Hello from sweltering central Thailand!
Sorry for the misposted previous entry...I imagine it is out there drifting in cyber-space somewhere. We will repost it, as soon as we drag my longhand journal into a cybercafe. Until then, this will have to tide you over...
After leaving Bangkok on Thursday (04/18) for Khorat, we spent the night in a tidy family-run guesthouse on the edge of town. Khorat is the second-largest city in Thailand, but it certainly doesn't look it if you turn left from the train station! We spent a nice evening there in Khorat despite the smoggy air, and woke up early to catch the bus to Phimai. Phimai is a small city/town, known for its Angkor-esque ruins. It was a well-restored temple in the center of town and kept us occupied for the afternoon. In the evening, a torrential rainstorm came through and we had the first breath of relatively cool air since we arrive in Thailand! The next morning we left Phimai and caught the bus back to Khorat. In Khorat, we were quickly hustled on to a shoddy looking bus bound for Ayuthaya (they said!) After being sardined onto the bus, we were off...along with a gaggle of Buddhist monks, quite a few small children, families, you name it, and decidely without air conditioning! Nonetheless, we decided this is definately part of the adventure and we enjoyed the first hour, three hours, or so... The bus pulled into the station at Saraburi (about halfway to Ayuthaya) and we were agin hustled off to bus and pointed in the direction of another bus. So dutiful tourist that we are, we followed their directions and waited patiently for the next bus. We boarded the next bus armed with cold drinks and potato chips, but it was futile because we boarded the slowest, hottest, oldest, noisest bus in Thailand. It took three hours to go a distance that Kasey and I could have walked faster! But we made it! And here we are in Ayuthaya, having saved at least a hundred baht (like 2.50 USD)!
Today, we went to the ruins in Ayuthaya, which are architectually about as Thai as one can find. It was lovely to see the crumbling ruins and watch the sun set over the elegant spires and trees.
Tomorrow, we are off to Khon Kaen to get our visas for Laos so we can hopefully meet up with friends from Japan. Never fear, we'll be taking the train.
Hope this posts!
we miss you!
Love,
Sarah and Kasey
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