Ayutthaya - April 23rd & 24th

A two hour, third-class train ride took us from Bangkok to the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya in the north. Visualize a 100 mile trip shared with locals, all the windows down, a consistent line of vendors prowling the aisles with food and drink for sale, and wooden benches for your personal comfort. It was a true Thai experience - all for just shy of $1 for the two of us. The views outside were sun-soaked countryside littered with palm trees and bamboo huts.

Hopping off of the train brought the typical questions from awaiting locals, “tuk tuk ride?” and “where you going?” We decided find a place by foot and ran into a solid guesthouse just down the road. We rented a couple of bicycles and headed out to pedal around town. We immediately found Ayutthaya to be a unique mix of ancient and modern. The first big avenue we rode down had ancient 1,000 year old temples on the right and ‘college of international business‘ and ‘college of manufacturing and technology‘ on the left. Continuing towards the center of town we approached elephants walking on and along side the road. Tourists were perched on top with cameras while locals were at the helm with one hand on elephant ear and one had on whip. It was new adventure navigating a bicycle around elephants in the middle of the city.

Stop one was to an beautiful temple where a 12m tall sitting Buddha rests. Monks, both young and old, in their traditional and colorful robes added to the magic of the moment. Next door were the grounds to an old wat. We walked around to take in the sight of the old temples and enjoyed the view from high on the stairs. The skyline lacked high rise buildings, but showcased tall temples that have dominated Ayutthaya’s city and sky for centuries. Back on the bikes we rode past more temples on our way to check out the local markets and get a taste for the local food. The spicy papaya salad was a hit, noodle soup was solid, and fresh corn on the cob made Ben feel like he was back on the farm in Madras. The went down with a dramatic display of color and quickly brought the thundershowers. The ten minute bike ride home was a legitimate replacement for an evening shower - not!

The following morning began by breaking the fast with a local bowl of noodle soup and a thai iced tea. We jumped on the local ferry that takes you across the river on a two minute ride. We wandered the markets and purchased fresh fruit and snacks for the train ride north to Lop Buri.