back to the old country

Hello All!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summers! I'm doing pretty well on this side of the world. I haven't posted in awhile, because I didn't have much to say, but I thought it was about time to give an update on recent happenings and near future events.

Last Saturday, 5 of us took a day trip to Ayutthaya, which was the capital of Thailand when it was still Siam. We began the day early in the morning thinking we'd take a train to the town, but we were told it would be more cost effective to rent a van (driver included) for the day. So, 600 baht per person later, we were on our way in a spacious silver van to catch a glimpse of Thailand's past.

Our first stop was the beautiful Summer Palace. The grounds were immaculate and contained several stunningly ornate buildings. There was a traditional Thai gazebo on the water in front of the palace, which served as the focal point of our first view of the grounds. It was striking with bright colors and traditional Thai patterns. There was also a red and gold open-aired temple on the grounds that looked like it had a Chinese influence. It housed statues and really old and expensive looking furniture made out of different types of wood, shell and bone. The Summer Palace is no longer used, but it seems to remain quite a functional facility, and is certainly a big tourist attraction.

Our second stop was my favorite. Our driver took us to a site with stunning temple ruins and huge buddha statues everywhere. My favorite part was taking pictures of the massive reclining buddha, whose white facade was striking against the adobe colored walls of the ruins. Most of the buddhas were clothed with golden yellow sashes, and the biggest ruin on the site looked like an ancient Mayan temple or something. We climbed the well-worn stairs to the top and found a monk accepting offerings inside the highest part. It was really interesting because the monk was a white female (I think) who looked Scandinavian - kind of weird. I really liked this site, though because the pictures we took looked just like ones you'd find in The National Geographic.

Next, we rode an elephant!! Tiller has been absolutely DYING to see an elephant this whole trip, so she was just about beside herself when the van pulled up to the place. Just Tiller and I decided to pay the 300 baht each to ride an elephant for 10 minutes. We had to climb up to a platform to get on the massive mammal and then we sat on a wobbly bench-like seat with a huge red umbrella overhead. There was a woman who sat in front of us on the elephants neck and she guided him with a metal rod and her feet, which hung right behind the elephants floppy ears. We bought him bananas, so he had a little treat while he paraded us forongs (foreigners) around, and he stubbornly took us around the site and through some water. He grabbed some greenery with his trunk and loved splashing it around as he waded through the water. Both Tiller and I almost fell off as we got back on the platform after the ride, which would have been quite a story to tell, but it was a really fun part of the day!

After the elephant extravaganza, our driver took us to an off-the-beaten-path riverside restaurant for lunch. When we got out of the van, we were led to a table by a river, and it was so relaxing to sit down in the shade for awhile - I'm still not quite used to the Thailand heat! Across the river from our table was a beautiful 200 year-old Catholic church, and we were all really surprised to see it since Thailand is like 95% Buddhist. Lunch was really good too! I ordered ginger chicken, which was pretty safe, but Tiller and Lynn ordered fish. They were each served an entire fish - head and all! They actually loved their dishes as well and by the time we were all done eating, we were sufficiently energized for the rest of the day.

The rest of the sites are a bit of a blurr, but I know we saw a lot more ruins and a few more temples. One of the temples had a huge golden buddha in it, and a lot of people were inside offering incense and praying to it. I was really taken aback by the whole situation. It's really eye-opening to see people bow down and pray so earnestly to an inanimate thing. Living in a largely buddhist country has granted me the opportunity to see firsthand how different people live and what they choose to hope in. I pray that those I meet will see something different in me, and will want to know the living God.

After the temples and ruins, we took an hour-long boat ride that took us along the same river we ate by. It was really cool to see the houses and some of the locals fishing and just hanging out. It was also really funny because the locals loved to wave as us as we rode by. I guess we're really interesting to look at, lol. Then after the boat ride, we stopped at a market for dinner. I think we were the only foreigners there and it was truly a Thai experience! We sampled some amazing fruit, and I downed a bag of fresh pineapple wedges in like 10 seconds flat!

Finally, after the sun went down, our driver took us back to some of the ruins we had seen earlier, but this time they were lit up! It was so cool to see the old temples and jagged ruins lit up from underneath and we snapped some pretty breathtaking shots!

It was a great way to spend a Saturday and we all really enjoyed peering into Thailand's past through the many sites at Ayutthaya!

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AND, next weekend I'm off to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, which is the world's largest religious structure. It will be an adventure for sure! Please pray that we get there safely and have no difficulties crossing the border!

Much love,
Erin