Bangkok Week 44 April 30, 2009 A really, really hot trip to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. View fullsize Peering into the abyss... that is the Internet. View fullsize At the Bang Sue train station, there's a "Library Train" parked on some nearby tracks. View fullsize A 60km trip on the train costs less than a 4-stop ride on the sky train! View fullsize The transport enthusiast in me is excited to finally get to ride the train. View fullsize Looking north. View fullsize Our "express" train. View fullsize A typical 3rd-class car. (It quickly filled up.) View fullsize We have arrived at our destination! View fullsize A home offering questionable shelter. View fullsize Looking down the Chao Phraya River... the same one that passes through Bangkok. View fullsize Taking a shuttle boat onto the island of (ancient) Ayutthaya. Worried it might sink? View fullsize The one hopping street in the city. View fullsize Tuk tuks here are like fish on wheels! View fullsize Ayutthaya is home to many ancient temples, of which only ruins remain. View fullsize The central stupa still stands, but little else remains. View fullsize Ancient Gods from above have sliced off the tops of the corner chedi. View fullsize Ruins of Buddha images lay scattered around the temple's perimeter. View fullsize Posing on the stairs up the main stupa. View fullsize Looking down on the main entrance. View fullsize Inside the "dome" of the central stupa. You could also descent into the vault below. View fullsize It's said that the 4 smaller chedi lean outward in deference to the central stupa, but I think they're really just sinking. View fullsize Recently visited image. View fullsize Looking back up the main stupa. View fullsize More Buddha parts lounging around. View fullsize Really big, old Wat #2, just across the street from the previous one. View fullsize The wall around its perimeter barely keeps intruders out these days. View fullsize Hot group shot! View fullsize A good view of the few structures that are still standing. View fullsize Imagine what everything looked like before all the gold was stripped off! View fullsize One whole Buddha, and many Buddha parts. View fullsize The famous face overgrown by tree roots. View fullsize More missing pieces. View fullsize What remains is ornate... what's missing must've been, too! View fullsize Just slipped out of his fingers. View fullsize The central stupa is more like a mound of bricks now. View fullsize Getting tired of these pictures yet? View fullsize A different gold-wrapped Buddha on the other side of the complex. View fullsize The leaning tower of Ayutthaya! View fullsize Souvenir and cold-beverage vendors are set up right outside the temple entrance. View fullsize Did I mention that it was hot? View fullsize The island's central park. It would be nice for strolling... if it were 20 degrees cooler! View fullsize Smiling, but thinking about jumping into the pond. View fullsize And this is Ancient Road Alignment... whatever that means. View fullsize Lily pads that have taken over an entire pond. View fullsize Many types of swamp-lovers gather around. View fullsize Adding some color to the landscape. The man walking by coordinated with the tree this morning. View fullsize A statue... of a former King. View fullsize Another ancient temple... that we only visited from the outside. View fullsize A "modern" temple that attracts many. View fullsize The obvious thing to do with dead flowers, of course. View fullsize Pigeons debate whether or not to cool off in a fountain. View fullsize Seeking shelter under the guidebook. View fullsize A Wat and its Bougainvillea. View fullsize Why... it's fried rice for lunch! Surprise! View fullsize A woman makes the thin pancakes used in a traditional dessert (by glopping the dough on the pan). View fullsize A REALLY HUGE Buddha. Look at the people at the bottom for sense of scale. View fullsize Dwarfed by the Buddha. View fullsize Trying to pour ice cubes into a bottle. Duh. View fullsize Chinese fire crackers hung around the outside of the temple. Looks dangerous to me! View fullsize A Bee in a Bud. View fullsize Elephants and a motorcycle navigate a roundabout. View fullsize A scenic pose of elephantine proportion. View fullsize Heading back to Bangkok? View fullsize An old teak home, part of the city's National Museum. View fullsize Old coconut scrapers. View fullsize Enjoying an ice dessert while waiting for a ferry back across the river. View fullsize Enjoying an ice dessert while riding the ferry back across the river. View fullsize A shiny new fish-tuk! View fullsize A hot dog rests under a fan at the train station. View fullsize The newly-renovated Ayutthaya train station. View fullsize Four men pass by, wondering how to get off this track! View fullsize Riding the train back to Bangkok. View fullsize A man on his phone... with a phone! (At the Don Meuang Airport Station.) View fullsize Ha HAA! The cars have to wait for US for once! View fullsize Exiting the train, back in Bang Sue. View fullsize A new fruit! Ma Fai, it's called. View fullsize They're smooth little balls with purple pits inside a thick-ish skin. View fullsize The next day, an extremely ominous sky in early afternoon.
