Ayutthaya_Day4_

Ayutthaya 13.02.2016

YAY 🙂 After a good sleep, I was happy to have an included breakfast at the hostel. Sometimes I prefer to get something somewhere but sometimes it is quite nice to start with a brekkie at the hostel. Then, I was happy to meet the local, Toto, from the night before. We got along very well and he decided to join me to the train station to check tickets to go further north the following day.

As I would find out later that day, Toto loves to eat but definitely does not look like it. Toto got another breakfast on our way to the train station. Thai style. WOW. This was quite different and I was not brave enough to try… what a shame because I loved it when I finally tried it while we met in Bangkok before I returned to Germany…

 

We decided to spend the day together which was a blast! Ayutthaya, an island, has many ruins and temples, which are part of the Unesco World Heritage. Obviously, we had to visit them. As mentioned before, do not underestimate the distances. Many guides suggest taking bikes to tour the island as well as its surroundings. Do not even try to walk it! You find many rental places around the city. If you want to visit the ruins, the opening hours are from 8a.m. to 4p.m.! I suggest getting up early to do the tour because it gets quite hot during the day. When the temples are closed you can still ride around the city, as we did. It was fantastic! We arrived to places which were without any tourists. It was just amazing. Toto even mentioned that I was most likely the first tourist for some locals.

We visited a temple off the island which has a small floating market. It was quite interesting, but according to photos I have seen, not quite similar to the huge touristy ones. We had lunch at the market… I tried one of Totos favorite ice-creams, which was interesting to see and taste. I did not like it and had to throw it away once I tried. It included CORN!!! Isn’t that quite crazy, at least for me it was, but in a positive and fun way! I love trying new, local things once I am in new places. For me it is one of many points that makes travelling special. For many of you eating local food might be normal but I know others who do not eat local things at all.

Once we continued we stopped to have another lunch and at some point dinner. It was great to be with Toto, we talked about our cultures, life as well as just ‘normal’ convo topics.  AND thanks to Toto, I tried the boat soup which is according to my local friend a common dish in Ayutthaya. You can spot the places easily because they have a boat either as a counter, their cooking place which is for sure at a spot where you can see it easily. This makes me smile again. Toto pointed out the boat when we got our dinner and I was looking for a miniature  on a table but it is actually a boat full-size. My thought pattern cracks me up.  The soup is delicious. I had one bowl, my friend around 5. I AM SO SORRY- I did not take a pic of that…



Once we got back to our hostel we were quite happy to get a shower and refresh ourselves. Totos plan was to leave that evening. I guess life is unpredictable. So go with the flow, as many travelers will tell you. He stayed one more night so we could spend the evening.

I cannot describe what it means to me, that I met Toto.  Once we met, it pretty much felt like talking to an old friend. It doesn’t happen often that you have that kind of exchange I guess. Thanks for your friendship Toto 🙂 . 

Facts of the day:
  • if a local comes to Ayutthaya for a trip… it’s worth it 🙂
  • explore Ayutthaya by bike
  • try local food
  • go further and explore more than the touristic sights

 

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