Today was Mother's Day here in Thailand and so our school got a day off from the holiday. So we decided to go to Ayutthaya which used to be the capital city of Thailand and now is a hot spot for tourists to view the ancient ruins. I wasn't sure about the whole excursion but this day ended up being an incredible experience...
Anywhere you want to go outside of our Uni-Tec you have to take many forms of transportation. It can be an exhausting but fun experience everytime you travel. It ended up being us five SM's to make our way to Ayutthaya by ourselves with little direction. We started out with a Song Tao which took us to the BTS station (sky tram), then riding it to the end where we took a taxi to the bus station. From the bus station it was an hour and 15min drive to Ayutthaya. Altogether is was about a 2hour trip to the city. The nice thing about being American and with a large group is that people always know that you need help. Even if the squinted eye brows, blank faces, and hands in the air of "I don't know where we are or what to do" did not come across as a big hint. 
Our tour guide took us to several stops; most were ruins of what used to be temples and wats. The first place we visited was full of white statued buddhas that had bright yellow material garbed around them. The statues and colors looked indescribable, bringing you back to the time when they were once built and used everyday. The gardens were well taken care of as while we walked through them you could 
smell the sweet refreshing aroma of these little white flowers.
The policeman ran over to them and made them erase the picture! That just shows you how respectful they are to their Buddha. They won't let anyone get away with disrepecting whether you practice or not. After the scene we continued to walk around the ruins. I was amazed at the size and intricate details that still remained on the ruins. hundreds of years standing but yet the foundation still in tact. 
There must have been hundreds of people walking in and out of the temple as they continued to pray and finish praying. People knelt in front of buddha with their hands clasped while saying their prayers to this golden image. Others were walking in circles around the Buddha with hands 
clasped while saying their prayers. I didn't understand what exactly they were doing or why they were praying to other smaller Buddhas on the side. It was a mystery as I just watched the people with the utmost respect and sanctitude that they had. It was humbling just watching the dedication.
to look the same and the excitement of "Oh look a the ruins from this old city!" now became "Yay the rocks on piles of this foundation".. But all was not loss because we had gotten beautiful pictures of this ancient city that will not give it justice unless seen in person. The other reason for our discontentment was the fact that it was very hot and humid outside with a small breeze. It was getting unbearable to our half eaten sun burned bodies.
At our last stop we came to another very famous buddha. This large buddha was laying on its side with a carved smile. It was one of my favorite places of the day. People were laying more flowers and food out for the gods/spirits. But the stray dogs and cats find their way to the food so all is not lost. People take kindly to the stray animals because they believe in reincarnation and that that ugly stinky dog was once a person. So most animals are somewhat well fed and respected. 
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