Random thoughts for random people

Price of Being Careless in Thailand: 300 Bt

Yesterday, we went out of Bangkok to Ayutthaya, which is Thailand's old capital to visit a few of the ancient ruins and temples. I really didn't expect much, because I'm not a big fan of sight seeing as the others are. But I surprisingly had a very "enlightening" day, no pun intended. (Get it? buddhas are enlightened... ahh I was never good at these puns!)...

In short, the story of Ayutthaya is that it was burned down in 7 days (what is it with the number 7?). The Burmese had attacked Ayutthaya over 300 years ago, burned down every building, and cut off every Buddha's head. Personally, I was really saddened by this, not because I am Buddhist, but the fact that it is ironic that religion can not live in harmony with each other. I don't understand, how can something that preaches good, be so evil. To me, it is definitely not good enough to use religion as an excuse for violence. There have been so many religious battles in the past, and I could probably even argue that the reasons for more recent events, like 9/11 had religious undertones. Sad isn't it? Does there really have to be only ONE God? Even if you believe that there is only one God, is it necessary to impose this on everybody else?

The best part about yesterday's trip was walking through all the ancient ruins. It was just so amazing. To think that all these structures were created over 300 years ago without any help from technology is just phenomenal. You would have been impressed.

I also got to perform a lot of "luck" rituals, like pour oil over candles, hit drums, and pray to the huge Buddha! I have enough luck on me to last me a year! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, just kidding!

We left Ayutthaya at about 8:00 PM on the very last mini-van bus I was again squashed with 4 large males in the back of the mini van. The one-hour ride seemed much longer as my butt was in a constant numbing state. It didn't help that the guys kept on grabbing their balls, because it was "sticky" and spreading their legs. Nasty!! :P

I ended the night with a bit of an adventure (sort of). I had accidentally left my wallet on the mini-van. When I realized this (70 steps above the ground) I quickly yelled to my group "I lost my wallet, going back to get it".. and I quickly ran down the stairs. I normally dislike walking down stairs because it hurts my knees, but I had to because of all my ID. Well after reaching the mini-van, I spent a good 10 minutes explaining to the driver what had happened, and demanded that I be allowed to check the back seat. After 10 minutes of begging, and pleading, he finally opened the door. Once he opened the door, I realized that this was not my van! My van had a TV in it... and then I freaked out... and quickly looked for someone who could translate for me. Luckily I found one, and he helped to explain the situation to the driver for me. ***Thank you so much dude *** To my surprise, the driver that I was talking to was *not* my driver... they just all wear the same plaid shirt! I was also in major distraught when I found out that my bus was already back on his way to Ayutthaya!!

So after realizing that I was really upset, and looking like I was going to cry, the taxi driver told me to get in his van. I got in, without really thinking, I just wanted my wallet back. We basically ended up chasing down the other taxi-driver. We drove so fast down the highway....

well anyway, the end of this story is pretty good, because I found my wallet :) yay! and it only cost me 300 baht (because i gave a reward to the 2 drivers)... :)

enjoy the pictures!

posted by knee-ohm @ 2:10 AM