day 7 - Lopburi to Phitsanulok

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Eager to get further north, we decided to catch a train to Phitsanulok a day earlier than planned. We had intended to cycle to Chai Nat today and to do a combination of cycling and train the following day but based on some advice we received while staying in Ayutthaya, we decided to give Chai Nat a miss and make our way closer to Chiang Mai.

We spent the morning planning the next couple of days and made a quick trip to the local market to stock up on supplies before heading to the station at 10.00am for a 10.29am express train to Phitsanulock. It would get us there by 1.30pm and we would then cover about 20km to get out of the city and make a bit of a dent into the 80km ride from Phitsanulock to our next stop, Sukhothai. 

(Sitting at the platform at Lopburi station)

The travel Gods were with us... the express didn't have a luggage carriage and the only train that we could take was the 9.44am which happened to be delayed so we would be able to catch it! Unlike our trip up from Bangkok, there was a bit more rigour around travelling with the bikes this time. They had a luggage porter who recorded our destination and tagged the bikes and we paid almost as much to get the bikes on as we did ourselves but it was good to know they would be taken care of.

The train was expected at 11.44am so we had a bit of a wait. Nicky went in search of food while Paul waited with the bags. Outside the station, Nicky found a small internet cafe cooking up food outside. Using her best "I'd like some food for two people to take away please" hand gestures, she returned to the station with lunch.

(Bikes, rice and a scooter ready to be loaded onto the train)

(Lunch)

We passed the time chatting and watching all the activity on the platform. Monks, school kids, families and other travellers like ourselves were coming and going. We were pretty content in the shade and glad we didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry. The train arrived at 12.35pm. We boarded and settled in for the four hour journey ahead.

(The train pulling in)

The journey passed reasonably quickly. As with the train from Bangkok, it was quite roomy with luggage racks overhead. People selling food and drinks wandered up and down the aisles. Everything from fresh fruit to dried fish was available. The scenery was lovely - flat and very green. We saw a lot of rice paddies and, what we think were sugar cane fields. At certain points we could see mountains in the distance shrouded in a haze and we wondered how long it would be before we started ascending into the higher parts of the country on the bikes. 

(Mountains in the distance)

(A good opportunity for a nap)

(One of the ladies selling food to passengers)

(A lot of water and very flat)

(Rice fields and pampas grasses)

We made up a bit of time and arrived in Phitsanulok shortly before 4.30pm. The bikes were off loaded and they took our luggage receipt before handing them over. We appreciated their thoroughness. The town appears to be a service town of sorts so we were happy to pass through in the evening traffic and not hang about. Having arrived a bit later than planned, we rode 9km away from the city in the direction we would go tomorrow and found a hotel along the highway. We were hot and sticky from the train journey and were grateful for a clean room and a good shower. 

(Arrived at Phitsanulok station)

(Navigating around the evening traffic)

Once we were cleaned up, we headed back up the highway on the bikes. We found a small cafe where we stopped for Pad Thai and lemon iced teas. We asked to sit inside to escape the mosquitos and seemed to end up in their living room. Friendly people. The food was tasty and on the way back to the hotel, we picked up some more supplies for tomorrow. We'll set off at 6am and hopefully be in Sukhothai by noon. Night night!

day 6 - Ayutthaya to Lopburi

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Our day began with a final breakfast with Paul's parents before saying farewell to them. The next time we see them will be in Germany and we hope we will have covered a lot of ground between now and then. Their plan was to explore Ayutthaya a bit further before returning to Bangkok where they would return to Germany on Friday. We had a great few days exploring together and Nicky is resolved to keep practising her German!

It was shortly after 7am when we set off from Ayutthaya. The school traffic is just as crazy here as it is in any Melbourne suburb! We manoeuvred our way around mini vans and sleepy teenagers and out on to the main road that would lead us to our next destination - Lopburi. We were looking at a 64km ride and hoped to make it to Lopburi by lunch time to avoid the hottest part of the day.

(Riding past the lake in Ayutthaya)

(Long straight and flat roads ahead)

It was great to get out on the road and away from busy towns. We were greeted by smiles and waves and "hellos" all the way which was really special. Great to feel welcome in the area. It was a very flat ride with only a couple of busy intersections to cross along the way. We stopped once to make some adjustments to the bikes and again to buy bananas and more water. At our second stop, we became a real object of curiosity. One of the men standing nearby spoke some broken English and admired the bikes and, as we set off, he wished us good luck.

(The little boy sitting in the cart took a good long look at us)

(Roadside views)

(One of the many colourful roadside stalls we passed)

We had been warned to watch out for speeding trucks but there was a good hard shoulder for most of the way and we felt pretty safe as the cars sped past. We saw a lot of dead snakes on the road, although our biggest concern was the number of live ones that must be wriggling around in the grass beside us!

By 11am it was 36 degrees and we were 10km from Lopburi so we decided to push on before it got any hotter. We were feeling pretty low on energy at that point and keen to get some food. We had the address for the Lopburi Residence Hotel to stay at and were unable to find it at first so we pulled into a lovely little restaurant where we sat on the verandah and had some cold drinks and good food. The owner kindly drew us a map to the hotel which we were then able to find without any further issue. The hotel must have over 200 rooms so we had no trouble getting a room and breakfast at a very reasonable price. It's old and pretty tired looking but clean and we were able to lock the bikes in a room on the ground floor. It's good to know they're safe.

