Wat Ratchaburana

11:00
I sleep through the night (good) but am awake a little before 06:00 (bad). It’s all progress in the right direction, but I suspect I’ll feel more than a touch jaded later. Our train today is scheduled to take a little over 9 hours, but I have no clue whether Thai trains are likely to run to time. Departure time from Chiang Mai is 08:50, where the train originates, so we’re aiming to be there for 08:30. I’m packed in decent time, and ping Felix to check his progress. I’m a little alarmed when I receive no response. I don’t *think* he’s a candidate for sleeping in / accidentally snoozing alarm etc etc. I knock on his door as I pad downstairs, and am reassured when it sounds like he’s actually - you know, up and about.

At the station, we grab supplies for the journey. I believe we’ll get some food and refreshments served onboard the train, but have been warned not to rely on these. Boarding the train, there’s a blast of chilled air. There are non A/C trains that run up and down the same line, so it’s gratifying to know we’ll be kept cool along the journey. We find our seats. They look comfy enough, and offer enough legroom even for the 12 foot tall Felix. Behind us, an American couple are having what sounds like a bit of a domestic. They also don’t sound best pleased at the comfort of their seats. I’m not 100% sure what they expected - the tickets cost £8 for a 9 hour journey over a 420 mile distance.

The train is a touch late leaving, but soon enough we’re under way. A few minutes later, we’re clear of the Chiang Mai urban sprawl, and out into a desperately verdant countryside. I sit and watch the world go by. I spend an hour reading about Ayutthaya, our destination today, and plotting places to go, stuff to eat and the like. Our guesthouse is bang in the centre of the old town, and spitting distance from many of the temples and sights we want to visit. It’s also on the same block as some great sounding restaurants.

Ayutthaya is an ancient city, though exactly how ancient is up for grabs. Its official founding date is 1351 AD, but there’s some evidence to suggest it was actually founded as early as the late 13th century. The old city is based on an island formed at the conjoining of the Chao Phraya and Pa Sek rivers. For 4 centuries, it was the capital of the Siam kingdom, until it was destroyed in 1767, during the second Burmese/Siamese war, as a direct result of which, the capital seat of Siam was transferred to Bangkok, where it remains to this day. Many of the ancient sites in Ayutthaya have been repaired and renovated, though some remain ruins. It was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1991. It promises to be an eye-opening and fascinating insight into ancient Thai history, and the Buddhist religion…

15:10
We’ve been moving very slowly for the past 3 hours, slowing winding our way through rural idylls. We’ve stopped a few times, but in towns that seem pretty slow and sleepy. We’re out of the hills now (or FOR now, at any rate…) and passing rice paddy after rice paddy. I’ve spent I don’t know how long gazing aimlessly out of the train window, watching the world go by. It’s occasionally made me quite soporific, but not quite sleepy enough to attempt a nap. The carriage is almost always full - as many leaving the train as boarding. We pass through Phitsanulok, what looks to be a sizeable city right in the heart of central Thailand. I’d like to come back to this part of Thailand - the North and central regions. It’s an incredibly different proposition to the crazy pace of the islands in the South, and one to which I find myself drawn. I’d happily combine it with a trip into Myanmar, which is a country that I find intriguing and saddening in equal measures. I’d probably need a couple of months to do the full lot justice though…

17:48
Our progress has stalled. I wondered if we were perhaps falling a little behind schedule. We end up stationary at Pak Nam Pho for about 45 minutes. When questioned, the train crew reckon we’re running around an hour behind schedule. It’s not disastrous by any means, but it will mean a fairly late arrival into Ayutthaya. On the up side, our train food is brought to us - a tasty Pad Gra Pow with pork. There’s no ‘little bit/tourist spicy’ here. We get the full beans Thai version that’s served to everyone, and it’s hot. We’re both more than hungry, so we devour it, but the heat lingers for some time after we’ve finished. Alarmingly, it was served with a little sachet of chilli oil with some sliced orange chillies in it. Neither of us thought to add it, which is probably for the best. We pass through some torrential downpours. In the chilly, air-conditioned carriage, you could almost imagine it’s cold outside. A brief visit to the toilet (in the corridor between carriages - NOT air-conditioned) reminds me that it’s hot and sticky…

22:30
We end up pulling in to Ayutthaya station at 19:30, about 90 minutes late. It’s not the worst of delays, and we’ve at least been keep frosty en route. We jump in a cab and head to our guesthouse, which transpires to be wooden bungalows, very much in the ‘cabin the woods’ style. Murders abound, no doubt. It’s properly hot, and we both crank up the A/C units in our rooms in an attempt to cool down.

We determine to head out for a wander. There’s actually a lovely, cooling breeze out on the street. We can see hints of the ancient temples of Ayutthaya in the distance as we walk, but we’re gonna check those out tomorrow. We pitch up at a cool bar called Coffee House. There’s a band warming up, but the beer is cold. Apparently so is Felix’s Sprite. We have some snacks, and talk guitars, travel plans, thrash metal - your usual sort of dinner table convo. The band strikes up. We were 50/50 whether they’d be murdering western covers, or singing more local material - maybe even their own? It transpires they’re covering the gamut of Thai pop. Several of the service team are wandering around singing along.

Part of me could happily settle in here for the duration. More of me is knackered after a not great night’s sleep, and a looooong day travelling. Felix and I decide to call it a night…Baca selengkapnya