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Since we had seen some photos from Ayutthaya in a magazine, we decided to spend a day there. Declared as Unesco’s World Heritage, the city has many temples spread by the river margins. It was also the capital of Siam for about 4 centuries. Nowadays it has a peaceful atmosphere, far from the rush and stress of Bangkok. We felt that on restaurants and hotels. Here life goes slower and more contemplative.
We visited some ruins. Not all of them because it would be so tiresome and we assimilate what we were seeing. It was interesting to learn a bit about the Buddhist rituals. We spent some time in a temple observing it. There were the symbolic objects: the candle, representing the wisdom, the flowers, the compassion, the incense, and the purification. There was also a pot full of sticks that they shake it until one of the sticks pop out. On it there was a number that correspond to a message. Other forms of offerings were the act of sticking gold leaves on the Buddha statue and put money in ceramic pots. There are about 100 pots, we exchange 20 baht for a handful of coins and drop one in each pot.
By the end of the day we visited a ruin where there was a declining Buddha. I read it was the position corresponding to his death, when the achieved nirvana. I chose that as my preferred Buddha’s position. I found it intelligent, since he is going to meditate for long time; nothing better than lay down, relax. Maxim was always showing me the declining Buddhas as “my Buddha”.
Among the many things that made me believe Thailand looks like Brazil a lot it was the beer. In a restaurant in Ayutthaya, the beer came in foam cooler to keep it cold, exactly as in Brazil. We also had rice everyday, what sound weird to Europeans, and for us, Brazilians, it is usual.
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