Which explains the low-key set-up of modern Ayuthaya. After being used to the hustle and bustle and exuberant street life of Bangkok for so long, for me the peaceful surroundings of its predecessor come something as a shock. I was expecting a smaller version of Bangkok - a city still holding on to its past as the capital. But no, that past is long forgotten throughout much of the town, where the locals lead a fairly quiet life.
And yet Ayuthaya’s past is the reason most people go there. For it’s remembered in what remains of its former glory – the ruins of the various temples that dot the city’s landscape. These ruins are said to be the most photographed sights in Thailand.
And so Jess and I plan an escape from Bangers to Ayuthaya, a much-needed break from the routine on our very precious day off. We plan to head up there on Sunday night, stay over, and then spend the day there on Monday. Dylan, one of the Chinese teachers at ECC, tells us he`s arranged to go up there with a friend as well, but on Monday morning, so we agree to hook up when he arrives.
Binnie, however, foils Jess and my escape plans by giving me an evening lesson to do on Sunday. Bless her, though, when she realises she’s made us late in getting to Ayuthaya she spends the afternoon on the phone trying to book us a guest house. To no avail. They all say just turn up. I don’t think they realise how late we’re going to be though.
But anyway, once I’m done with my class, we peg it to the train station and catch the first train. The ticket is something ridiculously cheap like 20 baht and the journey takes about an hour and a half. A similar journey in the UK – London to Bournemouth, say – would cost 40 quid, maybe more. Transport is insanely cheap here.
I buy beer and ice-cream at the station and can barely contain my excitement. I’m so happy to be going on a little travelling adventure! We get on the train and sit and chat a bit before getting ousted by a grinning Thai lady waving her tickets at us. (Another difference from Britain – said lady would have been ridiculously grumpy about us ‘stealing’ her seat.) Jess and I move and sit on a bench seat (facing into the carriage in a row along with many other passengers) and listen to the Ricky Gervais podcasts she has in her iPod. We laugh inanely and get stared at for our strange behaviour.
We get off at Ayuthaya and are immediately hassled by a tuk-tuk driver who insists we can’t get over the river to the city now, it’s too late (it’s about half nine), but he can get us over and find us a guesthouse for 300 baht a night. I smell a rat, as does Jess, and we politely decline his offer of help.
I look at the map; there’s a ferry point about five minutes walk away so we go and have a look. Of course, this being a vague Lonely Planet map, the walk is a bit further than I thought. I’m immediately disappointed by how ‘normal’ the place looks. (In the sense it looks like any other Thai town.) It doesn’t feel like a former capital city at all.
When we get there we’re greeted by a sign saying the crossing closed at 8pm. The two locals sat waiting for a ferry suggest otherwise, however, and we go and sit with them. There’s an old Thai geezer there, who seems pleased to see us. He tells us the boat will be here soon, and he seems glad not to be getting it alone. (The middle-aged fat lady who’s sat there looks like she ain’t moving for no one or nothing.) Perhaps he would have had to pay extra?
His English is goodish and he regales us with memories of a trip to London he took way back in the 70s. I say regales, I mean he shouts things like, “Big Ben!” and, “Buckingham Palace!” at us, so he could have just had a flick through a guidebook for all we know. Oh but he does shout, “Soho!” at us with a sly grin on his face so maybe he has been there.
We get off the boat – a knackered old thing that stops twice on the 60 second journey over the water – after paying our five baht (five baht!) and walk to a 7 Eleven where we stop to look at the map. I want to do it in here cos the whole place is dead quiet and I don’t want us to be ‘obvious tourists a bit lost looking for somewhere to stay’ and as such ripe for mugging or manipulating. I locate Soi 1, off Naresuan Road, where there seems to be a concentration of guesthouses, and which the guide book describes as a ‘travellers’ ghetto’. It’s a bit of a trek and when we finally get there we find that all the places are full. We’re too late to do the just showing up thing. We head to another guesthouse down the road. Except it’s much more than down the road. The map in my guidebook doesn’t give any sense of just how big Ayuthaya is. There’s nothing here, but it’s still massive. This guesthouse is shut completely. No one staying there, it seems. While I’m trying not to panic, Jess calls ahead to the next one, the Wieng Fa hotel, to save us another long unnecessary walk. Amazingly they have a room. At least we hope they do. Jess’s conversation goes something like this:
“Do you speak English?” Pause.
“Have room?” Pause.
“We’ll be there soon!”
She didn’t speak English, but seemed to understand ‘Have room?’ so we head there hoping for the best.
It’s another big trek and my knee and the muscles in my left thigh start to ache (that leg has not been right since I had that massage, weirdly). Eventually we get there, though and book in. It’s half ten.
We share a double room. I’m pleased Jess isn’t bothered about such things as privacy and we can save a bit of cash between us. It’s a nice room, usual fare with a long thin bathroom that seems to have been built in as an afterthought.
We head back to Soi 1, where there seemed to be lots of food places. There are, but not now as everything begins to shut down. At one restaurant/bar type place I’m so focused on getting something to eat I don’t really notice that the man I’m speaking to is the campest since John Inman passed away. He’s also surrounded by women with surprisingly deep voices. The man tells me they’ve stopped serving but to come back and see him soon, while patting me on the hand. I smile at him and walk away, nose hunting out some sustenance.
