Some empty freedom

November 11, 2022 to November 12, 2022

Bangkok to Ayutthaya

(14 miles ridden around Ayutthaya)

Dear little friends,

Back in 2017 we were up near Chiang Dao caves staying in a little pastel bungalow when somebody in another bungalow commented on our Bike Fridays. It was Chris Wee, a rad cyclist from Singapore, traveling with his darling wife Coleen. I knew about Chris, he’d had an infamous header on his bike that had been much discussed online. We spent a couple of days riding with them up toward the border, ending up in Arunothai for Chinese New Year. Oh, them hills were steep up there.

Anyway, after we got settled in our train station hotel we met up with these two again, another coincidence that they were in Bangkok the same time we were. The bikeys are converging! It was fun to catch up and hunt down a noodle place for dinner. Well, it was probably more fun for the other three, I’m still deeply mired in jet lag and was whining to go back to the hotel by 7.

This hotel is huge, has very basic rooms, and an elevator that barely fit our bikes. It did have a great view from the fifth floor to the east and Hualumphong station. We were not feeling enthused about the so-called “free breakfast” but it turned out to be a feast! Jok, curries, eggs, toast, fruit, coffee, juices, vegetables, and endless array. While we love ourselves a breakfast buffet I think Bruce has a special hollow leg he brings out for such occasions.

We waltz right into hotel lobbies with our bikes.

We took an early morning walk in Chinatown and saw evidence of very recent flooding.

A quiet Chinatown street before things open up.

We finally left the breakfast room and brought bikes and bags downstairs and loaded up for the long half-block journey to the station. Short 3rd-class mail trains travel several times a day to Ayutthaya and parts beyond, this was one of them. While we paid a freight charge for the bikes and bags, there was no actual freight car, a young backpacker helped us hoist everything up into the seating area where our crap displaced several paid ticket holders. Kind of a crappy situation and we felt badly about that.

The wind blew in and the train clattered along for a couple of hours. We really made the right decision to train it out of Bangkok, it was a flat, hot, boring industrial route that would have been miserable.

Once the train stopped in Ayutthaya, boarding local guys helped us sling our gear outside and we put ourselves back together and headed to the Siri Guesthouse. This was a nice little place, our room was sweet and had everything we need. Birds called constantly outside and it was great to be out of the massive megacity.

Because of past misadventures with excessive heat and humidity we spend afternoons in the air conditioning until we can go out without frying. The evening light in the temple grounds was beautiful. Ayutthaya is an ancient site that seems more lovely than Sukothai because of its trees. I like ancient temples, I like trees and wildlife even more. We saw monitor lizards schlepping around by the ponds and marveled at the incredible bird calls we were hearing.

I find the monitor lizards beautiful and stately. They freak Bruce out.

There is a night market right by the main temple entrance and we found ourselves some yummy food there and ate at a little table. There are definitely foreign tourists in Ayutthaya, but most of the folks were Thais. At 6 pm and 8 am on the dot, all over Thailand loudspeakers and TV and radio channels all play the national anthem. This happened at the night market but this was the first time in many years that we saw everyone milling through the market come to a halt during the anthem. Just like the old days.

The next day we went out early to ride around and see a bit more of Ayutthaya. The inner part of this town is a bit low rent and working class, the market one of the roughest we’ve seen since Cambodia and Myanmar. But we picked up the peanuts and laundry detergent we needed and had 12 baht (32 cents) coffee at a very nice lady’s stand. People are very friendly and polite, the pandemic didn’t do this tourist-oriented town any favors and I think we’re going to see more evidence of that in the weeks ahead. We’re glad to be here.

This alignment seems a bit misaligned but what do I know.

Another evening in the temples glowing with sunset light and some rather slow street food at the night market and it was back to our room. Our first day of riding was the next morning and we were both a little apprehensive. Jet lag put me out by 7:30 and we had a date with our bikes at 6 am.

Today's ride: 14 miles (23 km)
Total: 17 miles (27 km)

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Chris WeeThe infamous header lives on! 13 sharp and prickly steel teeth up front. They would make nice earrings too.
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonThe breakfast buffet sounds great! It’s a lot more than we get in France.
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2 years ago