Temples Temples Temples - Ayutthaya, Thailand

To jump start our two month cross-country travels we (Stacy, Bridgette, and I) began our journey in Northern Thailand.  After an "exhausting" 2 hour train ride north we arrived in Ayutthaya.  This is the original capital of Thailand.   Not knowing what to expect we began our day with a three hour tour of all the old temples.  Learning half-way into our journey that we could have easily seen all the city had to offer in 2 hours, instead of two days.  Making the best of it we took the necessary tourist pictures at each temple and finished the afternoon at a local pool.  The pool being designed in Thai fashion was outdoors with a tarp covering at least ¾th of the pool, to protect against the “deadly tan”.  After chilling in our hotel for a couple hours, the need to explore the two local night markets peeked our interest.  Not really knowing where we were heading we jumped in a tuk-tuk for a mere 20 Baht and got a ride around the block to a deserted street.  You would think by this point we would have figured out a way to not be swindled, but alas it seems we are always going to be walking targets.  Finding no night market in sight we returned to our hotel once again and watched a movie.  The next day we had a few hours to kill before our train for Chaing Mai.  Stacy expressed interest in traveling to the Old Portuguese settlement.  We bartered for a two hour ride in hopes of also visiting the Japanese and Chinese settlements as well.  When we arrived at our first stop we were presented with an open crypt and that was about it!  So after a couple photos we inquired as to our next stop.  We were faced with “Sorry too far!!!”  Why our tuk-tuk driver thought we would want to spend 2 hours at one place was beyond us, but making the best of the situation we moved on to check out 2 other temples.  At this point we had seen almost all the temples in Ayutthaya.  For the rest of the day we did what we always do with an hour or two to spare, we got massages!  We then boarded our night train and got all comfy in our cozy beds for our 13 hour trip up to beautiful Chaing Mai.  

~  Randi