Cybercaptain: Ayutthaya

Taking the train to the former capital Ayutthaya in the morning.

Bangkok Hualamphong train station

Online there was not reliable data so we made our way to Hualamphong by taxi from our hotel to find that the early bird train had left already before 6am. We found timetables and a local guide told us we had to get to the northern train terminal for a train to Ayutthaya.

Bangkok Hualamphong train station

Luckily the underground station was nearby so we took it all the way to Bang Sue. About 30 minutes later we emerged above ground to a humongous train station and walked hundreds of meters to find the ticket booth and directions. We were on time and got tickets, some breakfast and caught the train alright. The train itself was a long distance train going up north to the provinces but stops at Ayutthaya. There was no a/c so all windows were open and the seats were pretty much same as in church, uncomfortable and not meant for sitting.

Local train

As we arrived Ayutthaya reasonably early we agreed with a local tuktuk for a lumpsum of 5hrs driving around sights with a list of temples on a poster we set off in and around Ayutthaya. The city is the former capital of Siam but was susceptible for the Burmese attacks and was basically the reason why it was moved further south to where Bangkok is now. The city is littered by ancient temples, pagodas and stupas built/ commissioned by royals and successful businessmen. Many are still active and once erected it seems to be considered hallowed ground.

Massive Buddha inside

All sites were different kind of temples. I am not naming them here as they do not make much sense to anyone not being a history buff or religious Buddhist wanting to see pictures of their favorite temple. I've put here different pictures from the day from all the temples I visited, some of the compounds had numerous stupas in various conditions giving an ancient air, one could think Lara Croft or Indiana Jones could be here hunting for a relic.

Reclining Buddha

An old temple protected by an added on roof

It was a very hot day and late in afternoon we stopped for lunch at a local eatery, this was very welcome opportunity to hydrate and relax away from glaring sun. Then we once more clambered up onto the tuktuk, visited 1 or 2 temples more, I can't recall, because we were pretty much "templed" out by then. I have a bunch of receipts

Deep well or shaft in the middle of the temple

Instead of taking the train back to Bangkok we asked the driver to drop us off at the mini van station where we took the mini van back to Mo Chit terminal. It was not much cooler than the train as the a/c in the van appeared to just stir the lukewarm air inside the van. Nevertheless we got to enjoy the breakneck traffic of Thailand and soon we arrived as the sun started setting. From there we had a short hike to the underground and we trained to Hualamphong to take a taxi back to the hotel.