Middle East, where dogs are considered dirty animals, and generally cast out of society. In Thailand, dogs are considered auspicious, and one can generally find them everywhere. If you know my general attitude toward dogs, you know that it earned Thailand a lot of points by having them around. As you will see in the photos, there was a lot of climate change during the tour. One minute it was overcast and drizzling, the next it was sunny. Mother Nature's 'mood' vacillated between these two poles all day. It made for some dim photos. So please excuse the lighting in some of them.

After I had my fill of that natural gem encapsulated inside the urban sprawl of Bangkok, I went back to the hotel. This time to check-out. I grabbed myself and jumped in a taxi to Kosan road. That famous street where every East-Asian backpacker and traveler eventually walks down. I grabbed some street pad thai, waited foo my departure, and was off on the overnight Bus/Ferry combo trip to the islands. Tomorrow, Ko Tao!!!