Today we got up early (5.30), packed our bags and headed to Ayuthaya the old capital city of thailand (Siam as it was known then). We had a very exciting journey. We got a tuk tuk to the main train staition in Bangkok and then got on a 1 and a half hour train journey. The train was exceptional good value for money - at 20 baht (30 pence)  it was the best value for money we have had yet. That it was 3rd class with hard seats and no air-con save for a little window, it only added to the excitement! 

 When we got to Ayuthaya it was a short walk before we got to the river swollen from the monsoon. The ancient city is on an island. This has now been built up around so we can stay very close to the action! We got a boat across costing 3 baht!!!!! We are staying in a lovely wooden guest house and across the road is a cycle hire shop so we hired some push bikes and had been exploring the city all day. It is very hot today and we are starting to get an idea of how hot it will be in the Hot season due to hit in the next few weeks...

We are here to explore the maze of ancient Wats (temples). They were destroyed by the Burmese many years ago (who burned the place down after melting down the tons of gold adorning the statues) but you can imagine how wonderful it must of been!!! The picture of the Buddha's head in the tree is a very famous image of Ayuthaya and no-one really knows how it got there. Some believe that it landed there during the destruction by the Burmese and the tree grew up around it, others believe that a thief was trying to loot it from tired and left it there to pick up later, and the tree grew up around it. Either way I think it is a pretty impressive site!

We have already taken lots of photos of this wonderful city and are in the process of uploading onto the photo album but it takes SO LONG to upload - might take a little while yet.

Love to all

D&C xx