Taking the Train to Ayutthaya and Renting Bikes to See the Historical City

Another early start to the day as we are heading out for a day trip to Ayutthaya, the historic capital of Siam, now Thailand. It was the second capital city after Sukhothai which is much further North. Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 and was the capital until it was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. What we are visiting is the historic parks and temples that still remain. A "modern" city has been rebuilt in the same location. 

At 6am we order a Grab car and wait in reception for it to arrive. It takes about 10 minutes and then we head off to the main train station in Bangkok, Krung Thep Aphiwat. It takes about 30 minutes to get there and costs 234 Bhat about $12. Train tickets to Ayutthaya are only 20 Bhat each, a real bargain. The train is leaving at 7.10am so we have time to get something for breakfast. Pork Bao buns for Sarah and a pork and rice snack pack for me. 

The train carriage is what you might expect for 20 Bhat. Basic vinyl bench seats with fans and open windows. No aircon. The trip is only an hour and a half so we should be fine. Out the window things are very smoky/smoggy. It looks like low hanging clouds, yuck. I read in the news that the Thai government has told the farmers to stop their burnoffs until the air quality has a chance to improve. Perhaps they should have done that before it got this bad. Fortunately as the day goes on the smoke clears up a lot. There is a bit of a breeze about which might have helped.

Once we get off the train we exit the station and cross the road, ignoring the tuk tuk drivers that are keen for some business. Instead we take a small alley down to the river and pay 10 Bhat each to cross to the other side on a local ferry. This drops us at another alley where we can rent bikes for the day. 60 Bhat each or about $3. They were probably worth about $3 back when they were made in the 1960s. 😂 They have no gears, seats that are too low, and handlebars that make steering around tight corners challenging. But they have two good brakes and travel in a straight line effectively. They remind me of watching an old clip of Kermit the frog riding a bike in a song about rainbows. 

The bike hire place also gave us a tour map and a chain/lock to make sure our bikes don't get stolen. Not that it seems likely anyone would want to steal them. We spend the next 2 hours pedaling around the temple sites, stopping at 3 of them to walk around and take photos. The streets are a mixture of quiet roads with very few cars, plus some with plenty of traffic, cars, trucks, motorbikes, firetrucks, and elephants. Yes elephants! 

I recorded the ride on Strava. It was not very far as rides go normally but 16km on those bikes was hard work and we had sore bums afterwards. In fact, Sarah was pretty hot and tired, so before we caught the train back to Bangkok we stopped at a cafe. Sarah had a mango smoothie and spring rolls to boost her energy levels back up. While I had a large Chang beer as well as some of the spring rolls. They were yum. 

The train back was the same cost as the first trip but this time the carriage was even more basic. Who would have thought that was possible. This one only had wooden bench seats. Not the best idea for sore bums but it was fine. The train terminated at a different station to where we started and because I haven't yet got a SIM card we couldn't order another Grab. Instead we risked the local taxi service, which was okay, albeit expensive. The driver tried to ask for 300 Bhat to go half the distance that we did this morning. We paid him 200 Bhat and that was fine with both parties. He was probably more fine with it than I was. 🤬 Some of you may already know this but I can't stand taking taxis as they always feel like a rip off. I will always use public transport if it's an option. But sometimes convenience is the mother of happy marriages. I'm sure that saying is completely out of context here but it sounded good at the time. 😂

We are now back at our cooling station, aka hotel room, I'm updating blogs and then reading my book while the lady of the house is having a well deserved afternoon nap. 🥱