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Thai Trails

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Angkor in Cambodia had been such an overwhelming experience that I had some real concerns that anything we would see in the central plains of Thailand would pale in comparison. In fact, while I had met plenty of people who had been to Thailand, I knew of no one who had visited the central plains. Our decision to explore that part of the country was based on two premises:

a) It contained the ruins of Thailands medieval capital cities, and; b) Generally no one seemed to go there.

Indeed, when planning the trip we encountered almost complete mystification from the travel agents we approached. "You want to go where? Hmmm. I don\'t think we have anything going there." Almost all travel in Thailand is directed to Bangkok, Chang Mai, Pattaya and the islands in the south.

Travel in Thailand proved to be generally easy - and cheap. From the airport we took a train to Ayutthaya. It cost 95 baht for two (one way). That is just under $2 each. The trip took about 40 minutes. Stepping from the train in Ayutthaya, we were pounced on by tuk tuk drivers. I had already picked a hotel from our Lonely Planet guide during the trip - the Tevaraj Tamrin Hotel. The choice of the Tevaraj was primarily influenced by the extraordinary weight of our backbacks, the determination not to get ripped off by tuk tuk drivers (which basically meant walking) and the fact it had a floating riverfront restaurant. One old guy followed us in his tuk tuk offering his services for 20 baht. We could see the hotel about 100 metres from the station but he still followed us. About half way there, as the straps of my backpack began to slice through my shoulders (I was also carrying Shelly\'s backpack because she had a sore back) I began to have doubts about the logic behind my stinginess. But there was method in my madness (at least that\'s what I kept telling myself) as the tuk tuk driver will get a commission on any hotel accommodation you purchase. And who pays the commission? Why, you do, through an inflated room tariff.

The Tevaraj was a nice hotel for a provincial town. The room cost us 1000 baht, which equated to A$25. For the price it was fantastic. We had a room overlooking the Ping River with a balcony to watch the barges plying up and down. But there was no time to rest. From the shop next to the hotel we hired bicycles and rode into the centre of town. This did involve the difficult task of carrying the bikes onto a longtail boat to get us across the river, but the locals were patient and helpful, steadying my bike as carried Shelly\'s on board.

Ayutthaya was the Thai capital from the 15th century until 1767, when the city was sacked and burned by the Burmese. The city\'s proximity to the Burmese border was its downfall. The Burmese sacked the city several times during Ayutthaya\'s turbulent existence. In the early 16th century, the Khmers, who had suffered defeat after defeat against the expansionist Siamese kingdom enjoyed a rare victory and marched on the capital. Ironically, they were denied the pleasure of sacking the city as the Burmese had gotten there first and were in occupation. The Thai\'s recovered Ayutthaya again, but after the disaster of 1767, the Thai kings moved the capital downriver to the relative safety of Bangkok. In its heyday, the city rivalled many of the worlds great trading centres. It was once larger and more prosperous than London and had a population of over a million. In the seventeenth century, the Dutch, the French, the English and even the Japanese had trading settlements in the city.

The city is actually an island, situated at the confluence of two rivers. Weaving through the Thai traffic up a central thoroughfare, we reached a pack at the centre of the island. Around this park are the remains of the ancient capital. New Ayutthaya has grown up around the ruins. We entered the first set of ruins. The royal temple of Wat Mahathat. Entry cost 25 baht. Shelly summed up our impression. "Well, this is very different to Angkor." Unlike Angkor, where the buildings were constructed of huge laterite and sandstone blocks, the Ayutthayan building were built of brick with stucco facing. Nevertheless, the Ayutthayan style was founded on a revival of the Khmer architectural style, only more gracile and stylised. The parkland setting gave a picturesque quality to the place that was completely different to Cambodia. We wandered amongst headless Buddha\'s and lopsided prangs (temple towers), manicured trees and clipped lawns. We climbed to the base of the ruined stupa in the centre of the enclosure and took in the view.

From there we moved across the street to Wat Ratchaburana, famous for its intact, towering prang. The temple was built shortly after 1424 to house the remains of King Borommaracha II\'s brothers (who had been killed in the civil war that had installed him on the throne). We wandered around at lesiure before climbing to the base of the prang. In 1957 thieves tunnelled under the prang and looted the graves. They were later caught and part of the relics recovered, but millions of dollars worth of gold jewellery and artifacts were lost. Archaologists excavated the tomb and found a wealth of treasure still inside. In the end, there were so many artifacts that the government gave some of the smaller items away to the labourers who carried out the excavation. A generous touch. Most of the important items are on display in Bangkok and the Ayutthaya museum. There was a small stairwell down into the depths of the tomb. I wanted to see the tomb, but the climb up Angkor Wat only the day before had left my legs very sore. The stairway itself was equally as steep as those at Angkor and we decided it would be a bad idea to risk the hazardous descent.

Back on the bikes; we rode to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the highlight ruin of Ayutthuya, with its three standing chedi\'s. The Sri Lankan style (bell shaped) chedis were built to contain the ashes of the the royal family and were once covered in gold. Now only the brick and stucco cores remain. However, it was now around 4pm and we were getting tired, and when we were again asked for another 25 baht per person (about A$1.00) I had just about had enough (I think this can be attributed to a combination of ruin and baksheesh overload). We didn\'t go in. Up the street however, there was a commotion which distracted me from my illogical stinginess. A couple on an elephant were posing for a photo. We wandered over to have a look. Shelly and I began to debate about the possibility of having an elephant ride. I must admit I was not keen. I had specifically planned to take an elephant tour through the ruins of Si Satchanalai in the north of Thailand. I had no interest in riding an elephant through Ayutthaya\'s busy streets. But Shelly was keen and we followed the elephants, albeit on different sides of the street, as I had to head off to photograph Wat Phra Ram across the road. Shelly took a series of photos of the elephants, each one carrying Japanese tourists.

I think it would be hard to find anyone who didn\'t have a soft spot for elephants. They are such an interesting and impressive creature. When we rounded the corner and found ourselves staring at a group of about 15 elephants, we just kinda went a bit silly. We took heaps of photos as they milled around their enclosure and our mind was made up. We would take an elephant ride. As we lined up to pay our money, a baby elephant, already taller than me, wandered amongst cafe tables

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