Sun 24 Jan
Breakfast of eggs and ham and Noi ordered us a Tuk Tuk to take us to the bus depot . BHT100 and the same older driver appeared – friendly guy who was good at dropping us right behind the right bus and telling us the fare to make sure we weren’t going to be ripped off, lovely guy wearing his full helmet with visor but never does the strap up! Found the aircon bus for Suphanburi where we had to change for minibus to Ayuthaya. Fare BHT55 for bus – about 1/3 full and took 2 hours – passed by many rice paddy fields and more rural than our trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi. Arrived at bus depot and had to run to grab ticket for minibus as conductor knew we were connecting. Seems like a couple of ladies were doing the same thing. We were all hurried up and told to jump in to minibus – BHT85 instead of BHT 45 each as thought, as you have to pay for backpack! 2 of us wanted the washroom but were told no time and he would get us to a washroom (in broken English) – he didn’t want to hold up his other customers any more! Turns out the 2 ladies were from Ottawa and over for a few weeks, heading towards Chiang Mai for a week of volunteering at the Elephant Sanctuary! Their food and board paid for but in return you have to wash, feed, clean stalls and do everything for the elephants, and they had to book this months in advance! The driver lived up to his promise and soon stopped at a gas station so we could use the washroom! A little squishy in the minibus but soon dropped off passengers so could spread out! Once we arrived in Ayuthaya and us 4 “farangs” were the only ones left we asked if he could drop us by the train station as our guesthouse was nearby and the ladies wanted to leave their bags there as were getting the night sleeper to Chiang Mai . For BHT10 each he agreed! Perfect, we just crossed over the road and walked down a small Soi to find “Baan Are Gong” guesthouse on the river (not before getting train info for our onward trip on the 27th). Friendly efficient lady met us at Baan Are Gong – a teak family home now converted into an array of shared and private rooms- we weren’t up in the main old teak part of the house but a room right next to the reception. Very basic room booked through booking.com for BHT1740 $65 for 3 nts, again convenient for getting onto the historical island and food and near the train for departure day! Peaceful “patio” overlooking river for eating breakie and just using wifi and chilling! Dumped our bags – btw have learnt that we aren’t backpacking but flashpacking! Backpacking would be staying in hostels and sharing rooms – we flashpack as we have private accommodation and bathrooms and backpacks are on wheels! Walked a few yards down the little Soi – full of street food and bike/scooter rentals and found a bike rental place in a backpackers hostel and paid BHT40 each for 2 very rickety bikes (24 hours) that were way to small for us – much harder work to pedal! They were wheels and better than walking! We started off by pedaling over the busy Naresuan Bridge and down Rochana Rd to find the TAT office (Tourism Thailand) and get a map and info on the area . Stocked up on map and booklet on Wats & Temples in the area and had a brief look at a display they had on the history of the area. Ayuthaya used to be one of the wealthiest cities in the world (over 600 years ago!) but now is home to MANY ruins and historic sites. It used to be the capital of Siam but fell in 1767 when the Burmese attacked and ransacked the city, destroying many precious artifacts and stealing the gold stored in the various Wats and Palaces! They were driven out after a year and soon after the capital was moved to Bangkok. In 1969 major restoration work began in the historic city and it became a Unesco World Heritage site. It stands on an island where three northern rivers meet, the Chao Phraya, the Lopburi and the Pasak and provided an ideal  & safe trading port. It was home to over 400 temples, some of which have been partially restored and others are still being worked on. It really is an incredible place to visit as everywhere you look there are ruins, restored buildings, scaffolding around others being restored, and then there are the modern temples & wats dispersed in between! We didn’t get far