The bus ride from Bangkok to Ayutthaya meanders North through endless Thai suburbs. Suburbs may be too generous; the homes are roughly permanent, but they are jammed together and sometimes seem squalid. I work up a moderate sweat while trying to read. The AC of the old bus being no match for the 95F weather. When I look over and see a Thai sweating more than me, I feel a twinge of pride. The bus makes frequent stops to pick up passengers and drop off boxes and packages to people waiting on the road sides. The buses are categorized as VIP, 1st class, and 2nd. The quality of the buses vary by operator of which there are many, so check the bus if you can. But good luck, the buses are generally in a station for a few hours at most which isn’t much help if tickets already sold out. Buses are leaving a few times of day to most anywhere you would want to travel, but the VIP buses generally sell out a day ahead of time. The extra few dollars is worth the comfort: proper AC (bring a sweater), roomier reclining seats, and a generally working toilet. Prices can be exorbitant if a phalang tries to buy a ticket on the bus. Phalang (fuh-long) is the southeast Asian equivalent of gringo. I’ve been told the root word is francais, since the french were one of the first to try to colonize the area. I can’t explain all of the morphology, but most Asians have difficulty with the R sound, pronouncing it as an L. It’s one of the few words I know and the only word I have overheard in both Thailand and Laos.
The bus drops a couple of Thais, three tourists, and me on the outskirt of the small town of Ayutthaya. I walk a few hundred yards towards the center until I see a hostel. The price is a little high at 400 baht ($12), but the room is clean and I don’t see any hostels nearby. I probably paid too much, but I wasn’t in the mood to look around. I often see backpackers consulting guidebooks as they walk into a hostel, but that’s probably the worst way to find a place. A guidebook listing guarantees a steady stream of potential customers which affects price and quality. If a guidebook covers a city, likelihood is that there are at least twice as many unlisted guesthouses as listed. Generally, I walk around for 30 to 60 minutes looking for guesthouses when I arrive in a city. I walk in and ask about the price, and then ask to see the room if the quote is reasonable. In short, I comparison shop. It’s usually fairly easy to do since most guesthouses are clustered together. Often, you can bargain to knock off 5-15%.
I unload my bags and rent a bike. I wander around with the photocopied hand drawn map and my compass. I bought a watch with an e-compass and would highly recommend that anyone traveling bring some sort of compass. Maps are often poorly drawn and street signs are quite rare; I don’t want to have to find two street signs in order to figure out which way I’m going.
The modern city and ancient Ayutthaya are one entity. Houses and modern temples sit next to ruins.
Ayutthaya
The nicer temples of Ayutthaya charge, with phalangs paying more than twice as much. After about 5 hours of wandering I’ve covered most of the temples on my map. I was initially planning on spending two days in both Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, but Luciana’s advice that I’d only need one day is sound. So I go ahead and book a ticket to Sukhothai for the next day.
While waiting at the bus station I start chatting with a German couple after they ask me about the timetable for the Sukhothai bus. Frauke and Philippe speak very good English like most Germans I’ve met. From the time I spent in Berlin a few years ago, I’d come to think of German’s as reserved with strangers. Frauke and Philippe were the first of many German friends I would make on this trip. Although there is some truth to my stereotype, it was too broad. Especially when it comes to travelers. In Sukhothai we split a tuk-tuk to a guesthouse in the new city. The new city wasn’t much to speak of: dirty and uninteresting.
The next morning we took a songthaew to the old city. A songthaew is a Southeast Asian local bus; a truck with benches on each side. The guesthouses around the restaurant looked nicer, if I were to return I would stay around the ruins. The ruins of Sukhothai were much nicer than Ayutthaya. The ruins were mostly contained within gated grounds of a few square miles, thus there was only one ticket to pay for and modern houses were nowhere to be seen. Once again, it turned out that a day in the ruins was all I needed. So the three of us headed on to Chiang Mai the next morning.
