Badminton in Ayuttaya

So,

We just arrived in Chaing Mai. Eight hour train trips are actually a lot less fun than they may initially sound.

Prior to this we have been staying in the little town of Ayuttaya, which contains ancient ruins of the once great capital. In its heyday the city was massive, with the entire island crammed full of Temples, a King's palace and various ornate Government departments. However, time and war have weathered this once great Capital, and now things look more like this:





So these were very very cool. I love things that are falling down, and Wats really do it for me so combined! Together at last. We rented bikes and rode around to look at the ruins on the island and then took a boat ride to see the ones on the other side. While riding may sound calm and peaceful, Thai roads are always a little hectic, and there seems to be a constitutionally prescribed law that when it comes to roads "might is right". However, it was nice to be doing something that wasn't generating tonnes of Co2 for a change; I haven't even thought about the ethical implications of flying on this trip, let alone the effects of the smog released by Tuk Tuks.

We were also staying in the coolest place in Ayuttaya. It was an old Thai looking place (hmmm specific?) with a balcony and a nice big room. We met an American called Mike and enjoyed too much beer. It was actually one of those cliche Thai moments I'd hoped for: playing badminton on the street with the Locals at 2:00 am (being beaten 4-21, twice!), staying up really late in nice bars, realising that not all Americans are bad. However, I paid for all this fun this morning, with the first four hours of the train ride having to be spent with sunnies on desperately trying to sleep.

We're in Chaing Mai for three days, and I'm hoping to go on a hill trek and do a cooking course. We still have a niggling concern about a certain Vietnamese visa we need to obtain, but I'm sure that can be sorted.

Oh, and in terms of cultural races i mentioned in an older posts, Men with Big Guns really let themselves down, with Pictures of King Rama IV outnumbering Men with Gun 50 to 1.