Nov 23: Night, Ayuthaya
From Udon Thani, we took the overnight train to Ayathaya, the capital of Siam in the 13th-14th centuries
. With the fall of the Khmer-influenced Sukhotai empire, the Siamese gained dominance over the land.
Trying to recall textbook history from school did not help me to sleep. And the conditions in fan class were no help either. This was the first time we booked seats in fan class. It was comfortably cool at night, but the lights remained on. Way too bright to snooze. Then, we were periodically distracted by the patrol, a man carrying a torch and handgun walking up and down the carriages.Despite staying awake
, we still managed to almost miss our stop. We were at the second last carriage and when our train pulled into the station in Ayuthaya at 5.20am, we could not see the sign with the station's name. Actually, the Ayuthaya station was so small that we did not see the station from our carriage!Luckily, we proved to be fleetfooted when sufficiently motivated. And not a moment too soon, as the train
started to pull out again. A station officer on the ground saw us and yelled for the train to stop. We were grateful and leapt out quickly before we became entertainment for bored insomniacs on board.Ayuthaya is sprawling. The tuk-tuk drivers, unsurprisingly, overcharge as and when they can.
Drained after a couple bouts of futile haggling, we took to self-powered transport
. Better to rely on our own feet than to be held ransom by voracious tuk-tuk drivers. Walking at our own pace, we were fortunate to see some interesting ruins.The day would have been a great one if not for the dogs.
The canine menace was not confined to strays. In fact, our worst scare was from three dogs charging out of a house as we walked by. They rounded on us, barking and baring their teeth. And we were just passing by, walking on the edge of the road, more than a metre from the open gate.The bo-chap (Singaporean
colloquial expression meaning indifferent, cannot be bothered) owner, relaxing in her seat on the porch, just yelled at her dogs, but did not do anything else to restrain them. These dogs snapped at our heels for a few more metres before giving up the chase. Not fun at all.Home for the next two days
PU Guesthouse, where we decided to hole up for the next couple of days, was interesting. It was like an extended terrace house, located on a fairly quiet lane lined with houses and small shops. It also operated on a bring-your-own-soap-and-toilet-paper basis. Occupancy was good and we could only get a warm box-like room downstairs, where we could hear the constant coming and going outside our door.Then, the owner told us that someone was moving out of one of the more spacious rooms upstairs and offered us that room, which came with aircon, balcony and the princely sum of 500 baht.
We had not slept since yesterday. We were grimy from our all-night train ride. We had wasted one tuk-tuk ride and precious leg-power looking for accommodation in another part of town. Time for a little pampering. We quickly accepted the owner's offer.
Deal concluded, the nice owner told us we could bathe in the downstairs room while waiting for her staff to clean up the other room. Of course, we had to promise not to mess up the beds in this room!
Budget (for two in baht)
Nov 22
Lunch >> B60
Bread >> B27
Coffee >> B50
Shopping >> B399
Dinner >> B90
Tuk-tuk to train station >> B20
Nov 23
Breakfast >> B80
Tuk-tuk (two trips) >> B50
Room >> B500
H20 >> B10
Drinks >> B20
Lunch >> B40
Dinner >> B90
Ice-cream & doughnuts >> B47
Groceries >> B105.5
Next... A new destination
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