“You didn’t know what you were walking into there, did you?” laughs Jess.
“Not at all.” I reply.
We walk into ‘Tony’s Place’ and they also tell us they’ve stopped serving. But then, joy of joys, they call us back and tell us they can do us some fried rice. When it comes it’s blissful. The best meal I’ve had in this country so far. Though this may be more to do with my hunger than the food itself.
We walk (I limp) back to the hotel and soon fall asleep after I play Jess some of the embarrassing pop rubbish that’s on my iPod. She’s totally unimpressed.
March 12
We might only have one day here but neither Jess nor I are too keen to wake up early on our precious day off. I crawl off the bed and into the shower about 10 o`clock. Dylan calls and tells us he`s here and we arrange to meet at Ayuthaya Historical Park, not realizing just how big this is. I tell him to hire a bike. After last night`s epic walking there`s no way I`m bloody using my feet today. If you`re in Ayuthaya, bikes are the way to go.
Jess and I hire ours from the hotel. I realise it`s probably a little more expensive than scouting around a bit for a cheaper hire place, but one, I can`t be arsed, and two, it`s only 60 baht a bike. The bikes are amazing, like something out of the 1950s - grubby metal frames, thin tyres and, on the front, A BASKET!! Brilliant. I throw in my bottle of water and map and off we head towards the Historical Park.
The weather is overcast but really hot and humid. Not great, but it`s such a relief to be away from the hubbub of Bangkok. We cycle down big wide roads that, even in the day, are fairly quiet of traffic. Cycling brings its own relaxation as well. I`ve not really cycled since uni and little did I realise how much I missed it until now.
We stop at Wat Phra Ram, our first ruins of the day. These beautiful temples are still striking buildings, despite being stripped of the colour and glitter that you see on the more modern ones in Bangkok. They may ostensibly just be rubble now (though they are still treated with great care and reverence as holy places by the Thais) but they are beautifully shaped rubble that gives tantalising hints of the city`s former splendour. Like Wat Phra Ram for example, it`s main `prang` towering over the trees impressively. Although the whole temple is closed to the public, just walking around the outer wall is enough to get the atmosphere of the place, to imagine the years of meaningful and solemn events that must have taken place here.
After Jess and I have gone a bit photo crazy, I call Dylan to check up on him. We have a chat and decide to meet at Wat Mahathat instead. This is the big one, the reason most come here, and the reason why Ayuthaya`s ruins are the most photographed sight in Thailand. For in the Wat`s enclosure is a banyan tree that has a large Buddha`s head caught in amongst the roots. No one knows how it got there. Some say that when the temple was set on fire during the Burmese invasion, many statues must have fallen to the ground, and this particular piece got caught in the tree as it grew around it in the 100 years or so the temple was deserted. Others say a thief tried to steal it but it was too heavy and he left it there, the tree to growing around it afterwards.
Whatever happened, it`s a bizarre phenomenon. Just the fact that the head is up the right way and straight makes you think it was orchestrated somehow. Surely it would be a bit more wonky if the tree just grew around it? But it`s fascinating and I gawp at it for ages trying to get my head round it (as it were).
That`s when I find it. I can`t at first. After meeting Dylan and his friend Marvin, a big-eared Filipino fella who is a fellow student in Dylan`s Thai class, the four of us head into the wat and Jess wanders off on her own. I hang out with Dylan and Marvin, soaking up the weird atmosphere of the place and sweating profusely in the humidity. We head up the steep steps of one ‘portico’ and go inside. It’s as disappointing as going into the ruins of castles at home - you can only imagine how impressive the insides of these places were in their day.
We have no luck in finding the Buddha head until I call Jess to find out where she is. She’s just been to see it and points me in the right direction. We take a few photos and then head back to the bikes to move on the next wat.
I lead the way, which is probably a dangerous thing to allow on the part of my companions, what with my terrible sense of direction and the vague Lonely Planet and hotel maps I’m using (which don’t seem to agree with each other). But I manage to get us to Wat Mongkhon Bophit. I’m hungry as hell so go on the hunt for food, but all I can find at the stalls that surround the wat is tourist tat and fruit. I have a coconut juice with Dylan – he’s never tried it before and is suitably amazed.
Jess comes back from having a look in the temple. “Anything good in there?” I ask. “Only the biggest Buddha in the world,” is her reply. Which sounds quite exciting, so off Dylan and I head with Marvin. She’s right, it’s massive - one of Thailand’s largest Buddha images in fact. It’s survival, considering a history of being moved around a lot, being struck by lightning and then of course the sacking of Ayuthaya by the Burmese, is impressive. The temple was last restored in 1955, when the prime minister of Burma visited Ayuthaya and donated 200,000 baht for the ‘viharn’ (building that houses the image) to be rebuilt. The Buddha image was fully restored to its former glory in 1990 when the current queen, Queen Sirikit, donated 70,000 baht for the image to be covered in gold leaf. It looks good for it.
