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Published: August 24th 2008
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Everywhere on bike!
Cheap, healthy, convenient! (40 Baht *$1.20 for all day bike rental - right outside of the Ayutthaya train station).
Biked all around the island from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. After standing around at our pier near Khao San Road (the huge touristy hostel area of Bangkok with DELICIOUS STREET FOOD!) at around 7:00 AM, we decided that the express boat, or ANY boat for that matter does not come to our pier that early. Meh. So, we hopped into a tuk tuk, headed to the train station, and spent the day in Ayutthaya. There's the basic account. Now for the detailed emotional account: as always, author advises reader to stick to scanning photos 😊
Our day started beautifully early at 6:00 AM. The sun was not quite out yet, and drops of rain were lingering on the trees and bushes in the yard of our hostel. We dressed quickly and packed for the day. We grabbed our usual backpack fillers: camera, guide books, hat, sunscreen, left-over bottle of water, re-useable plates, bowl and silverware, hand wipes, one, maybe two decks of cards, a pen and small notebook and tatters of Newsweek magazines. So far on this lengthy trip, I have pushed the Girl Scout ethic (with a twist) upon Dave; we are prepared for any moment of wait time. As a couple, we self-entertain.
So this morning,
Lunch: chicken and pleasant Thais.
This man had chickens hanging in his shop, and we were quite hungry after standing for two hours on the train from Bangkok's Hualamphong to Ayutthaya's tiny station. We rented bikes, crossed the river, rode for a good fifteen minutes and then spotted his small restaurant and then enjoyed delicious, impossibly cheap chicken soup. we left the hostel a 6:30 AM and wandered onto the streets. The street vendors were preparing or had already prepared their stands of fresh fruit juice, pad thai and curry dishes, and assorted sandals and hippie clothing for the day. We headed to the pier, rejecting about five taxi/tuk tuk offers, and then returned to the street once we gave up on the tourist boat. Although our February trip to New Delhi left me disillusioned and quite sadly prepared for haggling, I still find myself overly affected by a ridiculous offer from a cabbie. Of course, I remind myself, we are tourists coming out of a very touristy neighborhood looking for a ride. I didn’t expect Thai cabbies to be any less resourceful than Indian ones. It’s simply my own interpretation of their tone, or their dishonesty, that irks me. “Come, come, rich tourist,” they seem to beckon,” I will take you to Ayutthaya for this gloriously appropriate price and save you all the hassle of the train station. I will go beyond your request!” The cabbie offered us five hundred baht for a private car to Ayutthaya. At the train station we’d be getting a decent, though uncomfortable,
One of all national entrances.
Nearly all intersections or Wats (Thai/Laos/Cambodian Temple) has photographs of Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara. trip for only twenty baht. Another cabbie asked for two hundred baht for the trip to the train station, which we knew could only be sixty baht. Dave does not seem to be bothered by this nonsense, but I haven’t yet trained myself to take it lightly. I still cannot believe the amount of time it takes to get a cab for the right place to the specific place we ask. After about six tries, we finally got a ten-minute cab ride to the train station for the meter price of sixty-three baht.
Still riled up from these encounters, I charge into the central Bangkok train station. A woman asks where we are going when we head toward the counter. I do not look at her, speak “Ayutthaya” quickly and head to the nearest window, looking around awkwardly but trying to appear confident. I assume she’s a travel agent hoping to make a pretty penny, so I ignore her. Meanwhile, Dave, not as discriminatory, listens to what she says, recognizes that she works for the train station and speaks English well. She tells us the time of the next train and points us toward the nearest foreigner-only ticket window.
Wat Phra Si Sanphet
This Wat was a royal chapel. And I am left feeling rude and sheepish. One can do a great deal of thinking, reconsidering, while standing for an hour and a half on a train, and a commitment is made. Forty days of travel is well enough time to master the balance of the informed, reasonable, respectful yet unsusceptible to money-grabbing trickery tourist persona. With this long-term goal creeping in the back of my mind, I bike throughout Ayutthaya with the ever-agreeable Dave wonder.
And now, back at the hostel, in front of the blog-device for the third night (proudly), I’m sticky, sunburned, sleepy and feeling incredibly fulfilled. Tomorrow we will spend the early morning exploring the wats around Bangkok, then possibly head to a snazzy hotel pool and then we’re off to Chiang Mai on an overnight bus. Our next destination is sure to be as enjoyable, and certainly more scheduled than our first two.
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