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Once again I've left it so long between blogs that whimsical observations are pushed aside in a cursory rush through "what I've done". If there ever was anyone reading this for entertainment rather than knowing what I'm doing, it's probably best to skip this one.
Another weekend and another trip, this time I went down to Ayutthaya which was the ancient capital of Thailand. There are 4 trains per day in each direction to get there, but 3 of those 4 are in a 2 hour window from 8pm to 10pm and the other is at 8am. A lot of Thai trains seem to run like this, I don't get what they're all doing during the day. At what point did they notice business dropped off for a 12 hour lull at around 8am? Using the train really isn't a good middle-ground option. It's typically slower, less comfortable, more expensive and less reliable than a bus. For example, the train is 7 hours to Bangkok and is typically up to 2 hours late, costing about 500 baht for 2nd class. The VIP bus runs better than hourly, includes food and drinks, and costs 384 baht. At night the seats recline about 80%, and in the daytime they're upright but have video screens with films and a sega megadrive which really helps the journey to go by. The train does have an advantage for sleepers or if you can rough it on 3rd class, where prices are less than half but seats are barely padded and crowded.
So anyway, I took the bus down and looked around Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, which is impressive but wasn't the African Bazaar style market I'd imagined. Nobody tried to sell me a monkey or a pelican, but you can get a lot of stuff there and it is an interesting couple of hours to wander. From there I took a public bus to Ayutthaya, not necessarily quicker than the train but it departed from near the market so avoided having to go into the centre of Bangkok.
Both guesthouses I'd decided were decent were full, so I ended up staying in a traditional Thai place. At £4 a night I had low expectations, but it was actually the best place I've stayed at in the sub-£5 bracket. I had a clean double bed, fan, all the windows were sealed from bugs, the walls and ceiling didn't have damp - all fine. Downside was the shower was only cold, but since it was only a 1 night trip I wasn't particularly bothered. It was too late to sightsee so I drank a beer with the owner's kids. The guy who ran the place was hammered and started to show us clumsy magic tricks, which was entertaining. Two couples arrived while I was there, and despite my intention to get an early night to hit the temples in the morning we stayed up till about 3 chatting and drinking. Swapped details with a really fun Italian couple, may meet up with them again on the bounce. Because of the border points and rail lines, a lot of people actually pass the same points wherever they're going so you bump into people surprisingly often.
In the morning I hired an ancient bicycle and headed around town. The sights there are great, not on the scale of Angkor Wat but damn impressive all the same. I was out all day and came back exhausted and saddlesore, but very happy. I've decided to get a bike for around here as it was a great way to explore and the heat wasn't too big a deal. Unfortunately my temperamental camera did a bunk after the first half of the first temple. It only seems to work in camera repair shops, which gives it very limited usefulness.
I'd strongly recommend a side trip to Ayutthaya, although it seems popular enough anyway. Virtually everybody was going from there to Chiang Mai, though I met a few people who were going up to Laos. Got chatting to two Germans and a French guy at the railway station who were going the same way as me, but we got split off into separate bunk areas which is the shame of a night-only train, the social opps aren't really there. We drank some whiskey on the platform to help with sleep (sleeper trains are ridiculously brightly lit, more so than places you might want lighting) and parted ways, pausing briefly to watch the French guy arguing because he'd lost his ticket. He couldn't buy another because the train was full and was trying to argue that it wasn't full because his bunk would be empty, but nobody seemed to be budging. I think it was a bit harsh, though he was getting angry which never helps here. I told him just to buy a 3rd class ticket for a couple of quid and then try find his bunk during the night, or slip the guard a fiver/few bottles of beer, but he wasn't going for it on principle.
So that was sort of my birthday trip, my actual birthday was spent sleeping in the morning, working in the afternoon, then I talked to Claire, had a massage, and went out with the French staff to a new restaurant where their final year students cooked a feast. It was brilliant and a lot of fun with a live band who even attempted some English songs. English, French and Thai was all being thrown around the table and it was great talking to the students because they were so optimistic about their next step (the fools). Claire stayed up to chat me out of my birthday and I got drunk, but not to my usual birthday standards. It was a pleasant day too, just not a big celebration. The date has always made it a big tough though, with school and weather impinging. I've had to teach on my birthday more than I'd like, had the last one (zoo visit) rained off, and spent the one before that so ill that it took me an hour to walk 400m for water. Before that I had two blinding drunk sessions, so really since my 21st there's always been something going wrong. The 21st was awesome, my mum organised a great party in Bradford, Claire threw a surprise party in Lancaster, and we had a trip to Amsterdam (which actually started my travel ambitions).
I was disappointed that my bonanza box from the UK had arrived in Bangkok on Monday but was still sat at customs. The bureaucracy here can drive you crazy. They have no idea of time sensitive issues. It's the same with maintenance - creating an interestingly festive race of Thai inefficiency: which will happen first, my Christmas Pudding arrive in the parcel from some geezer's desk in Bangkok, or will the department Christmas Tree be taken down?
Ho ho ho, happy February 21st everyone. And thanks for the facebook greetings, much appreciated.
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