My third day in Ayutthaya I spent looking at a castle complex, rather boring even if there were some cool spots. To clean, to western and to neat. I wanna see the real Thailand. I rented a bike for the afternoon and checked out the Elephants.
Arriving at the Elephants, I'm no expert in how they're suppose to be kept but I'm not to sure if this is the worst or the best.
They've got shade anyways. It takes me a while to decide if I wanna support this place or not by me being there. No entrance fee only 50 baht for taking pictures, a fair deal.
Then the baby elephants came along and I couldn't resist any more. Bought some food for them and was nearly pushed into a pond by their wild attempts to get at my food.
Everyone drinks coke but me and the Elephant.
And the small ones run around the place, eating everything they can get their "hands" on.
As I stayed in Ayutthaya I found out that there were lots of Monkeys in the next city - Lop Buri - about 10 baht and an hour away by train. Wow, I had to check it out!
Video of the Monkey Temple.
There actually are monkeys everywhere, I later find out that about 3000 (!) run around the city in different gangs that will regularly fight each other.
These were the first ones I saw.
And while I was busy taking a picture of this one...
This monkey was busy stealing my sunscreen, luckily he gave up after noticing that it wasn't very tasty.
If you look closely you can see all the monkeys running around everywhere.
The picture every tourist had to take according to the guide that came with the entrance fee of 50 baht.
I also bought sunflower seeds to feed the monkeys with, never in my life did I imagine that I'd get to feed one of these sweethearts!
Trust.
Inside the temple it was dark, monkey free and filled with... bats!
Feeding more of these little furry friends. Its meant to bring luck too.
This little fella' can't be to old, seamed kind of lost too.
The guide/caretaker thought it was to hot outside today so he bought the monkeys a huge log of ice which they loved.
And then he showed me how monkeys look when they're real angry!
And I leave you with this little fella' who took my sunflower seeds and stole my heart.
I had a quick one week stopover in Thailand between New Zealand and Sweden while getting back up to the Northern hemisphere. But I managed to see quite a lot, this was my wonderful stay in Ayutthaya, Thailand's old capital and filled with old temples.
From Bangkok its about 2 or 3 hours by local train to go to Ayutthaya. The prices can vary between 20 to 200 baht, so be careful where and when you buy your ticket. Never take the tourist bus, they are way to expensive. The trains are quite comfortable but don't take to much luggage, then you'll be ok. And buy some food + water before the trip, they'll be heaps of salesmen- /woman on the train but again - more expensive.
The train station in Ayutthaya, this is how they all look. Cute, nice and... simple? Looking out of the window while one the train towards Ayutthaya.
They are selling food on board the train too but its more expensive.
Its so easy spotting other tourists/backpackers like yourself and often a lot easier and sometimes nicer to see the sights with them. I found two on the train, wanting to see all the temples there as well. Thailander's will always try to "fool" you into believing that you can't get across to the other side of the river without paying for the tuk-tuk. Or that it would take you way to long to see the sights by foot or renting a bike. But what the heck, they have to make a living and I know that I'll always find out after a while where the cheapest transportation is to get to my goal. So I paid 80 bath to get across the river with a tuk-tuk and to a sweet guest house called "Tony's Place". Where I barted, and flirted, my way into a room with a fan for 150 baht per night. Sweet as! My own room!!!
My first own room with a bed for... I can't even remember how long.
Tony's Place, my guest house.
Our Tuk-Tuk driver for the day.
Afterwards we, the two guys I meet on the train, and the tuk-tuk driver went to check out the old temples. The coolest one was the first and were we actually paid the 50 baht entrance as well. We saw some other too but didn't wanna pay any more cash to see them up close. The tuk-tuk costed about 200 bath in total and the boys paid for their trip back to the train station while letting me out at my guest house on the way back. Not to expensive but a lot more then taking the local boat which I found out the day after, taking you to the train station with a few minutes walk on each side for about 4 baht! I knew it!!
My first temple in Ayutthaya.
Something old, something new.
Everyone needs a bit of clothing.
The cool Buddha head that was INSIDE the tree.
And then it started raining but it didn't matter, +35 degrees any ways.
The local boat, Ayutthaya is surrounded by a river.
One of the markets in Ayutthaya with so much food! And way to much meat.
