Day 124 Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya

Together with our Thai friends, we set out today to visit a ruined city just outside of Bangkok.

The city was taken over and mostly destroyed by the Burmese during their invasion of Thailand. Only stone walls and models remain of the once magnificent city.

Most of the statues in the temple had their heads cut off as a sign of victory and to be sold in the market.

So there were galleries of headless Buddha statues to be seen.

However, certain heads of the statues were forever bound to the temple by nature.

Between the ruins, there were smaller beautiful parks to be seen, with small temples and prayer areas.

If you don't want to explore the whole ruins on foot, you can do it on the back of an elephant.

Furthermore, you have the chance to pet, feed, and take photos with the elephants.

Personally, the whole scene touched my heart. I have seen how elephants behave in the wild in Africa, and these elephants just looked unhappy. They lived chained on hard stone floors, not exactly their natural environment.

But the relationship between elephants and humans in Asia is very different from the relationship between elephants and humans in Africa. In Asia, elephants have been used as working animals for a long time, for example, to haul heavy wood from the jungle. Therefore, Thai people have a different connection to these animals.

However, I prefer to see the animals in the wild rather than chained up.

After visiting the ruins, our friends showed us a "Scampi Market". As the name suggests, there were scampi available in various sizes, and they were alive. You can have the crustaceans shown to you and choose the size you want.

Then you wait at a table and watch as the scampi are fished out of the tanks and freshly prepared. 10 minutes after ordering, you have the scampi on the table. The four of us devoured 2 kg of scampi, with rice and papaya salad with chili as side dishes. It was very delicious. The only thing special was that in Thailand, the heads of the scampi are considered a delicacy. Personally, I had always avoided them before, and to be honest, I will continue to do so. I generously gave my heads to our Thai friends. (Of course, I tried them, but they're not really my thing =P)