Shouzer

Ayutthaya

I went for a day trip to the ruins at Ayutthaya yesterday. The train trip was one of the most interesting parts. The train cost 15 baht which is insanely cheap. Especially since it cost me 50 to get to the train station. The train broke down on the way there somewhere in the middle of Thailand. I actually enjoy these little setbacks because they make for good stories. Ironically, I spend more time laughing about these kinds of things than I do talking about the really cool things I’ve seen. I think pictures tell the story of places better than my words ever could.

Ayutthaya was quite cool once I got there though. It is the old capital of Siam, and there were a lot of ruins from around 1400AD. I spent most of the day seeing old temples. There was a ruin from a palace, but there wasn’t much left of it.

The weirdest thing happened to me yesterday though. I was walking up to temple when this group of girls approached me. There were about 6 of them, and they were in their late teens. One says, “Just one picture please?” I agree, and wait for them to hand me the camera and get in their pose. Then, before I know what’s happening. The girl that asked me stands up next to me, and one of her friends snaps a picture. Then, they pull out a notebook and ask me to write me name and where I’m from, which I did hesitantly. There were half a dozen other names in the book above mine. I walked away from the encounter with a dumbfounded look on my face, and some Thai guy who was selling cokes patted me and the shoulder and laughed. I have no idea why they wanted a picture with me. I was looking incredibly skanky at the time though. I had already been walking around in the heat of the day for about 2 hours, and I was drenched in sweat. (I actually got so sweaty yesterday that I have white streaks all over my shirt from the salt in sweat.)

I wasn’t sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. It could be, “Wow, he’s so hot! I must have a picture with him!” Or it could be, “Wow, I’ve never seen a white person before even though I speak English. I want to take a picture of him so we can sit around and laugh at how weird he looks later.” After much soul searching, I decided to take it as a compliment.