I LOVE beans! Since I became a veggie I've really started to dig into these goodies and even though people say they aren't that tasty I say thy juts don't know how to cook them! I just need to brag a bit about the bean spread I just made which took about 3 minutes - without a mixer! Favourite beans or chickpeas Olive Oil Lemon Juice Oregano Salt
Mix everything with a fork and enjoy or make up your on combinations.
And Oh, you're so right! I should really get back to work. But I needed to have some food with this weekend. And I'm totally mindfucking myself... Recorded my own voice while I'm reading everything about the larp I'm going to tomorrow which I'm now listening to. Gah! Try litsening to yourself while running around and panicing (Don't Panic) about the packing, its an interesting experience to say the least. Welcome to my world, or should I try to get the world of Thule to welcome me?
Only Problem? Fuck native, or no, fuck medieval native. I've been a fan of these Fantasy larps for years but I've totally lost my love for them. All these props and costumes, can't we just focus what's really important? The social game time between us? Gah! Well, I signed up, I paid and now I have to do the work. It will be fun in the end, or so I keep telling myself. Also it seams like I've lost lots of my stuff, somewhere around the country. Fuck.
No succses in finding a job, a room, a volunteerplacement or life for the next couple f months. I'm currently waiting for my boss to call me - at any time - to say that I can start working. Gah.
Going back to "Stress-chaotic-tomorrow-is-larp-mindset". Like I said on my facebook status, I've seamed to have lost my motivation. If you know where I left it please tell me! And I really really badly need it, like a penguin need to fill up o salt for the ocean while skidding around the ice blocks of Antarctica. Not the easiest thing finding a 24/7 shop around there is it?
This is me ages ago, I think it would have been back in 2001? I'm down on the right side screaming my ass off and saying something like "All Hail The King", or that one but in Swedish. Its actually the same campaign that I'm gonna be visiting again but not as the same character, nope. I'm really sick of playing soldiers but having said that, I'm not to keen on playing the priest that I'm gonna do now either. Well, as long as I get there it will be ok. It need to be ok!!
Todays music: Anything with medieval feeling to it, gotta get into shape! But oh, I miss my dubstep. Or please just give me some good hard NZ Drum&Bass...
We've just had midsummer here in Sweden which means that we're all sitting and freezing, no one remembers that it wont be warm for another month yet but who the fuck cares? The tradition makes everyone blind to anything else. The Swedes wrap flowers around a pole, straiten the thing up and hope that no one will notice that its a giant cook and not a Christian symbol which most people forget anyways (it just to be a huge cook anyways, nowadays everyone's forgotten just about everything). They will now dance around the "thing" singing "We are the little frogs, we are the little frogs..." while drinking huge amounts of strong stuff not forgetting - eating rotten fish. No need to say that I don't participate in this foolishness. I spent my midsummer's eve in a sweet little collective, eating vegetarian dumpster food, listening to weird and very nice music wile discussing politics and having a free shop where I got a couple of good new shirts - me like! The rest of the weekend was spent with other friends too. =)
At the tivoli in Copenhagen, last month with Charles.
Its a messy weird place, up there in my head. I just wanna quite and run away again. Is that's way I love the road so much? I've got no clue. I just know that the weather, the people and the sofa I call my home isn't quite where my heart is. Even though I've got no fucking clue where that is. I need something new. I need to know whats gonna happen next, what I would like to do when the leafs turn red. I need to know what happens when I've run out of favours and money all together. What the fuck am I gonna do about money? Or am I gonna be able to pull it of like Dylan has, totally without? My head is a messy fucked-up place when my heart has gone to sleep.
I ran around in the rain yesterday, made cartwheels and felt the cold water licking my feet as I jumped around bare-feet through the puddles. I was happy then, excited about the small things and my future, I guess I should know better then to trust people. And I should know better then to run around in the rain, I'm 26 and should also know what I would want to do with my life. But most importantly I should know that if I'm really happy my fall with be so much bigger. But last and the thing I should be listening to, its not all that bad. I know its just one of my mood swings and nothing to get all worked up about. Chill.
Song of the day: Tina Dickow - On The Run (live acoustic) Which I heard the first time at a concert in Copenhagen with Charles. (The Cute Danish Guy)
Oh, and I did fall that night. But I got "sober" again just a few days later and realized that all "Men" are idiots. And are just to be kept as friends. But I had a sweet tie that night, at the Tivoli in Copenhagen.
