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second bike had not come as anticipated by Friday, but with the first
bike ready we headed out on a shakedown cruise to Ayuthaya. Ayuthaya,
the formal royal capital of Thailand, is just under a hundred
kilometers from Bangkok, but is worlds apart in terms of its pace. The
first thing that struck us about traveling in Thailand was how
relatively effortless it was compared to what we had just experienced
in India. The highway rivaled the best and newest interstates to be
found in America, and the exits were actually marked, numbered, and
even transliterated. What a concept. In India we had grown
accustomed to the practice of checking distances on the map and then
keeping an eye open for our turn. When we figured we were close we
would start the process of asking people for the road to such-and-such
place. Still we would get to forks in the road or intersections with no
markings whatsoever. The fortunate thing about India though is that no
matter how remote a place is you could always find someone a short
distance from any intersection, or someone would be along in a minute.
The absence of any expectation of privacy occasionally had its up-side.
Thailand, on the other hand, was much easier to navigate on your own,
and once outside Bangkok sprawling ring of suburbs we encountered
beautiful countryside and roads that felt like we had them to
ourselves. Ayuthaya's center is an area completely surrounded by water
formed by the confluence of three rivers and a linking canal. The
rivers are bustling arteries plied by barges and tugs hauling rice and
other staples from a fertile agricultural heartland. Ayuthaya's real
draw though are the ruins of many temple complexes from its
fluorescence as a Royal center during the 14th to 18th centuries, as
well as a period as a major Khmer outpost prior to that. |
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The
thing that strikes you immediately about visiting historical sites such
as these in Thailand is how meticulously maintained and groomed they
are. The fact is that everywhere we went in Thailand we found ourselves
in awe about the absence of litter (San Francisco take a hint!). Even
minor roadways in the countryside were
immaculately clean. Admission to museums and historical places are
still a bit more expensive for foreign visitors than for Thai citizens,
but they are still quite reasonable, usually no more than a dollar or
so. The grouping above is representative of the Khmer influence, most
notably because of the prang or
corncob like structure in the center. The surrounding chedi were
usually oriented to the cardinal directions.
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Part
of Ayuthaya's charm is that many of the structures are lit at night,
blanketing the ruins in an otherworldly glow.
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Providing the
contrast of more contemporary Thai architectural styles is Wihan
Wongkhon Bophit. Last rebuilt in the 1950s, it houses one of the
largest Buddha images in Thailand (below left) dating back to the 15th
century. In contrast, among the precious objects that sit around the
larger Buddha's base is this gold encrusted "emerald" Buddha a mere few
inches tall.
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Undoubtedly the
most photographed Buddha image at Ayuthaya is this simple stone image
(left) on the grounds of the ruins of the 14th century Wat Phra
Mahathat. Almost completely entwined in the roots of a banyan tree, for
many it is emblematic of Buddhism's coexistence with nature. Even the
situating of these sacred sites at the confluence of these three rivers
is itself indicative of the importance Buddhism places on the forces of
nature. Perhaps it even exerts influence in one of Ayuthaya's other
sources of renown. Across the road from Wat Phra Mahathat is just one
of the many nurseries selling beautiful locally grown orchids (right).
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