Last email -- Ayutthaya and October 14 1973 monument

                 

Ayutthaya

January 20 

Dear All,

This IS the last email from here (unless you get a bonus one from one of the airports en route).

topiary elephants at Summer Palace

 Lucked out on the Ayutthaya tour and had the single front row seat on both the pick-up van and the tour bus, so a great view.  I was also the last picked up in the pre-trip van, and first dropped off, which was nice. Met a lovely couple of French women in their late 60s on the bus behind me, a nice couple from Michigan on the other side of the aisle traveling for three months, and on the boat a Korean daughter and mother (who told me all sorts of more Bangkok sights I absolutely needed to see), as well as a Syrian who's now working in Saudi Arabia (he and both the Koreans had lived, worked, or studied in the U.S.). 

Somehow forgot my hat and sunscreen—but it was great because ended up picking up a hat that unfolds into a fan and so is quite packable!  And the Michigan lady kindly offered me some of their sunscreen.

Summer Palace

 On the bus trip to Ayutthaya, learned quite a bit about Thailand, though the tour guide was somewhat hard to understand at times (I notice that the Thais drop their final s's too, just like the Burmese...):   Bangkok means City of the Angels, and Thailand means  Land of the Free. Bangkok has 15 million people living or working in it, and is currently #2 (was #1) in the world in terms of traffic jams, with its 7 million cars (not counting the motorbikes and tuk-tuks). Main income source is rice (three crops a year), second is tourists.  The King Rama IV (the King in the "King and I") was a monk for seven years before his older brother died leaving him the throne, and he had 87 children.

King Rama IV's Throne Room

Visiting King Rama IV's Royal Summer Palace near Ayutthaya was interesting, and seeing his throne room, and his bedroom. 



 
 
The Ayutthaya ruins were great, but wish there had been more time to simply walk around and absorb it.  In addition we visited three temples in the area, each quite special, before the 50 minute drive to the boat (which we shared with two other Sun River tour busloads).  

Ayutthaya ruins

temple in Ayutthaya

temple in Ayutthaya

The Thai buffet on the boat was quite sumptuous with delicious tamarind deep fried fish, green curry chicken, spicy sour soup, sushi, and small sticky rice with mango dishes, fruit, and real chocolate cake (Myanmar chocolate is not worthy of the name chocolate, so except for a tiny chocolate wafer Richard had shared with me on his return from Bangkok, I've been in chocolate withdrawal the last seven weeks).   

view from boat

 All in all, quite happy in the end with the larger River Sun Cruise trip I ended up booking (had been interested in a smaller, more expensive Blugecko tour but they didn't return my emails until yesterday after I'd already booked.) 

Once back, after recharging my camera battery a bit, I set out again, first exploring the beautiful Wat just across the street from my hotel. Then I walked up the street, getting directions to a street cafe where I could have some mee krob  (recommended by Gabriel for me to try while I was in Bangkok) 

mee krob food stand

 and stopping by a Chinese temple—which was closed because the Princess was going to come there to pray at 7:00.  So I continued on, past another large Wat and school started by the Princess, and came to a large street where there was an October 14 1973 monument that I had noticed on the taxi drive

mee krob

to my hotel.  While I was waiting for a green light (they have traffic lights in Thailand, unlike Myanmar), I walked up the steps to find out what it was a monument for, and looked at the pictures and read the signage, and the several page account which a man at a desk kindly offered me while I was looking at the exhibit. 

doors of Wat across the street from hotel

Apparently university and high school students in 1973 had gathered momentum to protest the military dictatorship and call for a true democracy, with the same kind of dedication, activism, idealism and energy as students in America about the same time during the Vietnam era and Moratorium days.  Some of the activists had been arrested, and the students were demanding their release, as well as democratic freedoms.  They shut down the examinations, closed schools, and gathered by the thousands, as other university students from across the country, and high school students, and eventually almost even kindergarteners, poured in to join them.  On the last day there were half a million students in the streets.  As they were ready to disperse, once being told their demands would be met, the military moved in, and there was bloodshed with around 77 students dead and many injured by the end.  But they did win, several of the dictatorship left the country, and the military dictatorship was toppled.  (Something like that, at least; I might have muddled some of the details, but it was very inspiring—and very much the spirit of the times.)

Leaving the monument, I walked the two blocks further to the infamous backpacker Khao San Road, as well as the Rambuttri Street behind it with the Sleep Within hotel that I had almost booked at. Rambuttri Street wasn't much quieter than Khao San.  The two streets were a cross between the Chiang Mai Old City and the Santa Monica Mall—lights, music, eateries, bars, music, vendors, shops, a real zoo, packed with western backpackers of all ages and nationalities.  Even saw a Chabod House and a kosher falaffel stand mixed in with all the pad thai stalls.  SOoooo glad I'm in my quiet Thai neighborhood hotel.....

On my way back I stopped again at the Chinese temple at 7, but the princess' arrival time had been changed to 7:30, and by 7:20 when I next returned the arrival time had become 9:00 (though at least a handful of guards had arrived), so at that point I gave up on the idea of seeing a Thai princess and headed on back.

Hope to wake early, and see the Temple of Dawn, which is one of the places the Korean lady on the river trip had said I should see (and see it at dawn), then Wat Pho and the Grand Palace and the Emerald Beauty.  Think will not get to the Ananta Samkhom Palace this time that the Korean lady said I also had to see, as need to leave for the airport by 2:00.  Hard to believe I'll be back tomorrow night (my tomorrow will be a 48 hour tomorrow, what with the date line).

See you soon,

Zoe