We stumbled upon a show that was so cute! These guys made us laugh so bad but were so good!
The cute Danish Guy, Charles. Posing for my blogg.
Ps. I didn't steal your blog title Mr Smith, it just happened to be the same! ;P And yes, this is all a part of my "gah, what the fuck am I gonna do with my life"- crisis and nothing to worry about, not really.
No, not at all. A lot has happened. To much to talk about, I've been out on the road again and am now in Stockholm living on a friends couch. Don't know how long I'm gonna stay here or what I'm gonna do. Got a job but don't know when they're gonna call and say "please work now". Got things to do but no fucking energy. I really just wanna sleep, crawl into my little cocoon and let the world go on without me for a little while.
And I've found a new addiction - The Sims 3. Horrible. Makes me sit for hours and look at other people having commitment issuers, huge houses and lots of trouble - which is not my own. Ok, I might need to confess something, I'm in some sort of "what the hell am I doing-crisis". I've got no clue. I just know that certain things aren't what I want them to be and others are more or less a good idea on paper but in practice? Well, I don't know. Making no sense? Welcome ot my world.
I've confronted my "spring trouble" crushes, like the one on The Cute Danish Guy who's name is Charles and noticed that he's really cute and all and I'd love to stay friends with him but the bubbles are gone. Which is great! I've got another one of my sweet boxes of memories after leaving Denmark - or in fact - I like the box better when it was just from Norway. Or do I? I don't know. It was good that I confronted myself and took the challenge of actually going to Denmark and finding out. Good on ya mate! And I had a good time too besides the thing of "I'm a guy and get cold after sex". Gah! Seriously?! I don't want anything esle, but talk to me?
So the second one? Well, as I came back to Stockholm I meet him at a party - his party. Which was really nice, we had a good time and all. But was it a good idea? Well, in the end. Maybe not. I don't know yet. And yes, if you're reading this and am as confused as I am then its all in right order. I don't know either. Don't worry. I just know that being intimate with a heterosexual man might not be the right way to go for me, which I've known for a while but sort of forget from time to time. Hmm, I'm not making any sense am I? Ah, fuck it!
Song of the day: Bush - Machinehead
ps. if you were wondering - yes, it is my time of the month and the world sucks.
Addictions: Travel + Hitch hiking, tea, art, dance, larp, play, cartwheels, my cell phone, music, the road, computers n' internet
Politics: Green-Veggie-Queer-Anarchist-Socialist
Loves: Animals&Nature, dark chocolate, warm hands, Urban Exploration, hitch-hiking, demonstarting, creating stuff/art, dancing, runnin' through the grass bare feet, adventures
Hates: to freeze, winter, autumn, losing control, my conscience, Falling in Love
Scared of: insects, the dark, Pennywise the Clown, Losing control, deep water, meat, freedom of will and not having freedom of will, the entrapment of a "relationship" (I'm a Relationship Anarchist), capitalism
Massive Attack, Queen, AFI, Takida, CombiChrist, Björk, Coheed & Cambria, Lacuna Coil, Deine Lakain, Bush, Pink, Rammstein+Tatu-kombo, Juli, Covenant, VNV Nation, Soulfly, Nine Inch Nails, System of a Down, Silbermond, K-pist, Tool, Stabbing Westward, Within Temptation, Smashing Pumkins, The Used, Skillet, Architecture in Helsinki, Säkert!, Detektivbyrån, Fall out boy, Kate Nash, Freak Kitchen, Hello Saferide, Gwen Stefani, Eskalator, GoGol Bordello, Muse, Fall out boy, Shout Out Louds, Antony and the Johnsons, Blink 182, Rage agains the machine, Skunk Anansie, Arcade Fire, Silverchair, Kent, Dntl, Kora, Minuit, Sidewalk, Ladi 6, Lykke Li, Lamb, Lama, Stay Ali, Dubstep+Drum&bass, Mint Royal, Sigur Rós, Fat Freddy's Drop, Katchafire, The Black Seeds, Sidewalk, Joel&Joakim... and much more.
Arriving at the Elephants, I'm no expert in how they're suppose
They've got shade anyways. It takes me a while to decide if I wanna
Then the baby elephants came along and I couldn't resist any more.
Everyone drinks coke but me and the Elephant.
And the small ones run around the place,
