Glittery Gold, and Making Merit with the Dogs

We had another non-restful rest day, this time in Ayutthaya where we explored the UNESCO world heritage site Ayutthaya Historical Park. Beforehand we went to the Building of Golden Treasures at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum where we saw so much glittery gold it was hard to believe it’s all very real, and very old—as much as 600 hundred years old. There were gem-encrusted teeny tiny gold artifacts that contained Buddha relics, ornately decorated miniature sized tea sets, and a miniature of a Royal elephant that has so much detail one can barely imagine the skill involved in creating it. If all that gold wasn’t enough, we went on a river boat ride around the canal surrounding the city and stopped to visit the Buddhist temple next to the river, Wat Phanan Choeng Worawihan built in 1324 and where pilgrims can visit to make karmic merit. An immense 19m high golden gilded Buddha is housed inside. We were advised that visiting was supposed to bring us good luck. We hope!

After browsing the sights, we have determined that in this wild heat it’s easier to ride a bike for endless hours that to walk. There’s no breeze while walking and the sun feels just that much hotter (as if that’s even possible). By the way, we had heard before coming that lots of tourists are returning to Thailand. That’s not been our experience so far. Most accommodations are scarcely populated and the “touristy” areas seem to be quiet. Nice for us, but we empathize deeply with the Thais who have relied on tourism for so much of their livelihood. For that reason we don’t try to negotiate lower prices for most things.

We broke down and sought out pizza and pasta for dinner. Rather unusual to have a “sausage-filled” crust, but it is just that—a long skinny sausage encased by crust. It was tasty, though we left much of that crust uneaten. Buddhists often endeavour to “make merit” by performing good deeds, and taking care of other living things. We came up with the brilliant plan to make merit of our own with some of those “soi dogs” that that run loose in the streets. We saved those pizza crust ends, and set out to make merit. Down the road we went, feeling pretty good about ourselves and our impending good deed, providing an evening snack to some poor hungry dog. Randy located one and approached, and gently placed our Crusty Offerings on the ground and stepped away to watch the dog snap it up. That poor hungry soi dog approached all right! He took one sniff and walked away. Apparently beggars can be choosers!