Thailand S01E01

Excerpt from travel journal:

10.03.11 09:22

Ayutthaya -> Sukhothai

The night before last we ended up in Ayutthaya due to a minor transportation misunderstanding, The Lopburi bus driver told us "no" for reasons the language barrier prevented us from understanding. The Ayutthaya bus driver noticed this and sais "Lopburi" while furiiously nodding his head and pointing to his bus. We, understandably, took this to mean he was headed to Lopburi. A couple of hours later we pulled up in Atutthaya and our driver motioned for us to get off, pointing some distance up the road, again furiously nodding his head and saying "Lopburi." Ohhhhhh... I see... from here we could take out third very sweaty and bumpy bus ride to Lopburi.

Uh uh.

A small amount of searching landed us in Chantana Guesthouse. Quiet, 2 beds, private bathroom, 500 Baht.

Uh huh.

After showering off whatever had made me inexplicably sticky from head to toe, we went on a meandering night walk in search of ancient ruins rumored to be lit up for a couple of hours each night. What we discovered was undeniably gorgeous. Standing near these ruins, nary another tourist in sight, you couldn't help but feel the former greatness embodied in these walls and temples. Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam for over 400 years. Named after Ayudhya (Sanscrit for "unconquerable")it was dubbed by the first Western visitors from Portugal as the "Venice of the East."

Packs of wild dogs (found everywhere in Thailand, these dogs test my ability to refrain from petting everything cute and fuzzy--they do bite) were our only company as we wandered the ancient city and I was grateful for mistakenly ending up there. Happy accidents are part of the journey and so far I adore my journey through Thailand. The people are always willing to offer a smile and the food--oh, the food--sweet, spicy, sour & savory. Always a perfect blend and i love a meal that makes me sweat.