Sunday 17th February
I checked out of the guesthouse and took a taxi to the post office to send some stuff home, and thankfully lighten the load slightly (although it has never got too bad). The staff there were extremely helpful and attentive, adding to my already high opinion of the Thai people. They really are lovely people, and help to make you feel very welcome. I got to the bus station and hopped on the coach to Ayuthaya, a former captial city of Thailand, and now the site of ancient ruins dating back several centuries.
The bus to Suphanburi left at 12.00, arriving at 14.00, and it was pretty comfortable. I tried to order some food at a cafe at the bus station, but the waitresses lack of English and my lack of Thai meant that I failed to order anything and so I had to settle for a rotten bag of crisps. The bus to Ayuthaya left at 15.00, getting to the bus terminal two hours later, two hours on the most uncomfortable bus I had been on since India, and which was particularly sore on my backside.
I called the 'Ban Suan' guesthouse and they had a cheap room. I got there and rushed out to see some of the nearby ruins, hoping to get some atmospheric photographs in while the setting sun allowed it. Most of the ruins were built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the architecture was pretty impressive with the remains of temples and other monuments well maintained. What I liked most was the calmness and quiet of the place, the ruins set back from the road making it a very peaceful place to be as the sun set over the crumbling ruins.
After walking about the main historical park area, I began to feel peckish having only snacked during the day. I walked by a place outside which people were pulling up in their cars, and there were already a couple of tables full of people enjoying something that they apparently couldn't get elsewhere. I took this as a good sign and sat down at a table, discovering that the main draw was the Korean barbecue. This is a DIY meal cooked at your own table, with a metal fryer-come-saucepan placed over a bucket of coals used to cook the selection of raw meat, vegetables and noodles. I wasn't sure how to go about this, having never had one before, so I sneaked a glance at a nearby table, and took the lead from people who clearly knew what they were doing.
In the end, I managed to make a meal of it – in the good sense of the phrase – with my main aim to ensure that all of the meat and fish was cooked as thoroughly as possible. I'm not sure whether I would order the Korean barbecue again as it was a lot of work, but I was glad to have at least tried something knew.
As there wasn't much else to do in Ayuthaya – at least from what I could gauge after a few hours there - I spent the rest of the evening on the internet. All the while, I assessed the status of my stomach and the bits below for potential food poisoning, just in case I needed to take pre-emptive action to 'stem the tide', so to speak. Thankfully, I hadn't done any damage, and was able to turn in for the night safe in the knowledge that I wouldn't need to be running to the toilet during the night.
