We boarded our motor coach early in the morning and began plying our way through the choked Bangkok traffic heading north and following the course of the Chao Phraya River. Eventually the urban sprawl ended and we found our selves at the ruins of Ayutthaya,"The Invincible City" that was once the Capital of Siam which flourished from 1350 to 1767. At one time this city was the envy of the Eastern world and was likened by many to Paris. The city was friendly to traders and merchants. Outside of its fortified walls grew villages of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch and French peoples. The city flourished and went through a golden age of learning, art and literature. But in 1765 an army of 40,000 Burmese attacked and after 14 months of siege the city lay in complete ruins. In fact, it was so ruined that the King decided not to rebuild it and the capital was moved south to what is now Bangkok.There is a haunting beauty about the place. Huge Buddhas still stand sentinel over the peaceful, ruined complex and the landscape is dotted with ancient pagodas. Pottery shards from the 1400's still litter the grounds around its old kilns and you can feel the ghosts of the people who once inhabited the place.
From there we boarded the bus and continued north to the city of Loburi and the Phra Prang Sam Yot, also known as the "Monkey Temple". I LOVED this place. The city was founded in the 10th century and its' beautiful and ancient Hindu Shrine in the city center is inhabited by loads of Macaque monkeys. They are revered and fed by the local people so they were quite unafraid and extremely mischievous. There are bars on the windows of the shrine, not to keep the monkeys in but in an attempt to keep them out. Three of the naughty guys jumped on my back, stole my sunglasses and climbed to the top of the temple to dismantle them. Maybe some people would not consider that the perfect day- but I did- thats the kind of stuff I came for-what an experience!Upon leaving the town, the countryside opens up to the rich alluvial plains of the Chao Phraya River and Thailand's rice paddies reach out to the horizon. The further north you go, the prettier is gets. Occasional trees dot the flat padded fields and farmers, who still do it all by hand, can be seen working the land with their water buffalo. Further north still, mountains rise up in the smokey distance.
Eventually we come to what is known as the "Golden Triangle". This is the border of Thailand, Laos and Burma. This area is famous for its opium production , drug trade and general lawlessness. It's not pretty. It's weird. The muddy Mekong River divides the three countries, and when standing high on its banks on the Thai side you can see the differences in all three.
I suppose, since the big pharmaceutical companies dispense drugs like candy these days, there really is no need for the old opium growers anymore so they have turned to, guess what? Casinos! Who would have ever guessed that the drug cartel/ mafia would now build casinos and make their billions legally? (Yes, I am being sarcastic). Standing on the bluffs right next to an enormous golden statue of Buddha you can look across the river and see Laos. The river banks have been stripped of all vegetation and rip-rap grey rocks have been poured down to the river from top to bottom. A huge, band new casino stands menacingly in the center of a sea of concrete. Lovely! Looking west to what is now called Mynamar (old Burma) you see another enormous casino complex under construction. This one is surrounded by green delta land and in contrast to the one in Laos looks almost inviting. We took a boat ride over to Laos where we hung out on an old, dumpy market area filled with starving dogs and cheap trinkets. Don't do that. Just skip it.
More interesting, but certainly not more beautiful , are the hill tribe people that are still found in the region. These are people who have fled from Burma because of genocide about 300 years ago. They found Thailand's mountains and jungles an easy place to lead their nomadic lifestyle. To make a living they grew poppies and cultivated opium. Since the mountain's soil is thin they practice slash and burn techniques leaving a landscape of waste and destruction in their wake. Only 18 percent of Thailand's forested jungles remain. The rest have been destroyed by these tribes (and no doubt illegal loggers and other commercial interests). The government finally took some notice a few years back and have been trying to infuse the area with some financial aid to help get the tribes get off the opium trade and change their practices- but at the moment the prospects for the jungle still look pretty grim. The "jungle" in this area, which was once home to elephants, tigers and the clouded leopard, now looks like a strip mining operation from West Virginia.
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