Ayutthaya

Finally Debbie joined me in Bangkok! And on our second day together we took a day trip out of the city to Ayutthaya, the old capital. The train ride there was long and hot, but eventually we made it to the station at Ayutthaya, rented bikes, and dragged them down to the river to ferry over to the main part of the city. At the bike rental shop, they gave us a map of the old city's ruins, which are scattered throughout the suburbs of modern-day Ayutthaya. 

Our first stop was the closest ruin to the train station - Wat Mahathat - which was full of people taking pictures, but still empty enough to wander around and get a feel for the place.

Next, we cycled to Wat Phra Ram, which is a bit off the beaten path since it is farther from the train station and too distant for most people to easily walk. Its distance and the fact that it was later in the day resulted in the temple being virtually deserted. We explored the ruins, and then having seen our fair share of brick piles, made our way to Wihan Mongkon Bophit, which we read housed one of Thailand's largest bronze Buddha statues....

....Unfortunately we were never able to see one of Thailand's largest bronze Buddha statues because the doors were shut and locked right in front of us as we approached the hall. At this point it was already 5pm, and our train back to Bangkok was set to leave at 7. Debbie and I decided we would take a leisurely ride back to the station and perhaps have some dinner and drinks before boarding the train.

We figured it would be nice to bike across the bridge, instead of taking the ferry back. That way, we could see more of the city and we wouldn't have to drag our heavy bikes down the many stairs to the river and ferry boat. The bridge ride would be easier and leisurely, right? RIGHT????

Wrong.

We followed our map up and across the river bridge, continued along what we thought was the right road, and then ended up smack dab in the middle of the Thai countryside. Kids were racing us on bikes, nobody knew English, and the signs were all written in Thai. We had no idea how to get back to the ferry terminal and the train station.

With the sun slowly setting and the last train's departure time creeping closer, we started to get a bit worried, but breathed a sigh of relief when we reached a sign pointing towards the ferry terminal. This quickly turned into almost panicked gasps as we discovered that this was in fact the wrong ferry crossing, and we had inexplicably crossed back over the river, or crossed some tributary and were once again on the opposite side of the river. It made no sense! Somehow we had entered some magical Thailand Harry Potter world where maps and directions and gravity no longer apply.

Along with some commuters and motorbikes, we boarded the ferry, as per the directions of the ticket collector, and crossed back over the river. The whole time Debbie and I sent each other crazed mental messages. Our faces fraught with confusion and primal angst, I sensed a telepathic freak-out from Debbie, "WTF. Why do we need to cross the river again!?" I read from her wide-eyed gaze. Eyes equally saucer-like, I slowly turned towards Debbie and responded with my own telepathic, "F*************************K...We're screwed."

Then our savior appeared. She came in the form of a lady on a bike wearing a bright green t-shirt. A baby was propped before her on the motorbike. Perhaps sensing the drift of our telepathic communication, she turned to us and, in perfect English, recited directions to the train station. Unable to believe our luck but still confused, we stared at her blankly. Seeing that the stupid foreigners were unable to comprehend her perfectly described directions she stated, "It's alright. I'll take you there."

And so there we were, following The Lady in Green on our bikes as she scooted ahead on her motorbike. By this time the sun had set and we were going down major roads on our bikes, praying that we wouldn't get bumped by crazy Thai drivers and hoping that somehow, O God, somehow we would make it back in time to catch the last train. By this time it was after six, and we had less than an hour to get to the station.

Looking back on the whole experience, I can laugh. It was incredibly stupid, and we must've looked like idiots. My bike had no manipulatable gears, but for some reason the gear was set so low that I had to pedal extremely fast just to go at a normal pace. My legs were flying around in circles just to keep up with Debbie and The Lady in Green.

Eventually we made it to the station, under our savior's guidance. We thanked her, returned our bikes, and collapsed into chairs at a restaurant. With a half hour to go before our train departed, we indulged in a much needed beer and promised not to talk about the experience for at least twenty-four hours.

O'sulloc Tea Museum

Yesterday my friend and I biked to O'sulloc Tea House, which is about a 10 minute bike ride or 30 minute walk from the school. We met up with some friends there and explored the place. It was my first time to the cafe and museum, which is based on a large green tea plantation. 

There are two cafes on site. The first cafe is more popular with the tourists, and there I had some of their green tea ice cream. The second cafe is a bit more removed, and we took time there to sculpt natural soap and eat lunch. I had mugwort and red bean buns, which are more desert than lunch but still delicious. 

Can't wait to go back and try the sausages. 

The OCEAN !

For the past week I've been dying to see the ocean, but things just haven't worked out. Since I had the afternoon off, I borrowed a bike from school and set out to find the coast. It's not too hard to find a place to view the ocean, just head straight in any direction.

I cycled west and then south down Rt 1020, past farmland and a couple of oreums. The open field here are very pretty, but the buildings are mostly run down and small. All the land here is encircled by low  walls made from volcanic rock, and it reminds me of the old stone walls you can sometimes find running through the forests in New England. Here the walls are continuously maintained and to me appear to be precariously balanced with spaces in between the rocks. I've heard it said that the reason the rock walls have holes is to let the constantly blowing wind through, especially important during typhoon season (the current season).

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that all of the farms have a very distinctive smell. It's unfamiliar and a bit unpleasant. I haven't figured out what it could be, maybe fertilizer? Many of the farms here grow oranges, but all of the fruit is green at the moment.

Anyway, I knew I was getting closer to the ocean when I approached one of the distinctive oreums I can see from my room. I circled around the oreum, went down another stretch of road, and came to a town. I wove through a narrow street of small houses and came to a very small seaside park. There was only enough space for a couple of benches and exercise equipment. In the distance was a sort of a jetty sticking out into the ocean, and piled right beyond the massive concrete platform were giant concrete things that kind of look like jacks. I have no idea what they're called.