from the TAT office before we laid eyes on some elephants taking “rides” around a block! With Alan & I both coming from Africa and with a love for Ellies we both find it hard to build up any enthusiasm for those held in captivity, regardless of the titles they are given as being working elephants and being used for traditional purpose of transportation and heavy labour! I did take a couple of pics though as a surreal sight to see them just walking down the street with their mahouts straddled on their necks and wooden seats strapped to their backs! This same corner with the elephants shared the backdrop to the Wat Phra Ram, which were the first amazing ruins that we saw! There was a hive of activity with wires and lights and speakers being strung everywhere and large roadside tents being erected . Asked someone what was happening and apparently a big festival starts on the day we leave town! It has one of the tallest Prang in the area (tall tower-like spire, usually heavily carved) and is set amongst all these brick ruins in the Phraram Public Park – just mind blowing and amazing to see. There were very few people around which makes a change! Admission to all ruins on the Island is free, to honour the late King and his passing! Weather is very hot but not as humid as we had it in Bangkok and the South! I tried to seek shade wherever possible as just too hot to stand and gawk at these amazing historical buildings. We then rode a few blocks to Wat Phra Si Sanphet – another awesome site in a beautiful setting, peaceful and doves cooing, lovely to sit and just look at the marvels in front of you! We both have so many photos am sure we’ll never get time to look at them all! Alan wanted to get some sunset pics but we also wanted to see the Wian Phra Mongkhon Bophit before it closed at 6. It was surrounded by scaffolding and in fact ended up being closed - with a make shift temple in a large tent in front of the building. The temple houses one of Thailand’s largest bronze Buddha images! We went back over to the Wat Phra Si Sanphet so Alan could get some more photos – we notice there are so many dogs around – not just here but in Thailand! There are warnings about their being packs of them roaming around the ruins sometimes! By the end of the day they all lie around cooling off and sleeping so guess they love coming to the sanctuaries of the ruins! The Wat Phra SS has 3 stupas (mound like structures containing relics) which are one of Ayutthaya’s iconic images and the largest temple that Bangkok’s Wat Phra Kaew is modelled on! It is a wonderful place to just sit and ponder about life all those 100’s of years ago! Darkness was setting in so we turned the dynamo powered lights on our rickety bikes and wound our way through the crazy streets to find the Night Market on Chi Kun Rd . This is the ultimate dinner spot as you walk down about 500m of food stalls deciding what takes your fancy, somethings look so tasty and other a little dubious! As a rule I only get from the ones that cook right in front of you so you know its hot and any lurking bugs will be annihilated! Fruit smoothie stalls are also in abundance or just the usual Coke, Fanta, Sprite and then a range of bottles with who knows what in them! Sadly I have come to the end of my herbal teas and am always on the look out for something to buy for herbal teas – I tried mulberry from the 7-11 but found it’s the leaves and not the berries! Will keep searching but don’t out too much hope! Anyway fancied a shrimp pad Thai that a lady was cooking up – so for BHT 40 got my tasty dinner – plastic tables and chairs are lined up behind the stalls so that you can sit and eat! There are also some clothing and knick knack stalls but mostly food! Headed off on our bikes for the 15 min ride back to our guesthouse – over a complex bridge and hoping you are seen! Although the drivers are crazy – dodging and weaving and scooters do whatever they want – they do look out for everything in front of them!! Phew made it back, nice to sit on the quaint patio looking over the river sipping our shandys! Wine is definitely a rare commodity where we have been hanging out – you have to get to like beer as it seems it’s the backpackers stable – think I need to start the flashpacker trend of drinking wine!  

