Temples of Ayutthaya

Tuesday 23 June 2015 – Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya

I rose early and walked up to the rail bridge again, then back through the town, getting an iced coffee at the 7/11 convenience store on the corner (TB35). The minibuses and their obliging drivers reappeared to take us back across central Thailand to Ayutthaya, stopping a few times on the way to see rice paddies and other crops.

At Ayutthaya we stopped at a roadside shop and were shown the Thai method of producing sugar floss, which is a popular local dessert served on roti bread and is known as roti saimai. I had a go at ‘pulling’ the thick ropes of hot sugar – it is certainly a workout.

We toured three Ayutthaya World Heritage listed temple sites, including Wat Phanan Choeng, Wat Phra Mahathat and Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. I sent a message to my colleague Dr Jane Harrington, whose doctoral research was conducted here. Unfortunately our visit was brief and perfunctory due to our tight schedule.

Late in the afternoon we retired to a hotel to rest and swim in the pool to cool off before grabbing some more great street food and heading to the railway station to catch the overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai.