The ancient ruins of Ayutthaya were quite beautiful. It was founded in 1350 and was mostly destroyed by the Burmese in the 1760's. It is surrounded by rivers on all sides and is essentially an island. All who visited said it was the most beautiful city they had ever seen (back in the day). Unfortunately the Burmese looted the city after they invaded and many treasures are lost. You will see Buddha statue pieces in the pictures and they are broken because looters thought there were treasures inside. The bell shaped towers are called Chedi's and housed the remains of Kings and their families. We were able to go down into a crypt of a paraang (which is like a Chedi only different architecture).
Thailand has proven to be a very safe place to travel. Crime is very low here and feel comfortable everywhere we go. The only thing we really need to worry about is being overcharged or having our items stolen from our room or while we doze on a bus or train. Just need to stay aware. The price you pay for being a "farang" (tourist).
We have stayed really close to our budget of $50 a day. This includes accommodation, food, transportation, everything for the both of us. We are averaging about $50-55. Not too bad. So much of what to do is go to the markets. There are vendors everywhere. However we don't buy much because we would just have to carry it. So that helps the pocketbook too.
We saw fried insects (cockroaches, grasshoppers, Beatles, grubs) for sale to eat which was interesting. Jeremy says he is going to try them but hasn't yet. I will get a pic if he does. We met some girls from Australia who said they tried grubs and said they were good. I don't care to find out.
We are now in Northern Thailand in Chiang Mai. We will be doing a jungle trek this weekend to see hill tribes and stay over for two nights. One of the tribes we will visit is the long necks. Should be interesting.....Stay tuned......
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