We had a 7am start, as I watched Andrew re-pack his backpack for about the 10th time in two days, as this was how he cured his boredom whilst being trapped in the hospital. Our guesthouse arranged a songthaew to take us to Trat Bus Station so we could get a bus to Bangkok. We thought we were buying a government bus ticket but the bus turned out to be a tour company bus, which we weren't too happy about as we had heard a few too many stories about theft. It also ended up taking around six hours as it stopped at every random bus stop along the way. On our arrival at Ekamai Bus Station in Bangkok the taxi men were trying hard to con us as usual, one generously offered us a ride to Hualamphong Train Station for B350. We eventually found an honest one who would use the meter and it only cost B87! At the Train Station we found the Thai equivalent to Greggs and bought a cheese and bacon stick each, but on eating it, rather than being savoury as expected it tasted sweet, as does most of the bread in Thailand. After such a disappointment I spotted the 'Waffle Company' but was even more disappointed as they had no chocolate stuffed waffles left, so maple syrup and rum and raisin were the next best choice.

We went to the desk to buy a ticket to Ayutthaya and it only cost B15 for the both of us, which was around 33p! We did choose the 3rd class carriage so we weren't expecting much, but at least the seats had a little padding and weren't wooden as I had read about . The only other thing was that the carriage was full of local people and we got a few strange looks, as clearly all of the other tourists were in 2nd, if not 1st class! However, we managed to find a seat and Andrew sat down next to a Thai lady but she explained that men had to sit next to men and women next to women. We arrived at Ayutthaya a little later than scheduled and made our way to the pier to catch a ferry over the river into the old town as it was surrounded by a moat. We eventually found farang street, which was basically a street of backpacker accommodation, but everywhere was full! So, we unfortunately had to check into the moderately priced 'Ayothaya Hotel' and chose the 'Boutique Room' option. It was rather nice in comparison to the other places we had stayed so far, with the exception of the hospital. It had retro wallpaper and furniture and a nice hot shower, which is always a bonus.
 
We didn't actually realise it was 'Chinese New Year' so we stumbled upon the celebrations by chance really. There was a huge street market and different forms of entertainment lining the main street of Ayutthaya . One fairground game involved a row of five balloons that you had to burst with the help of five darts and the usual cuddly toy prize was on offer. As we were watching a young girl play, her dart bounced right back off a balloon literally skimming her face! I'm sure that 'Health & Safety' wouldn't allow such a game to be played in England. I think our equivalent is to try and knock over tin cans using soft balls, no real darts in sight! There were so many food stalls which meant we had some trouble in deciding what to eat, but we eventually chose pork satay sticks and fish spring rolls. I also couldn't resist an ice-cream, whereas Andrew couldn't resist a bag of pork scratchings! We also finally got a drink in a bag of ice. After we had eaten and wandered the entire street we took a large bottle of Singha each back to our 'Boutique Room' and had the best undisturbed sleep.