Exploring the Ancient City of Ayutthaya, Thailand, Ayutthaya, Thailand

Looking at the lengthy train journey back to Bangkok and then onto Chiang Mai we decided to break it up a little with a couple of nights in Ayutthaya, once the capital of Siam, and take some time to explore the ruins.https://www.maptrotting.com/thung-wua-laen-beach-thailand/

So after a few relaxing days by the sea near Chumphon, it was time to head north in search of some history and culture.

The vague plan was to stay in Chiang Mai and beyond for a few days after hearing what a funky place it is and then move to our next country, wherever that may be.

The ancient city is reasonably compact with most of the must-see sights contained within the west side of the moated island area.

So the perfect way to get yourself around all those stunning ruined temple sights is to hire a bicycle and use some pedal power.

We hired a couple of bikes from our guesthouse for a very reasonable 50 THB each (£1) for 24 hours. The bikes were very basic with just 1 gear but despite setting out early it soon got intensely hot and humid so we didn't cycle very fast at any point.

We also got a handy tourist map from our guesthouse which highlighted all the main spots to head for, the first of which, Wat Maha That (Monastery of the Great Relic), was about a 2-minute cycle away. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).