Pip, Rach and Hol do Ayutthaya

I'm sorry! It's been months since I've updated the blog and there are loads of trips and photos I've got to talk about. Firstly, was the girls' trip to the old capital Ayutthaya. After a conversation about making the most out of our weekends, Pippa, Rach and I decided to book a budget trip to Ayutthaya. I booked a little homestay, that was clean but very basic for a very reasonable £8 for two nights, each. And then we got the train, which was about 30p each, each way. Ayutthaya isn't too far away from Bangkok so it only took a couple of hours to get there, door to door. We stocked up on pies, sausage rolls and a beer at work (Pie and Pint Night) before we left then headed off!

Map of Bangkok and Ayutthaya

We arrived at the train station about 8pm ish (I think) and then got a tuktuk to the homestay which was lovely. We sat in the communal area playing canasta and having a coke before we went to bed

The following day we hired a tuktuk and guide to take us around the temple ruins. Ayutthaya was the old capital of Siam before the Burmese came and burnt it down. The temples are still standing (ish) but are very different to the gold ones in Bangkok. 

The river was about 3m higher than this during the flooding
which meant the temples were partially under water

I like the birds flying around the middle bit

Our rather jazzy tuktuk

Pip and Rach dwarfed by the feet of a reclining Buddha

Poor elephants :(

Mum, Dad and I visited these on our first
trip to Thailand, although they've been
restored since then

Someone had piled the rubble into little
stacks. I liked taking photos of these. Pip and
Rach did not, although they tolerated it.

Probably the most popular site in Ayutthaya
where a broken Buddha head was put and the
base of a tree where the roots then grew
around it

Very high, steep steps that we were brave
enough to scale

The view from the top - look how small Pip
and Rach are!

It was a really nice weekend and although we got bitten by mosquitoes and the rooms were pretty hot and there wasn't running tap water...it was great! The food was really good, we had ice cream for brunch, beat Pippa at canasta and the ruins were definitely worth seeing. If you're in Bangkok for a little while, I'd recommend a day trip or a night.