Ayutthaya & Nakhon Lampang (15.01.22 - 19.01.22)

Sunday 16th January 2022

Yesterday I got a minibus to Ayutthaya and by chance I had Google maps out and the van was heading toward the street where the hostel was, so I got him to stop just 30 seconds from it – what a touch. And what a hostel, it has a rickety old bridge across a stagnant mosquito infested water way and the building is a beautiful dilapidated but authentic Thai wooden house. However, although the room is immaculate the kitchen bathroom area is so grimy, disgustingly so, I really didn’t want to touch anything but had no choice. I’m used to such high standards in England it is hard to adjust to what is here, but if I’m going to enjoy my travels then I have to see past everything and accept life as it is. After arriving, and bearing in mind I am only here for one whole day, I decided to jump straight in and went for a long walk, during I was followed and barked at by 3 three vicious looking dogs, to a flea market – it was closed ☹ so that is it, no more trips to markets of any form be it a water market or a flea market, night markets for food being the only exception. If I come across them by accident then awesome, other than that never again. But i get get some nice photos and some sour mango, which is basically green mango with a sugar and sour dip – it was delicious.

Today, after a slow morning start, I jumped on one of the free hostel bikes and followed a circuit round Ayutthaya that I found on the internet, and had such a fantastic day. Ayutthaya used to be the capitol of the kingdom of Siam, but in 1769 it was basically flattened by the Burmese, so it is now a town of historical interest. But after 4 hours of cycling (stopping and starting to take photos) I am quite exhausted and although the ruins where quite amazing they were also very sad, as most ruins that have been bombed are. Anyway, I have now seen enough ruined Wats and broken buddhas to last me a lifetime. At one point on the route I had to stop and take a deep breath, I couldn’t believe what I saw, elephants holding up the traffic with people riding them for fun – so sad, and then I found the ride shop and there were several other elephants chained up with no space to walk around and being fed shit by the people waiting to ride them – I wanted to cry. I also stopped for a late lunch / early dinner at an outside dining area as the smell of barbeque chicken was so enticing. Boy, I ordered so much more than I could eat, and was happily munching on the greens when I noticed these little white eggs on them, I do love my protein but little white eggs from god knows what little flying insect is a step too far – so when I ordered my doggy bag the greens got left behind.

Other than that Ayutthaya is a beautiful little town, well worth the visit, and so tranquil compared to the maddening pace of Bangkok – a breath of fresh air – I would highly recommend a visit to anyone who asks.

Nakhon Lampang

Wednesday 19th January 2022

I am so exhausted, my body is actually hurting so I’m going to do a hotel day today – yes, I’m in a real hotel with a big double bed, TV (not that I’ve watched it) and a bathroom all to myself – absolute luxury, not had my own bathroom since my quarantine hotel, and it’s only £6 a night!

The train journey from Ayutthaya to here (Nakhon Lampang) was long, 7 hours to be precise, but the view from the window was divine, leaving Ayutthaya the scenery was mainly rice fields, in fact I fell asleep to rice fields and woke up to mountains, missing the transition, but wow what a difference. North Thailand is stunning and so much cooler than the south. Not long after boarding the train a woman came round with bags of food, due to my previous train rides I thought she was selling them, but as she returned down the carriage I noticed she only had one bag left – mine – I had actually turned down a free packed lunch ☹ I was devastated and after that I couldn’t stop thinking about food until I drifted off to sleep. Not long after waking up the same lady was passing me with one packed lunch in her hand, I think she may have been taking it to the train officer at the back, anyway I stopped her and asked if I could have it, well I didn’t exactly ask, I pointed to it and she gave it to me 😊 and it was warm! A pot of rice, a pot of mackerel paste, a sashay of chicken, some flattened banana strips, and a sweet bun filled with some chocolate concoction – very delicious I must say and certainly needed.

After dumping my rucksack at the hotel I went for a little walk, and although busy the hustle and bustle of Bangkok just does not exist, this is more a country town and I noticed every is so much cheaper. I came across several Wats (surprise surprise) and a night market selling food and fruit and veg. Being a little peckish I bought what I though was a bag of tomatoes flavour crisps, lol – they had a little sashay of tomatoes sauce in them – very reminiscent of the salt sashays you used find in walkers crisps many moons ago.

Yesterday, after a little bit of research I decided to do a walk to two museums, with a round trip of one and a half hours, not including time at the museums. The walk was beautiful, Nakhon Lampang is really beautiful, lots of teak houses and some really beautiful teak Wats, which although very ornate looked a lot more modest than the red, white and gold ones in Bangkok. The first museum, Ban Soa Nak, a speciality museum displaying teak antiques was closed but I did manage to take a few pics of the buildings from the gate – things being closed is an ongoing issue and one I was told to expect due to covid and a lack of tourist ☹ the second, The Dhanabadee Ceramic Museum, is a working pottery museum and it was open 😊 Lol – I was almost half way round the museum when a woman came up to me and said I needed to pay an entry fee; she took me to the counter and then escorted me to a tour group but the guide spoke only Thai – lol. However, all of the displays had an English text, so I learnt a lot about chicken bowls and how they are perfectly designed for using chop sticks when eating rice – it was very interesting. We saw how the chicken bowls and a few other vases were created and finally had a look at lots of finished artifacts in display cases.

After returning to the hotel I thought I’d visit the night market I saw by the train station when I arrived, so I started the 39 minute walk thinking I’d hail a taxi or tuk-tuk on route – not one was to be seen and the market was very small and a little disappointing, but I bought the most delicious sushi I‘ve ever had and some amazing spring rolls which I had for breakfast this morning. And guess what, not a taxi or tuk-tuk to be seen on the route back – so unlike Bangkok where you get hassled for rides. So, in total I did an amazing 25,180 steps yesterday which is why I physically hurt today.