71. NORTH BY NORTH WEST & SOUTH OF BANGKOK

 

      




















A lingam shaped stupa decorated with garudas. In its restoration, they would have very likely removed whatever evidence there was of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and filled it with a typical Thai image of a standing Buddha as seen here in the niche.

Work was been carried out on this reclining image, I hope it dosen't become another golden monstrosity. In several areas, images and 'ruins' were suitably 'aged' to give them a more weathered look

Ancient Buddhism was more zen-like as evidenced by the clean lines of the ruins of stupas in Ayutthuya, the former ancient capital of Thailand. 





The temples were more lingam shaped - the Hindu symbol of creation. (The Buddha was Indian after all). There was the chambers for the usual suspects of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which are built into the towers/temples/stupas and which can be seen in other Hindu structures I've come across elsewhere. 

Thai Buddhism has evolved into something uniquely Thai with emphasis on the monks and huge red and gold temples and even bigger and more golden statues of the Buddha image - the better to attract the masses. Mass worship has become big business everywhere.
Incidentally, Ayodhya was an ancient city in India in today's Uttar Pradesh State.
























 

































We were lucky to get tickets to Hua Hin as only 3rd class was available, which means free for all. We were prepared to stand some of the way sharing space with chickens, ducks and a goat or two, but 'pets' were now banned. 

The Thais are a lovely people, they made space for us, we were the only 2 farangs in that coach. 

For 3 hours, I studied the people as they boarded and alighted and as we travelled further down south, the people kinda changed into more tanned rural folks but remained friendly and considerate. 

The Thais are a study in contrast - they speak in low soft tones, no body is yakking loudly for long periods on their mobiles, yet they protest often, violently and passionately out in the streets of Bangkok. Perhaps that happens only in BKK, the seat of government, elsewhere in the country, life flows along as languidly as the Chao Phraya.

Whilst we traipsed around in the South, travellers coming from BKK reported that a bomb or 2 had gone off and some people were killed.

We had no plans on this trip to spend any time in BKK, it was only to land and take off. 2 days after our return to SIN, the protestors laid siege to their airports. Phew!

Those protestors don't have to work? Perhaps they've been paid to do this. They certainly were well organised with uniform tees provided, transport, food and drinks, and those plastic clappers that make such a din.......hmmm.....those must have come in their goody bags. I've seen this before in Yogjakarta. In Singapore, grassroots and community clubs distribute goody bags during the National Day Parades and other important national events.... 

Bamboo rafting was sooooo fun, even if we got our bottoms wet. 

Ancient peoples must move around on any floating devices - from sitting on a single log perhaps, to logs and bamboo tied together to form rafts to cross over, curious to see what's on that other land mass

As we travelled further south deeper into Kanchanaburi province towards Hua Hin, the scenery changed. It felt more humid than Ayutthaya, the riverside villages looked a lot like Malaysia's, it's people looked more Malay and many of its local folks wore sarongs. 


















Sticking my body out of this train with my back towards the front of the train was a dangerous thing to do but I did feel like Lara Croft 'shooting' Indiana Jones at the end of the coach. It was beautifully lush and green. 


















It must be nice to stay at the riverside motels if it's not too noisy when motorboats hurry past and the chalets start to rock. The ride covered quite a distance in an old rickety train over equally old rickety wooden bridges.