Hello,

On my second trip to Thailand I explored the north. Many go straight to Chiang Mai but I love Thailand and wasn’t in the mood so I took local buses from town to town. I’d spend a day or so, see what was going on and then leave. One of the cities I visited was Ayutthaya aka the ancient city of Siam. That link brings you to a vlog I made of the place.

The guesthouses are incredibly cheap and so is transportation to and from. I really enjoyed walking around Siam’s ruins and could envision the civilization that once lived there. Supposedly it was a great trading hub that allowed foreigners from Europe and other parts of the world to set up camp outside the city gates.

If time machines existed, I’d love to see this place in it’s prime. Ayutthaya is also the old capital of Thailand. When you get there, you can’t help but notice the tuk tuk’s. They are all incredibly “tricked out” like low-rider pickups in parts of the USA and Central America. These gents take “pride in their ride”.

Regards,

Note: To see the image larger, right click “view image”.

Good day,

This video from the ancient kingdom of Ayutthaya, Thailand aka Siam was made yesterday. It was very interesting, glad I went there, on a whim of course. The bus was hot and bumpy but I have no schedule and no one waiting at my destinations, what’s the rush? After sweating like a sumo wrestler in a sauna wearing sweat pants with a garbage bag over top doing jumping jacks I decided it was time to leave. Not that Ayutthaya wasn’t interesting, just I had been there, done that.

Go to guest house and inquire about the vip bus, as I did, I felt like a sell out. I don’t need to meet another crew of packaged tourists, I need more authentic travelers, people who have the spirit of an adventurer, getting a place in your mind then going and riding in a foreign country the same way you would back home, from the train or bus station.

The owner told me a bus leaves in 25 min so I hustle to get to the station and buy a ticket, it’s Sukhothai, 6 hours from Ayutthaya and ~6 hours from Chiang Mai, perfect. I arrive late at night and take a tuk tuk driver to a guest house. Nice place, 300 baht for a bungalow although I only spent a total of 6 hours in it, sleeping of course. The ticket was ~255 baht.

I went into the only bar I could find and saw a guy who looked like that creep “dungeon dad”, least I could say was that this place was odd. I also notice 2 nice looking dutch girls. Without a moments hesitation, I walk up to them and say “May I join you”, they quipped “absolutely”. We laughed and hung out until…

These 2 German guys who looked like weirdos showed up shook my hand and asked if they could join “sure” I said reluctantly… After some meaningless chit chat, oh who goes to a bar on Friday night and drinks ovaltine? Wt!?

Wake up next morning and leave with women on a tuk tuk ride of Sukhothai, I’ll upload some photos tomorrow. The guy said 5 hours, we were done in 2. Got to bus station and it was leaving in 20 minutes, awesome. The ticket was 218 baht, nice bus with air con. Ladies had never been on a local bus before, that changed.

On the bus I met a nice lady from France who joined our now 4 some, indeed. Got to Chiang Mai and they had already pre booked (shakes head) I found a nice place for 250baht with free wifi and private bath w/ hot shower, score. The girl from France found one for 160, I was intrigued, turned out a dorm room, snore.

I pride myself in never sleeping in a dorm or using a squat toilet, both things make me want to vomit on my fictitious tuxedo or on Sundays a leisure suit. Not only are dorms grimy but who wants to sleep with strangers in that manner? For a mere ~$3us a night more, I’ll gladly sleep alone, in a double bed thank you.

So as fate would have it, I’m in Chiang Mai, first impressions? Quite nice thanks. Sukhothai was nice for a day, it’s seriously dead much like the civilization that was once there. During the day it is quite busy though as it is a UNESCO World Heritage spot. If you stay in the new city, you will need to rent a tuk tuk 500 baht for them to show you around or a motorbike, it’s a good 15K from the ruins and it costs ~100 baht to get in.

Just went for a leisurely jaunt while uploading this video. It is 1:30am and wow, it’s actually cold out like ~10 degrees or so. Not sure if I want to go any north, if I need a sweater, it’s simply too cold, I’d much rather sweat it out, seriously. I have no qualms with heat and humidity, NONE.

Tips hat,

Top of the morning,

I sit here in an astonishingly filthy white T and even dirtier khaki cargo shorts at some 10 baht an hour gaming lounge in Ayutthaya, Thailand aka The Ayutthaya Kingdom aka Siam aka Tai.

