November 13, 2022
Ayutthaya to Ang Thong
Ayutthaya is far more impressive and beautiful than I ever imagined. I have no idea why, after more trips to Thailand than I can figure out, I never visited the ancient ruins. I've always wondered why the Thais still hold a grudge against the Burmese for destroying (burning) the entire city 255 years ago but now I can tell, Ayutthaya must have been quite a jewel with temples tightly arranged over a vast area. Intricate, sophisticated water systems were the envy of the world. The capital city was strategically situated, far enough from the ocean up the Chao Phraya River, so that it was secure from any invading warships. Ayutthaya was one of the biggest cities in the world at the time and was respected by all the great empires as one of the most important religious and commercial places in the world. I love ancient temple ruins and I probably could have stayed for weeks in Ayutthaya. But we were anxious to finally start riding our bikes which we had transported more than 8,000 miles!
We left our wonderful Siri Guest House at 7AM instead of an hour earlier as we had planned, skirted some more ruins on our way out of town and rode to the top of a big bridge over the Chao Phraya River. Over the past two days we had gone back and forth about which side of the river we wanted to follow and decided the east side looked more interesting. The top of the bridge provided a good vantage point to watch two colorful tug boats pulling a string of three enormous, but empty, barges. While I was photographing them Andrea looked at our route on her phone and exclaimed that we were about to go onto the wrong side of the river than the one we had planned. So, not more than a couple miles into our adventure we did a U-Turn on the top of the bridge. No problem.
All along the Chao Phraya there was evidence of major flooding not more than a month ago. The industrious Thais had hauled truck load after truck load of heavy soil/clay making a three-foot high embankment to keep the river contained. I'm sure it helped in some places but for the most part the river could not be stopped and the place was a mess. There were broken sandbags everywhere and a lot of damaged homes and businesses. Because we had planned on following closely next to the river we saw a lot of destruction all day.
The temperature was hot right from the start and topped out at 95F. Humidity made it feel like it was just over 100F. Being our first day of riding the heat made things very difficult for two out of shape people carrying more weight than we will a few weeks into the trip. The sun was intense but we were happy. Our bikes were working perfectly and we found a coffee guy in the middle of nowhere making the old-time Thai coffee that we love. Old style Thai coffee is called Cafe Boulan. With a layer of sweetened condensed milk in a chocolaty brown mass it is so thick you can almost stand small spoons upright in it. We love the stuff and finding it in the middle of nowhere makes it taste even better. $.40 per cup.
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The heat was awful but reacquainting ourselves with all the Thai stuff that we love made it more bearable. The sound of a metal spatula scraping a wok, the smell of garlic being fried, the dozens of species of cute bird songs, languid dogs lying about on the roadways, counting squashed snakes instead of seeing live ones, flowers everywhere, old style Thai music wafting from beautiful teak wood houses, smiling or saying sa wat dee to everyone we see and 98% of them smiling and reciprocating but best of all is Thai courtesy. Many times we had to cut across lanes of busy highways and always someone allowed us space. We felt we could maneuver however we needed and always the Thais were not only letting us but I felt they had taken it upon themselves to protect us with their vehicles as well. We felt in good hands with the Thais and that is a very good feeling when riding a bike in a foreign land especially one known for auto accidents and a high rate of fatalities.
Plus, we were biking on flat land. At the end of the day Andrea's gizmo said we had climbed 250 feet but that was impossible or we would have been next to a raging rapids the entire way instead of a brown river moving languidly. It had obviously recorded the inclines leading to bridges. It did feel like I was slowly climbing all day but I chalked that up to being incredibly out of shape. The first couple of days riding usually feel uphill for me or even like some demon is pressing on the brakes the whole way.
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We found a very basic room in Ang Thong (under $12) by 2PM and after a couple of hours resting, showering and doing a bit of laundry we rode a big scary bridge across the Chao Phraya to one of the only restaurants open on a Sunday night. I remember when Sunday meant nothing to Thais (Buddhists). It was just another work day but now it has become a day of rest even more so than in Christian countries ironically. It must be that the middle class is large enough in Thailand now that they are demanding some rest. It's quite remarkable, the change in the past 20 years.
But, fortunately we found not only the one restaurant that was open but it must be one of the best restaurants in the entire several province wide area. The restaurant, called 10 to 6, (Sib tap Hoke) was upscale and modern with modern architecture even. At first glance we thought it would be out of range, pricewise, for us but it was quite reasonable and with a huge menu. But, all we wanted was some of the most common Thai dishes because we hadn't had them in Thailand yet, this trip. Andrea got fried rice! How boring you might say but she jazzed it up by adding squid. I got green curry. I judge restaurants by their green curry and I must say, this green curry at 10 to 6 was the best green curry I've ever eaten. And there was enough for two people. Green curry - $3.00, fried rice - $1.35. A great meal for sure.
The restaurant was conveniently located inside the big market area of Ang Thong which made searching for a papaya for breakfast easier. Avid readers of our journals might remember that we often make our own breakfasts in our room cutting an enormous papaya into our bowls we travel with, adding some muesli and soy milk and possibly some slices from the delicious tiny Thai bananas. We have found that the digestive enzymes papayas contain are super helpful when traveling and possibly eating odd things like the blood soup we had in Bangkok. However we couldn't find a papaya at the market and had to settle on two mangoes, darn. When the mango vendor put my two on the scale and told me the price ($.25 each) I suddenly had the thought of buying her entire mango mound. But we are on bikes so I refrained.
We braved the big scary bridge, even scarier at dusk, slipped along the river to our guest house next to a 7-Eleven, (Thailand is second only to Japan for the number of 7-Elevens, currently with 13,100 of them!), slid our bikes into our room and called it a very good start to yet another bike trip in S.E. Asia. We are quite excited to be here again.
lovebruce
> I'm mentioning prices to show how a person can have an amazing vacation in Thailand for not a lot of money. Admission to Ayutthaya Historical Park which is a World Heritage Site is only $1.35 per person. We paid the first day but then discovered that it is very easy to see a whole lot more ruins in the vast park by entering for free from its back end.
Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 46 miles (74 km)
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2 years ago
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2 years ago
And so glad that you had some shady spots to rest along the hot and humid route. May they appear frequently!
I wish I could send you cool breezes whenever you need them, Andrea!!
2 years ago
2 years ago