Wats and River Fish

Ok, I need to backtrack a little, since I haven't been able to spend much time at a computer for a couple days. Right now, it's Thursday morning. Yesterday we flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and Tuesday was our 2nd and last full day in Ayuttaya (about an hour north of Bangkok). I'm going back to Tuesday to talk about that full day in Ayuttaya.

We had spent the first Ayuttaya day touring some ruins, etc., and noticing that Ayuttaya was noticeably less awful than Bangkok, as discussed in a previous entry. The second day, we left the hotel feeling refreshed - I had a real sense of accomplishment from actually getting to do something the day before - actually seeing something that we came to see. Up until then, we had been kind of fumbling around trying to get our bearings and figure this place out. Now, we had the tuk-tuks down, we had decided which sites we wanted see, and we were going to go and actually do a full day of sightseeing.

We had chosen two wats to see that day (wat is the word for a Thai temple), and we were tuk-tuking to the first. This temple was one that is still in use, not just ruins like the ones the day before. Two huge buddas, pointy roofs, gold plated goodness. Not super impressive, but nice to finally see one. The second place was the last of the major ruins that we had seen the day before. Not much different that the others; we took more pictures.

Then we decided to walk the town, and meander toward the "backpacker" area of town, maybe meet some people. Anywhere you walk, that we have seen so far, is like total run-down poverty. There are neighborhoods like these in the US, but we've hardly seen them because if we actually went it, we probably wouldn't come out. So, it looks awful, but since it's just the norm, it's not super dangerous like the States. So, we trek through the typical overgrown landscaping, cracked sidewalks (if any), litter everywhere, collapsed fences, power lines, dogs sleeping, hovels left and right, and dirty food stalls lining the streets. That's the scene. It's ok, but not my favorite to take a stroll in. Kane likes it more than I do, I think because walking around is the only way to really see all this stuff - which I can appreciate to be something to experience, but it just does not behoove me to do it continuously.

Anyway, we walk about half a mile and a guy asks us where we're going and if we need a guesthouse to stay in. He's no con artist. We tell him the street we're looking for and he points us west. We walk west, but it turns out to be the wrong way. We turn around and walk north some more, but I'm getting tired and hungry, and therefore cranky.

We had a place in mind to eat from our tour book that was near the ruins, so we turn back and start trying to find it. The ruins are lit up at night, so we wanted to have dinner then stroll past the ruins again to see them all lit up.

Our dinner place is cute - as good as we could ask for. It's a raised bungalow that's made of all wood with a tile roof. It's all open air without windows or doors and each table has an oscillating fan. It's adorable. And they even have a cute tabby who begs for food, how could it be better? I order the river fish with veggies and Kane tries Padthai to see how they actually make it in Thailand. Turns out he padthai is very similar to the stuff we have in the US, but my fish is a whole fish. Yep, head, tail, eyeballs and all. I felt silly being grossed out; it's not like I don't know this is where my fish fillets come from. I ate it and it wasn't bad. Not as tasty as salmon, but it was just a nice, light, white fish.

We sit around at the restaurant, partially because it was nice, but partially because we haven't figured out how to get the bill here yet. They don't seem to just bring it to you like at Applebees, you seem to have to ask, which I hate doing. We get the mango and sticky rice for dessert (at your suggestion Diane V.), and it was good. Then my stomach started to tell me something.

(warning: mildly graphic description of my body not liking the river fish to follow)

It told me it wasn't happy with something. Rumble rumble. Oh crap, this is not good. I've had this happen before from eating something. I know the process: stomach pains, maybe throw up, more stomach pains, cold sweat, weakness, really bad stomach pains, desperate and immediate need of a toilet. Basically, I knew the story, but not the timeline. The restaurant has a decent bathroom, thank god, that I immediately utilized for throwing up. Perhaps the river fish wasn't a great idea. Stomach hurting, we sat for a bit longer, then I decided we needed to make a run for it. The plan: walk down the street 2 blocks to a tuk-tuk and get to the hotel asap. I had to sit down twice. The 2nd time I just laid on the sidewalk. Yeah, laid on a sidewalk in Thailand at night. Stomach not happy, sweating, very weak.

Kane flags down a tuk-tuk. We're in front of the lit up ruins at this point. Thankfully, they weren't that cool lit up, and you can't even go inside at night, so we weren't missing much. I want to hug the tuk-tuk driver, but instead I lay down in the back. Five minutes later we're at the hotel, up the elevator, and to the precious bathroom just in time. Half an hour and a shower later, I felt much better.

Now, I don't want to blame the fish or the restaurant at all. And all in all, it went as well as it probably could have. I think that foreign fish was just too much for my body to handle right then, being so new here and all. It actually didn't even ruin the day or anything either. Just made for an abrupt ending. We read a bit and go to sleep. Good day, bad fish.