Monks and ruins

We loaded into the vans and drove ~2 hrs north of Bangkok to Ayuttayah, the ancient capital that was destroyed by the Burmese in the middle 1700s.  Many ruins of temples of the ancient capital have been preserved and collectively are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We visited two of them today.  Afterwards, we checked into our hotel, got dinner at the night market in Ayuttayah, and the students thought karaoke would be a good idea.  The ajarns kept their distance from the latter.

Note to parents and friends:  Thank you very much for posting comments!  I look forward to your comments as much as you look forward to the blog, and because it takes a reasonable effort to do this (usually late night), I will focus on featuring your kids in the pics.  Also, you might not realize that you can click directly on a photo and it will enlarge.

Before we left our hotel in Amphawa, we had a unique opportunity to offer alms to a monk.  Buddhist monks make their rounds collecting alms from nearby people every day.  They take these provisions back to the temple and share with the other monks.  All food should be eaten before mid-day.  Here is one of two monks approaching our hotel at 7:30 in the morning.

These two monks paddle across the Mae Klong River from the temple on the opposite bank, then go up the shoreline to houses and hotels.  We had food for each of our students to give to one of the monks.  Here is Anna giving alms to the second monk.

Katie.

Moose.

Alyssa.

Abby.

Blaire.

Emily.

Luke.

Max.

Colin.

Kyle.

...  After the monk received all the alms, he faced the entire group and chanted blessings for 2 minutes.  With a full load of provisions for the day, he paddled back to the temple.  This was a wonderful, rich cultural experience.

On the drive to Ayuttayah, we stopped for gas and of course many of our students bolted to a nearby McDonalds.  Although it was expected, the craving for Macs disappointed the ajarns.  Abby and Blaire wai'd with Ron. 

In the late 1700s, the Burmese invaded Thailand and destroyed the temples around Ayuttayah, the former capitol of Thailand.  In Buddhist countries, the head is considered sacred and not to be touched.  So by decapitating the Buddha statues, the Burmese committed an even greater grievous offense.

Our students giving a polite and respectful wai at Wat Chai Watannaram.

 Not so much.

At each venue, we have two students give a briefing about what we are about to see.  Here are Colin and Emily providing background information about Wat Pra Mahatat before we entered the ruins.

The boys: Colin, Luke, Max, Kyle.

55% of the students posing with a Buddha statue at Wat Pra Mahatat.

The boys shot an album cover photo... Now all 3/4 of them need is musical talent; Kyle already is a quasi-professional drummer!

We were celebrities yet again:  I was mildly concerned when the police wanted to talk with us, but when I told them in Thai language about our study abroad class and that we are Americans, they wanted their pictures taken with us!  L-R: tourist police woman, Luke, me, Katie, Moose, Alyssa, Colin, Kyle, Gabby, a Thai cop, Max.