Pedal Power
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2009
1
5
54
Trip End
Oct 16, 2010
Ayutthaya, Thailand
Monday, October 26, 2009
Our last night in Kanchanaburi was buoyed by us meeting some Americans who were living and teaching in Bangkok and upon hearing of our experiences in the city have offered to show us the "real side" of Thailand's capital next time we are there. Earlier we had taken a stroll to the city's bustling night market, stopping off at a couple of bars along the way. The walk does unfortunately provide a glimpse of Thailand's seedier side and in particular the "sex tourism" which is prevalent throughout the country. Admittedly, I did have my shorts on so could understand the odd whistle from girls in bars but the endless "hello mister" shouts and even fervent manhandling was pretty unprecedented even for my "Banderas pins". It's fair to say that there a number of Western men of a more portly profile and "Werthers Original" age who are taking full advantage of the situation however. Tut.
Our trip to Ayutthaya was to involve five hours spent on two local buses with a small break in between. It turned out that Matt, the American lad from our hostel and Elke and Sami, a Belgian-Finnish couple who had been on our tour the day before, were also heading in the same direction so the five of us set of together to find the right bus (well Elke did, the rest of us just followed, there was no doubt who was going to wear the trousers in this group). Myself and Nathan positioned ourselves on the back seat to take advantage of the increased legroom but soon had to move when a Monk entered as the back of the bus is their hangout apparently. I made a mental note to remember to wear my orange robes next time as we moved to a much more cramped and unpleasant seat further down the bus.
The journey itself was pretty rough in the heat but did offer some great views of the vast wetlands and paddy fields of central Thailand and we eventually arrived in Ayutthaya in the intense heat of the afternoon and after some deliberation checked in to the nearest guesthouse called "Tony's Place". Tony himself is a pretty,erm, fruity character who took an immediate shine to Sami (there was even a shoulder stroke at one point) and the rooms were basic but good enough and we quickly showered and set out to explore the streets. There was time for us to take a few snaps of the strangest orange glow which developed at dusk and made you feel like you were wading through a can of Tango before we headed back to the a nice little spot at Tony's with hammocks and settees where we drank and chatted to rest up before the following day.
The best way to explore Ayutthaya is by moped or push bike and with my notoriously reckless motor skills (I nearly ran over an attendant when go karting), I pushed strongly for the latter and we set off on our fixed gear pushbikes with snazzy front basket which would have been perfect for E.T. but sufficed for my water bottle. It was cooler when riding but baking hot when we stopped so we limited our time at the various ruins and made it round most of the sites, including the most famous Wat which includes a wooden Buddha face carved in to the side of a tree. It looked like something Neil Buchanan would have been proud of and rounded the day off nicely.
We handed our bikes in and set up on the hammocks again for the evening. Myself and Nathan booked ourselves on to the night bus to Chiang Mai for the following evening and were joined by Matt and eventually Elke and Sami who decided to change their original plans to continue North with us. We also got speaking to a Dutch lad called Rob who immediately endeared himself to us with his incessant need to drink Chang and was soon booked on the night bus too. It promised to be fun as our little travel troupe swelled to six and we were all to stick together for a good while longer.
Meanwhile, with Ayutthaya's sites firmly stored in my eyeballs we had a free day and I was delighted that I was able to part co-erce the others in to agreeing to make a half day trip north to the town of Lopburi which is famous for its free running Monkeys. I like monkeys. I was looking forward to it!
