I am sitting on a bus which is going nowhere - not yet. Arriving at the bus station, terminal would be too grand a word for this place, however it is functional, I ask for the bus to Ayutthaya - Platform 4. There it is. I hurry, signal and get a seat as it is moving out of the station. Four blocks later we pull over to the curb, next to a 7/11, these stores are everywhere in Thailand, and the driver gets out. Payment is on the bus. No ticket required or given. A transfer will happen in Suphanburi. That is, if I'm on the right bus. Otherwise, I'll figure it out then! Oh, the driver crawls into the bus, from his special door, and with a 20 minute wait behind us, we leave. An oscillating fan on the ceiling keeps us cooler. It appears I'm on the right bus. The bus monitor took my money.
Suphan Buri, as here it's spelled, 10:20, change buses. After a toilet break, off to bus 703, platform 11, and wait 5 minutes for the driver. I should be in Ayutthaya and hav
e found lodging by 1:00. SE Asian bus drivers are as good as a Disneyland E ride (for those of you who remember such things).Ayuthaya was the Siamese capital from 1350-1767. Here stand the ruins of the center of an empire. I spend the afternoon walking two extensive ruins: Wat Ratburana and the heart of the old sacred city, Wat Phra Mahathat. Wat Mahathat was a Royal monastery an
d has been the seat of the Sangaraja, the head of the Buddhist monks of the Kamavasi sect since the building of the temples, 1374 AD. There, wrapped in the roots of a bodhi tree, is the head of a sandstone Buddha. The intertwining of a sacred image with nature is extremely auspicious in Thai Buddhism.Comment: For all the talk I've heard of Thai women, I haven't been solicited Only along Chulia Street in Georgetown, Malaysia was I encouraged. I'm feeling a bit slighted.
It's presently raining. The cooler night is welcomed.
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