A WEEK IN THAILAND

Imagine a city of one million people, twice the size of London at the time, surrounded by fertile rice fields, growing three crops a year. It is the centre of government, religion and trade for much of Southeast Asia. This is Ayatthuya.

At its centre, a heavily guarded palace dominates an island at the junction of the Basa and Chao Phrya rivers. It is a massive walled enclave, adjacent to an equally opulent, gilded temple. While the buildings are distinctly Thai, some of the decoration and the temple's Budddhas show the influence of the Kmher empire that proceeded it. Surrounding the brick and render palace and temple, the timber houses of the people of Ayutthaya fill the island and surrounds.

The Kings of Ayutthaya sit here for thirty three generations, pampered and protected, with artisans, officials, cooks, courtesans, soldiers, stables for elephants and horses. And the Kingdom of Ayatthuya is expansive, taking in all of what is now Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and to the west, part of Burma. On the shore, settlements have been established by the British, French and Portuguese, with the King's assent, to facilitate trade.

The year is 1753 and it is all about to come to an end. The Burmese lay patient siege to the city, and eventually set it alight. The fire that sweeps the island, burning for a week, leaving only the skeleton of the palace and its temples. Ayutthaya is abandoned.

This is Ayutthaya, an hour's drive from the new capital, Bangkok. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with much of the form of Angkor, perhaps less of the decoration and scale, and certainly less of the crowds. We spent yesterday there, with a driver and guide. A day well spent!

Footnote: as always, perhaps one too many temples for teenagers, but it took me back to studying Shelley in Mrs McKenna's year 10 English class!!

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

A Buddhist monk views an unphased Buddha statue being throttled by a fig.

The remains of the temple...very reminiscent of Angkor

One of many temple dogs. They form lazy, occasionally menacing packs around most temples. Asked why, our guide said, ' if we not love the dog anymore, we take to temple, leave there'!

Selling saffron cloth and lotus to dress the Buddha

Only the plinths remain of what was once a great hall

Corridors worn by foot traffic

A visitor applies gold leaf to a Buddha

Temple workers dress a gigantic gold Buddha. It was freezing and we would have liked to dress ourselves!

Selling lotus, incense and gold leaf for visitors to show respect to Buddha

On the Basa and Chao Phrya rivers. Cold! How did I get pink?

Cait feeding red tailed catfish by the thousands

Rich, Hugh and I went fishing for the day at Bungsamran Fishing Park on Friday. Tucked away in the suburbs of Bangkok, this is a place stocked with HUGE freshwater fish, mostly Mekong catfish.

We hired one rod, a guide, bought a bucket of bait and were away. The air was thick with anticipation (cliche fine) as we baited up and waited for the float to duck under and take off.

Rich was first up and he had fish get off twice before he landed the first monster. Hugh was up next and had a ball fighting and landing another huge fish, with a little help from big brother when it really got to his arms. My fish came next and was declared the catch of the day.....but now that I'm looking at the photos I'm pretty sure the boys nailed it.

Over the day we hooked 11 fish and landed and released 6. Some broke the line, some just let go at the last stage of the fight.

And a fight it is. These fish are massive and when they want to go, they just go. Their first run is long and unstoppable.....you just hang on until they turn or tire. Arms and back ache for the 10 minutes or more it takes to bring them in.

The pictures tell the story.