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Pagoda spires at Ayutthaya

We spent a very pleasant four days in Ayutthaya, ancient capital of Thailand, including a one-day outing to the even more ancient city of Lopburi, famed as much for the horde of monkeys that occupies its sites as for the temples and pagodas that dot the town center.

When we took the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in late July, Gerry almost jumped out of his seat when we drew into Lopburi station and he saw the ruined temples so close to the train station. We had not heard of the place until then, but vowed we would come back and visit. Our always reliable Lonely Planet soon filled in the gaps in our knowledge and convinced us that Ayutthaya, just down the train line towards Bangkok, was worthy of even more time than Lopburi, and so it turned out.

Ayutthaya

The weather was dreadfully hot in early September and the center of Ayutthaya somewhat devoid of the leafy shade we craved, but a couple of rental bikes helped in that we generated a bit of a breeze with our pedalling efforts and allowed us to get from site to site with relative ease. The only annoyance was one site where the 'gatekeepers' refused to allow us to park our bikes in the shade, meaning that the black saddles were hot as Hades when we got back.

Seated Buddha at Ayutthaya with Khmer-style towers in the background

Statues decorating temple corner at Ayutthaya

The temples of Ayutthaya are truly magnificent. Here we began to really understand and integrate the changing styles of Thai temples, from Lanna in the north with its Burmese influences to the graceful spires of Sukkothai-style from the empire that flourished in the center of Thailand, and finally the Khmer-influenced temples of Ayutthaya and its surroundings. This was our first introduction to Khmer architecture, an education that deepened and broadened in the next two months as we gradually moved further and further east until we finally reached Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the greatest Khmer temples of all.

Lopburi

Lopburi Station

Khmer tower at Lopburi

Lopburi Monkeys

Our day in Lopburi was as fascinating as we had expected, although we had not reckoned with the wildlife experience that came with it. The temples of Lopburi have been colonised by tribes of monkeys that the locals tolerate remarkably well, that Gerry found intriguing and Jan found subtly menacing.

Sunset from the train

The return by train from Lopburi was one of the most memorable journeys of our stay in Thailand. We had had a busy day and got on the 3rd class train just as the sun was starting to climb down the sky. The train had no air-conditioning, but all of the windows were wide open bringing a rush of cool air into the car, thankfully bringing down our temperatures. We were so intent on the beauty of the sunset that we missed our stop. Luckily, when we got off at the next stop, we learned that another train was about to come by and that we could ride it back to Ayutthaya.

Candied yams for sale in Lopburi

Modern housing tract in Ayutthaya