The Kingdom of Thailand

Serenity and I spent the last ten days of March on our first visit to Southeast Asia. Our plane left Fukuoka, stopped briefly in Taiwan, we switched planes in Hong Kong, and then landed in Bangkok around 8:30 p.m.

It was only then that we realized the Lonely Planet guide we had was outdated...five years outdated. You wouldn't think it was such a big deal, but Bangkok has opened up a new international airport since...so we started off a little lost.

But the next day we took a quick train ride to Ayutthaya - the ancient capital of Thailand, and saw our first 'wats'. Most of these Buddhist or Hindu temples date back to the 9-12th centuries.

Serenity walks up to the first of many...so immense and still so much detail left after 1,000 years. Most of them have steps and you can climb and explore - though you have to battle the 100 degree heat and extreme humidity.

At least here we're still smiling...the heat hasn't set in yet.

This is one of many new temples, but you get an idea for what the
old ruins looked like during their heyday.

Some of the ruins are right in the middle of neighborhoods.

By late afternoon we were exhausted from walking in the heat, and went back to our A/C room (which cost us @ $15 per night) and passed out, only to wake up right before sunset.

But we still had some time to explore another wat.

In a bit of irony, we stood at this Buddhist temple at dusk but could hear a minaret in the distance calling the Muslims to evening prayer. (We didn't take any photos of mosques, though some of them were just as ornate.)

Most of the wats that were open had thousands of bats inside, and after dusk...

These weren't no little things, either. We watched for five minutes
while they made their way out to feed.

Speaking of food, this was the night market (the only time of day that you could really stand to be outside for long anyway). We stopped by for a delicious dinner.

We headed out early the next morning to beat the heat and meditate among the ancients.

Most of the Buddhas are missing their heads...if you want to see the heads, just go to your local Western European or American museum...

Though grave-robbers might have a hard time removing this one.


Before lunch we took the train once again, this time into the
mountains for a few days in the jungle.

Quite a difference from the "safe 'n' sane" train system of Japan.
Thailand's idea of train platforms was to run across the tracks to
the other side before the train arrived.

The train cars (at least the ones we were in) had no air conditioning, just windows.
It was a sweltering 2+ hour ride.

But once we got to Pak Chong, near Khao Yai National Park, we found a place to eat,
where Kodi just happened to show up!


The next day we set out for a 10+ mile hike with a private guide through the jungle
in search of wildlife.

But even along the road the Rhesus Macaques are everywhere,
oblivious to the cars that pass.

Serenity with her au-natural jungle hat, made from a big leaf, by our guide.

We were in search of elephants, which roam wild in the park,
and our guide took us off trail quite a bit, but alas...

This was as close as we got to the elephants...
we ran into several piles and footprints, but never saw any live ones.

This is a tree that grows from the top down, its roots 'strangling' the original tree until it takes over and kills the host tree. Serenity is demonstrating her skills at sign language.
Notice her 'leech socks' above her shoes...what she needed was a 'tick cover.' She found a nice one lodged on her stomach that night.

The next morning we headed out bright and early to take a 5 hour bus ride
to the border with Cambodia.

This was looking out our bus window at a local market near the border.

And here is a sampling of the typical local artwork. Pictures of Thailand's King are EVERYWHERE, as well as these photos of some old monk.

The following post covers our travels in Cambodia...