evilcaramel

After months of living in Thailand, I finally got the opportunity to get out of Bangkok and explore one of the many tourist sites in Thailand, with thanks to Vu (my Vietnamese officemate) who invited me and Patty.  We planned a trip to Ayutthaya, which was mostly ruins of the great Kingdom of Ayutthaya.

Our plan to was to take the train and rent some bikes and bike around the city.  Vu had done this before and he was the one who suggested that we come along the next time.  I immediately jumped at the idea.  First of all, it was the first opportunity to get out of Bangkok and second, it sounded like a cool adventure.  In the last minute, Mikki and Ishtpreet decided to join us also. 

The night before our trip, Patty and I planned to go shopping, me for my backpack (Vu said it wouldn’t be a backpacking trip without one) and Patty for her cap.  In the end, I ended up with a backpack and a cap that I didn’t need and Patty ended up with a cap and a backpack she didn’t need.

So finally on the day of our trip, there we were, an odd bunch of 3 Filipino girls and 1 Vietnamese guy and another Indian guy in the train station, early in morning waiting for the train to take us to Ayutthaya.  The original plan was to take the unairconditioned train which would cost us 20 baht each.  But after Vu’s many horror-stories, we decided to go along with the airconditioned train which cost us about 300 baht each. 

The train-ride was a bit slow and the seats were not very comfortable but I was still able to catch a few minutes of sleep in between the many stops. 

After what seemed like hours, we finally reached our destination.  We had to take a short ferry ride (and i mean like 1 minute short) and finally we were in Ayutthaya.  I was very excited to pick out my bike.  I wanted a pink bike with a basket in the front.  When we got to the bike shop I saw the pink bike I wanted but in the basket someone had left some of their trash.  Since I really wanted that particular bike, I picked up the trash and threw it in the trash can nearby.  Unfortunately, it was not left over trash and someone came up and shouted that she had already picked that bike and the drink that I threw in the trash can was hers.  I apologized profusely (good thing she wasn’t too upset) and finally settled for an orange bike.  At least it still had the basket I wanted.

Now, when Vu said we were going to bike around the city, I was imagining biking around empty roads among the temples.  I did not expect to be biking around a bustling city and having to weave through small streets together with cars and other bikes.  I was never much of a biker and I have never biked in busy streets before.  For us Filipinos in the group, biking was mostly done inside villages and subdivisions, where the streets were safe and cars were few.  So you can just imagine what a struggle it was for me to avoid the cars and the people and having to stop in traffic lights and trying to get ahead of the cars. 

Anyway, after a few minutes of struggling with the bike, I finally got the hang of it and started to enjoy the ride. It actually felt good to go biking around the city.  The drivers were pretty nice, they would wait for you to cross, not honk their horns at you and drive slowly behind. 

We finally reached the first of the 3 (or was it 4?  I forget) temples that we visited that day.  It was beautiful.  Coming from a fairly young nation, we had no sites like this in my country and it was my first time to see ruins, Buddha statues, and other structures left behind of what was once a great kingdom.  I wasn’t much of a photographer and I only had my trusty point-and-shoot Canon, but for some reason, because of the beauty of the place, my pictures turned out pretty okay.  And luckily for us Filipinos, Vu was fond of taking pictures and he seemed to have a knack for taking awesome pics with his high-tech DSLR camera.  Being the Filipinos that we were, we gladly posed for him.

The day was perfect for such a trip, the sun was out, the sky clear and for some reason, the wind was blowing so we were able to take good shots, with good lighting and not feel as hot as we would have had on any other day.  Check out some of the pics that I took and some that Vu took.  Hehe.

Anyway, as I said we visited about 3 temples that day and in the end we were just so tired and so hot and they were all beginning to look the same.  So we decided to head on back to the train station and catch an earlier train home (we were all dying for a bath too).  On the way to the train station, we decided to stop by Swensen’s for some refreshing ice cream and also to wash up a bit before getting on the train.

We decided to take the cheaper train back (no aircon, less comfortable seats for 40 baht) where we all had to squeeze in uncomfortable bench-like seats. 

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the Bangkok train station.  And although we enjoyed the day immensely, we were all too happy to be back in Bangkok.  We all felt hot, dirty and tired and we all couldnt wait to get home and get a hot bath. 

All in all, it was a great day!  It was an adventure that I probably wouldn’t have normally done so I was glad to have gotten the opportunity to do it.  And although I was sunburned and sore the next day, I’d have to say it was one of the best and most memorable days of my Thailand stay.

Drat!  I’ve been trying to upload the photos here but unfortunately, the files are too big.  Anyway, am publishing this post now and hopefully update it again with a link to the pics.