We’re joining the backpackers for our next adventure/s in South East Asia, having stored the wheelie cases in Bangkok. It gives a sense of freedom along with the thought of appearing to be a more long distance ‘professional’ traveller, even accounting for the slight tentative confidence!
The calm of Bangkok was very welcome though the early hippy days of discovering the Khao San Road hung as an echo amongst the stalls of ‘jolly junk’ and the ‘club music’ of the bars and restaurants.
Buddha is here in gold, jade, plaster and stone, serene and peaceful. The beauty and sheer simplicity, especially of the hands and feet are just a marvel in comparison to the very ornate and colourful surroundings of the temples and palaces.
Ayutthaya, another World Heritage site a tour bus away from Bangkok. No ornate and colourful temples and palaces here, just remains of what was, a reminder of deserted cities we found in India. Here the imagination can flow with hints of a speck of gold, a suggestion of a patterned border and a Buddha head gently wrapped within the roots of a banyan tree…what’s it doing there and how did it get there?…conjure up images of marauding 15th century armies leaving in their wake a decapitated and destroyed city.
Chiang Mai isn’t in China it’s a 14 hour overnight express train from Bangkok. Seat only with no air conditioning but wide open windows bringing in the warm night air. Sleep doesn’t come easy and the first glimpse of the rising sun brings a sigh of relief as it gently lights up a new and unfamiliar landscape. There are jungles and trees caught up in the tangle of twisting vines, hills and winding rivers, palm trees, banana groves and paddy fields and intriguing pathways to hidden villages all sweep by as we head up the track to Chiang Mai.
Arriving early, sleep can wait, just a shower and then to explore.
