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It’s going on 7:00pm, and we are already in our bathrobes, in bed, relaxing for the night. Our day was off to a rather early start, so our evening is as well. I assumed that since we had slept so well the night before, last night would work just the same. I was wrong. Aaron and I were both wide awake at about 4:30. After trying to fall back asleep with no success, we decided a little facetime with the fam would be good. The world seems so much smaller when you are able to connect in real time with no effort. It was great to see some familiar, smiling faces, and we got to catch up a little bit. At that point, it was almost a reasonable hour to wake up, so we relaxed in the room a bit more, Aaron went outside to get more photos, and I started getting ready for the day.
Breakfast was amazing and perfect! Iudia has breakfast options both indoors and out, so we decided on the courtyard. It is this beautiful little area with brick pavers with giant trees and palm leaves surrounding you. The birds serenade you as you sit and it is just so very peaceful. Breakfast consisted of toast, assorted fruits, bacon, eggs, sausage, and a mini ham sandwich and I even tried a fruit (you can audibly gasp if you want). It’s called “dragon fruit” and it shows off God’s creativity with it’s hot pink exterior, bright white inside, and lots of tiny black seeds. Beautiful.
Apparently we were the only ones who weren’t sleeping because we had the whole place to ourselves. We made our way back to the room to get ready for a day of exploring and adventure and I would say that we succeeded in the best possible way. Ayutthaya was a high priority to visit because of its history and ruins. I had 3 places on my “must see” list and we hit them all today. There were three options for travel – walk, bike, or tuk tuk, and we kinda figured “when in Thailand…” and went with the tuk tuk. 🙂 So much fun getting around town that way, and it provides a cool breeze rather than making you work harder than just existing on a hot day.
Wat Rachaburana was first on the list and didn’t disappoint. We were some of the first visitors there for the day and got to explore everything. The grounds crew were all out working, and it reminded me of my dad. It was already getting steamy with the sun getting higher, but the area was surrounded by lots of shade trees. Photos say it better than words, so hopefully these will help. The only down side was quite a bit of scaffolding and construction, maintaining the site, but it was still magnificent.
Up next was Wat Mahathat, and I was in love. From the first time I saw that beautiful Buddha head in a tree from photos, I knew I wanted to see this place. The funny thing about it is that it is a little like the “Mona Lisa”. You imagine it to be this unassuming artwork, hanging out, doing its own thing, tucked away from the world when you see a photo of it. What you don’t see are the throngs of tour buses that were brought to that very sight because of the very same reason. The head has maybe a 4 foot clearance level around it and then everything else is fair game for everyone wanting a photo. Kind of funny, but so worth the trip. The head’s history is a little vague, but it seems that after the area was destroyed by invaders, it fell near a tree and was “swallowed up” and therefore resides there today. The whole Wat was incredible with tons of Buddha images, most missing their heads from a spat with Burma hundreds of years ago. I like that. Tourists were abundant, but I loved every minute we had in this place frozen in time (apart from the Asian tourists with their eccentric poses and peace signs for the camera).
At this point in the day, I was definitely feeling the heat, so we decided on another tuk tuk to site #3 – the giant reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutharam. AMAZING! Huge – 37 meters long x 8 meters tall. Not much else to say or see, but I love that we got to see it. A lady came up to me selling little charms and I bought one with an elephant on it. She asked if I wanted to buy some flowers to give as an offering to the Buddha and we declined, but I did watch others as they gave. It’s an interesting thing, being in a culture that is so not our own. While I don’t agree with their religious ideals, I see so much beauty in their lives, their buildings, and their offerings. Each Buddha image that we saw today was completely different, but all beautiful and serene. By the way, that tiny little speck is me in the photo below.
By the time 1:00 rolled around, we were just about beat. We came back to the hotel, went for a swim in the pool, and fell asleep in a pool chair. Really a rough existence we are living here. We got ready for dinner around 4:00 and the hotel suggested a restaurant on the river for us to try. The view was gorgeous! We sat there enjoying the boats making their way up the river, watching a ferry carry passengers and scooters across, and watching a little boy who lived across the river dance as some of the boats came by. We imagined what it would be like to have Ty with us there. Aaron tried some shrimp cakes and pud kee mow – so not the same as Pete’s, but he said it was good. I got some pad thai and was really excited about it until I realized that what I thought were carrots were actually little critters with eyes staring at me. It just wasn’t the same after that, but it was still a good experience. A tuk tuk brought us home and we have been in the room ever since. It was a great morning of adventure and and afternoon / evening of relaxation.
Tonight at dinner, were were talking about how at peace we feel here. That isn’t normal for me… ever. I am always wondering about what is going to happen next, where my next meal is going to come from, how to get from point “a” to point “b”, etc. I feel the need to control everything I have happening in my world. That hasn’t been the case this week and I am thankful! I have been able to enjoy each moment thus far exactly as it is and I realized when I got back to the room tonight that that was the prayer request for the day. Praise God for that!
Only 5 days until we meet Ty! Super excited and having so much fun!
A few extras from the day…
1. We saw elephants yesterday! On a tuk tuk ride between temples, there was an elephant camp with people riding them. Definitely not in Indiana anymore.
2. My Thai stinks. I’m “sawatdee ka”-ing and “kop kun ka”-ing all over the place and it just stinks. I have tried to order a bottle of water multiple times a day and they just kind of smile at me in a patronizing way and say “you want a bottle of water?”. Um yes… and I’m sorry my Thai stinks. I had a breakthrough at dinner last night though! The waitress spoke perfect English, but I tried asking for no vegetables and she didn’t know the word “vegetable”. I broke out “mai ow pak” and bam! It worked. 🙂 So I can officially order food with no vegetables, but can’t get a bottle of water to save my life. Going to keep working on it though.
3. The ginormous reclining Buddha that we saw was naked. That probably doesn’t mean much to you, but he is normally draped in this beautiful yellow cloth the full length of his body. It was laying on the ground behind him (maybe he had just had a shower?).
4. There are lots of stray dogs everywhere, especially at the temples. They all seem super friendly with the exception of one yesterday that looked like he was ready to kill. They kind of just meander along, minding their own business and like to lay in shadows to take their naps. I would too.
