Before I left I mentioned it to people that I would be traveling by myself. The reactions were either "won't you be bored traveling by yourself?" or "that's great: you'll meet more people that way". So, which reaction is proving to be closer to the mark? The second one: after one day I already have a half a dozen phone numbers and email addresses from people who want me to look them up if I pass through their country. So, if you too are thinking of travelling by yourself but are worried about not chatting with anyone: don't be! Its real easy to meet interesting new people.
March 4th's activity involved a guided tour of a number of temples, a palace and a ruined city. The tour was given by an interesting chap who revealed details about the path every Thai guy has to follow. It turns out that after school they have to do two years of military service after which they have to become a Buddhist monk for a period of time(a month I think). The Buddhist monk involves doing the whole nine yards: shave the head, wear only orange robes, have only one meal per day, etc. Apparently it leads to a calmer society, however I notice that this is not reflected in the driving skills of the populous which is at times like watching barely controlled chaos(!) The upside to driving in Bangkok, though, is that petrol is a lot cheaper than in Ireland: it was 1.09 Euro a litre when Ii left Ireland and what is it in Bangkok? A mere 56 cents a litre...
Another point to note is that the language skills of my fellow non-native-English travelers puts most native-Engish speakers to shame: everyone could hold a conversation in English (though the Japanese school girls were a bit hard to follow with the incessant giggling!), many had three or more languages and the maitre'd of the local restaurant had no problem when I tried to slip him up by talking in French instead of English.
So, our first stop of the day was the Bang Pa Palace. This is well worth a visit to see its traditional palatial buildings and traditional Thai gardens.
Next stop was Ayuthaya, originally the capital city of Thailand but which was destroyed in fighting with Burma hundreds of years ago. Only the ruins remain and provide a most interesting sight.
We then stopped in at a number of Buddhist temples and were given an introduction to Buddha statues. We also saw the third biggest Buddha statue around: 42 meters in length.
Finally, lunch was served on a river boat and we leisurely made our way back to Bangkok on the local river.
Overall, the tour is well worth doing and was organized by the River Sun Cruise tour operator in Bangkok.
