So we had to venture out of our little haven of Kanchanburi after 5 days and we took a bus to Ayathaya (the old capital of Thailand) where the new city is built around the ruins of the ancient cuty, quite literally. Totally unimpressed with Ayathaya as a new city, (it is crowded, dirty, smelly and a mosquito breeding ground of small streams in every street), the way the old and the new are sitting side by side is interesting though. There's a few wooden shacks, a few shops built of cement, and then a clearing and a tumble down ruin of a temple or a palace from a time long before. By night these ruins are lit and are pretty impressive.
Whilst in Ayathaya we climbed to the top of a temple to watch the sun set. It was a lovely view across the rice fields to a gorgeous orange/red orb gradually sinking to the horizon, when suddenly it wasn't an orb any longer. First the bottom disappeared in a perfct straight line, then it became a semi circle, then there was nothing at all, and the horizon was nowhere near. Smog - it's not only in Bangkok we have discovered, in fact it seems to cover the majority of the country, making the sky seem permanently cloaked in grey cloud. It was a very strange sight to watch the sun set above the horizon!
The temples of Thailand (Wat's)
Just a quick note on the Wat's we've seen so far. They are huge, sprawling, elegant edifices that are decorated to the highest possible degree in gold leaf, large murals and colourful glazed ceramic tiles. We've seen sitting Buddha's, standing Buddha's, reclining Buddha's and every stance in between. Some are covered in gold, some are carved from wood and some are carved from stone. Some are in perfect condition and others are battered by time, but all are impressive.
I do however feel Buddha fatigue coming on :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment