THAILAND REVISIT
6 Oct 2005
AYUTHAYA AND KANCHANABURI


Tigress and cub at their pool to cool off..
It was as though we had all synchronized our biological clocks. At 6am we all woke simultaneously. The market was already a busy hive of activities as we went there for our breakfast. Satiated, we took a leisurely stroll to Wat Mahathat, a few stones throw from the market. But Rudy kept on throwing lots of stones.

Hunting around for breakfast
Wat Mahathat is one of the many Khmer temples scattered around Ayuthaya well known for one unique attraction.


The image of Buddha's head partially covered by overgrown root of the bodhi tree in meditative peace and tranquility.
Only to be disrupte by the noisy and boisterous antics of these few overgrown budaks parancing around like nobody's business.


 After the visit, we checked out of our guesthouse and went to the bus station to board the yellow bus to Suphanburi. We were greeted by an elderly ticket collector with an infectious smile and a condescending disposition. We felt a sense of guilt that we (60 plus) were having a whale of a time while she (70 plus) still had to slog to sustain herself. When we arrived at Suphanburi bus station we had to wait for a while for the next bus to take us to Kanchanaburi. All in all the whole journey from Ayuthaya to Kanchanaburi took about 4 hours. On arrival at Kanchanaburi, our growling stomach
 led us to Cola restaurant where we had a sumptuous lunch.

Food glorious food.
After walking for quite some time in the blazing sun and being dropped by the songthaew driver at a wrong spot, we decided that I hop onto a motorbike taxi to look for a hotel while the rest waited at the corner of a street.

Waiting for Ah Whatt who went scouting for a Guest House
Soon we were safely parked at the (T&T) hotel.

Our T&T Guest House at Kanchanaburi
It was near to closing time for the tiger temple and we chartered a mini-van to take us to
the sanctuary about 48 kilometers away.

     At closing time, Bong Soo, after years of consuming Tiger beer and had acquired a natural affinety to tigers, walked one back to its den with ease.  While Lye Thiam, after years of marriage and staying with a tigeress (that's what he said) had acquired the natural immunity to tigers, to walk or patting one is 'kacang'.



Dusk was the clarion call for all the creatures of the jungle to come out for dinner.

The wild boars, the deer, the wild buffaloes,
the horses and the winged creatures all came to dine alfresco.

But one creature moved furtively to a leafy bush to answer the call of nature.

By the time we got back to the city,
it was also chow time for us as we sat by the roadside for a hearty meal.

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