Ruth Around the World: Ruins, Temples, and Finding Nemo

Back in Time: SST Treks Across Thailand

On Sunday, March 13, all 20 of us and our ajaans (professors) piled into a large pink Finding Nemo charter bus. Yes, there was literally a scene from the movie painted on the side! We had said good-bye to our families and given them our appreciative gifts, and we were ready to be jolted around on a huge bus.

So, here’s a rundown of our top adventures each day:

Sunday:

In the morning we stopped at a really pretty temple in Lampang, Wat Prathat Lampang Loung. The temple was really lively that day and there were many people giving alms and worshipping. In addition, there was a nice quiet part of the temple ground where there was a HUGE bo tree. Buddhists show their support of the religion by using sticks to support trees. Here’s a pic:

GIANT Bo tree with lots of support =)

My favorite stop was at Si Satchanalai Historical Park, a park of about 4 old temples and their ruins. It was a really quiet and peaceful time we spent there because there was almost no one else at the park. I really enjoyed walking slowly through and taking lots of pictures! Here’s a few:

The sky was doing crazy cool things that day

Cool brick walls, always a nice photo ;)

There's a tree in the middle of the temple!

Monday: MY FAVORITE DAY!

I don’t think in any other circumstances a Monday would fall into the category of my favorite day! Alas, it was a blast… we went to Sukhothai, one of the former kingdoms of Thailand. While there, we rented bikes and rode around to various parts of the old city… these were also mostly ruined temples, but the neat part was that we had learned about them all in our Thai class. In class, they were just temples. In real life, they were lively representations of thai history, art and culture. It was beautiful, peaceful and of course, riding bikes was fun! This also the stop where we saw the HUGE Buddha image... it was SO cool, and almost impossible to fit in my camera lens ;) Nonetheless, here's a few pics of the day:


That is one BIG hand!

No picture can really catch the magnitude of this buddha!

They were selling all this beautiful art outside the temple.

Big foot!

Tuesday:

In the morning we went to a really cute little Folk Museum of daily Thai culture from the past. It had everything from cooking tools to farming tools to toys to bedding to clothing to medicinal tools. It was adorable, but, of course, no pics allowed! Later that day we traveled to Lopburi, a city known for its…. MONKEYS! Yes, that’s right, the city of monkeys. We went to a temple where the monkeys preside and they were a little crazy. They jumped all over some people and even stole someone’s earrings! Here’s a few cute monkey pics:

I'm a sucker for babies of any species ;)

Comfy beds =)

Cleaning time!

Wednesday:

We had spent the night in the monkey hotel in Lopburi, then we went to the King Narai National Museum in the morning, where we saw the ruins of an old palace. Then we travelled to Ayuthaya and visited the study center (a museum) and then an old temple/ historical park in Ayuthaya. We also had dinner on a boat that night, it was so pretty! Here are a few pics of the historical park (my camera couldn't take non-blurry pictures on the boat):

The little god statue on the right is actually one of the elements of Thai Buddhism stolen from Hinduism.

My favorite flowers in Thailand!

On our way back to our hotel after dinner on the boat, we stopped at a gorgeous, old, historically significant temple in the city that was beautifully lit-up. The next day we saw it again. Here's one night and one day pic:

Night...

And cloudy day... and a different angle

Thursday:
After seeing the Wat Chat Wat Ta Na Ram in the morning, we headed to the Baang Pa Summer Palace before heading to Bangkok. The king who had that palace built had traveled to England sometime before and there was a very western feel to the entire grounds of the palace. Here are a few pics:

After the palace, we headed to Bangkok, our final destination! Once there, we took a one hour canal tour through the city on the River of Kings.

A cute little family eating dinner on the water and waving at the passers-by =)


Literally, the first time I saw sunshine in DAYS. Not good for my health!

Friday:
The final day of our trek across Thailand! We headed to the temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace: Beautiful!! Plus, it was one of the few sunny days we enjoyed during the field trip, that's why these pictures are so bright and cheery!