Ayutthaya

4/10/12 : We turned up at 10.30am for our visa but it wasn’t ready. We had to come back at 3pm for it, which we were not really that happy about, as we have our bags with us and the temperature is 34 degrees. However we found a place with air con nearby and free wifi where we were happy to stay for few hours.
We then went to the train station (Bang Sue), a tiny station with 2 platforms. We booked our ticket 3rd class for 14 Baht to Ayutthaya. On the train we met a nice couple who tried to communicate with us but exchanged more smiles than words, and waved at us when we got off the train...
 

We took a small boat to get to the old center of Ayutthaya situated on an island and found a cheap guest house. We finished the evening at the night market for a meal next to the river.

5/10/12 : It was really warm (even at 10am) but we hired some bicycles for the day to explore the old city (and old capital). There are quite a few temples/ruins to see (Grand palace, Wat Phra Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana...)
 

In-between, we stopped for lunch when we took a 20Bht dish. Unfortunately, there were some ants running in our bowl where the peanuts were. The waitress/cook apologies and made another dish for us without the nuts (and the ants).

Late in the afternoon, we went for a boat trip around the island to visit the 3 main temples which are outside the island. This was a 2 hour journey including the 3 stops. It was a private trip with only the 2 of us and the driver on a river boat.
 
I (Flora) decided to to go for a thai massage in the evening next to the guest house. This was not really what I had in mind. I have to say it was more like going to a spin class than a relaxing massage... I also wished that the women who did my massage was the tiny lady rather than the big lady.
However the day after, above all expectations, I feel quite good and not hurt.

6/10/12 : We checked out from our guest house and went to the floating market, north east of Ayutthaya. There's a bit of everything there, food stalls, clothes, temples and elephants. As it was a bit cooler (25 degrees), I took a noodle soup and Dave a deep fried mussel omelette.
We also booked our night train for later on to go to Ubon, a 10 hours journey.
In the meantime, we decided to go to the hairdresser. Nobody spoke english at the hair salons. However, they showed me (Flora) some pictures of thai ladies with "old style 80's" haircuts. I pointed to one of them who looked the closest to what I wanted and ask for a fringe on top of that. Three women looked after me and all of them made me understand that I have very dark and thick hair. The women with the scissors started to take off lots of volume. The fringe she did was way too long so I asked her to cut it some more. They all laughed, but at the end told me it was very nice and sexy. Dave had a short back and sides in the meantime in an other hair salon.