For the Love of the North

After our last 2 weeks of beaching we are ready once again for the dusty trail. We took a day trip north of Bangkok to Ayutthaya, Thailand's ancient capital city. It is filled with ruins of Buddhist temples and palaces. Since the town is spread out, and we love to scoot, (and it was way too hot for the physical exertion required to pedal a bicycle), we rented a scooter for the day.
Look Mom, no hands! (kidding, of course. We were very safe and careful.)

Ruins:

There's a reason Asians carry umbrellas around in sunny weather. Although it doesn't look as good, a scooter helmet will do in a pinch. Ruins can also be very dangerous, so you never can be too careful.
This Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree a little too long:
Mmm, pancake on a stick. 5 Baht.
Sunset by the river
Ayutthaya is about an hour and a half train ride from Bangkok. Good practice for our 10 hour jaunt up to Lampang the next day. Truck-Tuk in Lampang, a laid back northern Thai city.
I want one!
We'll take 2 of each, please!
REAL Bananas!
Asian sidewalk ads:
Lampang is a beautiful and charming city. It's so much calmer than Bangkok, and the people here are all smiles. The feel of the city is still truly Thai. The internet cafes are full of kids playing "Counterstrike" or "Dance Dance Revolution" instead of tourists checking their email and blogging. OOPS! Between the great atmosphere here, and the fact that Kelsey has fallen in love with an asparagus soup she found, we'll have to force ourselves to move on in a couple days.

K & T