Visiting Ayutthaya: Old Stones, New Bruises

One of Ayutthaya's iconic sites: the head of an ancient statue, trapped in a tree

The first two times I came to Thailand I skipped Ayutthaya, one of the old capitals of the country. Ayutthaya is famous for old ruins. I love old ruins, but I had already been to Angkor. Once you go to Angkor, there just aren’t that many archaeological sites in Southeast Asia (or the world?) that can impress.

So, jaded and snobby, I didn’t go.

But now I was spending almost two months in Bangkok. I had plenty of time for side trips, and Ayutthaya made the list.

Getting To Ayutthaya

We took a third-class, non-AC train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya at the grand cost of 20 baht (about US$0.60). The train left about an hour late. In that hour sitting motionless in the Bangkok station, the train was sweltering. But once we finally got moving the breeze through the windows kept the car breezy enough to be comfortable. The two-hour ride went by fairly quickly.

First Impressions

I was, I think, expecting an Angkor-like experience, only on a smaller scale. That is to say, I was expecting a small town from which we would travel (in this case via bicycle) to the ruins where we would pedal happily, frolicking among Very Old Stuff.

Instead, I found that Ayutthaya is much more than just the old capital. It’s a large, bustling city. And rather than the ruins being separated out from the city—as is the case in Angkor (and most other archaeological areas I’ve visited)—the ruins were scattered throughout the city.

Which in a way is really, really cool. Ayutthaya is not a case of an ancient city that died out and was rediscovered later. Ayutthaya is still very much alive.

People live, and work, and marry, and have children, and die right on the same ground that Thais have done those things for ages.

Really, really cool.

And also really, really horrible. For me anyway.

The family at Ayutthaya

Biking with the Brave (and the Not-So-Brave)

I was traveling with my family (my wife, who is not what you would call a “competent” bike rider, my oldest daughter—who is not what you would call a “slightly competent” bike rider—and my other two daughters, who were fine bike riders). I was also traveling with 10 students, all of completely unknown bike-riding skills.

That meant we had to make our way through a living, breathing, pulsing city (and all the traffic that comes along with those grandiose adjectives) in a procession of 15 people. Two of whom I was worried would die, and 10 of whom I was completely uncertain as to the level of anxiety I needed to carry for them.

I was pretty sure if any of the students died, my university’s administration would not look kindly on me.

So I was nervous.

Things didn’t get better when, not five minutes into our first ride, right at a busy intersection, I heard a crash and turned to see one of my students sprawled out in a heap on the street (somehow underneath his bicycle).

But he was fine.

And so we carried on. A parade of 15 farang (foreigners), of varying levels of skill and grace on two-wheeled transport, cruising through the modern to reach the ancient.

Gazing upon the ruins

Ruins, Crashes, and Curry

And we did pretty well . . . at first.

We visited Wat Mahathat, with its Buddha head statue lifted up and suspended in the body of a giant tree.

We saw great statues.

We saw impressive structures.

Serenity at Ayutthaya

And finally the day was over. The students headed back to the train station to return to Bangkok, and we headed to our hotel for a well-deserved break. We just had to peddle down one last, long and traffic-filled road of death to be done.

Crash! Bang! 

Down went my oldest child in a pile of wheels, gears, and scraped knees. Her little sister helped get her out of danger of being run over, and her mother and I got there as quickly as we could. The damage wasn’t too bad. She wasn’t really hurt, and I took the mangled bike and rode it back.

Then we were within a block of returning the bikes and walking to the hotel.

Bang! Crash! 

Down went my wife. She wasn’t hurt, just embarrassed. So it was more comedy than tragedy.

Once the sun went down on both the new and the old alike, we hit the night market—not to shop for souvenirs, but to eat. A plate of Penang curry, some chicken skewers, a pork skewer, some waffles, and a few unidentifiable but yummy dessert-type things later, we retired to our hotel, exhausted and happy.

Dawn on the Ruins

The next morning, my alarm went off a little after 5 a.m. I rolled out of bed, dressed in the dark (because 3 of the 4 women I travel with are not morning people and are perfectly capable of murder before 7 a.m.), grabbed my camera and headed out into the pre-dawn gloom.

Such is a life dedicated to photography.

Dawn at Ayutthaya

There is always something special about dawn. But dawn among the ancient stupas of Ayutthaya was beautiful.

And once I had done battle with a pack of aggressive dogs (and by “done battle” I mean I walked demurely in a huge circle, way out of my way, to go around them), I settled in to watch the new day arrive at the old city.

It was the best part of the day. The rest of the day was what you might call (insert your real or pseudo expletive of choice here) HOT!

Daughter 2 laments the heat

We saw a few more ruins—mostly because not doing so at Ayutthaya would be like admitting we were uncultured oxen—and then sat in the shade and ate ice cream.

Sticky Sweet Hair and Heading Home

We also tried Ayutthaya’s specialty food: roti sai mai. This is a snack of spun sugar wrapped in a thin pancake. The spun sugar looked and felt in your mouth exactly like bright green hair. Long, tangled, green hair. But it tasted like sugar. So it was good for about two bites and then felt overwhelmingly sweet.

Daughter 3 eating the hair-like roti sai mai at Ayutthaya's train station

After our snack of sticky sweet hair, we hopped back on the train to Bangkok.

Ayutthaya was no Angkor, but it was extremely interesting to see how the old and new cities were melded together.

Be careful if you go and plan to ride a bicycle. The city has quite a bit of traffic, and I was nervous almost the whole time we were riding. You might be better off renting a motor scooter (assuming you have some experience with them) or even hiring a tuk tuk driver for the day (there will be lots waiting when you get off the train). If you are in a big group, you can even hire a songtaew (a pickup truck with a covered bed and benches bolted down to the floor).

So go to Ayutthaya and learn a little something about the ancient Thai capital. Because travel.