I arrived into Bangkok at about 5am which was a pretty awful time to arrive in terms of doing anything. I therefore lay on one the benches in the bus station until daylight, before catching the train into the city. I decided to base myself in Chinatown for the duration of my stay as it was probably the place with the most central location to embrace the Songkran celebrations with Khao San Road and Silom, which I read were the best two areas to celebrate both within about 45 minutes walk in either direction. Chinatown itself was also more of a safe zone in terms of the celebrations which meant I managed to arrive to the hostel with all my belongings bone dry.
As I arrived at the hostel so early I could only drop my stuff off, so I headed over to Siam for the morning which is where all the shopping and entertainment complexes are based. It was very different from last time, as when I visited over 4 years ago now the Thai people were protesting about something and the streets round Siam were lined in tents. I had a look round some of the shops before heading over to Silom Road to begin my Songkran celebrations. When arriving they were still closing the road, but as soon as it closed it began getting crazy with basically a massive water fight down the street! I stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to the hostel to lie down for a bit as I was pretty exhausted from the bus ride.
I headed back to Silom Road later that afternoon and it was even busier than when I left, the party in full flow! There was a skywalk above the road where you could seek some kind of refuge, although not much, and from there you could see the sheer volume of people, the scenes almost reminiscent of carnival. After a couple more hours embracing the celebrations I headed into this Irish Bar down one of the side streets to watch the football. There were a few Chelsea fans there although I was the only Saints fan. It was just a shame about the result.
The following day I went to a couple of the temple complexes to see the more serious side of Songkran. I was informed that the government operated tuk tuks were taking tourists to 3 temples round the city which during Songkran were free entry. The only catch was that after visiting the first temple they took you to this tailors shop where they wanted you buy a suit where the tuk tuk driver would get commission, which is a completely ridiculous place to take a backpacker to. It seemed like quite a weird thing for the government to do. The second temple, Wat Intharawihan, was a really interesting complex home to several different Buddha statues which many locals were blessing with flowers and water. The standing Buddha, this massive statue, was covered in scaffolding though so you couldn't see that very well.
The final temple, Marble Temple, was the pick of the bunch I visited which had lots of local people doing things like dancing and singing to celebrate the new year in. I spent over an hour exploring the complex. When leaving my tuk tuk driver dropped me off at Khao San Road, where I grabbed some lunch before getting stuck into some of the more serious action. With Khao San Road a lot narrower and smaller than Silom Road it was a bit more intense, but it was lots of fun. I headed back to the hostel later that afternoon for a lie down once again, mainly just get some respite from the action!
Come evening I went over to Siam again, where I had heard they had some live music in the evening. They had a dry zone stage and a wet zone stage, and I went to both. The wet zone was absolutely crazy with these pressure hoses on both sides of crowd getting you soaked. Nearer to the stage they also had a foam machine although I couldn't get close to the stage as it was so busy. I had lots of fun and it was a good way to finish my celebrations. It will be nice to walk round the streets without getting buckets of water and water guns all over me next week though!
As I had done a pretty good job exploring Bangkok the last time I visited I didn't really have much else to see in the city itself other than temples. I did however want to visit the ancient city of Ayutthaya which was about 80km north of Bangkok. Ayutthaya was capital of the Siam Empire from 1351 until 1767 which was one of the largest and most prosperous empires of its time. It was however invaded and burned to ground by the invading Burmese in 1767, the capital being Bangkok eversince. The city is home to the ruins of many impressive temples and palaces influenced by many different cultures, a reflection of the cities intensive trade with many different nations.
I decided to leave my main bag in Bangkok and catch the train up to Ayutthaya which was surprisingly cheap and easy. I wasn't sure how long I needed to explore the city but the woman at the hostel in Bangkok said there were plenty of beds available if I returned that evening, and I knew Ayutthaya had extensive accommodation options. When arriving I went and got a map and soon realised it would be very ambitious to explore the city in a day as the ruins were all very spread out. It would have been impossible to visit every historical site, but the map I got had 10 of the places highlighted so I figured they were the best places to explore.
The centre of Ayutthaya itself was effectively an island being surrounded by 3 rivers, and 6 of the places highlighted on the map were here, the other 4 on the outskirts. First stop was therefore Wat Mahathat which was home to many Buddha relics, the highlight this Buddha head which had been strangled in tree roots. Across the road was Wat Ratchaburana which was home to this pagoda I was able to climb. You could even access this basement which was accessed by an incredibly steep staircase, home to some old wall paintings. A short walk from there was Wat Thra Sri Sanphet which was the most important temple in Ayutthaya being part of the now completely destroyed royal palace. The complex was centred around these 3 large stupas which were very imposing!
Nearby Thra Sri Sanphet was MongKhol Bophit, a more modern temple home to a large golden Buddha. Wat Phra Ram was a short walk from here and was home to several more Buddha relics and another large pagoda. My map stated the sixth place worth visiting was Elephant Camp, although when reaching there the elephants looked very unhappy. They were all chained up and covered in graffiti which was sad to see. I therefore headed out to one of the temple complexes a bit further out of town, Wat Chai Watthanaram. This riverside complex was home to the King of Ayutthaya and was probably the most intact temple I visited.
By this point I had visited 7 of the 10 highlighted places on the map. The other 3 were the other end of the city so I thought I'd save them for the following day. On my way back into the centre I visited some or the less visited sites including Wat Lokaya Sutharam which was a 42m long reclining Buddha. There were several little relics hidden around the place, and the centre of Ayutthaya was home to a series of lakes linked by these bridges which I understand was the old khlong system. By the end of the day I was knackered but I crammed a lot into the day which was good. I went out to the night market in the evening for dinner before having a well earned early night.
Come morning I was up bright and early to continue exploring the city. First stop of the day was the Phet Fortress, strategically the most important in Ayutthaya. I then visited another golden Buddha statue at Wat Phanan Choeng, before reaching Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. This was an impressive 60m bell shaped chedi surrounded by hundreds of Buddha statues. From here I headed to Ayutthaya Floating Market although it was ridiculous because they would only sell me a boat ticket if I bought a ticket to the elephant circus show too which I didn't want to do, so I couldn't go. There was a normal market there too though so I still had a look round that.
Nearby the floating market there were a few more historical sites worth seeing en route back to the railway station, although before long the weather caved in and it started to rain. Luckily I found shelter until it calmed down somewhat, arriving back to the station by early afternoon. The train back to Bangkok was a little busy and when arriving it was still really grotty. My plan of action from Bangkok was to head up to Chiang Mai, and I was debating between sleeper train or night bus, opting for the sleeper train which I caught late in the evening.
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