Bye bye sweet resort! This has been lovely, and we sort of hate to leave this peaceful retreat, but leave we must – we have a full day of touring and driving before our one night stay in Ayutthaya. We’re up early, as usual, walking around, taking pictures of the beautiful river in the morning light.

After breakfast, we’re packed and ready to go. In the Songthaews by 8am and on the road by 8:15. We’re outta here! It’s a 5+hour drive to Ayutthaya, but Odum makes everything so interesting! Of course he gives us the history of Ayutthaya – it was the biggest empire in terms of art and architecture; the capital of Thailand from 1350 to 1767; a huge rival of Burma. The route from Burma to Ayutthaya is called the 3 Pagoda Pass – which runs from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya, and all these centuries later, it is what we are driving on today. Because there was such a rivalry, the Burmese attached Ayutthaya and cut off the heads of all the Buddha images. so, once we get to Ayutthaya we will see their desecration – and as Odum so aptly puts it, they (the Burmese) must now live with their Karma!

An hour into our drive, Odum instructs the driver to pull over to the side of the road, at some little Village house (or as Maggie put it, some random house and field). We all troop off the bus, as Odum takes us on a tour through some poor person’s home – explaining the courtyard, the house, and then across the dirt lane into the fields with Cassava. Where he whacks his way down to the field, then digs up a Cassava plant to show us the tubers and explain how Tapioca flour is made, then replants the Cassava! Oh my God! He is too awesome!

Trespassing done. We’re back on the bus and headed to our next surprise stop: The sticky rice stall. But in between we learn all about the birth rate in Thailand, the Buddhist thoughts about contraceptives and abortion (pretty much don’t think about contraceptives and abortion is a sin); how Cabbages and Condoms came into being, the push to start family planning because farmer’s were so poor and couldn’t afford more kids. Good thing. Bad thing. The population has slowed, but at least it didn’t boom and overpopulate. Fascinating.

But, to be honest? Not as fascinating as the Sticky rice stop. I mean, come on! Odum gets us all out, gives us a demonstration of where the Kao Larn (sticky rice) is cooked (over a hot wood burning stove/grill) and how it is then cut out of the bamboo receptacle with a machete (oh yeah, big knife!). And then we get to taste it all! With the spoons Udom has made from the bamboo! And take the extras on the bus! Fabulous!!!

That was an excellent stop!!! Half an hour later we stop at a “real” rest stop for the restrooms. The place is amazingly gorgeous with a beautiful lake and waterfall and ducks and geese. Oh, and spotless toilets. That always counts! there is also a coffee shop there where we order large cappuccino, paying extra to get “large,” only to find that large just means a large cup! The cappuccino is the regular size. Too funny.

Then we are back on the bus again, driving through farmland with miles and miles of sugarcane, pineapple, bananas. Odum talks about Buddhism, giving us a lesson on the 2 sects: Mahayana, the Happy Buddha (which is Chinese in origin) and Hinayana, or Yanna, the Handsome Buddha (Thai in origin). He is so full of knowledge and experiences. It is absolutely wonderful to sit back and listen to him, and wonder where he will take us next! Well, next is – of all things – a rice field rat stall. Yes, you read that right. Rice field rats. Seems that the rice fields are full of rats that eat the young rice and grain and snakes that can bite the farmers. Neither pest is of any use to the Thais, so they catch them and then eat them. Grilled of course! Why not.

After marveling at all the rats and the preparation, Odum asks if we want to try one along with our lunch, to which we readily agree. Unfortunately, we were out voted by the rest of the group who obviously aren’t anywhere near as adventurous as us! Oh well. Maybe next time…..

Another 90 minutes of bus riding, through rice fields and then actually into the outskirts of Ayutthaya itself, we get to a lovely little resort in the middle of the rice fields for our lunch. It is in this lovely setting, overlooking a pond in the middle of the resort, that we dig into a wonderful buffet lunch of onion soup with minced pork, Pad Thai, chicken fired with ginger, Massaman Gai (chicken), Burmese chili, stir fry with egg and fruit for dessert. Absolutely delicious.