(Lunch time)

After a relaxing afternoon at the hotel, we headed out to explore the town. At 4.30pm it must have still been in the mid 30s. We were on a mission to find Prang Sam Yot and it's monkeys, so we set off with a poor copy of a local map given to us by the hotel. The town was bigger than expected and busy with people heading home from work and school. It had a nice buzz about it and there appeared to be plenty of shops to stock up on any basic supplies we might have needed. Admittedly, we got a little lost and finally arrived at the temple shortly before 6pm. At least we didn't give our legs a chance to stiffen up too much. 

(Lopburi market)

(A small street in Lopburi)

(This man was cooking food on his cart. There are dried squid hanging below the umbrella)

(Prang Sam Yot and a lot of monkeys)

(Monkeys absolutely everywhere)

(Mum, Dad and baby)

(Walking back to the hotel at sunset)

As the sun was starting to set, we made our way back towards the hotel to find dinner and decided to return to the place we ate lunch at, having enjoyed the food so much. Dinner didn't disappoint either but when we decided to order dessert, guess what... we were caught out by the old strawberry jam on toast trick again!! This time it was cunningly disguised on the menu as 'lava bread', although I have to admit the bread bit should have given it away. It was tasty though and we demolished it pretty quickly.

(Jam on toast, Thai style)

Back at the hotel now and we're undecided about where to go tomorrow so a bit more research is required. Stay tuned for the next instalment.

day 5 - escape from Bangkok, arrive in Ayutthaya

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Our last day in Bangkok. We were really ready to get out of the city and see more of Thailand. We set off from the hotel at 8.45am after one final delicious breakfast at the hotel. Paul drew a map for us to follow, while his parents caught a taxi. Our plan was to meet at the station and catch a 9.25am train. Some road works through us off course a bit but Paul did a great job of navigating the city with a bit of help from a friendly local. And while the traffic was heavy, drivers gave us plenty of room and it wasn't a bad ride at all. His Mum and Dad only just beat us to the station, managing to catch a photo of us along the way. 

(En route to the Hua Lamphong train station in Bangkok)

Four one-way tickets to Ayutthaya cost 60 Baht in total, which is about $2 Australian. It's definitely a pretty economical way of getting around.

(Inside the station)

(Two train tickets to Ayutthaya)

We made our way to platform 8 and were directed to the front of the train to load our bikes into the luggage area. The young guys working on the train were friendly and showed us where to leave the bikes. It was all pretty straight forward. Shortly after 9.30am, the train left the station and we were on our way.

(A view from the window)

We had decided to take the train out of Bangkok so as to avoid the heavy traffic and major roads. And we were happy we'd made the decision as we passed through a lot of industrial and built up areas on the way to Ayutthaya. While the views weren't particularly special, we did see some colourful characters on the train. We were a bit perplexed by some of the stations we stopped at that weren't listed on the timetable but a couple of other passengers noticed and with a few words and some hand gestures, they were able to explain how far we were from our stop. The train itself was pretty good, with ceiling fans and enough room for all the luggage, although we both wished we'd worn our cycling shorts for a bit of extra padding on the hard seats.

Arriving into Ayutthaya, we scurried off the train and Paul and his Dad offloaded the bikes onto the platform. We did get a few odd looks from people sitting nearby.

(Unloading the bikes at Ayutthaya)

(Ayutthaya station)

(You can never be too prepared)

We were greeted by some eager Tuk Tuk drivers outside the station who were very amused when we told them we had our own Tuk Tuks. We loaded up the bikes and set off ahead of Paul's parents so as to find the hotel.

Nicky had found a recommendation for Promtong Mansion B&B on the Crazy Guy on a Bike website. It was about a 5 minute ride from the station, set back off a busy street and we were warmly greeted by the owner who speaks excellent English and had lots of useful advice for us. 

(Our accommodation in Ayutthaya)

Once we were all at the B&B together and had freshened up, we headed out to explore. Our first stop was for lunch and Thai iced teas at a local cafe. We passed a few places that offered bikes for hire and saw plenty of tourists making use of them as we sat back in the shade.  

(Our shady spot overlooking one of the ruins)

After lunch, we rode around the town and stopped at 3 or 4 different sites. Paul's parents had been able to hire bikes from the B&B so we were able to cover more ground together. Ayutthaya is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was the capital of Thailand for about 400 years. There were many beautiful temples, some dating back 700 years. Sadly, many were destroyed by war but some have been reconstructed over time. Even just seeing the scale of the foundations was impressive.

(The only temple that survived the wars)

(Houses and a playground by the river)

(Tourists taking elephant rides)

A couple of hours later, we were all templed out. We'd been told not to cycle after sunset as the wild dogs in the area enjoy chasing cyclists(!) so we were happy to head back to the B&B and relax before dinner. In the evening, we wandered through the night markets to see what was on offer. We ended up at a small restaurant near the river that was busy with locals - always a good sign. The food was tasty and the staff were friendly. And after a long day, we were ready for an early night. 

(Wandering through the local night market)

(Lots of fruity looking drinks at this stall)

(One of the food stalls)

Tomorrow we will say goodbye to Paul's parents and begin the cycling trip. We plan to leave at 6.30am to cover most of the distance before midday; hoping to arrive at our next destination by mid afternoon. Wish us luck!