We got into Ayutthaya last night. Definitely was a creepy time to arrive. It was extremely dark and we had no idea where we were going. All we had was the name of the hotel and the cross street. So we started our adventure with backpacks strapped on. We headed down a dark street with taxi drivers yelling, “Where you go?? Where you go?? 30 baht!!” Just keep walking, don’t look up. We eventually found our way to the small sign that read, “Baan Lotus Guest House”. There was a huge gate blocking what looked like a secret road. Once on the other side, we made our way down the gravel walk way up to a cute building. We checked in with the somewhat crazy but sweet old lady and got up to our nice air-conditioned room. Clean room, warm shower, cold air…I was sooo happy. When I woke up the next morning, I opened up the tinted windows and saw the most gorgeous view. Right in front of me was where the Guest House got its name: The lotus pond. They were in full bloom. Lotuses are my absolute favorite flower. They open in the morning and close later in the day. If you see statues of Buddha’s, many are sitting on a Lotus flower. They grow in swamps; the most disgusting place but there pops up the most gorgeous flower.
We spent the whole day biking around ruins from the old city. We saw a shrine room underground, a face in tree roots and ancient statues from the 17th century dressed in “gold” cloth. After all that, we took a tour for just 180 bt. ($6). It took us to Ayutthaya Elephant Village, and a few other ruin sites. Near sundown, we sat out on the top of a temple to watch the sunset. It was beautiful but we also had fun just relaxing and talking. In the distance was a burning field. Smoke lifted up to a beautiful barely lit sky. We went to a few more Wat’s that were gorgeous all lit up at night.
Tour was over so we went out for dinner. The rest of the night turned into something quite random. By 1:30am there were about 10 people at our table. We didn’t know any of them but here we were all having a wonderful time. This has to be my number 1 favorite thing about traveling. Sitting at a table with people from 6 separate countries all with different stories to tell about their travels. Truly amazing.
On the last morning, I was fully expecting to just be sleeping in, reading a little bit next to the lotus pond, getting lunch and then finally getting home after navigating our way from bus stop to bus stop. But I also shouldn’t be surprised anymore when things don’t turn out the way I planned. Let me back track for you.
This morning, the roosters woke me up early. I went over to the lotus pond and just sat in the hamic with book in hand. But that’s where it stayed. For the next hour I didn’t even turn a page. I just sat there, staring at the beautiful flowers. It’s amazing when you let your mind be still for a moment. Which I never really did till I got here. Once we checked out and got to the street the buses were on, we flagged one down. We were quite relieved to have gotten on the right one. We arrived in Bangkok and stopped in 7-11. A little kid came up to me and asked, “Where you go?” I told him “Sattahip” and all he said was thank you and walked away. I just thought how normal this was starting to become since people do that all the time. Until we got to our bus terminal and out of nowhere the little boy walked up and stood next to me and smiled. He said hello and just kept staring. When I looked away at Julia (becoming very uncomfortable) he walked off the sidewalk and started smoking. Seriously! How old was this kid?? He was wearing the light blue shirt and navy blue pants. The same uniform as the people who worked there. Did this little boy, smoking, work on the buses? And why was he there? Did he come to this one because I told him where I was going? The whole thing was extremely weird! We waited until the bus came and got on like we knew where we were going. Since we live on the Marine base it’s also not too hard to spot the place where all the soldiers are. We didn’t notice a problem till people started looking at us funny. Not like the normal way they stare at us but in a way that says oh, they definitely don’t know what they are doing. Turns out this time we were supposed to buy tickets before we got on the bus. But how are we supposed to know this? No signs, no one telling us to go get them, just disturbed looks. All they had to do was point to a ticket counter and have us go get it. But for 30 minutes we sat there awkwardly. We asked the soldier next to us if everything was ok. He just kept nodding. Then they started talking to the driver. They looking at us, stood up and got off the bus. The driver pointed to their seats. So we moved over to those and sat down. Except, the two soldiers weren’t getting back on. When the bus filled up we looked around and saw everyone in his or her assigned seats. There were no more seats left. Did those 2 guys just give up theirs for us? Why aren’t they getting back on? What’s happening? Man! It’s so frustrating not knowing what people are saying or what’s going on! The soldiers smiled at us through the window, got back on the bus as it was pulling out and sat on the stairs next to the door. I can’t believe they just gave up their seats! The ride back was about 2.5 hours and they literally got on and off every time someone else had to get on or off. When they left at the stop right before ours they smiled and waved goodbye.
That my friends are the people of Thailand.
Tip #1-Welcome strangers. It always turns out that you think you have traveled a lot! Just wait. You will get the most fascinating and inspiring life stories.
Tip #2-Accept generosity with a grateful heart. The people here love to help. So expect it and be humbled. It’s fantastic!
Tip #3-Breath. Take a moment for your self. Sit and do nothing. It’s interesting to see how long we can sit before we get jumpy sitting with our own thoughts.
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