Waiting on the train station at Ayutthaya my instincts told me that my guide had misinformed me as to which platform I was on, then we both forgot about even waiting for a train as she ordered a drink, but then suddenly we realised the train was coming in and everyone ran. I chased the person I thought carrying my bag and then realised my guide was still behind. So in the end in the dark it was all a bit of a mess, but luckily for some reason the staff in the railway cafe did not mind helping out and getting everyone on board and then there was time to give my guide a hug and a genuine thank you for our time in Ayutthaya and off the train went. I had been so carefully sent from one place to the next that being on the train on my own was a bit of an adventure, but it was all so easy. People chatted, next door a Newcastle supporter was chatting to a Dutch person travelling around the region with his father and I shared a few words with the Australian of Chinese descent girl opposite me. At a certain time someone came around to change our seats into beds. There were places to wash and everything was nice and clean and then everyone went to bed. The only odd thing was that the lights in the corridor did not go out. I was also pleased that I had been warned to bring something warm as the air conditioning was so fierce that I was cold. Then come 6 am we all woke up, the same person dismantled our beds, a friendly if somewhat chaotic cafe staff member delivered my Cafe Americano and I chatted further to to the young girl opposite who had enjoyed the shopping experience in Bangkok, which she assured me was better than in her native Australia. As shopping was the last thing I wanted to do in Bangkok it was nice to hear of such a different experience. She also said how much she liked being able to explore different parts of Asia from Australia, but people kept thinking she was Thai.
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| Lotus buds on sale in the market ready to take to temple. |
At the station everything was easy I was taken to my lovely hotel and whisked off in a rickshaw. Again I had been unsure about this part of the tour, both for the person cycling and for me, but in the end it was fine for me. It was not the whole day, it was quite gentle, but hard work for the elderly pair who drove me and my new guide around the town, before having an early lunch in a restaurant created to help Thai prisoners go on the straight and narrow!
Chang Mai consisted of earlier temples than those seen in Bangkok, and with a slightly different focus to those in Bangkok, but to an outsider like me not significantly different, but still lovely and as there was a festival just finishing lots of monks were getting fed. However, the most important part of the trip to Chang Mai was the trip to the Elephant Sanctuary, and the hotel as the hotel in Chang Mai was definitely the best one I stayed in. Not only were the staff lovely, but the breakfasts much better than elsewhere - I even tried some of the Thai breakfasts and there was a free afternoon tea, but I also just enjoyed relaxing by the pool. The hotel was very quiet only a few people staying and it was not till the second day that they began speaking ,but it was very pleasant and the English woman and her husband very helpfully left two Richard Osman books which I devoured over the next part of the journey.
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