Thailand’s Old Capital: Ancient City of Ayutthaya

I have to start by saying 7-Eleven is a lifesaver.

I know it’s bad – we usually try to stick with more local markets – but you have no idea how badly you’d kill for air conditioning and a slurpee after a couple hours in the heat of the day. 7-Eleven is one of the few places with guaranteed air conditioning and cheap ice cold water! I won’t even tell you how many times we tried to loiter in one today (which felt like one of the hottest days of my life). You can just imagine us: at one point we walked two steps outside of the 7/11 to the street curb, stood there side-by-side watching traffic pass by, with three stray dogs at our feet, drinking our slurpees in a complete silence until they were empty within a few minutes. That’s dehydration!

Other than that, we took one of Bangkok’s hot pink taxis to the train station this morning. Too bad our bags got stuck in the trunk! Ohhh no. But, within minutes we were surrounded by locals wanting to help; Thai people are honestly the nicest I have ever met. They are always smiling at us and willing to help however they can.

After a good 15 minutes of attempts, our bags were freed. From there, we took a $0.50 train ride for two hours to Thailand’s old capital, Ayutthaya, to check out the ruins that remain.

We discovered the best way to tour ruins: by bicycle. Especially bicycles with little baskets in the front. This was definitely the best part of the day. Though slightly terrifying due to the left-handed driving… I feel like I am always looking the wrong way when I cross the street. But, it’s a good way to jive with the motorcyclists (ie. small families of 5 on one motorcycle, or 14 year old teen hipsters) and tuk tuks. Everyone was kind to us being dysfunctional on the road at least…

Anyways, back to the ruins from the year 1300:

And now we’ve boarded our overnight sleeper train to North Thailand, where all the outdoorsy adventures happen. We all just crammed into Andrew’s bed and drew major attention from the staff with our 2kg candy bag that Shane brought from home. Everyone’s going to think Canadians are crazy after this trip!

See you in Chiang Mai!