Our last full day in Bangkok was a Sunday, so we took the opportunity to visit Chatuchak weekend market. The size was incredible, with a total of 26 sections and such a vast range of products it felt possible to buy anything we would want. As we wandered I found an interesting sweet I had not yet tried, mango ice cream and green sticky rice (this is a little like rice pudding), which turned out to be delicious. After a few hours exploring the market we could take no more, the heat was making us more exhausted by the second and we were a little disappointed to find stalls were selling at fixed prices, leaving no room for bartering.

We ended our time in Thailand on a cultural note, visiting the historic town of Ayutthaya. Laura and I rose just after 4am, wanting to make the most of the single day we had left we planned to arrive a little before the temples opened at 8am. The plan was hampered a little however, as Dan forgot to set his alarm leading to us missing our planned train. So after an hour wait and a sleep in the train station, we were woken just in time for our train by a security guard who did not appreciate people lying down in the middle of the station.

By 9:30am we were in Ayutthaya, had hired bicycles, and set off in search of the many temples highlighted on the maps provided to us. It didn’t take us long to get lost, with the lack of detail on the maps and way too many temple names to search through trying to find our location. We did eventually make it to the first, and largest, of the temple ruins, Wat Maha That. What was very noticeable here was the large number of Buddhas all with their heads removed. This temple had been destroyed during a battle with the Burmese, and we think it is likely the heads were removed in defiance of Buddhist beliefs.

The final temple we saw that day most definitely impressed us the most. Wat Phu Khao Thong is a large white temple, created in a stupa type shape and leading a long way towards the sky. With the sun staring down on us it took a fair bit of effort to climb our way to the top, but there is no doubt that it was worth it. We were greeted with excellent views on all sides, and I delighted in finding two silver trees mixed among the usual greens. As we turned the final corner, we found there was a door leading to a small shrine.

Wat Phu Khao Thong

Dan and I both took a moment to enter here and silently said a prayer to Buddha which was displayed in an A4 frame. The shrine was particularly interesting as it housed a small statue of a red Buddha, a colour I had not previously seen used. After a little research I discerned this to relate to life and preservation, this would seem to fit in well with the Wat, which was created as a symbolism of victory and independence from the Burmese.

On returning to the base of the temple we found several Thai people in a restaurant were becoming worried about Laura. We had left her resting at the bottom due to a foot injury from the new year party which had not yet healed, and had become more and more swollen during the day of cycling. As her injury was a cut, turned hole, in the bottom of her foot we were becoming anxious about infection or foreign bodies still in the wound. Before we knew what was happening, the friendly Thai folk had telephoned for an emergency vehicle to pick Laura up to take her to the hospital. With room for only her and her bicycle in the car, Dan and I found ourselves speeding through the streets after a motorbike who was our guide to the hospital. We covered around 8km in 20 minutes, dodging traffic and flying over speed bumps in our desperate attempt to keep up with the motorbike and arrived exhilarated and red in the face!

Luckily there was no serious problem with her foot and Laura was released a short while later, after which we took a much slower bicycle ride back to the train station returning to Bangkok a final time.

Team cycle

We saw the Thailand out in typical fashion with street food and a massage for all.