Wed 25 Jan
Another night on a hard Thai bed but a pain that disappears once up and around! Breakfast at the guesthouse – muesli, fruit and a very milky yoghurt with a tiny Americano! It was going to be a long day on those uncomfortable bike seats but it was time to start the ride around for “Wat” day! Headed south of the bridge, riding along the river to the Phet Fortress passing ruins round every bend in the road! Arrived to see a Thai man reel in his fishing line with his breakfast on the end! Not too much to rave about there, so headed west along U-thong Rd and after crossing the second small klong headed north through a large park (don’t think green lush grass – think dirt with sparse grass – but lovely shady trees, water ponds and wooden bridges! Rode over some of the rickety bridges, found a tree lined road along a klong and followed that, diverting through very local back streets, dodging chickens and dogs (dogs rule!) and somehow found our way to the Wat Lokkaya Sutharam . This Wat has a large reclining Buddha (42m), made of brick but covered in plaster and adorned in a yellow sarong – many hexagonal pillar ruins behind! A popular tourist stop for the buses and therefore tourist stalls and peddlers selling flowers to place at the shrine! We then weaved along the northern U-thong Rd following the Klong Muang and then cut though (ie got lost) back streets and found the Wat Ratchaburana which is a monastery where 2 pagodas and a Wihan (shrine hall that contains the principal Buddha images) were built. The monks and lay people congregated here. Stunning buildings and no tourists around! Crossed over the road to the infamous Wat Maha That that houses the holy relic of the Lord Buddha and the infamous Buddha’s head in the tree roots. This head was once part of a sandstone Buddha image which fell off onto the ground. It eventually got tangled in the tree roots of a constantly growing Bodhi tree giving it its unusual appearance. It is believed to be from the 16th Century! By now hot and in need of refreshments we made the error of going back onto the U-thong Rd to try and find a river front café! Very busy traffic – crazy and hot! Passed the entrance to the busy Chao Phrom Market (done enough markets!) and kept our eyes open for the ideal spot! Cafes are hard to find as they are behind shops and houses and only accessible through narrow Soi’s! We eventually saw one – an eclectic mix of any furniture they could find on the street – some padded couches and just random things – but all under a lovely shady tree overlooking the water – in fact as it worked out we were almost opposite the Baan Are Gong that we were staying at! Chugged down a Shandy and had Roti with a small bowl of curried pork! Something different but tasty . Chatted to a young English couple with German roots who were about to go and live in Germany. All these travellers have such interesting stories, not only about where they have been but where they are from. She is the one who told us we were “Flashpackers”! Rode “home” in the heat (3 ish!) and returned the horrid bikes (by now my brake handle hanging down off the bar!) and had a lovely smoothie at our café while we waited for the 3.50 departure of our 180 BHT pp longtail boat trip around the Island! Chatted briefly with an English/Italian girl travelling alone to get away from it all! Paula – she sounded like Zilla but with a slight Italian accent !!! We stopped at 3 Wats on our 2 hour boat trip, the first one being the Wat Phanan Choeng. This is an old monastery housing Thailand’s largest Buddha image – it used to be in the open air in accordance to Thai tradition and is one of the most revered images in Ayutthaya. Next to it is a very mod looking shrine which tend to be adorned with modern day relic, it seems the more bright and colourful with many cartoon like characters and plastic leis and flowers everywhere, we certainly prefer the historic ruins to these modern temples! 20 min stop here and then onto the Wat Phutthaisawan for another 20 min stop . This temple is a whitewashed Prang with a large Buddha image but bats abound in the ceiling and smell is pretty strong – so quickly stuck my nose in and decided this was definitely an abandoned Wat that is better viewed from the outside! Back on board the long-tail and the last and best stop for 25 mins in a beautiful old ruin at the Wat Chai Watthanaram. The sun was starting to set so a photogenic stop for sure! One central Prang (35m) surrounded by 8 chedi-shaped chapels, architecture influenced by Khmer. This Buddhist temple was thought to be built in 1630 and today only the pillars and outside walls still stand. Restoration was undertaken in 1987 – 1992. As I love looking at old building and architecture this place was gorgeous and the ambiance of the large shade trees (must find out the name!) and doves cooing, and cuckoos calling – makes a serene place to just sit and admire! Almost directly opposite this Wat, on the northern banks was a beautiful manicured lawn very modern brick house and outhouses so asked the Captain what this was – the Royal Family’s resort house, aka Siriyalai Villa – could do with a night or 2 there! The rest of the trip was pretty non descript – passing residential hole in the wall places and we returned to the guesthouse dock in time to grab a pretty basic green chicken curry from the hostel nearby! 

