Bangkok and Ayutthaya

A long, uncomfortable, overnight train ride got us from Trang to Bangkok, where we promptly got lost looking for the river. Biggest landmark in the city, but the winding little streets of Bangkok's chinatown present a pretty solid wall of buildings between a traveller on foot and the riverbank. Once you find a pier though, the ferry service is easily the nicest way to get around. Cheap, refreshing and efficient.

Hunting for accommodation in the streets around Khao San Road before midday isn't a good idea if you can help it. Looking for hotels with wi-fi restricts our choices and raises the average cost too. Not sure if this netbook is really paying for itself, but the abundance of free reading material is a lifesaver when sick or in transit. Japanese input for Hozumi is pretty handy too, come to think of it.

Hozumi's sandals had nearly disintegrated so we went shopping for replacements. After checking two-dozen places and returning to the first, the street-side vendor overheard me exclaiming in exasperation about Hozumi's indecision in Japanese. The vendor dismissed my questions with a derisive comment and a scowl, commented on how fussy Japanese shoppers are, saying she preferred Koreans, and gave us directions to a big store nearby. Not the least bit interested in making a sale, fairly conversant in at least three languages and with a scathing sense of humour.

Wat Chetuphon, with its over-sized lazy Buddha was pretty.

Again with the pain, nausea and liquid shit. Bed-ridden for two nights and a day, only drinking water and medicine. Only a little rice on the second day and no appetite for days after that. Everyone gets traveller's diarrhoea, but I don't remember being bed-ridden or in serious pain more than twice a year when I last went backpacking. Another difference between twenty and thirty?

Cycling around and staying in Ayutthaya provided a nice change of scene.

Wat Ratcha Burana. We climbed right down to the tiny tomb chamber.

Wat Mahathat, with its famous Buddha head. It's theorised that either thieves found the head too heavy to carry off, or the head fell from a structure now almost entirely disintegrated. Given how many headless Buddha are everywhere I'm inclined to believe the aborted theft theory.

Wat Sri's hordes of schoolkids show how well-off Thailand is these days, not shown in the photos though.

We're not sure what the appeal was, here.

We got free samples of the sweet pancake candyfloss things that seem popular in the area. Unfortunately they weren't good enough to warrant buying any.

On our way back from Ayutthaya we found out there are only two trains a day to Cambodia, and only the morning one is useful for getting across the border in good time, so we stayed at the Sri Hualamphong hotel near Bangkok station. Funny thing, the scrawny old lady at the desk insisted quite vehemently that we left our bags with her before climbing the stairs to look at a room. She actually refused to hand over a key until our backpacks were off and on the floor, much to our confusion. It must have been a grand place in its time, with acres of unused floor space at every landing, but these days its a really grotty dive.

The Thai-Cambodia border was hassle-free, well supplied by public transport on the Thai side, and the $20 visas easily obtained without paying the Baht surcharge the immigration guys asked for but didn't insist on. Quite different from the scam-ridden mess we'd read about... well, the scams were there but they were obvious and easily skirted. The Cambodian side was another matter. The free government shuttle bus' only purpose was to ferry people to a compound, where over-priced buses and taxis were the only way onward. We met a couple from Austria who were equally frustrated with the trap, negotiated in secret with a taxi driver to meet us behind the compound and take us onward to Siem Reap.