21st January: Bangkok, Thailand
Travelling by train is definitely the way to go in Thailand. Rather than attempting the metro/bus or a combination, we walked around the corner and jumped on an inbound commuter train from a little halt towards Hua Lamphong. This the old Bangkok station, still used by many non long distance services, including our train today to Ayutthaya. In the early morning it felt like an oasis of calm. Perhaps due to avoiding the roads and crowds or perhaps due to the cooler (still 27C at sunrise, mind) temperature, this morning was much more relaxing. We arrived in time to have a tea at the old station and view the museum-esque display of old trains from it’s 100+ year history.
On the slow, 3rd class only, train out of the city, the food sellers were relentless and we took some pomelo as a little snack. The route took us north, along the same route we’d travelled into the city a few days ago. The construction for the new high-speed lines was more apparent today with dozens of piling rigs in operation. The waste water, and likely bentonite, was just running off into surrounding watercourses. Concrete pouring was similarly lax. It seems that environmental protections leave plenty to be desired in Thailand!
Straight after walking out of Ayutthaya station, we stumbled across a little place for lunch. The owner made a lovely veggie version of sweet and sour, something mum used to make often when I was young. It was homely in both senses – tasty and local, and nostalgic and comforting.
From here, a tiny cross-river ferry and a hot 1.5km walk took us to the historical park area of the city. Ancient Ayutthaya city is situated on a large island between converging rivers to the west, south and east, and a canal linking them to the north. The remains of this architectural wonder, after destruction by a Burmese army in 1767, are, today, one of 8 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Thailand. The city acted as the capital of the Ayutthaya (or Siamese) Kingdom, seen as the predecessor of modern Thailand, from the 14th to 18th centuries. Few dynasties in Asian history have been as important.
The first area of ruins we came to was Wat Mahathat. This was spectacular, with a central stupa surrounded by prang towers and other smaller structures. In one famous spot, the head of a statue can be seen poking through the limbs of a tree. The views from outside were just as spectacular, so we wandered around the rest vast free to enter area away from the crowds (who tended to gather in the small parts where entry fees were charged).
Awfully, we saw more than a dozen elephants walking down the street carrying tourists. Predictably, those morally vacant individuals riding on the enormous animal’s backs were all either Chinese tour groups or Western boomers. The gorgeous creatures looked defeated walking in the heat on the hard roads. These cruel practices need to be banned immediately.
After sitting in the shade with ice lollies, we fortified ourselves for wandering on in the heat. The giant seated Buddha of the active Wiharn Phra Mongkhon Bophit temple was under wraps for restoration, but the red, white, and gold exterior looked stunning against the blue sky.
On our way back east, we saw a Wat off the main tourist trail and walked down a long drive to investigate. Passing some reeds, I glanced over at something moving about 10 metres to our right. A pair of eyes looked back but then immediately fled. Before I’d even told Kaja to look, it was leaping into the water. She saw the muscular tail and we watched together in astonishment as this 2.5 metre long reptile swam back and forth in the lake. There was a smaller, presumably young, lizard still on the shore so we were able to get a good enough look to establish that they weren’t crocodiles. On the way back out, we took a closer look at these incredible creatures, of which there were now 3. They turned out to be Asian Water Monitors and it seems we were very lucky to see one that size!
Tired, we walked back to the ferry and found another place opposite the earlier restaurant to sit in the shade and eat dinner before the train. We shared lovely tofu pad Thai and some more breaded tofu with sweet chilli sauce, along with a refreshing mango smoothie.
Sunset was another beautiful red sky back over the river to the west. At the train station, we walked into a packed waiting area with most of the Thais present standing for the song that was playing. Kaja thinks it must’ve been the national anthem. It could easily be, given how bizarrely keen on royalty they are here – there are photos of the royal family in many places, including outside of train stations. The slow stopping train back was a bit of a drag after a long day in the heat, but a convenient connecting bus made it easy to avoid the busiest areas to get back to the hotel. Time to pack (again)!
