Thailand - travel to Ayuthaya (Sunday, November 8th, 2015)

On travel days we have a very strict two-hour window in preparation for our departure.  Two hours before our departure, we get a wake-up call in our room.  One hour before departure we need to have our luggage outside of our room for the porters to pick up. We are then able to head to breakfast and enjoy our morning until our coach leaves.  It is a great way to ensure that everyone is on time to leave and that the luggage is taken care of.

One of the guests tried to change his wakeup time from 6:00 to 6:30 because he felt like he didn’t need that much time to get ready, so he ended up getting a wakeup call at 6:00 and 6:30. They really don’t let you mess with the system, which we really like!

After our complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we left Bangkok at 8:00 am. Our tour director really kept things moving at check out, so we got out of there on time. On our way to the bus we all identified our luggage to be sure it was all collected.  Once we identified it was immediately loaded onto a truck for direct transport to our new hotel.  As we said previously it will be waiting for us in the new room once we arrive.  

Once everyone is on the bus, he gets a report from the front desk. If anyone forgot to turn in their keys, or helped themselves to the minibar after checkout or other issues with the, he knows about it and has to work with them to get it straightened out. The hotel also goes through the rooms very throughly for anything we may have forgot.  We saw several items returned prior to the group prior to us leaving.  They are so organized. Again, we really liked this.

So after all of that, we were on our way to Ayutthaya, the second capital of Thailand (for the 400 years after Sukhothai), which at that time was known as Siam. It was once one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia because it was located at the site where three rivers come together, making transporation very easy.

On our way to Ayutthaya we stopped for a little surprise that Mike had for us.  It was a road side candy shop where they make everything by hand.  He wanted to show us a traditional Thai candy that can most closely be described as cotton candy, but it's served in a little pancake.  

Making the pancakes that the "cotton candy" is served in

Making the "cotton candy" all by hand

More cotton candy being heated up

We enjoyed lunch at a wonderful resort called Pludhaya Resort and Spa. It had beautiful “cabin” styles rooms on stilts over a beautiful small lake, and the food was incredible. We asked Mike, and he said that it would cost about $40 USD to stay there for a night. I would love to come back and do that. 

They offer these beautiful little cabins for rent, and served a very delicious lunch as well.

After lunch we were back on the road, traveling through the countryside and seeing many beautiful sights.  

Our next stop was the Ayutthaya Historical Park, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It lies in the center of the city of Ayutthaya. Here, we saw the ruins of the former capital and it’s remaining palaces, monasteries and towers. It gave us a glimpse of the grandeur and splendor that was once the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. This city was invaded by the Burmese Army and was turned to ruins. The capital then moved to Bangkok.

Our transportation for the day as we saw the sights in Ayutthaya

We visited Chai Wattanaram Temple, built by King Prasat Tong to honor his mother who died in a boat that capsize. At the time, there was a law that no one could touch the queen, so when the boat that she was on capsized, no one was able to help her and she drown in the turbulent waters. The Chai Wattanaram Temple was conceived as a replica of the Angkor Wat Temple.

Such a beautiful mix of old and new

During an earthquake many of the Buddha heads fell off.  This one was eventually taken over by this tree.

The old capital city of Ayutthaya

Many of the Buddhas now missing their heads from the earthquake

We got back in our three-wheeled trucks and drove the short distance to the Bang Pa-In Palace, a collection of beautiful buildings in various architectural styles, surrounded by a lake. Originally built by King Prasat Tong in 1632, Bang Pa-In served as the Royal Summer Palace for the Thai Kings.  A wall on the grounds of the palace separated the people of the city from the royal family.  The royal family was not allowed to leave the security of the walls.

A beautiful pagoda in the lake

The beautifully decorated reception area inside the palace

A bridge over the lake 

Bushes carved into every animal you can imagine

A turtle in the lake 

Another Monitor Lizard on the grounds of the palace

The palace from the outside.  No pictures were allowed inside

Each time we get back on our bus, we are handed a bottle of water and a cold wet-wipe to cool off and clean up with.  It is such a nice touch when we are stopping at so many places.  Steve and I decided that it would be fun to treat our bus driver and bus boy to a surprise each morning, so we started paying attention to what they drink in the morning.  It was these:

We asked Mike and he said they are energy drinks, so now we will buy them for our bus crew each morning to help get their day started

We continued to enjoy the beautiful countryside as we made our way to our hotel for the night.

Remember these?  They still have telephone booths in Thailand

We arrived at the Kantary Hotel at about 2:45 and had the rest of the day to enjoy on our own. Ayuthaya is a rather industrial town based mostly on it’s history, so unlike Bangkok, there was not a lot that we could walk to. 

Kantary Hotel, was more like efficiency apartments with room service. They are very nice, with air conditioning and all of the amenities that you would find in any western hotel. The bathroom came fully stocked all of the hygiene products your could need as well as a blow dryer. It also had free internet access in all of the public locations within the hotel, but not in our room. 

Ayuthaya seems much hotter than Bangkok, even though it is north of Bangkok. All day we were all quite happy to get back to the air conditioning of the bus. It was really hot. We all looked like were were melting.

Mike said that it NEVER snows in Thailand, and if they are lucky, they will get about one week per year where they need a light jacket.

When we got into Ayuthaya, Steve and I took a walk up the main road and then up a side road in search of fresh 7-11 coffees. We came upon two 7-11s but neither had a coffee machine, so we had to settle for a canned coffee. We also picked us a couple of beers to take back to the hotel and enjoy later. As we were walking down the street, a young mom was grilling various types of meat on a stick. She had the cutest baby sitting in her cart so patiently. She was such a delight.

A typical city bus

The most common form of family transportation

Dinner tonight is provided by the hotel and is a buffet of both western and Thai style food. After dinner we went up to the 16th floor pool deck and enjoyed our beers in the breeze of the evening.