Amazing Ayutthaya

Story of our backpacking trip to Thailand (part 3 of 3)
Continued from Bangkok to Ayutthaya

Built-in 14^th century by King U Thong who came there from Lop Buri to escape an outbreak of smallpox. Coincidentally, we also went there to escape from coronavirus! It was a flourishing kingdom for nearly four centuries but was destroyed by Burmese. The town is surrounded by Chao Phraya River and has several old temples. Many of them must still be underground. The city has wide roads and maintained well. It was very quiet and there were no malls or big buildings. That evening we just walked to the historical park and saw the Wat MahaThat from outside. Wat means temple. This is one of five big temples in Ayutthaya built in the 14^th century. The park had a stream flowing through it and we had a good time just strolling around.

There were some vegetarian restaurants in this area and the food was delicious. We spent two nights in Ayutthaya. On one evening, we had food at the street market. This was a totally different experience. As mentioned by Bob, right at 5 pm we reached the food market. There was a flurry of activity. People were frying and steaming stuff and serving it. Families with very small kids also joined. Some little ones joined on their tricycles! We tasted jackfruit stuffed with sticky rice, some noodles, and dumplings. The street was full of enthusiasm and energy.

Sticky rice-jackfruit sandwiches gone in minutes!  

The next two days, we visited Wat Maha That, Wat Ratchaburana, and most importantly Wat Chaiwatthanaram. We also visited the palace and Chao Sam Phraya Museum. Right on the first evening, I twisted my foot while getting off a sidewalk. I had a painful ankle for a day. Surprisingly, I managed walking around the temples. Wat Chaiwatthanaram was a bit far off from our hotel and Vinay took a bicycle from our hotel but I was not confident of riding in a new place. I got bike taxies for just 40 TBHT (around ₹ 90) and was worried about contracting the virus and happy to zoom around the city! At Wat Chaiwatram, I was the first tourist of the day. As I waited for Vinay who was riding a bicycle, I spotted a number of beautiful young women dressed in traditional costumes. There were shops selling/renting those.  Probably, they were modern women from Bangkok. They were posing in the early sun and professional photographers were doing the photo shoot! I am not sure if it was for marriage proposals. 

On one lazy afternoon, I managed to get a foot massage and head massage. Ayutthaya is famous for Thai massage. The massage parlors were almost empty. There were hardly any customers and the masseuse was very happy to have me. I also got complimentary hot green tea. After the massage, the foot felt even better.

Some glimpses of the temples

 Overall, the stay in Ayutthaya was blissful with nothing much do except looking at the remains of splendid architecture, tasting different foods, and roaming around without much of a destination. We returned to Bangkok on the 6^th evening. This time we went to Bangkok Central so that we could reach Hotel Manhattan by changing metros easily.  We absolutely loved the metro system of Bangkok and the train journey to Ayutthaya. It should be noted that we did not take a cab in Bangkok. In Ayutthaya, we took a ride in a tuk-tuk while going from and to the station.

The experience of backpacking and traveling with a floating itinerary was an adventure in itself for a person like me who likes to plan every trip to the last details. Back in Bangkok we generally roamed around and visited the Terminal 21 mall nearby. We didn't buy anything there but had great food and especially loved the Durian cupcakes.  One city adventure was visiting the Khlong Toi market which had all sorts of creepy crawlies for sale. We took one walk on the outskirts of the market just like that.  We came to know fortnight later that we were very close to the boxing event superspreader on the same evening! Experts are still surprised by how the COVID numbers in Thailand are so small ( 3250 cases and 53 deaths as of July 20). Is it their immunity, lockdown, masks? No one knows for sure.  

Last four months, the world has come to a standstill. When we came back, I was scared to even talk about our visit to Thailand. I am lucky to be healthy and sharing these stories of the journey. We landed in Bangalore on the night of 8th March, and a serious contact tracing and quarantine started in the week after that. Apart from thermal screening and filling out medical forms we did not have to do anything.  I don't know when and where my next travel would be. Until then I am going cherish these fabulous memories!