Yesterday was the queen of Thailand's birthday, which also makes it Mother's day here, therefore school and work is cancelled. Seeing this opportunity to do something fun, the other SM's and I decide to take our first trip by ourselves. We decide to travel about an hour and a half outside of Bangkok (the current capital of Thailand) to a city called Ayutthaya which used to be the capital of Thailand before it fell to the Burmese in 16th century. Now this city is a modern town surrounded by the kingdom's old ruins.
Getting there was an adventure in it's self. We had to take several forms of transportation just to get to the bus station. And being in a foreign country the simplest thing like taking a taxi or asking for directions is often a trial. But fortunately we made it to the bus station without trouble. But when we got there we were so lost, thank God for the many people who spotted us out and came up and asked where we needed to get to. I think it's funny how much we stick out from the crowd here, it takes some getting used to.
At the bus station I saw a bunch of monks. Which isn't strange here at all, they're actually all over. But I had never seen one up close before, they absolutely fascinate me. Before we actually got the bus station I witnessed one on the corner by our school with his little basket. Apparently they come out early in the mornings and people bring him food and then the people kneel down while the monk blesses them. It was really interesting.
After buying our tickets for the bus, which cost all of less than $2 for a one way ticket, we piled into the bus and took the five seats in a row in the back. It was a fun trip chatting and playing cards. When we finally arrived in Ayutthaya we got off and were extremely confused on how we get to the ruins. There were many tuk tuk driver waiting at the bus stop to start picking up people. So we did what everyone else was doing and started haggling with the driver trying to lower his absurd prices. We ended up getting him from 200 baht to 160 baht per person for the whole day. It was pretty cool having our own driver, take us spot to spot. It helped being with someone who knows exactly where they're going, cause we had no clue what's so ever.
The first place he took us was Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. At first we tried getting in the gate without buying a ticket, but it didn't work, the guard soon realized and asked us for our tickets. We played dumb and then started back to the ticket booth. But we didn't give up that easily, we walked around the back and noticed that there was gate, unguarded so we simply went through it, and just like that we were in. lol. It was exciting...even though all we had just saved was less than a dollar. This Wat was amazing. There were so many buddha statues, all them draped in a yellow or orange cloth. Certain ones had offerings, things like food & water and incense are left at the foot of the statue. On one in particular, I noticed a cat eating the food that was left, I couldn't help but think that's funny.
All through out the day, our guide driving the tuk tuk, took us around to the different ruins. It was so interesting to be in place that used to hold so much power. And seeing it all really made me realize the distinct culture that Thailand has. We visited this temple with this huge golden Buddha. We had remove our shoes when entering it and there were a ton of people making offerings and praying. It was very strange to see this up close. After we were taken to a restaurant by the river. It was really nice, although the river was a weird brown color. Not something I would want to swim in or drink from. We order chicken fried rice, but we didn't receive that at first. Actually I'm not sure what we were brought, but it smelled fishy and looked extremely spicy. They soon realized the mistake and brought us our actual order.
After lunch we were pretty much tired out, but we still had one more stop: the reclining Buddha. This ruin was especially cool. I had seen pictures, but actually being there was even cooler! The tuk tuk driver then took us back to the bus stop and there we paid him of total of 800 baht. Later I was thinking about it, and I'm really glad we had hired him. Because I don't think we would have been able to do that all by ourselves. Plus the way people drive there is just amazing to me. They take such an initiative and they always are able to squeeze into any little space. There were many times where I doubted his skill but he always got through. It was pretty cool. 
It turned out to be a great day! It was our first experience traveling alone as SM's and we had a great time. Even with our minor run in's with confusion, we always seemed to do okay! I'm so excited for the many more adventures that will occur in the future!!
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