L O P B U R I

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We've been on the move, but that's what this is all about! We took a mini bus from Ayutthya to Lop Buri. Getting to the mini bus was a little bit of a challenge because of the language barrier. I so badly wish I could speak Thai! At one point we weren't sure if we were in the right place or on the right bus. "We're on an adventure". That's what we keep telling ourselves to remind us that no matter what we will be fine.

The first day in Lop Buri was spent chillin'. We sat on the shaded patio with fans oscillating around us. We drank smoothies, wrote In our journals, talked to other backpackers and I was nose deep in a great book. I'm reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plack.

Lop Buri is another city with ancient ruins. Like Ayutthaya the ruins are preserved all around the city. The best ruin is Wat Phra Prang Sam Yod. Which has completely been taken over by MONKEYS!!!!

I won't lie, at first I was a little scared of them. I had seen them go ape shit (pun intended) over a bag of chips, although I could relate to that feeling I didn't want that to happen to me. Once we walked in the gates and paid our 50 baht entrance fee, we were introduced to the monkeys by a guide. The monkeys loved him, you could tell he was their pal and an honorary monkey himself. He assured us that they wouldn't do us any harm and we trusted him. At first we watched and took photos from afar, but after a few minutes we were joining in the fun.

I had a monkey sit calmly in my hand, and before I knew it I had monkeys all over me. Climbing up my legs, crawling over my shoulders and pulling at my ankle bracelets. My face hurt from smiling, their energy and silliness was so up-lifting.

The next day we had booked a train to Chiang Mai later in the evening so we thought we would head father out of the downtown area of Lop Buri to check out Wat Phra Buddhabat. This shrine is said to house the footprint of Buddha. It was discovered during 1610-1628. The king of Thailand at that time, King Song Tham, ordered officials to search for the footprint. Monks had told him that their might be a print in Thailand. A hunter stumbled across it while trailing a wounded deer- which was miraculously healed from its injury.

The shrine was beautiful, painted white and intricately decorated with blue, green and gold pieces of glass. Inside the shrine was the footprint. The whole shrine was shining brightly with gold and white stones. The footprint itself was covered in gold leaf, bills and coins that were left by people paying their respects. It's starting to become difficult to be a spectator. These shrines are carefully respected and admired by the Thai people, it's easy to feel foolish trying to tour these areas without knowing anything about their faith. Jenika and I are making a conscious effort to learn a little more about it.

On our way home, we ran into rain. I would say "some rain" but that doesn't give this torrential down pour justice. Yes, Vancouver is a rainy city, and I've been stuck in one of its showers. These do not compare to what we experienced. In less then 5 minutes, I was soaked. Like some one pushed me into a pool soaked. We caught our bus back to the Lop Buri city centre, to pleasantly find that we out drove the rain. We were on our way back to the hostel when it happened again. We were drenched and laughing the whole way.

I wrote this on a sleeper train on the way to Chiang Mai, which was a crazy experience in its self. I am excited to get to a city, to go hiking, to eat delicious northern food, to see elephants, and to read till my eye balls fall out.