3:34 am. I don’t know why I remember the exact minute, considering my exhaustion at that point. I guess I was constantly checking my watch wondering how late i’d finally end up at my hostel. Why the hell did I book a flight out of Korea at 10 O’Clock at night anyways… right, because it was cheap…

The cabbie stops at the head of a ‘T’ in the road and tells me ” Khao San road”.

I step out of the cab to the sounds of an army of hammered college kids shouting over the bass of what I’ll assume was half a dozen clubs competing for who could be the loudest. After making my way through the crowds, and after aimlessly walking up and down the street, I finally found my hostel down a back alley, nestled between two closed shops.

I check in, throw my bags down, and try to grab at least a few hours of sleep. I had one full day in Bangkok, and I wanted to make it count. I shut my eyes, and drift off to the sounds of deep bass and of years gone past pumping outside.

TukTuk Time

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBkK2Z0O0uC

Up at the crack of dawn, the street had taken on a completely different feel. I hailed a TukTuk, and after haggling over the price we finally agree and sped off to the train station. Korea you don’t haggle, things are generally so cheap you don’t have to, but here, it was different ball game.

After having my first TukTuk experience, I walked into the train station. Still with a wicked set of bedhead and the drowsiness only known by someone who was in a different time zone only hours before, I grabbed a ticket, boarded the train and was on the 2 hour journey north to Ayutthaya.

Is Anyone Here a Doctor Engineer

I sat my jet-lagged arse in a chair just as the train set off with a violent lurch knocking half the people standing right over. All the foreigners looked at each other with the same look of “what the hell was that, did we hit something, did we get hit?”. Looking around though the locals didn’t seem concerned. When in Rome right, worry as the Romans? sure ya.

Ten minutes later, the train jolted to a stop. Less people fall over this time. Right on, we’re learning, 10 points griffindor. Some people get on, some people get off, and then the train lurches again. People are now bracing themselves. Go team.

This goes on for another hour until the train stopped; and then the engine stopped. 45 minutes of sitting at the station, we’re all wondering what was happening. Suddenly a Thai lady got on and yelled something. The locals cleared off the train and back onto another one on the opposite platform before any of us had a chance to blink. We followed suit and Train 2.0 took off, with a lot less lurching and jolting. Another hour and a half we finally pulled into Ayutthaya.

Ayutthaya

Getting off the train, a crowd of TukTuk drivers were out front all yelling and trying to convince you that “He’ll take you to the best places”. I can’t remember how much I payed, only that it was too much. That said, the guy was nice enough and took me around the old Siam capital for a few hours giving me a history lesson at each stop. Sitting in the back of this tuktuk, no back tailgate, no seatbelt, we sped from spot to spot, but left long enough that I didn’t feel rushed ever.

I saw everything that was on my list. The fact it was Chinese new year as well meant I got to see all of the temples be used as places for worship.

All and all, Ayutthaya was a bit of a trek for me, but it was an amazing day trip. If I was to go again, I’d go in a group to split the cost of the tuk tuk, as that was a bit of a hit, but still the guy was helpful enough that I felt I got what I was paying for.

It’s definitely bordering on tourist trap to some degree, but even during Chinese new year, it wasn’t overflowing with people throughout the whole area.

It was a good first step with South East Asia though. I headed back quick mid afternoon, as I had to finish up some planning; the next day I was headed to Myanmar.