Ayuthaya Daze
Well we havent updated in a while, mainly because we haven't done anything worth talking about. Our flight to Bangkok was scary.. We were on a very little, very rickety, very noisy plane that made noises when it wasnt supposed to be making noises.. Luke thought we were going to die and it wasn't much fun trying to convince him otherwise. By the time we landed I was exhausted and we have made a mutual decision that next time we will catch the bus.. even if it is a 12 hour trip!
We didnt spend any time in Bangkok we got straight in a taxi and headed to the train station and then bought a ticket for the train (with about 2 minutes to spare) and scrambled on to the train. We went third class this time and it was kind of nice. There werent many people which meant that we didnt have to fight for a seat (or stand for the journey). We got to Ayuthaya about 7pm and caught a tuk tuk to tonys guesthouse but they were full so we went to the U.P. guesthouse who were also full but the lady here organised a tuk tuk for us (which we didnt have to pay for) and packed us off to her sisters guesthouse for the night and said she would keep a room for us for the following day. Her sisters guesthouse was 50baht more expensive but it was beautiful. By far the nicest place we have stayed in our travels.. except for the dogs! The guesthouse sat on a large block of land with a big dirt driveway from the main road. There was no lighting along the driveway and the woman had six dogs. When we left to get some dinner she walked us down to the gate and made us promise to push the buzzer when we came back so that she could come and get us.. with her walking with us the dogs didnt attack us or anything but they barked and barked and barked.. it was pretty scary.
There had been some pretty heavy rainfall in Ayuthaya that day so everything was wet and muddy but we've had reasonably good weather since (it is the wetseason after all). We are still in Ayuthaya, we moved back to the second guesthouse the next morning and although it isnt quite as nice as her sister's place (where i had the best sleep i've had since leaving home) it is comfortable and clean and the owner is great. She has enlisted our help a couple of times. The first time she was having language difficulties with the lonely planet office in melbourne so she wanted us to call on her behalf.. it was a saturday so we would have waited til monday so I suggested we use the internet instead. We didnt end up being any help to her at all and the issue was fixed up by the time we came back to the guesthouse that night but she has given us free internet access for our trouble. Then yesterday she got a new couch for the movie room and wanted out interior design help on where to put the old couch so we helped her move all her plants on the verandah and put the old couch out there (for this assistance we got free cokes lol) She is a funny lady.. She speaks Thai, English and Japanese and has so much energy!! She is like an energizer bunny!
Other than that we havent done a lot. We did a boat tour a couple of nights ago along the river here (which is very close to overflowing from all the rain. some of the houses along the banks had water right up the doorways!). We went to some old temples (which are really just ruins now) and wandered around taking photos and climbing through the ruins and we went to an actual temple (a new tacky gold one) but we didnt go inside that one. We were going to do another tour yesterday but decided against it because most of the tour was temples and they are just all the same to us.
Tomorrow we are catching the bus to Phisanulok. There is a national park nearby that I would like to check out.
Thats all for now, we will update again soon when we have something interesting to report! Just wanted you all to know that we are safe and happy! :)
We didnt spend any time in Bangkok we got straight in a taxi and headed to the train station and then bought a ticket for the train (with about 2 minutes to spare) and scrambled on to the train. We went third class this time and it was kind of nice. There werent many people which meant that we didnt have to fight for a seat (or stand for the journey). We got to Ayuthaya about 7pm and caught a tuk tuk to tonys guesthouse but they were full so we went to the U.P. guesthouse who were also full but the lady here organised a tuk tuk for us (which we didnt have to pay for) and packed us off to her sisters guesthouse for the night and said she would keep a room for us for the following day. Her sisters guesthouse was 50baht more expensive but it was beautiful. By far the nicest place we have stayed in our travels.. except for the dogs! The guesthouse sat on a large block of land with a big dirt driveway from the main road. There was no lighting along the driveway and the woman had six dogs. When we left to get some dinner she walked us down to the gate and made us promise to push the buzzer when we came back so that she could come and get us.. with her walking with us the dogs didnt attack us or anything but they barked and barked and barked.. it was pretty scary.
There had been some pretty heavy rainfall in Ayuthaya that day so everything was wet and muddy but we've had reasonably good weather since (it is the wetseason after all). We are still in Ayuthaya, we moved back to the second guesthouse the next morning and although it isnt quite as nice as her sister's place (where i had the best sleep i've had since leaving home) it is comfortable and clean and the owner is great. She has enlisted our help a couple of times. The first time she was having language difficulties with the lonely planet office in melbourne so she wanted us to call on her behalf.. it was a saturday so we would have waited til monday so I suggested we use the internet instead. We didnt end up being any help to her at all and the issue was fixed up by the time we came back to the guesthouse that night but she has given us free internet access for our trouble. Then yesterday she got a new couch for the movie room and wanted out interior design help on where to put the old couch so we helped her move all her plants on the verandah and put the old couch out there (for this assistance we got free cokes lol) She is a funny lady.. She speaks Thai, English and Japanese and has so much energy!! She is like an energizer bunny!
Other than that we havent done a lot. We did a boat tour a couple of nights ago along the river here (which is very close to overflowing from all the rain. some of the houses along the banks had water right up the doorways!). We went to some old temples (which are really just ruins now) and wandered around taking photos and climbing through the ruins and we went to an actual temple (a new tacky gold one) but we didnt go inside that one. We were going to do another tour yesterday but decided against it because most of the tour was temples and they are just all the same to us.
Tomorrow we are catching the bus to Phisanulok. There is a national park nearby that I would like to check out.
Thats all for now, we will update again soon when we have something interesting to report! Just wanted you all to know that we are safe and happy! :)