The old capital

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Day 6 - Saturday 6th October

After arriving by third class train which only cost us 15 B (25p) and was surprisingly comfy considering, we woke up to find the sun was shining for the first time since we arrived in Thailand.

Ayutthaya was the old capital of Thailand until the Burmese invaded and destroyed it sometime in the 18 century.

What a difference to Bangkok, the streets are relatively quiet and apart from the odd tuk tuk driver asking if you wanted a lift nobody tried to hassle us.

The morning was spent walking round the city to look at the old ruins. It was probably quite a beautiful place until it was destroyed. We had booked a river boat tour in the evening which took us round some more temples and ruins.

For most sites in Ayutthaya you have to pay a 50 B (80p) entrance fee. However on the river tour the boat would always stop by a small hole in the fence so we got to sneak in for free and save ourselves a couple of pounds.

The only downside to the tour was when we were suddenly dropped off at a market and told the tour was over and we had to make our own way back. We didnt have a clue where we were and even though we had a copy of the lonlely planet with a map of the city none of the locals seemed to have a clue where we were either. It took us nearly an hour to figure ouit how to get back.

That evening we managed to catch the England v Australia rugby game (now we can go to oz and give the aussies stick for a change) before we had to run to catch the last ferry crossing to the train station so we could move on to Chaing Mai and the jungle.

After a week of temples and Buddhas it will be good to start the real adventure.

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Photos

View from the river
How one half of Thailand lives

View from the river
and the other