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As you can probably tell from its view of eastern Bangkok, Avi's uncle's place is pretty remarkable.  Avi and I didn't linger at home for long, though — we started off the day by driving two hours north, to the former Thai capital of Ayutthaya.  Upon arriving, I tried out something entirely new: riding an elephant.

Views from the back of an elephant: 

I'm not an historian and I'm bad with names, so I can't go into too much detail on the background of the ruins above.  I do know that they are what's left from a war between the Thai and the Burmese; the latter razed most of Ayutthaya to the ground in 1767.  The images here depict the remaining structures of the Wat Phra Sri San Phet palace grounds.

After checking out Wat Phra Sri San Phet, Avi and I drove down to a massive Lying Down Buddha statue.  90% of the Thai population practices Buddhism, as evidenced by the preponderance of Buddhist temples, shrines, and statues located throughout the country.  Seeing this statue in person was neat because it's the one many people typically think of when they think Thailand.

Next, we checked out the King Naresuan Monument.  Dedicated to the Thai ruler credited with liberating Thailand from Burma, this monument was impressive because of the thousands of rooster statues placed to commemorate the New Year (2005 is the Year of the Rooster).  

Incidentally, 1981 — the year I was born — was also the Year of the Rooster.  It's no surprise, then, that the roosters and I got along really well:

Behind the Naresuan monument was a huge Buddhist temple whose name Avi and I can't remember:

After ascending the temple steps and going through a small corridor, we ended up inside the temple shrine:

After checking out the temple, we drove to Saraburi and had lunch at M.K. at Tesco-Lotus (think Costco with restaurants).  M.K. is better than any chain restaurant you'll find here in the States.

From there, we hit the road to Khao Yai National Park.  Along the way, we encountered signs like this:

After a couple hours of driving, we arrived at Khao Yai.  Thailand's most celebrated national park, Khao Yai is known for its diverse wildlife (though we saw mostly just one species: monkeys blocking the road) and Haew Suwat Waterfall, which lies near the park's apex.

And here's the famous Haew Suwat Waterfall:

This dinky little waterfall is apparently a lot more impressive during rainy season.  That's okay, though — the drive was worth it for this sunset:

As night fell, it was time to head back to Bangkok.  The 3+ hour drive afforded me the opportunity to take artsy shots like this and to sit staring blankly like this to my heart's content.  

Once we finally reached Bangkok, we dined on Laotian food and headed back to Avi's uncle's place for a much-needed respite after a long day of driving and sightseeing.  Next up: New Year's Eve.

On 30 December 2004, it was 90°F during the day and 70°F at night.


More Pics:


Baiyoke 2, an 88-story hotel, is the tallest building in Thailand.

Thailand presented opportunities to try out new modes of transportation.

Map of Central Thailand