Had an absurdly late night last night, I woke up and was like “what am I going to do all day, I’m bored…” This is at about 9am,  decided to bounce. I heard Ayutthaya is inbetween Kanchanaburi and Chang Mai so I decided to go check it out since I could catch the train there. If I did not come here, I’d have to go back to Bangkok to catch the train. I was going to golf tomorrow but just didn’t feel like doing nothing for an entire day, my visa is coming to a close, quickly.

I took a motorbike taxi for 30 baht to bus station, bus to Suphanburi which is the bus you must catch to get to Ayutthaya leaves in 15 min, awesome. It costs 47 baht and is ~2 hours.

Ride the bus, it breaks down, get on another and pass out. Wake up at a bus station. As I get there the bus to Ayutthaya is pulling in and leaves in ~5 minutes, also perfect. This bus, I’m not sure how much it costs. The lady showed me a 100 baht bill but I knew that was not the price so I gave her 60 and she left.

I take the bus and these buses are not like any I’ve seen, they have wooden panels, they remind me of the locals buses in Panama, actually. They are also very colorfully decorated and play contemporary Thai music. I will also note that they are not for everyone… They are not so comfortable and you really stand out, if that bothers you, don’t bother, seriously. This bus was ~2 hours as well. If you do wish to get here, you can go on a “tourist minivan” with a/c for 400 baht, snooze.

First let me say that I have been looking at random hotel / hostel sites as everyone does it and the guest house owner I was hanging with told me he is having success with them. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! This whole trip, I’ve been getting somewhere, asking where the guest house district is and just going for it, with great success, might I add. If you do check a guest house, make sure you google map their exact address, something else I can’t be bothered to do.

Found a place called “LIMA PLACE”,  it looks nice and a hotel for ~13US a night, I figure… If I can get a hotel at that price why not, other guest houses in this town are ~5US.

Ask a motorbike taxi guy to take me there, we get lost, finally ~25 min later we get there and it’s in the middle of NOWHERE. I mean I thought he was going to take me to a field, fleece me of my things and then harvest my organs out in the middle of nowhere styles. Far from town aka why would you build here far from town.

Get there, they want ~1.5-2X the quoted price online for “walk ins”. At this point I interject, walk in? You’re in the middle of nowhere, how could anyone walk in? They get really defense and whatnot, I tell motorbike man to wait 5 minutes as he is my only out.

I say listen, if I book online, I can get this place cheaper? She says yes, I say ok where is the internet cafe(she didn’t like this), she says you have to buy a ticket, I go to cafe, they send me back to reception and the ticket prices are absurdly priced.

TIP: If you are somewhere sketchy / not sure about / middle of nowhere: Ask cabi to wait 5 min, he will because if he takes you back he gets paid instead of driving home for free, yes?

At this point I tell motorbike man that I want to go back to town to another place I found online(another mistake), suddenly it’s double price to get back, ha. (I respect that). He probably figured, listen kid, if I don’t take you back, how are you going to get back? Also if he had known where it was, I doubt he would of only charged me 30 baht. Only reason I wanted to stay there was because it looked really nice and had wifi, they charge you an arm and a leg for it, might I add.

Motorbike guy had no clue where this place was either, I’m thinking he just moved here or something, so we go back to taxi stand. At this point the other guys are teasing him because this place is RIGHT around the corner ~3 min ride away from where I began here. I will note, not many tourists whatsoever, kinda reminds me of parts of Java, Indonesia. That said, I’m not in the main “guest house district”, that is for sure.

So I check into this other place, it’s “OK” but definitely removed from the pulse of the city. I feel like I’m in the movie “The Stand” and everyone is dead but myself and this French couple I ran into who pointed the direction of where things are happening.

Was going to go check what’s popping as it’s only ~20 min walk away but the only living creatures around here are packs of dogs and we’re in the country. I just can’t be bothered to try and find this area, right now. I have made the executive decision to hang out here, on ~$0.30 an hour internet while drinking orange fanta until I get bored, then pass out and make up for last night.

So here we are, I’m in Ayutthaya aka Ayutthaya Kingdom. Driving in I saw many ruins, for further details on the place, click here. Basically it used to be a Siamese Kingdom from ~1350s – 1760′s before falling to a Burmese invasion.

Many sources say it used to be called “Siam” but others say locals called it Tai. This used to be an incredibly wealthy city and thriving kingdom. It was also a trading hub as the King had close ties with the King of France and allowed foreigners to setup camp outside the city walls.

You’ll never know, unless you go.

Tips hat,