Feeling that we perhaps needed to see a little more of Thailand than just the brilliant Bangkok Henry and I ventured off to the ancient city of Ayutthaya for a few days. It was once the capital of Thailand and is now famed for its many ancient ruins. It is just a couple of hours north of Bangkok and the train seemed to be the best option. There were only 3rd class tickets available for the 2 hour journey and it was an absolute bargain at just 15B each (30p).

Over an hour of the journey was spent crawling through the suburbs of Bangkok where we saw many people living right next to the rails, some of the houses balanced on stilts above one of the many small rivers that run throughout the area.

The scenery was not so interesting after leaving Bangkok and some people were obviously feeling a little sleepy…

On arriving at the station there were the usual tuk tuks waiting to overcharge tourists but we really liked this one which had some unusual decorations on the roof.

The temples, as I said above, were all pretty similar really. One which we stumbled upon that was a bit different was this outdoor giant reclining Buddha.

Full Body Massages!

One last thing I almost forget to mention is that we had our first Thai full body massage in Ayutthaya. It was amazing! We had gone out one evening to find the night market but due to a torrential downpour it never really seemed to get going, I spied a massage place and convinced Henry we should go for it. We went for the ‘Thai Style’, 1 hour, full body option and it cost a grand total of £4 each. Absolute bargain! We were the only customers there on that very wet night and were shown into a room and given a set of loose cotton clothes to change into. The ladies came in and started their work on us on the thin mattresses that were placed on the floor; the hour seemed to fly by. It was not quite as professionally run as the massage place in Pattaya, for example both ladies took calls on their phone whist continuing to massage us! Nevertheless, it was still a great end to a day of walking and we felt revived, sleepy and energised all at the same time. The massage was done with not only the hands but the feet, the elbows and the knees at times. We were stretched, pulled and somewhat pummelled into a zone of complete relaxation. I can see why there are so many massage places around. Once you have one you know you will go back for another!

So, after a few days we headed back on the train to Bangkok to further explore this amazing city. Posts to come about Bangkok soon.

Ayutthaya 26th – 28th May 2012