Misty thoughts

A trip through the capitals

Diving has not been to me all that I had expected it to be. I was actually waiting for my mind to be blown away, all my old hobbies forgotten and a new obsession to be introduced. Instead what I found was a charming, relaxing experience that offers very little in the adrenaline department, but a lot on the animal viewing department. I did not expect me to get all excited about seeing a shark. Its just a really large fish after all. Yet, when I did see a shark, from quite close by actually, I was excited. Not in fear mind you, but in awe. The movements so strong and sure, a creature in total dominance of itself and its surrounding. It really was all that and more. Diving has not proven to be my new adrenaline shot, but in a sense it is something better. Something that I can't quite get in any other sport.

After finishing the course we started our trip north, with our final stop Chiang Mai. On the way we passed through all the capitals of Thailand, old and new.

From Koh tao we travelled to Bangkok. It was not our intention to stay there, just to spend the night as a stop on our way north. In the morning we were confronted, for the first time in Thailand, by tourist hassles. We wanted a taxi or a tuktuk to the bus station. No taxi would take us with the meter. they all wanted a flat price of 300 Bath (around 6 euro). Having travelled before we knew that means the price is way to high, so after walking a bit further from the tourist area, we found a taxi that would take us with a meter. It was 91 Bath to the bus station. Two hours later we were in Ayutthaya, the old capital, and the seat of power for the Siam kings.

Ayutthaya is not a pretty place, but it has around 400 temple ruins spread amongst its modern houses. Some of these are nothing more then a low square wall about 3 meter long and 3 meter wide. Others are tall Stupas and Prangs. To manage to see most of it, we rented a scooter. I have had a motorcycle before so I knew how to drive with gear. These scooters have a gear box that feels like it was made to be used with slippers. Instead of the usual small lever, there is a pedal for shifting up, and one for shifting down, making it easy to shift with sandals. Luckily because man it was hot! I have not had shows on since we left china. The temples of Ayutthaya have been quite impressive and by the day's end we managed to see pretty much all that we wanted. so we headed north to Lopburi.

Lopburi is a small town. It has nothing really going for it, except once a year. They have a lot of monkeys there. Once a year top chefs from Bangkok cook a king's meal for the monkeys, who ravage the tables set for them. That's what we came to see, and it was worth passing by for. Those of you who remember our trip in Kenya know we had a run with monkeys in the past, so we were more careful these time. They are wild animals, and they really have big teeth. Seeing a monkey trying to open a can of Coke is actually quite amusing. And seeing them running around with pasta in their mouth is hilarious. We left the same day.

Arriving finally in Sukothai, the even older capital of Thailand. It also has a lot of ruined temple and an impressive old city. Again we rented a scooter and went touring. The Ayutthaya temples were destroyed by the Burmese army in the 18th century, the Buddhas there beheaded. It was nice to finally see Buddha images with the head on. We also saw the biggest Buddha as of yet. 16m tall and 9m wide sitting Buddha. The sculpture is in a room just barely bug enough to hold it, making it look even bigger. It is quite impressive. In Sukothai we also learned about the different posture of the Buddha images, and what they all means. I was again confronted by just how little I know about eastern religion and believes. It is a shame, as Buddhism and Hinduism are both very large religions. I definitely should take some time to learn more about them.

Finally, having seen all the old capitals, we took the bus to Chiang Mai and here we are now. Chiang Mai has a lot to offer. So much in fact that we are taking a whole day just to decide what we want to do here. We want to take a cooking course, we want to ride mountain bikes, we want to trek, we want to raft, we want to see the hill tribes, we want ..., the list just goes on and on. Our time unfortunately, does not. So we will have to cut a few things out of the plan, trim some days of several activities, and find a way in between. In about one week we need to be heading into Cambodia.

Ill let you know how it all turned out

Last, but not least, the gallery page has been updated. in the trip album ther eis an album called new. We will upload the new pictures here, moving them out each time before loading new pictures. This should make it easier to see which pictures are the newest.

Love

Kfir