Haru in Ayutthaya

Thai version, please go to Paworn's blog Ayutthaya

This blog is translated word by word from Paworn's blog with some more info from me.

Today, I have a day trip with Paworn and Haruka. We left Bangkok from 9 AM, traveled around Ayutthaya and ended up with Thai massage in the evening.

Wanna read? click!

7.45 AM Call Paworn to wake him up. He still didn't receive my call.

8.00 AM Call his house and ask his mom to wake him up.

9.00 AM Paworn left his house but Haruka and I had to wait for him...in a very hot and humid weather

10.00 AM Gather at Victory Monument and get on minibus to Ayutthaya



10.40 AM Arrive at Ayutthaya. Our first destination is Yai Chaimongkol Temple. Haruka said that she recognized this reclining buddha from the Japanese History textbook. There's also a Japanese Village near to this temple, but we have no time to go there.



Then, take 'tuk tuk', special type of taxi, to the market. We had to fight with the tuk tuk's driver a lot. He wanted to take us to the temple, but we wanted to ride a bicycle! We finally found the bike rental shop around the market. Very cheap!! 30 baht per day!!

Let's look at the map of Ayutthaya city first. It looks like an island surrounded by river. The roads divide the city into blocks which is easy to travel around. This map is very easy for Paworn...but not to me! Luckily, i've got Paworn...otherwise I'd make Haruka getting lost with me.


(click the photo for magnification)

Start riding a bicycle from red point at the upper right corner which is the market. Go around the park orange which also have the ruined temples and a lake. Next, go to yellow point which is Mongkolbophit Temple. We got into the temple and prayed. Then, walk to Pra Seesanpet Temple (green), famous and important temple which was built next to the royal palace. After that, we decided to go to a museum (blue) but also passed Nok Temple (teal). Paworn recommended a Thai restaurant which located on the raft, Pae Krung Kao (Old city's raft) in purple color. We ride for quite far again to buy a must-buy Roti wrapping with the cotton candy (pink), famous souvenir from Ayutthaya. Finally, ride to the previous route back to the bike rental shop.

Noon start riding a bicycle. Paworn leaded the way. Because I am bad at the map -_-"


Paworn tried to take a photo of me and Haruka while he also was riding.



We was around the historical park for a while...because we couldn't find the way out. There were so many trees and the weather was not too hot (after a heavy raining (in Summer!) since Haruka arrived ^^)


Finally, we found Mongkolbophit Temple. The buddha inside is so big covering with gold. It was reconstructed from the ruins.


Pra Seesanphet Temple, next to the previous temple. The photo is quite dark due to the weather. (it's the weather's fault, not Paworn's fault, Paworn said)


A strange warning sign. Can you guess what's that mean? The explanation is only in Japanese. From the picture only, I might guess that we should not steal the head of the buddha. But we are wrong! Haruka asked me to guess from the Japanese character below. So Paworn and I got it. It's not allowed to take a photo by putting your head on the buddha. There might be only Japanese did that so this sign is only in Japanese.

2.00 PM After visiting the museum, we headed to a Thai restaurant. Paworn always went to this restaurant since he was young. The famous dish is fish ball in green curry. Before leaving, we asked for the way to the famous Roti shop. It took about 1 km. It's hot and we're quite tired. But we had to go, and Haruka also loved to. There're many other Roti shops along the way, but not the original one.


We had to queue up for about half an hour. But it's worth waiting for.


Must be this brand, Abideen, in front of 7-11 and opposite to Ayutthaya General Hospital. Roti was very yummy, a little salty and soft.

Now, it's time to go back.

Zou San (elephant)

4 PM Return the bikes and take minibus back to Bangkok. Very convenient and near to Bangkok. Round-trip minibus is 120 baht, bike rental for 30 baht...only 150 baht for transportation.

6.30 PM Very heavy traffic jam in Bangkok (because it's Friday, beginning of the month, heavy raining, sale seasons at all shopping malls, politics demonstration,...) But it couldn't discourage us to go for Thai massage. Paworn and Haruka were quite sleepy. But I was very alert during massage because the massager keep joking on me -_-" It was fun though. We took for 2 hours, and only 240 baht.


Pajamas party, we have to change to pajamas during massage

9 PM Have a red-soup noodle at a mall nearby

10.30 PM Back to my lab...I had some experiments which can't be canceled.

12.30 PM Back to the hotel at Khaosan Road.

Can't believe that we did so many things in one day!

Categories: travel, food, thailand, english