My trip from Koh Phi Phi to Bangkok is roughly 17 hours and includes a ferry, two buses, and numerous tuk-tuk rides, cramped with other farang. The longest ride of the evening is a "VIP bus", meaning air conditioning, bathrooms, blankets, and reclining comfortable seats. They're oddly playing Blood Diamond, where the obvious DiCaprio choice would have been The Beach in trips to and from Phi Phi. The first bus makes multiple stops, with the driver walking back and choosing people to kick off. At one of point, we stop next to six cars and two Brits are inexplicably and quickly ejected, bags pulled from the underneath storage, no questions asked.
When we arrive in Bangkok, I immediately board a train to Ayutthaya, 90 minutes north. Ayutthaya was once Thailand's flourishing capital city, but after a major attack by the Buremese in the 1700s, which left most of the city devastated, the government relocated to Bangkok. What's left of the city is about three dozen major wats (temples), spread out around the small oval city, surrounded by a moat. The temple ruins are now a UNESCO World Heritage site and the most impressive collection of temple ruins in Thailand.
Ayutthaya is a city defined by duality -- breathtaking ruins that date back to the 1200s neighbor busy streets filled with tuk-tuk traffic, 7-Elevens, bars, and happy ending massage parlors. I cross the city moat via ferry and head to Tony's Place, an open air teak hostel with goldfish ponds, hammocks, a coffee shop, restaurant, and spa. I ask for a preview and the concierge show me a spacious, clean room with white-painted walls, big windows, a queen bed, hardwood floors, and sepia photos of the ancient capital. He says its 200Baht ($6) and before I can agree, he says, "Ok, ok, just for you, 150baht [~$5]". This man is clearly a fierce negotiator.
I drop my bags and immediately rent a bike (40B = $1.30/day), the best way to see the wats. I'm biking with Alesh, a Czech who I meet on the train. He looks like a smaller, more handsome version of the giant from Big Fish and has an affinity for skyscrapers. We bike for about 8 hours, taking in as many temples as possible, stopping only briefly to eat and hydrate.
In Phra Ram Park, I see my first elephants of the trip, offering rides to older tourists to whom biking seems like some sort of torture.
We traverse up steep bridges, bike on dirt roads, busy highways, and back alleys. Wat Maha That is the closest temple to our hostel and home to Ayutthaya's most famous image, a Buddha head encased in tree roots. In addition to fauna, Buddha images and statues are everywhere, there must be tens of thousands in the city. Most are missing their heads and right arms, as the Burmese thought these body parts contained all the power of the Buddha and amputating them would weaken the Thais. At certain temples, severed Buddha heads and right arms decorate the ground like peanut shells at the circus.
Across the street is Wat Ratchaburana, built on the site of a famous elephant duel, where two princes lost their lives and the third ascended to the throne. The wat has a large, gray domed chedi, which is sprouting green trees and bushes.
We visit the Ancient Palace and neighboring Wat Phra Si Sanphet, a series of three matching giant gray spires, each housing the burial site of a famous king.
We make a brief pit stop in the market for refreshing coconut ice cream, banana chips, and dried fish before continuing on to Wat Lokay Asetharam, which houses a massive reclining Buddha, draped in golden silk as is the ritual with almost all Buddha statues. His feet are taller than my entire body (not difficult) and despite time gone by, the statue is still almost purely white. As its the low season, almost all the other temple sites have been empty (apart from gnarled stray dogs), enabling us to enjoy private VIP tours. At the reclining Buddha, however, we meet two friendly Austrians and pause to share bananas and swap travel stories.
Alesh is postively obsessed with determining which stones are original and which are new as part of the restoration process. When he begins one of these rants, I typically nod and ponder if I threw him off the temple ledge, would he be found before Independence Day.
After stumbling upon chicken nirvana in the park, we cross the moat and visit the imposing giant white spire of Wat Phu Khao Thong, found down a hidden dirt road.
Around the corner is King Naresuan's memorial, depicting the famed Thai leader triumphantly riding his stallion. Surrounding the monument are hundreds of large and small colorful wooden rooster statues (some over 10ft), all turned upwards to exhault their master. Supposedly the ancient king loved roosters, so the wooden statues decorate the entire city. If Ayutthaya had a soccer team, it would most certainly be "The Cocks".
After getting lost for an hour due to a poorly scaled map, we stop in a rural part of town and try durian for the first time. The fruit is one of Southeast Asia's most prized foods and we're excited to sample. Even pre-cut, the tan brown fruit tempts durian virgins, "try me if you dare!" Its sharp spiked exterior resembles a porcupine and it has a scent that brings to mind socks removed after running a marathon. The stench is so strong that many hotels prohibit durian. Its aroma can be detected from about 50 meters away. For a very large fruit, it yields a surprisingly small amount of edible flesh. Once prepared, there are two yellowish-white lobes resembling kidneys and smelling like cow manure. Once I get past the smell, I actually find the fruit to be quite appealing. Its taste, color, and texture bring to mind vanilla pudding, with hints of cantaloupe, honeydew and an undercurrent of onion. I really don't know what all the fuss is about, one gets used to the smell and the flavor is very pleasant. Plus the spiked shell can be used as a weapon against those who compare your height to a girl getting Bat Mitzvahed.
Following the fruit snack, we continue our bike tour along the outside perimeter of the city. We stop at Wat Caiwatthamaram, a sprawling temple from 1630 with a huge Khmer-style dome in the center, flanked by four large and eight small stupas. The site was a former monastery and cremation center. Despite being one of Ayutthaya's premiere temples, it's still just Alesh and I visiting.
Continuing down the road, we pass by the saffron yellow St. Joseph's Church and Wat Puttai Sawan, which is protected by hissing snake statues.
Last stop is at the Portuguese Settlement, where Europeans first made camp in the capital. The site is not overly impressive, just a series of small white houses and churches. But go inside and one is surprised to find a giant open air burial chamber, with dozens of skeletons arranged in rows. They're covered in dirt and stare up at you on the balcony, waiting to come alive at the full moon. Those Portuguese sure know their linguica and ways to use the dead to scare the living daylights out of tourists. Kids frolic and laugh nearby, while the decaying bodies wait for their names to be called in the casting session of Pirates of the Caribbean 28.
We get lost for another ninety minutes until a motorcyclist offers to direct us into down. Alesh returns to Bangkok and I drop off my bike, shower, and find the nearest person who will place a large Chang in my chaffed hands. All told, we probably biked sixty miles, so I have certainly earned my green curry fried rice.
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