Arrived in Bangkok at 15.20 (Thai time) and travelled straight to Ayutthaya. Got off bus at wrong stop, torrential rain, fell into tuktuk which then preceeded to take us to the wrong side of the city. GOOD START! Had to phone the Thai family we are staying with for help. We made it here eventually, after they came to pick us up in their BMW.

Our evening consisted of 7/11 produce and a cold shower. Disturbed nights sleep due to strip light outisde the exterior window, making us believe it was morning-at midnight!

Arose at 11am and somehow managed to get a jump-on bus into Ayutthaya after lots of pointing, finger wagging, slow-speaking and huffing. We opted for a meat-free breakfast of plain rice and omlette in a steet food cafe (basically a shack with a wok), for fear of food poisioning. This seemed the safest option after watching them hack at four day old meat! After departing, 30p down, we were ready to start the day.

This consisted of more pointing, tuktuking, walking, panting, confusion, sweating and monument and palace searching. Ayutthaya is a busy city with few backpackers and a not much of a tourist industry. We as Europeans were quite a novelty for the locals, there was too much poiting and horn-beeping!

Think we might head to Krabi earlier than planned and return here at the end of our trip. It is a bit too much at the moment and the orphanage isn't quite ready for us.

Amy and Steph.xx