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Other entries in Ayuthaya

The Road to Ayuthaya (minus Bob Hope)

We woke on 27th December knowing that this would be our final morning in Kanchanaburi and what awaited us was too hideous to contemplate, a five and a half hour bus journey.  Well buses really, as we had to change at Suphanburi and get the connecting bus that would take us to our destination in Ayuthaya.  As usual we had booked a place to stay in advance, who in turn were expecting us around late afternoon, so we were in no real hurry to get there, which was just as well as we were rather slow to get moving. Kanchanaburi had been a real pleasure, we've met some nice people here but it was time to move on, after all we are meant to be travelling and I believe one has to move from place to place now and again in order to travel.

So without delaying it any further, by now it was 10:30am (way off our 8am planned start), we asked the owner of the VN Guesthouse to order us a taxi for the bus station.  Tuk-Tuks seem to be different shapes and sizes from province to province throughout Thailand, Bangkok had a carriage to the back and Ayuthaya has a similar affair but it's slightly larger, Kanchanaburi have a kind of side car with people sitting at different angles to each other, it was a great way to travel but rather disorientating when you hurtle down the road sideways on. The buses in Thailand are a godsend to the traveller on a budget, they're well run and so cheap to use, you could get across the country on a tenner without a problem. The only downfall is that some journeys don't provide the slightly more expensive air-con routes that make the travelling part a whole lot easier and unfortunately for us this was one of those routes.  So instead of an airy and spacious air-con bus we had to make the three hour journey to Suphanburi using one of the ordinary cramped city buses.  Ordinarily I would never sit at the back of the bus but here I have no real choice, if I did sit in one of the aisle seats my knees would be around my head.  However, like the air-con buses the operators are so helpful towards us, they helped Lindsey with her luggage and gave us sound advice on where to change over in Suphanburi.

The trip itself wasn't as nightmarish as I had envisioned, in fact it was really rather easy.  The only problem was the bumpy roads, which once you're off the smooth highways are inundated with pot holes and haven't been cared for in many a year.  The bus was full most of the way, many locals use the route to go up the road to their market and to commute to work, it was an insight into how the rural Thai goes about it's day.  We saw people working in the paddy fields, farmers driving ploughes through the sludge and tons of shacks and shops scattered over vast areas of land without a neighbour in sight.  Then of course there was the scenery, I wish our camera could take better photos and that the bus slowed down from it's usual 75mph just to show you all what we saw (we will get many chances I'm sure), which was luscious and captivating. On seeing a temple, through the mist, balanced precariously on a mountain Lindsey and I were speechless, it was so beautiful and yet it seems to have just been plonked there with no reason or thought behind it.  The bus ride was made ever more bearable also by the people, we were the only farang on this particular route as we were for the second leg to Ayuthaya and as a result you tend to get people wanting to talk to you.  A couple sat next to us didn't speak a word on English but that didn't seem to stop us from having a laugh and a chat with them through the international language of wild hand gestures.  Of course it helped that they had a tiny baby that we could all centre on and amuse ourselves with, at one point the mother just sat the baby on Lindsey's lap and of course Lindsey was smitten. 

At Suphanburi our bus conductor (who looked so much like Matt Dillion that I had to do a double take) once again helped Lindsey with her luggage and took us part way to our next bus stop.  If it wasn't for the fact that I needed the toilet desperately we would have been straight onto the next bus as there was another conductor waiting to greet and shepherd us onward. However the buses run so frequently that there was another bus ready to go within 25 minutes so there was no need to rush. The next bus was of similar ilk, we had been told that an air-con bus would be available but we weren't that bothered by then as we just wanted to get to Ayuthaya as quickly as possible. So severely windswept; the ordinary buses, that don't have air-con, leave all the windows and doors open throughout the journey, and knackered we embarked on our next 2 hour leg.  It was going really smoothly until the final hour when suddenly the roads became bumpy like before and then we were bombarded by local kids that were just coming out of school.  Teenagers are teenagers across the globe, so you can imagine how noisy and boisterous they all were but they were soon gone as they live in the local area.  Our spirits were lifted when we came into Ayuthaya though, we were greeted by these incredible and intimidating looking temples that, like the temple we saw from the bus window, appear to have been plonked anywhere.  Some of them were just jaw dropping and they'd spring up from all over the place, as soon as you've seen one from the right hand side a bigger one appears on your left.  

Once at Ayuthaya we found a tuk-tuk that took us to the Baan Lotus guesthouse and once there we were met by the most eccentric and wonderful old woman who promptly greeted us with 'are you from the UK?' On hearing our answer her face lit up and she went into overdrive, even after all our travelling we couldn't help but be warmed by her manner and genuine happiness, she went out of her way to make us feel welcomed.  She showed us to our room and talked endlessly about some sort of Elephant tour she thought we'd like, it sounds like she was just trying to sell us something but she really didn't mean it like that. Her scatty manner however had managed to put us into the wrong room, so after the initial cock-up we were relocated to another (and altogether better) room, not without a plethora of apologies from the woman. After the whirlwind welcome we spoke to the woman's sister, an altogether calmer and more sane person, about staying there longer than we had originally asked for.  Of course this wasn't a problem as she's just as sweet as her sister, who she labels as 'always confused'. 

The Baan Lotus is gorgeous, a real haven in this part of town which is full of tourist trap guesthouses and shoddy lodgings, it's separated from the main road by a massive wild garden full of palm trees and pagodas, out back their is a gigantic pond with seating surrounding it.  There is a veranda and balcony overlooking the garden space, which in turn houses three other buildings that appear to be in the middle of refurbishing, probably in order to accommodate more people. There are only 9 rooms, two of which are taken up by long term residents who are both slightly peculiar, one an old English punk rocker who, at the drop of a hat, will tell you his whole life story and another from Boston who sculpts in his spare time and was once sacked from teaching in Taiwan for lashing out at one of those 'spoilt rich bastard' kids. The other rooms range from the basic (bed, fan and desk) to those with private bathrooms and some lead onto balconies, throughout the guesthouse is spotless as its forever being cleaned.  It's styled as an old teak house with varnished oak floorboards and ventilation slats around the eaves; we know we'll struggle to find better accommodation throughout our travels now.  Since our arrival we've been treated so well that it's like boarding with a pair of mothers that want to make sure you've eaten correctly and that you always have clean clothes. Bless them, we've even been given hats so we don't burn our heads when we're sightseeing.

As of yet we haven't seen anything of Ayuthaya but no doubt we'll give you all the gossip in our next edition.

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