Exploring Ayutthaya

Bangkok - choked, dusty and fast-paced- wasn't always the capital of Thailand. If you had been travelling in what was then Siam in 1350, you would have heard about its new capital called Ayutthaya, a city which was built on canals and known for its beautiful surroundings.

In the 417 years of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, the Siamese capital become known as one of the largest cities in the East. Boundaries expanded, trade flourished and the people prospered. All that, however, ended in 1767 when Ayutthaya was invaded and sacked by the Burmese army. After the fall of Ayutthaya, the capital was moved to Thonburi and in 1782 it was moved again to Bangkok, which has remained the capital since.

The ancient site of Ayutthaya, located some 75 kms north of Bangkok, is certainly worth a day trip. The area is full of impressive ruins, mostly of old Buddhist temples or wats, giving one an idea of how big the old city must have been. If you like rubble and rocks and old structures like I do, I would definitely recommend a trip here. Other than learning more about Thai history, a visit to Ayutthaya will allow you to take a break from Bangkok.

Here are some of the ruins in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

 Wat Mahathat

   There's a reason why the heads are missing from these statues of Buddha : the Burmese decapitated the statues when they attacked Ayutthaya

          Buddha heads, decapitated 

 The grounds of some of the ruins are actually quite peaceful

Wat Phra Sisanphet

It's easy to get to Ayutthaya- you can either hire a driver for a day or take a train from Bangkok's Hualamphong Station. The train journey to Ayutthaya takes about 90 minutes. Once you arrive, you can choose to either cycle or walk around the ruins, or even take a boat down the canals.

Kayaking in Krabi

I don't swim but if there's one thing I really enjoy doing in water, it's kayaking or rowing of any sort. I love the movements associated with rowing and what they bring- the slap of my paddle on the water, how it slices though the blue depths and then finally as I lift my arms, the sensation of cold water dripping from the paddle onto my shoulders.

I'm not exactly a super-athletic person but if an opportunity to kayak arises, I grab it immediately. So far I've kayaked in the waters around the islands of Pangkor, Langkawi, Gemia and Redang in Malaysia and off the coast of Kaikoura in New Zealand. 

Krabi in southern Thailand has some good kayaking options. Ask around at the travel agents - a company we found near our hotel in Ao Nang suggested a sunset kayaking tour in the mangrove forests in Ao Thalan. "There are 14 in your group," he said.

After a 40-minute drive from town, we arrived in Ao Thalan.

Kayaks, ready and waiting

A dark-skinned man who was already waiting there introduced himself as our guide. After handing out dry bags and bottles of water, he pointed to some kayaks and told us to "Go down there and take one, but be careful of the chocolate". None of us had any clue what he was going on about but we headed for the kayaks anyway. It was only when we walked down that we realised that "chocolate" was his word for the sticky, gooey, black mud at the shore, which was so thick that both my feet disappeared completely into it. 

As we struggled to lift our feet out of the squelching mud, I shot a look at our guide. He was watching us with his hands on his hips. I knew what he was thinking: 'What a pathetic bunch of city slickers'. He caught me looking at him and grinned.

As soon as all of us had chosen our kayaks, we set out.

It was about 4.30pm when we started. The weather was just nice

One of the couples in the group

As we went further out to sea, we saw two men fishing. There are lots of crabs and small fish in the area 

            Ao Thalan is also known for its lagoons and limestone caves, just don't go too close 

                                 After kayaking for about two and a half hours, the sun finally set 

On the way back, one of the kayaks veered off in the opposite direction-the person rowing in front wanted to take a photo of one of the lagoons. Our guide, who was turning out to be quite a character, shouted at them to turn around, only he used reverse psychology: "Yes, yes. You go that way, I see you tomorrow," he hollered. "Bye bye! Bye bye!"

By the time we got back to where we started, the sun had set completely. We were now 14 shadows rowing in the dark, our paddles hitting the water much more gently now. Mosquitoes buzzed around my head. 

As we got out of our kayaks and handed him our paddles, our guide reminded us once again: "Be careful of the chocolate!"