To Ayutthaya

Yesterday I traveled from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya and the ride reminded me again of the beauty of Thailand. We passed rice paddies so brilliantly green they didn't look real and towns full of vibrant markets and colorful shops.  Along the median of one highway were numerous giant bird sculptures and another had huge fish.   We stopped at bus stations in towns where there wasn't an English word to be seen and I watched lightning storms far off in the distance.
A monk sat behind me for part of the trip and at one of the stops a woman brought him food and he said a blessing.  I love how Buddhism just permeates life here!  He offered me an apple juice and I turned it down because I wasn't sure if I'd see a bathroom for the next six hours but I wonder if I should have accepted it anyway.
Not understanding the language or being familiar with the routes I feel like I never really know what's going on.  We stopped several times, sometimes at stations and sometimes on the side of the road, and since they didn't make any announcements I never knew if it was going to be a momentary stop or one where I could get out for a few minutes.
They seem to understand how traveling is confusing for foreigners though.  Everyone has always been incredibly helpful in getting me where I need to go.  When I got dropped off at the wrong bus station by accident in Chiang Rai, a woman went around and talked to several people to figure out how I could get back to my hostel.  There are perks to standing out.  I haven't really seen many Westerners at all on the buses I've taken because I normally travel second class or take the public buses when I can.  I can almost always count on someone to ask me where I'm going and point me to the right platform and make sure I get on the right bus.  Sometimes they check tickets midway and ask people where they're going but don't check mine.  And although I'm always worried about missing my stop, especially since sometimes it's just on the side of a road or at the top of an alley, they have always been great about making sure I know when to get off.  Even when I was dozing off on the public bus to the White Temple, the woman next to me was nice enough to nudge me and make sure I didn't miss it.
I ended up getting dropped off in a totally different place than I was expecting and with no other real alternatives I agreed on a motorbike taxi to town.  It was definitely one of the scarier experiences of my life.  Apparently it's perfectly acceptable here to drive the wrong way on a divided highway, and of course I had my huge bag so I was completely unstable and felt like I was going to fall off the whole time.  Great ab workout though!  Trying to stay upright.
I had a lot of trouble finding a bed and ended up having to spend 350 baht for a room with a king size bed and a rollout because most the guesthouses I checked were full or only had really expensive rooms left.  I met a lonely English med student at one of the places I checked (he took the last room) so I had some company for dinner