Ayutthaya: Cycling Tours and Beers in the Garden

A day previous we had arrived in Ayutthaya, straight from Bangkok, via the comforts of a hard class seat. As I mentioned at the end of our last post, the people in the north of Thailand came across as welcoming and warm (a sweeping generalization but still…)

Whilst tracking down our hostel accommodation we were invited for drinks and party games in a small establishment called Garden Place. The live music here was fantastic and we were very happy to hear yet another rendition of Do Ter Tam; the best Thai Reggae song ever. It is, unfortunately, not played often enough….FACT!

We got the Wifi password and settled down to do some work, but alas, this didn’t really come together because we ended up talking to the owner… all night. If Wifi passwords could be used as a measure of someone’s character, know that theirs was: ILoveYou. Tomorrow would be her husband’s birthday and we were invited. Party!

Next morning we woke early, declined the infamous boat tour, hired rickety bicycles from Baan Lotus ($1) and set off around town with a hand drawn map of all the best temples. The map was as accurate as a quick scrawl on the back of some tissue paper, but we still managed to track down the major attractions.

First up was Wat Ratchaburana where we were caught out by the rapid onset of the midday rain. As the heavens opened above us, we scrambled up some ancient steps and took shelter within an old tomb. We were the only people ridiculous enough to be in the park at that time of day and it was quite spooky. Having climbed three flights of steps on the outside of the temple we found ourselves with a great view and a mysterious set of steps descending steeply down into the darkness. This went down another three flights to a small room with painted frescos which had once been sealed as a hidden burial chamber.

The rain eventually stopped and we hopped back onto our bicycles, coursing down the quiet roads towards the ancient palace. Perhaps we are now getting spoilt, but the palace was neither very impressive nor very ancient. It was surrounded by a small market which offers food and drinks and shelter from the pounding heat of the sun. We took a break to enjoy fairy cakes filled with fruit jam and sipped on a couple of spites before heading over to Banyong Ratanat.

Banyong Ratanat is truly something. I mean it’s pretty damn beautiful. We wandered around the temple compound for about an hour snapping photographs and enjoying the magnificent architecture. There’s nothing more I can say about it really, other than to show you some of the pictures…

Now there is one thing that I nearly forgot to mention and that is the Chicken Temple. This lies just to the north of the palace and we only visited because we took a wrong turn, due thanks to our wonderfully inaccurate map. It is of course, exactly what it claims to be. A temple dedicated to chickens and decorated with hundreds of chicken statues. Awesome.

The day was closing, so we headed off taking the long way home. As we cycled along the road we passed many elephants who walk tirelessly around the temple complex, in a magnificent parade, shuttling tourists from temple to temple.

That night we attended the birthday party at Garden Place, got adopted into a new family and met some great new friends who would accompany us to Sukhothai.

Baan Lotus, Ayutthaya.

This accommodation was a steal at just 500 Baht for an air-conditioned room, but this is not the reason we enjoyed our stay. The elderly lady who runs the operation is a fantastic character. She is the most delightfully friendly and helpful woman and she seems to live alone. I got the impression, that having tourists around, makes her feel safer within her own home.

The rooms are spacious, clean and maintained to a very high standard. Out back is a large lotus pond, complete with wooden walkway and hammocks, whilst out front you can hire a rickety bicycle for about $1 to tour the temples, market and town.