Ancient Thai Capitol - Ayutthaya

After taking care of some camera issues in Bangkok, we caught a late morning train to Ayutthaya for about 15 Baht per person! We arrived shortly after lunch time and walked to a nearby guesthouse from the train station. Luckily they had motorbikes to rent, a place to keep our bags while we explored for the day and some food that we could grab for lunch. After visiting with a couple visiting from Switzerland and eating some food, we headed off on the motorbike to start exploring the different ruins.

Ayutthaya was Thailand's capital from the mid 1300s to 1767 when the Burmese invaded it. Over time and different conditions, like earthquakes, the temples and religious sculptures have been destroyed but some have been restored and you can still somewhat imagine what it looked like at that time. Kristin thought they felt similar to the Mayan ruins in Mexico and the ancient Roman ruins - but just a little younger.

That evening we grabbed dinner before heading back to the train station to catch our night train to Chiang Mai. The night train was set-up a little differently than other ones we had been on in the past with the beds being horizontally placed against the sides of the train. So basically there was just an aisle in the middle with beds on both sides and a curtain to separate you from the rest of the car. Luckily nobody was loud or kept us up; but the worst part was probably just the rocking back while trying to catch some shut-eye.