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Thailand April 1989 with Barbara |
Click on the pictures some will enlarge
Bangkok
On our way home to Los Angeles we flew from Kathmandu to Bangkok and spent 5 days there visiting Ayuttaya, Sukhotai and Bangkok on Irmgard Hammer's enthusiastic advice..
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Lotus pond in the Royal Palace. Bangkok is one of the terrible cities of the world with a murderous traffic and suffocating smog. But if one looks carefully it still has many beautiful places.
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A Bodhisattva bedecked with flowers and gold leaf pieces |
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Two morning worshippers in front of a pagoda |
Ayuttaya
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Ayuttaya was the Thai capital before Bangkok, a large artificial island with dozens of pagodas and beautiful trees. We took the train there and spent a hot night in a very cheap and miserable "hotel." A rickshaw wallah took us around the ruins next morning.
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Many Buddhas in Ayuttaya are still being used. |
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Barbara at a boat restaurant in the moat of the old city. Finally after the bitter cold of Ladakh, Srinagar, and Siva Ratri she felt warm again. |
Sukothai
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Our second destination was Sukothai, the ruins of the Thai capital before Ayuttaya. It lies several hundred kilometers north of Bangkok in rolling hill country. We flew there for two days and rented bicycles to pedal around the extensive ruins. Here the Khmer influence of Angkor Wat is evident in the Buddhas, many of which are still standing among the ruined pagodas, dressed in yellow sarongs. A very beautiful place
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Two severed Buddha heads with typical Cambodian features.
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And the hand of a Buddha calling the earth as witness. A devotee had pasted a gold leaf to his index finger.
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