We re-gather and head up the road in search of the Ancient Palace. We pass some Thai soldiers on the way, hanging out by their lorry, and even Jess - who thus far has been completely unmoved by Thai men - swoons a bit.
We soon get lost. The maps just don’t make sense. Thankfully I’m not the only one confused so don’t feel too stupid. We head back the way we came and have a look at the big map on a board near Wat Mongkhon Bophit. I’m still none the wiser so walk with my bike up to the entrance of a nearby wat to ask at the desk. But before I even get a chance to speak I’m being shouted at by the lady of the desk, who is making it very clear in her rapid-fire Thai that I’m unwelcome with my bike between my legs and that I need to go away. I retreat with my tail between my legs (it was quite a telling off!), park up my bike and head back. Then I realise where we are. Beyond the wat I am stood by is the Ancient Palace. We were right by it all along!
I get the others and we head into Wat Phra Si Sanphet, another atmospheric area of broken, beautiful buildings and the odd concrete Buddha image dotted about the place, each adorned with orange ribbon. It doesn’t matter how old or knackered-looking a Buddha image is, each is treated with the same respect and reverence as the next one.
When we reach the area of the Ancient Palace, it becomes obvious why we couldn’t find the thing – it’s not there. All that’s left where the Palace once stood is an area of grass and the odd tree. A poster on a board shows what the palace once looked like – very impressive – but the building itself is long gone.
My hunger pangs are getting out of control so we cycle to Soi 1 for some lunch. Dylan and Marvin ate before they met us so they head off to have a look at another wat. I order the biggest hamburger and fries I’ve ever had in my whole life, and an insanely sour lime juice (I love sour drinks so I’m more than happy, plus it’s a bit of a novelty in this country which is so obsessed with sugar).
I eye up the chunky Thai fella who served us. They’re doing something to the bar inside so he’s whipped off most of his clothes and is carrying stuff around. Jess is unimpressed, telling me I have weird taste. I think she’s probably right.
Dylan and Marvin come back and Dylan seems to think I’m gonna get blisters from the sun cos I’ve gone red in some places and not others. I realise it’s cos I’ve not managed to reach all of my back, so laugh it off but he still worries, bless him. We decide to cycle around the city along the river, taking in the few ruins that are along the way. I’ve kind of had my fill of wats already (once you’ve seen one… etc) so it sounds good to me, doing a bit of cycling instead.
I rush on ahead. I’m not good at taking things leisurely it seems. I think I’m just enjoying being on a bike again, it’s been too long. Soon we stop at a load of food stalls by the road, just opposite a school. All the kids have finished for the day and are buying snacks and hanging out with each other as they head home. The language might be different and the food much healthier, but some things are the same the world over. Dylan buys some sour mango which comes with a salt and sugar dip. It’s a bit weird but nice. I like the sour mango a lot.
We arrive at Phom Pet Fortress which fails to live up to its name and is more like a building site now, one where the school kids hang out to smoke and snog their boy/girlfriends. I wander round on my own a bit and literally stumble on one such teenage coupling, before making a hasty retreat.
The fortress is by the river and nearby is a little boarding port which seems to have been almost totally destroyed. The Thais are still using it (of course) and Dylan tries to ask one girl what happened to it in his limited Thai. She explains excitedly but he can’t really understand her. He thinks it was struck by lightening but can’t be sure.
We cycle along a bit more before we decide it’s probably time to start making our way back to Bangers. I consult the maps and eventually work out that we haven’t covered half the distance we thought we had (Ayuthaya’s bloody huge, actually) and lead Jess back to our hotel. Weirdly I take us back to the hotel that we went to last night and was shut. I have no idea why. I really am not built for navigating! Not without a decent map anyway. But once I’ve realised I’m being dumb I manage to get us back to the guesthouse.
After retrieving our stuff I stand by the side of the road to look out for a sawngthaew to take us to the train station. None are forthcoming, but the landlady of the guesthouse saves us by offering us a lift. Little do we realise this will be in the back of her pick-up truck. I’ve seen so many Thais travelling this way I’m quite chuffed to finally be doing it myself, holding on for dear life as our host pegs it down the motorway and over the bridge.
We get to the station just in time – the train is quite soon and there’s not another for two hours. But there’s no sign of Dylan and Marvin. I call to see where they are and they’re waiting for a ferry to take them across the river. I tell him to hurry.
We wait a little and there’s still no sign of them. As I see the train pulling into the station (we have to walk across the tracks to get on it – only in Thailand!), I call him again telling him it’s here. I see them rushing into the station and heading towards the ticket booth. Amazingly there’s no one there waiting and just before the train pulls off Dylan and Marvin swing themselves onto it.
The train journey is uneventful. We sit on long wooden benches along the side of the massive carriage, sweating along with the rest of the passengers. I listen to Ricky Gervais on Jess’s iPod but there’s been a bit Gervais overkill for me recently so I give up on it. Dylan and Marvin are very touchy feely and I wonder if they’re shagging, or if it’s just Asian guys being friendly. God this place is confusing.
Jess and I finish the day on Khao San Road. I try and eat some noodle soup but I’m still full from the hamburger. I feel a bit fed up. My little adventure was way too short.
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