Ayutthaya

Well, I am sat in a very comfortable internet cafe (with powerful AC) after an incredibly long, tiring, but exciting day!

We arrived in Ayutthaya at 11.30 this morning. It took a while to get about and work out where we needed to be, but we eventually found a place to hire bicycles! That was at 1.30 and we were on them until 4.45!!! We've been zipping around looking at all the Angkor-style temples here (impressive, but on a much smaller scale!)

It was very manic zipping in and out of traffic (sorry Mum!), across dual carriageways and in front of tuk-tuks and mopeds, but even though the drivers appear to be crazier here than at home, they are very good and actually stop for you as you need to get across. Good thing really...

Lunch was greatly required around 2pm, and we were away from the obvious touristy places by this point. We swung into a little roadside place, hoping for a Coke or two. Well, the lovely Thai ladies there were fascinated with us, and out came two of the largest glass Coke bottles I have ever seen!

We decided we were also desperate for food, but didn't fancy the barbecued chicken up at the front, so we though rice was a nice easy option. We asked for plain rice, but they didn't seem to understand (so far, English has been widespread). Katie went off to ask again for it, and all me and Fiona could hear was "No, not cow... rice!!!" Time to get out the Rough Guide and read the food dictionary at the back.

Turns out that rice is "khao" - not cow - so we were on the right lines all along. Fiona opted for some plain sticky rice, but Katie and I attempted to order fried rice, "khao phat" (cow pat!!!) It took a while to communicate this, but eventually, out came two large plates of delicious fried rice and veg, accompanied with a salad of shredded radish (maybe) dressed with lime juice and chilli. AMAZING!!!

We had no idea how much this would all cost as no menus were involved, so imagine our surprise when 2 huge Cokes, 2 plates of fried rice and 1 portion of plain rice totalled only 150 baht (2.40 GBP!)

It was then back onto the bikes to finish off the temple tour. At the main one in the town (I forget the name!) we encountered a huge group of schoolkids, all in bright yellow polo shirts, who were as fascinated with us, as we were with the temples!!! It was time for a photo op, and we introduced ourselves - I think we made their day!

School Outing!

Anyway, I am filthy, I have bike chain oil on my trousers, I had the largest wet patch all over the seat of my pants (no, I didn't have an accident!) and I really stink, but I don't care, it was the greatest day so far. So, next is the train to Chiang Mai in an hour and a half's time. This one is overnight, 13 hours long, so I will be sleeping in the stink until we find a suitable hostel/guesthouse tomorrow. Oh well, this is all what it is about and I am loving it so far.

I've been really pleased with myself also, I'm always off asking for directions, advice and I have perfected "hello" and "thank you" in Thai. I forgot to mention that on Monday morning (when I was in the internet cafe at 7.30am!) that I introduced myself to a lovely Korean girl called Claire, and we had a good old natter about Korea and life over there. I love being back in Asia and last night I found a Korean restaurant in Bangkok, which the girls kindly accompanied me to. I had kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) and it was authentic, we even sat on the floor at a low Korean table! My mother would have been do proud, fantastic...