Cats, Dogs, Monkeys, & Big Black Birds

Now that I Come to it at last, I realize that I have yet to say much about the places that i have seen thus far. This is do partially to the fact that i have only had internet access a few times, and that this has been on my phone where typing can be a bit tedious. Yet now I find myself with free access to a computer, i shall endeavor to give a quick few snippets of my adventures. To begin with Ayuthaya was quite impressive as my opening to my little adventure. It was once a seat of power some 500 years ago and there are many impressive ruins about the city. It is quite remarkable in that you see these massive ruins with little shacks surrounding them; there are in a way integrated into the city system, still in use by the people in some places a supports for their food stalls an hovels. In some parts of the city, great open spaces with ruins and intact Wats are fenced off and kept in the best possible conditions. How they go about deciding which to keep preserved and which to allow to decay I have no idea, given that it does not seem to be based upon the size, impressiveness, or age. At any rate, I quite enjoyed the experience of renting a bicycle for around 70cents for the day, and riding down the roads from temple to temple, getting lost amongst the many streets and back lanes - a theme which i would soon realize would mark the entirety of the adventure.
After exploring Ayuthaya, I ventured by train up North to the City of LopBuri, a rather larger city by populace than Ayuthaya, yet it has a fair number less ruins than than its southern neighbor. Yet still, the quite remarkable this about this place is the massive number of macaques, the little (and in some cases rather large) monkeys are bloody well everywhere. They climb up street signs, up building,across power and phone lines, all over the ruins, and yes, all over unsuspecting tourists. I say, my person was accosted and laid upon by no fewer than 11 monkeys throughout the course of my visit. You may guess that the first time this happened was rather shocking to say the least. I was walking down the street, when, from up on high, I was beset by a monkey. The little bugger had jumped from some lofty perch straight onto my back. Needless to say I was more than a little bit surprised by such an occurrence, lost all my wits, and flung about wildly until I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the curbside (by which I mean I danced around wildly, twisting this way and that, reached up and threw the little guy off me and ran away from him). That night, I had dinner with a Frenchman that I happened to chance meet, and after conversing for some time on such subjects as engineering, philosophy, law, and politics, we got down to the very fine business of determining that each city that we had ventured through thus far seemed to have its own representational animal. That is, that in each city, there is one species of animal that is allowed to flourish and run wild through the streets. To begin with, Bangkok has hoards of cats that run everywhere; a fact which I noticed in my short transportation time passing through the city, and later confirmed by my french compatriot. Ayuthaya has its packs of wild dogs which roam here and there, and LopBuri its Monkeys. When I say that they are ever present, I mean that one can barely take a step in any direction without fear of stepping on one. They are bloody well everywhere! This theory, I have since confirmed, when upon my arrive at my current location of Sukothai, I discovered that being void of cats, dogs, or monkeys, it is inhabited by large black birds which perch everywhere and cry quite loudly. Yet, my present location and how I came to be here is a different story wholly unto itself; and which I shall relay in its proper time and place. As for now, I am off to test my fortunes in the ruins of Old Sukothai against the white rain, which the birds are so willing to provide.