Aye Aye we're now in Ayutthaya

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Wednesday 17th august 

We were woken up at around 0630 by the guard shouting 'Ayutthaya- 30 minutes' I had to drag myself out of bed, and didn't even bother getting changed as we were having breakfast and a shower once we got to the hotel. We got off the train, not onto a platform, but had to jump down onto the tracks, and cross another 2 tracks to the other side, all the while carrying our backpacks- it was too early for stuff like this! We got a Songthaew to the hotel which is quite nice 'Ayothaya Hotel' and went straight to breakfast- eggs again, but it was quite nice and welcoming after that train journey.
Back up in our room, we said we'd all meet at 9am which gave us plenty of time to sort ourselves out. We ended up falling asleep instead, and when Sarah knocked on the door at 9am, I woke up feeling really disorientated and spaced out. Nevertheless, we had a walk around the markets and as I'd lost my sunglasses whilst trekking, I bought a cool pair of Raybans for 70baht- so cheap I didn't even have the heart to haggle!
Here was the first time I'd seen animals in cages at the market, and I had to walk past without looking at an overcrowding of fluffy rabbits, and I'm sure there were even guinea pigs in there ( it broke my heart and made me think of my little Trigger & Edgar back home- squeak squeak!)
We almost gave up hope of finding a massage place- there doesn't seem to be as many here in Ayutthaya as other places. We saw Boom in a bookshop and she said there was some right near the hotel. Eventually we found one just around the corner, and paid 240baht for a 1 hour Thai massage. The place was set out really nice- lovely and relaxing with the bed laid out under a canopy resting on peplos, with a low light from lanterns- heaven. The girl who massaged me was such a petite little thing, but by god- she had some strength! I have never been twisted and contorted so much in all my life, and this was full on. I lay on my front whilst she stood on the backs of my legs, pulling me up by my arms- I felt like one of those curling fish you get in a Christmas cracker. Speaking of cracking- she yanked and cracked every single joint and pummeled my back-I'm sure in the UK she'd be charged with common assault. It did feel good though, and I don't think any massage will live up to the ones here in Thailand. Sam didn't share my enthusiasm- I think she found it a tad uncomfortable, and said shed be opting for the oil massages from now on.
Afterwards, we sat and had a cup of some type of tea- I don't know what it was, but it was nice. We walked back to the hotel, and as it was one of the rare sunny days, we went to use the pool and had lunch up there; French onion soup, spring rolls and club sandwiches. We messed about having a laugh taking pictures on my waterproof camera, but before we knew it, it was time to change and head out again.
Ayutthaya used to be the capital of Thailand years ago, thus has lots of temples. We went to see some temple ruins which were quite interesting, and many of the buddhas were in bits, with heads missing as a result of being stolen during previous wars. We went to see a huge buddha, and I managed to get a brilliant picture of some Saffron robed monks sitting on the steps of a pagoda. There were many elephants here too, and strange to see them just crossing the road along with the normal traffic.
Back at the hotel, we checked emails, though had a couple of power cuts- I think due to the weather, as it was looking dark and cloudy like a storm was on it's way.
I decided to wear a dress tonight- one of those I'd bought from the market in Bangkok- seeing as we'd so far not had much opportunity to 'get dressed up' it was indeed raining, and I rocked the dress and rain Mac look, and laughed at the conversation about ' what you wear on holiday, you'd never wear at home' dress and rain mac? Bloody right I wouldn't! We walked to a nice little restaurant / tavern place just around the corner from the hotel. I ordered a sweet and sour chicken with rice, and as it was a novelty on the menu- a side order of garlic bread to share. Now the thing about eating out in Thailand is that no matter when you ordered your food, nothing ever comes out at the same time, thus you just have to get tucked in when your meal arrives- and sod waiting for everyone else if you want your food to be warm. They are actually quite the same with drinks, and it can easily be a good 20 minutes before your mango mojito makes an appearance ( and by this point you could be well onto dessert) the food was nice anyway- when it did arrive, and the atmosphere was good. There was a guy sat with his guitar, singing away, he really was quite good. I liked his rendition of Pink Floyds 'wish you were here' rather apt as I thought of so many people I wished were here, and who I know would love Thailand just as I've come to in the last week and a half. At one point sam got up to sing with him, and belted out a great Tracy Chapmans 'Baby can I hold you tonight' 
Tomorrow is of course my birthday, but as we will be spending it on raft accommodation, I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a birthday cake tonight instead. sam had kindly bought it for me ( when I eventually decided on which one to have) and I picked out a huge Oreo cookie ice cream birthday cake. As Sam brought it over with everyone singing happy birthday, her face dropped, and for a second I thought the cake box had caught fire. It turned out to be quite the opposite, for as she walked under the fan, it blew all the candles out! I dished out the cake and totally took the piss out of Laura, whom earlier had asked if anyone had a bigger bikini as she was struggling to now fit into hers. I reminded her of this as she tucked into her 3rd helping if ice cream birthday cake. It was all in good humor though, and we got some good photos. We paid the bill and walked back to the hotel- Sam shrieking at one point as she almost stood on a cockroach. The rain had passed and the wifi was now up and running, so we checked our emails and headed off to bed.

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