This morning was another early start on a day trip to the ruins at Ayutthya. I had visted them just a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to take Giam there so that he can get a little taste of Thai culture and history. Last time I visitied I went alone, taking the train and renting a motorcycle to get around. This time, Giam and I were lucky to have Piyawat drive us in his car.
We ended up spending the entire day driving around and stopping every now and then to visit a temple. The city of Ayuttaya was the capital of Thailand (which was then called Siam) but it was destroyed by an invading Burmese army in the 1700s. So, some of the temples we visted were completely destroyed by in the attack, some have been rebuilt since then, and some survived intact.
In any case, we had a very relaxing, educational trip. Perhaps the highlight for me was having lunch on a boat in the Chao Praya River. The restaurant was recommended by Piyawat and was an excellent choice. The food was delicious and cheap as always and we really enjoyed watching the life around us: a woman washing her dishes and then her clothes on the opposite bank, small narrow 2-person boats paddled by one while the other threw out fishing nets, both small river-hugging long-tail boats and big fancy ark-shaped boats carrying tourists back to Bangkok, and huge black barges with loads of rice or other agricultural products heading to the Bangkok port downstream.
