Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya up to Sukhothai, Thailand, 12 January 2007
Difficult to believe it has been almost two weeks since my last post.
Ko Lanta Island, despite the less than proverbial New Year, provided much scope for travelling (as opposed to tourism). Spurning the beach in deference to Alastair's infected toe, we rented motorbikes and took the jungle road over the crest of the island (one cannot call it a mountain) down through paddy fields and past relatively untouched fishing villages, had a beer or two and then came all the way back. Scootering is next to godliness (a few burns to the ankles and a minor scrape keeping us in awe of Him).
We took an overnight bus back up to Bangkok (and Mr. Tam, Jon, Kate and a Ping Pong show that... left us all wondering). At about 630am we were picked up by a tour bus and transported to Kanchanaburi. Thai tourism and Thai tourist operators are not big into itineraries or briefing speeches and as a result being on a tourist bus involves being shouted at in broken English everytime we stop somewhere. We were also a little hung over.... and jaded (re ping pong show).
Kachanaburi is famous, not because any Thai monuments or history is associated with the place, rather because of the Bridge over the River Kwai and Death Railway, so called because of the number of Allied prisoners of war died building these during WWII. As a result the Thais are not as proud of the area and are impatient about the monuments and sites associated with this bit of history. We were taken on a whirlwind tour to the cemetery (vast and very moving), the WWII and JEATH Museum (much to my irritation, see previous comment, this museum is not a museum at all. Rather a private family seeking to capitalise on the museum hype have flung together some arbitrary relics and called their building the WWII and JEATH museum reflecting the Thai disregard for copyright. The real JEATH museum, the one that has actual academic merit, was 5km down the river), hustled on the train to ride Death Railway.
We spent 3 days and two nights on a house boat while doing a series of package tours around the region. Some of them were great (Erawan waterfall) and some a little bottled (rafting down the river at a snail pace). We DID get to meet a lot of interesting Australian and Dutch people on our tour and the parties on the house boat in the evenings were very cool.
We left Kachanaburi and travelled north of Bangkok to Ayutthaya which was an ancient capital city of Thailand and once a major trade centre in SE Asia. It was an odd little town with wide roads and stately houses now too large and expensive to be up kept interspersed with ruins of various Wats (Temples) spanning 7 centuries of trade and activity (until the capital was moved downstream to Bangkok). We stayed in a guest house that was one such stately house and explored each of the ruins by bicycle for two days. The history of Ayutthaya is punctuated by raids by the Burmese or the Khmers (Cambodians) who would come in and sack the city necessitating the building of another Wat once the invaders had left. Really, really interesting from the perspective of seeing the changes in the architecture with each progressive Wat.
From Ayutthaya we took a bus up to Sukhothai, which was the Thai capital in the 14th Century before it was at Ayutthaya and Bangkok. Like Ayutthaya, Sukhothai is a city around ruins and we have spent the day cycling around these. We are quite curious about the influences of early Hinduism on the monuments, for instance Sukhothai is unique for the Walking Buddhas (complete with breasts, nipples, flowing cape and sometimes more than one pair of hands...). It turns out that Thai Buddhism is a strangely syncretic faith - Buddha and Buddhism insures a Thai for the next life, but most Thais also appeal to a strange mix of Hindu gods and animist spirits for more immdeidate problems (for instance, all buildings have an accompanying spirit house). According to the Rough Guide, sophisticated Bangkokians and illiterate farmers alike fine no inconsistency in these practices and often its a Buddhist monk who is called in to to exorcize a malevolent spirit!
Ko Lanta Island, despite the less than proverbial New Year, provided much scope for travelling (as opposed to tourism). Spurning the beach in deference to Alastair's infected toe, we rented motorbikes and took the jungle road over the crest of the island (one cannot call it a mountain) down through paddy fields and past relatively untouched fishing villages, had a beer or two and then came all the way back. Scootering is next to godliness (a few burns to the ankles and a minor scrape keeping us in awe of Him).
We took an overnight bus back up to Bangkok (and Mr. Tam, Jon, Kate and a Ping Pong show that... left us all wondering). At about 630am we were picked up by a tour bus and transported to Kanchanaburi. Thai tourism and Thai tourist operators are not big into itineraries or briefing speeches and as a result being on a tourist bus involves being shouted at in broken English everytime we stop somewhere. We were also a little hung over.... and jaded (re ping pong show).
Kachanaburi is famous, not because any Thai monuments or history is associated with the place, rather because of the Bridge over the River Kwai and Death Railway, so called because of the number of Allied prisoners of war died building these during WWII. As a result the Thais are not as proud of the area and are impatient about the monuments and sites associated with this bit of history. We were taken on a whirlwind tour to the cemetery (vast and very moving), the WWII and JEATH Museum (much to my irritation, see previous comment, this museum is not a museum at all. Rather a private family seeking to capitalise on the museum hype have flung together some arbitrary relics and called their building the WWII and JEATH museum reflecting the Thai disregard for copyright. The real JEATH museum, the one that has actual academic merit, was 5km down the river), hustled on the train to ride Death Railway.
We spent 3 days and two nights on a house boat while doing a series of package tours around the region. Some of them were great (Erawan waterfall) and some a little bottled (rafting down the river at a snail pace). We DID get to meet a lot of interesting Australian and Dutch people on our tour and the parties on the house boat in the evenings were very cool.
We left Kachanaburi and travelled north of Bangkok to Ayutthaya which was an ancient capital city of Thailand and once a major trade centre in SE Asia. It was an odd little town with wide roads and stately houses now too large and expensive to be up kept interspersed with ruins of various Wats (Temples) spanning 7 centuries of trade and activity (until the capital was moved downstream to Bangkok). We stayed in a guest house that was one such stately house and explored each of the ruins by bicycle for two days. The history of Ayutthaya is punctuated by raids by the Burmese or the Khmers (Cambodians) who would come in and sack the city necessitating the building of another Wat once the invaders had left. Really, really interesting from the perspective of seeing the changes in the architecture with each progressive Wat.
From Ayutthaya we took a bus up to Sukhothai, which was the Thai capital in the 14th Century before it was at Ayutthaya and Bangkok. Like Ayutthaya, Sukhothai is a city around ruins and we have spent the day cycling around these. We are quite curious about the influences of early Hinduism on the monuments, for instance Sukhothai is unique for the Walking Buddhas (complete with breasts, nipples, flowing cape and sometimes more than one pair of hands...). It turns out that Thai Buddhism is a strangely syncretic faith - Buddha and Buddhism insures a Thai for the next life, but most Thais also appeal to a strange mix of Hindu gods and animist spirits for more immdeidate problems (for instance, all buildings have an accompanying spirit house). According to the Rough Guide, sophisticated Bangkokians and illiterate farmers alike fine no inconsistency in these practices and often its a Buddhist monk who is called in to to exorcize a malevolent spirit!
posted by Kait at 2:29 pm
1 Comments:
Hi Kate,
I saw your blog message about staying on a houseboat near Erawan falls, Kanchanaburi.
I am travelling with family to the area and want to book a houseboat for a night on the 23rd Dec. Do you have a contact no.?
Thx
Marc
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