Ayutthaya

I finally made it off the islands onto mainland Thailand.  Not that I was too excited about this, but it's good.  And really, I've seen so many beaches the last several years, a change is nice.  To get here though, that was journey.  It started in the back of a pick up truck to the pier.  Then on a boat to the mainland at a tiny place without much more than a long pier called Chumphon.  From there I was herded onto a bus that took me about 6 hours north, with a little stop for toilets and food, to Bangkok.  In Bangkok I got ripped off by a cab driver on my way to the train station.  I waited an hour for my train that took me 2 hours to Ayutthaya where I got in a tuk tuk that out ran some pissed off dogs to get me to my hostel.  7am to midnight.  But I made it.  Ayutthaya is a historical place filled with...history!  But a quick google search will save me all the typing to describe it all too you.  Or click here to let UNESCO tell you about it.  I'll just share instead my photos!  Again, I rented a moped to cruise the city.  I only got lost for most of the day as this city is bigger than the last two islands I was on.  But I did manage to reach all the interesting places I read about in a book.  (Sticking to my no guided tours routine)  And it ended up being a fun couple of days.  For those that know me, I really like history.  So being in places like this where you can see and touch so much of it is pretty awesome for me. 

Things I'm starting to miss though:
Toilets I can sit on, not just squatting over a hole, and actually put toilet paper into.
Mountains.
My own car, without anyone constantly nagging me to get into it then trying to scam ever penny I own.
People to talk to whos native tongue is English.  Where are all the Americans?!
Drinking water from a tap.
Clean streets.

With all that said though, It's still pretty dang awesome here.  Being SO different than home, is what makes it so fun!

 

 Buttons on camera still don't work...so it's self shot GoPro photos from here on!

 

 

It was cold, so it was good!

 

Think this is crazy?  You should see the lights on these things at night!

 

Scary dark place!

 

 
This Buddha head somehow ended up with all these roots grown around it.  There was a security guard there to make sure everyone kneeled for their pictures.  No one is supposed to be higher than the Buddha.  He was also nice enough to take my photo!

 

When you see an elephant crossing sign in Thailand, take it seriously.

 

Monks got swagger!

You can only use this toilet if you REALLY have to go!

 

 

 

 

The whole old city was surrounded by rivers and moats, making necessary frequent ferry crossings.

Koh Tao

The islands keep getting smaller, and I like them more and more.  Koh Tao is now my favorite Thai island.  I hopped on a ferry to get to this island, and it stopped half way on Kuh Phangan where the full moon party was.  The sorry state of those boarding the ferry to get back to their accommodations on Koh Tao only re-affirmed my decision not to go to that thing.  As every one of them looked absolutely miserable.  Besides being hung over, barely dressed, and dirty, several were sporting bloody wounds.  Some party...  Anyway, I got to Koh Tao and got a ride in the back of another pick up truck to my hostel.  A cozy place.  Here I made lots of friends again, this time because two of the three days I was there monsoon season unleashed it's fury.  So we all just hung out in the bunk beds most of the day.  I did manage to go scuba diving just before the torrent hit.  Unfortunately the overcast skies led to poor visibility and i didn't get to swim with a whale shark.  No I have an excuse to come back though!  The dives I went on were still pretty dang awesome though.  However, my camera was a casualty of the day.  I guess I just took it too deep too many times.  As this was one of several times I have taken it below the recommended depth.  It is now suffering from decompression sickness (or whatever the digital camera equivalent is).  Thus, the buttons on my camera don't work, there is water in the lens, and when I turn it on, it immediately just starts taking video.  Taking pictures ever since has been difficult... So with the storm and an ill camera, I didn't get very many good photos of Koh Tao.  But it's pretty small, with no major resort developments.  Mostly hostel and beach hut type places.  There are scuba shops everywhere and the tourist to local ratio is probably higher here than anywhere else I've been, but I still liked it.  Besides scuba diving, a swim around the bay, and a hike through the jungle.  I did as little as possible on this island, and it was awesome.  

just a random Tao thorough way

The main road.

The Harbor.

Taxi in Koh Tao.  Wave down a truck.

 

Fishermen

Caught a lot of stuff actually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting at the harbor for my boat to the mainland.

Waiting at the train station to go to...