There are alot of temples/ruins in Ayutthaya. Brian commented that this trip was Misty's temple tour. I'm surprised to say that even I was temple'd out by the end of our trip. By the time we were in Bangkok, we were negotiating temples. Brian had the Please No More face and preferred hanging out at malls than temples. He preferred MALLS!
Ayutthaya is a small little town north of Bangkok. We stayed 3 nights. You really only need a day in Ayutthaya, but given Grandpa's status, we needed the time :) The first day we got there, we checked into our hostel and Brian needed a nap. Grandpa is a love enduring term for Brian during this stage of our backpacking trip. He couldn't help it... poor baby. I rather go slow than have to contend with a sick Brian ever again. However, twiddling my thumbs in a hostel room watching Brian sleep leaves alot to be desired :)
When you say "vacation" or "trip" to us... I think, we have to do this, then this, then this, oh we have to see this, and do that. Brian thinks - do absolutely nothing. This is where we butt heads alot during our trips :) I want to constantly be on the move and he would prefer to chill. Oh, opposites...
We signed up for an all day tour for the next day. It's true alot of books and backpackers tell you to rent a bike for 20-50 Baht to see the temples. However, there is no way Brian was getting on a bike if I could help it. True it costs more to tuk tuk around, but I think it was worth it in the end. The tour consisted of a 2.5 hour tuk tuk tour around Ayutthaya with us picking the temples we wanted to go to, a 2 hour boat ride around Ayutthaya (It's like a island surrounded by a moat), and a 2 hour tuk tuk tour to the temples at night.
It started to rain that morning so we didn't start our day until noon. Grandpa got another nap in :)
Luckily, the rain cleared up and it was perfect for sightseeing. I picked the temples the furthest away for our daytime tour. Since we had another full day in Ayutthaya I would save the closer temples for that day. Plus those temples cost the most to get into, and I'm not about to spend 50 Baht here and there to stay a few minutes... I'm more economic than that :)
I knew the tuk tuk's were worth it when we got to one of the further temples on the map and we saw two bikers huffing and puffing. When we got back into our tuk tuk to leave they were getting on their bikes to leave too. They didn't look to enthusiastic about the trip back. I wouldn't have either.
The river boat tour later was nice - nothing too special. We did have to jump over a temple wall to get into one place. Best believe the police were there to collect the 'entrance fee' - down 100 baht.
That's the thing you have to consider in Ayutthaya that I never thought about. SOME temples are free. Most are not. They range from 20 - 50 Baht EACH. Not even this "Khun Kru" work permit holder could smooth talk her way to the Thai's price. So in short, if you are going to Ayutthaya you should factor this expense into your trip or at least plan your temples accordingly. Plus it helps knowing this fact ahead of time so your not completely caught off guard and mad.
Thankfully, we didn't get into any boat accidents. I would be lying if I said I did have a plan already sketched out in my brain as to how to vacate the boat and save the camera. I always have an exit plan strategy when I enter into a new situation. I think I got it from my drivers-ed class. Ironically, we met backpackers from Holland the next day that DID get into an accident. Their boat got T-boned and split in half. Everyone jumped into the water, and their cameras were all ruined. They did say one smart person jumped onto the oncoming boat.
The night tour was nice. It takes alot of work to set up the tripod and get the settings worked out. Brian was tired and I sure didn't know all the settings on the camera. But it was nice seeing the temples lit up at night. It has a whole different feel at night.
The next day, we did the two most touristy temples -- the one with the Buddha head in the tree and the one with 3 spiral temples. I really have no other way to describe them. I will not even attempt to re-name all the temples we saw. It really is pointless. I have them mapped out on the map and that's the most important part. Just point to the tuk tuk driver :)
I should mention we booked this tour across the street from our hostel. So easy. We also found our ride to Kanchanaburi here. 350 Baht each. It left at noon the next day. Perfect. Simple. Cheap. Thailand's easy button was still working.
Onward...
