Sat. 14th October – Bangkok
My cold is really bad, but, as we are changing for a more confortable hôtel, i pack m’y bag and by 11:30 we set off. We walk the 850m to our new place for the next 3 nights. Does not sound like much but ill and with the intense heat and humidity, I feel exhausted.
We get the keys of our room and get settled.
I don’t feel well at all, so Alistair goes for a wander into town for most of the afternoon while I have some sleep.
In the evening we have a meal in a shack near our hotel.
Sunday 15th October – Bangkok
I feel slightly better and we go for few walks.
In the evening we go to the tourist night market. Once thing that surprised me is the many cannabis shops! It seems Thailand relaxed the laws about some substances and now those shops are everywhere.
With the mosquitoes, heat and humidity, Alistair decides that long cool trousers would be better than shorts for the climate. He treats himself to some Thai hippy pants, with elephants motifs and all that! He just needs dreadlocks know!
Monday 16 October – Bangkok
Alistair has caught my cold!
We plan the next leg of our trip and book train tickets online. The hotel receptionist kindly prints them.
Tuesday 17th October – Ayutthaya
We get up at 7am. It is hard. We are still jet lagged. After a quick breakfast we catch a taxi for the train station.
The new train station is huge and looks like an airport terminal. After walking for miles across the terminal ( just small exaggeration) we get to our departure gate.
The train is on time and has AirCon.
An hour later we arrive at our destination: Ayutthaya.
Following our guesthouse’s instructions we ignore taxis and tuktuk and walk down to the river’s pier. There we get into a small ferry and few minutes later we are on the other side. We arrive at our guesthouse rather early. After a wait, our room is ready. To be fair, the place looks rather empty.
It is still too early. The high season will start late in November i guess.
After a shower we have a walk into town.
Ayutthaya was the capital city of the kingdom of Siam from 1350s until late 18th century, when the city was destroyed and burnt to the ground by the Burmese army. The capital then moved to Bangkok.
As a result the place is dotted with many archeological sites, temples, Buddhas, pagodas and stupas, all mainly in ruins but still very beautiful.
We visit one of the archeological parks and on the way back we stop at a travel agency / bicycle rental / moped rental / bus ticket vendor / lots of stuff…..
The trains north are fully booked and we cannot see how to book bus tickets online. The agency can organise transport by coach for us.
We organise our tickets and book a scooter for the next day. We are also given plenty of advice and info by the formidable and smiley lady in charge of the operations.
Weds. 18th October – Ayutthaya
We pick up the scooter and spend the day visiting various sites.
Late afternoon we are very lucky to visit a large temple complex with many Thai visitors there. The place is mobbed. They are all dressed in historical costumes!
After enquiries, a lady tells me this is (if I understand) a historical society or club. People dress like in ancient times and take millions of photos in the beautiful setting of this ancient religious complex. (I think there are competitions on costumes).
Ladies are wearing colourful paper umbrellas for shade, colourful saris and dresses of blue or red and gold. It is magnificent. Men are dressed also in very luxurious looking fabric and often with a kind of helmet.
It is very beautiful to see.
A good way to end our busy day. We scooter off the the travel agency to drop our vehicle and get back to the hotel.
