Abandoned Capital

The Invincible City, once a capital of Thailand and in 1700 it had a status of the biggest and wealthiest city in the East. It was the trading capital of Asia drawing merchants from Europe, Japan, Vietnam, China and Malay Archipelago. Perfect location for exchanging goods between always hungry traders. Thanks to its intense economy the city only grew stronger. It held one million citizens that were protected by city walls and three rivers floating around it. Nine temples were built under the reign of 4 different kings. Unfortunately, it was all lost during the Burmese invasion. After a few months of siege Siam finally lost the battle. Ayutthaya was destroyed and burnt completely.
Surprisingly, only in 1991 the ruins of the historic city were finally listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.   

In an early morning, we hopped on the train to visit the site. In 3rd class with fans circulating the air in a busy carriage and a slight delay due to the train stopping at the red signal to let the cars and bikes cross the rail tracks (never seen anything like that before), we got to Ayutthaya. To see all the temples we had to hire a TukTuk that drove us around for a few hours. Surprisingly, the saint places were not that busy as expected. I am always surprised by tourist’s laziness. So unique place but visited only by a few. It is only over an hour journey from Bangkok but you can see so much… Well, it was better for us…
Old ruins, leaning towers, collapsing brick walls, seating Buddha statues falling apart, nature reclaiming its territory. Wherever we look we see amazing pieces of history. Standing there I imagine how it would feel to be able to move back in time to 1700 when the capital was full of life… Mixture of sellers offering the finest products brought from remote parts of the world. Markets filled with fresh foods, colourful goods, finest materials, spices and talismans. Golden temples reflecting sunlight, colourful palaces and surroundings. Kings, Queens, their servants and armies living just round the corner. Outside the city walls foreign travellers setting up camps and preparing for the evening feast at bonfires, music playing around, people dancing and telling stories brought from faraway lands…

 
 
 

A city of 4 smells...

30 hours later we reached our accommodation in the capital of Thailand. We are exhausted but very excited… and hungry for new experience and fooood! It’s almost 11pm but it feels like city is starting to wake up. Scooters, taxis, TukTuks, cars and people are all over the place. We were recommended a local street food market to have something to nibble. Street food??? Everywhere we read about it we saw BIG “be careful”, “avoid”, “it isn’t clean”. 5 minutes later we get there and realize what they meant. It is on the main street, a 3 lane road full of passing cars and motorbikes, rubbish bugs on pavement, pissing dogs, heat… Everything mixed with the smell of cooking food. We looked at each other than others, most of them are locals and the only oddness we see there is us – two white strangers standing in the middle of the market wondering what to do with themselves. So, we do the same as the rest just eat, quicker we get used to it better it will be for us, so we think. Nuria does not feel like experimenting on the first day, me? Oh dear me… I won’t be satisfied with some fried veggies. I am going for a noodle soup with something, something, something and some vegetables. The something can’t be translated as the cook doesn't speak English and my Thai is limited to only “yes, no, good morning and thank you”. Two minutes later and the soup is ready. With some chillies, fish sauce, sugar and nuts the dish is actually delicious. Now, let’s wait for tomorrow to see what my stomach things about it.

Hope the voyage is a long one...

"As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
 
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
 
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
 
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
 
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean."

(C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard)

A special person showed us this poem by Cavafy not long time ago. This person believes in freedom, real happiness and different ways of living. We thought that “Ithaka” was perfect for the introduction and the name of this virtual space. We have started a trip, we had a dream and we made it happen. This is not the only one but it is the first one on our long list.
We would love to open a little window to show you and share with you (only if you wish) our wanderings.

-- by Nuria

Here we are at the beginning of our journey that does not really have its destination. When we decided to start this adventure we didn’t have any specific goal in mind. Today we still don’t have one but this is the whole idea of it. Just go with the flow and see, taste, feel, explore and experience new places, cuisines, cultures, people and the way they see life and many other things we don’t even image to happen.
Now with just a backup on our shoulders which we packed in just under an hour (the quickest packing we have ever done, ironically) we are ready to take the flight to Bangkok with a 10 hours stop in Delhi…
Goodbye Europe and welcome South-East Asia.

-- by Robert