Ayutthaya

The bus dropped us off east of the city on the side of the highway and we had no idea where in the world we were. Typically when a bus drops its passengers off there are lots of taxis and tuk tuks available but here there were very few. I had emailed the guesthouse to ask how much a ride would be from the bus station to our booked accommodation but the amount quoted by these drivers was double what the owner had said.  So of course, we thought the taxi drivers were trying to scam us so we refused to pay – turns out, our accommodation thought we were being dropped off in town not out in the middle of nowhere.  

It was super hot and we were not used to it having come from the cooler north. Locals indicated we needed to cross the highway and grab a ride on the other side so Ian and I climbed the long flight of stairs and crossed the very wide passenger bridge, backpacks on, sun blazing down on us. The drivers on the other side turned out to be less than helpful, but to make a long story short, a tuk tuk driver finally agreed to take us so we headed to Ban Tye Wang, the hot air blowing dust in our faces.

Ban Tye Wang had received great reviews on tripadvisor so even though it was from the backpacker area and ruins, I had booked it. Walking through the gate into the grassy compound of our accommodation was like entering an oasis – the place was quiet, peaceful and green.

We were greeted by a lovely older lady with a warm smile and her son took our bags from us quickly. Couches, cool cloths and welcome drinks were made available and we filled out the necessary paperwork; including our breakfast order for the next day.

The woman’s son is an architect and he designed the place. Each room has different antiques and the bottom ones have outdoor showers. I am not usually a big fan of outdoor showers (typically they mean bugs) but these were gorgeous. The entire room was spotless with open concept sink and a small room for the toilet. The property sat on a canal and in the mornings a variety of birds came calling making all sorts of lovely songs.

Our host arranged a driver for the next morning and we headed off in a brilliant orange tuk tuk to see the ruins of Ayutthaya.

Ayutthaya was the former royal capital of Thailand and a major trading port with many traders claiming it the finest city they had ever seen (Lonely Planet). It received much damage from the invading Burmese but major renovation and restoration makes this a popular tourist spot.

Our first stop was Wat Phra Mahathat built in 1374 with a Buddha head embedded in this tree’s roots.

Many headless Buddha figures sit around the site.

Immediately north sits Wat Ratburana. In the 15^th C, King Rachathirat II built this temple on the cremation site for his two brothers who died fighting each other for the throne (Lonely Planet). There is a well preserved prang here.

We also discovered some Buddha heads lying off to the side.

Wihaan Mongkhon Bophit is a temple housing one of Thailand’s biggest bronze Buddhas at 17 m tall.

After a quick visit inside, we headed off to see the three stupas of Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

Built in the late 14^th C, this was the largest temple in Ayutthaya.

As we walked the grounds, there were many signs indicating damage from the floods of the fall. Bordering these temple grounds was a park-like setting of the Ancient Palace.

Our last stop was Wat Lokkaya Sutharam and this lovely reclining Buddha.

The next day, Ian braved the heat and went off solo on one of the bicycles available for guests. He grabbed these great shots of the various ruins he visited:

For lunch we ventured into the centre of Ayutthaya hoping to find somewhere nice to eat. When the driver dropped us off, I was so glad I had booked accommodation out of the backpacker area. It was dirty, crowded and ugly.  Lunch was merely okay and we left soon after.

That afternoon we ventured out on a private boat tour along the three rivers that made Ayutthaya an island.  We stopped briefly at this temple where Chinese influence was obvious –

The boat chugged along the narrow river where kids fished and jumped off bridges into the dirty water.

In this photo, note the faded area that indicates how high the water was during the flood –

The ride proved fairly dull and Ian and I grew bored. The driver soon dropped us off at the restaurant, in half the time we had been quoted. Nothing really appealed to us on the menu so we ordered a small dish stopping for ice cream on the way home.

One night would have been more than enough to see Ayutthaya and we were certainly ready to move on. We headed to Bangkok the next morning by train and what an adventure that was! There were several trains out of the city but almost all were third class – this meant no a/c and first come got seated.

The train arrived on schedule and we pushed our way onto a car managing to squeeze onto the end of a seat. Fans rotated from the ceiling but it was still hot. Earlier I had had images of sitting back, relaxing, and reading with the occasional glance at the passing scenery but that certainly wasn’t going to happen. Instead I mopped the sweat from my brow and bounced around on a hard bench. Oh well, at least it was cheap – maybe 15 or 20 BHT (less than a dollar).

About an hour into the journey, the train stopped and did not move. There was an announcement in Thai and when the passengers grimaced, I knew it was bad. The air in the still car was now becoming stifling and I longed for a breeze. About 15 – 20 minutes passed and another announcement followed, this one caused quite a stir and passengers began gathering their belongings to leave. Ian and I followed figuring we had to change trains. I wondered how packed the next one would be with all these additional passengers.

Luckily for us, on the next train, we got a seat AND it turned out to be an express so we got into Bangkok sooner than we would have on the other train. Once at the station, we sought out a travel company to look into booking transportation to a small island in the Gulf for some diving. The overnight train was unfortunately full so we opted for a bus / ferry combo that left around 9pm and arrived at 8:45am on Koh Tao.

We then made our way into Bangkok which was becoming a ‘home’ for us what with all the stops we had made there – it was nice having somewhere familiar to return to. We settled in for a short layover of movies, coffee, and lounging about.