Thur 26 Jan
Breakfast of soggy eggs and wiener and toast but the best part is that I went into the kitchen and showed the lovely Thai server what size cup I would really like for my coffee! Oh yes 2 steaming hot Instant coffee mugs! Went next door to the hostel and rented a scooter for BHT150 for the day, looked through about 20 helmets and found 2 that actually fastened and weren’t quite as black inside, bonus mine had a Perspex shield for bug deflection! Oh what a sight! We decided to spend the day on the other side of the island just mowzing around and seeing anything we felt we missed, although by now all Wats are blending into one big picture! Stopped briefly at the Dutch Village – more like a mod little coffee shop with a museum upstairs and the ruins of the original Dutch building out the back! We headed off with the intension of heading over a bridge and circling the outskirts of town, visiting the outlying sites but soon came across a hiccup – bridge closed for road works! Deviation into middle of nowhere and a few back streets in the middle of nowhere – all interesting territory! Finally pulled out Google Maps (thank goodness for Thai sim card and constant internet access) and found our way on an alternate route! Headed to St Josephs church – a pretty French catholic church – painted yellow but also had scaffolding around it . We were the only ones there – most tourists don’t seem to venture away from the main island sites! Had to deal with Tim's PayPal crisis and reset his email password before setting off to find the Portuguese Village. Eventually found it, again a historic site but this one had a well documented museum about the Portuguese settlement in the area and showing skeletons that had been excavated from the site. Also had ruins in the back from the original church. on land give to the Portuguese by the Siamese king. There were many school children on the grounds – all divided into groups and having a fun day away from school – much shouting hello to the farangs! One thing we have noticed here in Thailand is that there are so many schools, seem to be so many young people and gladly note that education is a priority of the new king and has been for many years. He set up a Foundation many years ago whereby 2 student from every “province” get a full ride scholarship to pay for education all the way through to university (one male and one female). They all wear uniforms, Thai kids are extremely cute and most look like miniature dolls! Next stop was on the NW side of Ayutthaya – at the Wat Tha Ka Rong which also has a floating market at the weekends. Well this was a new experience – the Wat was very open and modern – like a market with over 50 different shrines and areas to worship in – extremely modern and quite gaudy in my opinion! Plastic flowers and life size motorized manikins bending forward holding out bowls for donations, the Buddha's were cartoon-like in character – fish tanks in one corner – it was actually quite a bizarre place! On the river side there were a few boats pulled into a docking area, selling food and cooked noodles and various cooked creations! We crossed another bridge and found the Wat Phukhao Thong – much restoration going on here so covered in scaffolding and all workers on lunch break – seeking the shade! It was now pretty hot and my whining for a cold drink was the only way to get Alan to move on! Quick stop at the King Naresuan the Great Monument, statue with shrine set up on the marble platform and staircases guarded by huge sequined roosters. Relevance found out later, we first thought it was something to do with the Chinese New Year and the year of the Rooster about to start on the 28th! Wound our way with the scooter into downtown area to find a nice shady café for something cold to drink and some lunch. Found the ideal cool spot – all these places have wifi, very convenient! We decided to return to our western roots and indulge in club sandwiches and fries! Every so often you need to break away from noodles! After lunch our mission was to find the Elephant Kraal where they used to capture the wild elephants and train them for heavy manual work, took a little work to find but eventually found it. There were about 40 elephants, some with babies and they were all chained up with extremely short chains. Most of them swaying back and forth so the chain cutting into the trapped leg! No photos of course unless you paid! A team of volunteers (Caucasian) were hovering about, some mucking out the stalls and washing them and when 2 of the ellies started making a commotion and the mahouts shouting and brandishing sticks, the volunteers all shot into a shack in the middle! Very depressing sight really – so moved along pretty quickly and decided to call it a day! Back to the guesthouse for R & R and then went on the scooter to find the Lonely Planet recommended Baan Kun Pra – roads very busy so dodging traffic on scooter – a little more hair raising at night! Found restaurant – a centuries old teak building with patio overlooking the river – lovely place to sit and watch the river life! Had fried sea bass and rice – very tasty and everything has fresh herbs in it – giving great flavour! Nice place to eat – had to head back to return the scooter to the nearby hostel. Whew relief – unscathed again – the Thai lady who rents them told us she knows when people have damaged her scooters as she just looks at their hands and knees for scrapes when returning! Time to pack up as tomorrow is our first train trip, departing Ayutthaya at 8.38 am.