Changes

I arrived in Ayuthaya four days ago the train trip was third class (45 cents for 50 Km thirty miles) and took almost two hours of stop and go. Next time I'll know to get "rapid class". The people on the train were friendly and I've had nothing but smiles and offers of help when needed.

I'm staying at a guest house for $9/night. The floors are all teak and the room has a large ceiling fan. It is a second story corner room and the large shutters open out to overlook a small pond full of lotus flowers and its various wild life. About 2AM a motorcycle went down a nearby street and a large bird started KEE eooo eooo eooo, Kee eeooo eooo....then joined by another bird down the street, then another until four of five spread the call, it was George of the jungle time. Then at 7AM the Government broadcasts the news from the center of town on loud speakers, with the emphasis on loud, for an hour. This practice must have started long ago when not many people had radios, TV, or the internet. Oh well, it's a good time of day it get up and walk around because by 1 PM it's HOT and one must walk slow and drink lots of water.

Ayuthaya was the Royal Thai capital from 1350 to 1767. Its ruins demonstrate the many foreign influences upon the Thai. The Cambodians were here before the emergence of the growing Thai nation state.

Surrounded by three rivers the old city was built on an island. These rivers flow further south to the Gulf of Siam. Up these rivers came Portuguese, Dutch and later English and French traders. Ayuthaya became an important outpost for the West in its growing inroads into Asia. Modern Ayuthaya is just as diverse with Chinese, Muslim and other minorities.

Well, I'm starting to get the body clock turned around, but from 9-11 AM ((7-9PM in Oregon) my mind is sluggish and I almost feel ill. It's getting better everyday and I think by next week my clock will be reset.