4 Feb: U Mong temple
We hired a tuk-tuk to take us to U Mong temple, in the forest on
the outskirts of the old city of Chiang
Mai. There's
an old chedi
and a
brick-lined
tunnel
temple
complex. It's
atypical of
the
other
temples in the
area and
worth the
detour.
Then the tuk-tuk took us to the Riverside Bar on the river Mae
Nam Ping for lunch. Over lunch we discovered
that we no longer had
our train tickets for
Ayuthaya... Panic! Had
Jenny thrown them in
the bin that
morning at
the
guesthouse? We
phoned
the guesthouse but
they
had already
cleaned
our rooms, so we quickly
took a
tuk-tuk
back
to the
guesthouse
in order to
sift
through
the
dustbins...!
When we
arrived,
the
owner
was
jubilantly holding
train tickets
he'd
found
in the
bins.
What
a
relief! But on
closer
inspection,
they
were
the tickets
for
28th
January
for the train up
to
Chiang Mai...
What
a
deception!! The
tickets
were well
and
truly lost...
François then spent the next couple of hours running between the
police station to declare the tickets lost,
the train station
to try to buy
new
tickets, back
to the
police
station where
they'd
not
filled
out the
lost
ticket
declaration
form
completely and
finally
back to
the train
station to get us
some new
tickets. The
price
of the
tickets
will be
reimbursed after
45 days
if
nobody
claims a
refund
with the
lost tickets. The extra cost
wasn't really a
problem; we
were just relieved
to be
able
to get
tickets
for
the
first class
compartments
we'd
booked.
We
couldn't
have
handled
travelling
2nd or
3rd
class with
the
kids in
the
night
train!
We boarded the night train for Ayuthaya. The same wagon
master was there to greet us. After
having squashed five
cockroaches and watched
a
film, we settled down
for the night.
Estimated
arrival
time
in
Ayuthaya: 5h45.
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 |
 |
| Tunnels in the
U Mong
temple |
Buddha head in
the
forested
grounds
of U
Mong |
Bungalow
Guesthouse (our base in Chiang Mai) |
5 Feb: Ayuthaya
We bought breakfast from the market
outside the train station. We
arrived at Baan Lotus Guest
House (reserved
from
Chiang Mai) at 7:00 in the morning and were
lucky to be able to
occupy the room straight
away. After
a shower
and
the
kids'
homework, we
left
to discover the
temples
and
temple ruins
of
Ayuthaya.
We set off by foot to visit the first temple, Wat Ratburana. A
tuk-tuk driven by a Thai Alan, proposed his
services to us
for
the day there. We
gladly accepted.
We
started off with the
temples off the central
island; Wat Phanan
Choeng - a busy temple
with
it's 19 metre
high
sitting
B
uddha,
Wat Yai
Chai
Mongkol -
a
beautiful 14th
century
temple with a 17
metre
reclining
Buddha in the
open air and finally Wat
Chai Wattanaram - a 17th century temple
resembling those of
Angkor. Then lunch in a
restaurant on the
riverside followed by
the
temples on the
island of Ayuthaya: Wat
Phra
Mahathat - a
14th
century
temple
built in
the centre of the old
sacred city with a B
uddha head embedded in
twisted tree roots,
Wat
Phra Si
Sanphet and
the
ancient
royal palace
- with its 3 lined up
bell-shaped
chedi enclosing the
remains
of 3 Ayuthaya
kingdom
kings,
and
finally
Watt
Mongkon
Bophit a modern
temple
with its huge B
uddha image.
Then to take a break from the temples we drove out of the city to
visit
the
elephant
kraal. A
teak
log
enclosure
used to
round up wild
elephants
destined
for labour
or
war.
After a siesta at the guesthouse Alan, our tuk-tuk driver took us
on
a
night
tour
of the
illuminated
temples.
Magic!
There
are lots of
stray
dogs
that wander around
the
towns and
temples of
Thailand.
Sophie has
become paranoid about
being bitten
and
despite
our
attempts to
make her see r
eason;
she
was scared to
walk
around at
night...
 |
 |
 |
| Reclining
Buddha
at
Wat Yai
Chai
Mongkol |
Wat Yai Chai
Mongkol |
Apprentice B
uddhas at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol ! |
 |
 |
 |
| Buddha head
engulfed by tree roots in Wat
Phra
Mahathat |
Cooling off
under the sprinklers at Wat
Chai
Wattanaram |
Wat
Phra Si Sanphet by
night |
6 Feb: Ayuthaya to Bangkok to Sydney
We spent a leisurely morning at the guesthouse doing the
girls homework. François went to get his hair
cut. He returned with all
his hair shaved
off,
leaving only a
couple of
millimetres.
He's a
new
man!
Our train to Bangkok was delayed by 45 minutes. The
station is chaotic,
no
announcements
are made
in English
and
you
have
to cross
the tracks on
wooden
walkways to
board
the
train. We
were in
third
class, with
wooden
seats
and no air
conditioning, but
it
was only
a one
and a
half hour
journey
and
with the
windows open it was nice
and breezy. And for just over one Euro
for
the
four of us, who
can
complain!
A taxi took us from Bangkok's main station to the airport. We
were relieved to have arrived on time! We
spent the evening and
night in the plane; only
4 hours of sleep before landing in
Sydney.
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