More pictures of the ruins and Buddhas
Ayutthaya & Sukhothai
The bus ride from Bangkok to Ayutthaya meanders North through endless Thai suburbs. Suburbs may be too generous; the homes are roughly permanent, but they are jammed together and sometimes seem squalid. I work up a moderate sweat while trying to read. The AC of the old bus being no match for the 95F weather. When I look over and see a Thai sweating more than me, I feel a twinge of pride. The bus makes frequent stops to pick up passengers and drop off boxes and packages to people waiting on the road sides. The buses are categorized as VIP, 1st class, and 2nd. The quality of the buses vary by operator of which there are many, so check the bus if you can. But good luck, the buses are generally in a station for a few hours at most which isn’t much help if tickets already sold out. Buses are leaving a few times of day to most anywhere you would want to travel, but the VIP buses generally sell out a day ahead of time. The extra few dollars is worth the comfort: proper AC (bring a sweater), roomier reclining seats, and a generally working toilet. Prices can be exorbitant if a phalang tries to buy a ticket on the bus. Phalang (fuh-long) is the southeast Asian equivalent of gringo. I’ve been told the root word is francais, since the french were one of the first to try to colonize the area. I can’t explain all of the morphology, but most Asians have difficulty with the R sound, pronouncing it as an L. It’s one of the few words I know and the only word I have overheard in both Thailand and Laos.
The bus drops a couple of Thais, three tourists, and me on the outskirt of the small town of Ayutthaya. I walk a few hundred yards towards the center until I see a hostel. The price is a little high at 400 baht ($12), but the room is clean and I don’t see any hostels nearby. I probably paid too much, but I wasn’t in the mood to look around. I often see backpackers consulting guidebooks as they walk into a hostel, but that’s probably the worst way to find a place. A guidebook listing guarantees a steady stream of potential customers which affects price and quality. If a guidebook covers a city, likelihood is that there are at least twice as many unlisted guesthouses as listed. Generally, I walk around for 30 to 60 minutes looking for guesthouses when I arrive in a city. I walk in and ask about the price, and then ask to see the room if the quote is reasonable. In short, I comparison shop. It’s usually fairly easy to do since most guesthouses are clustered together. Often, you can bargain to knock off 5-15%.
I unload my bags and rent a bike. I wander around with the photocopied hand drawn map and my compass. I bought a watch with an e-compass and would highly recommend that anyone traveling bring some sort of compass. Maps are often poorly drawn and street signs are quite rare; I don’t want to have to find two street signs in order to figure out which way I’m going.
The modern city and ancient Ayutthaya are one entity. Houses and modern temples sit next to ruins.
Ayutthaya
The nicer temples of Ayutthaya charge, with phalangs paying more than twice as much. After about 5 hours of wandering I’ve covered most of the temples on my map. I was initially planning on spending two days in both Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, but Luciana’s advice that I’d only need one day is sound. So I go ahead and book a ticket to Sukhothai for the next day.
While waiting at the bus station I start chatting with a German couple after they ask me about the timetable for the Sukhothai bus. Frauke and Philippe speak very good English like most Germans I’ve met. From the time I spent in Berlin a few years ago, I’d come to think of German’s as reserved with strangers. Frauke and Philippe were the first of many German friends I would make on this trip. Although there is some truth to my stereotype, it was too broad. Especially when it comes to travelers. In Sukhothai we split a tuk-tuk to a guesthouse in the new city. The new city wasn’t much to speak of: dirty and uninteresting.
The next morning we took a songthaew to the old city. A songthaew is a Southeast Asian local bus; a truck with benches on each side. The guesthouses around the restaurant looked nicer, if I were to return I would stay around the ruins. The ruins of Sukhothai were much nicer than Ayutthaya. The ruins were mostly contained within gated grounds of a few square miles, thus there was only one ticket to pay for and modern houses were nowhere to be seen. Once again, it turned out that a day in the ruins was all I needed. So the three of us headed on to Chiang Mai the next morning.
More pictures of the ruins and Buddhas