Ayutthaya – 13th April

Captain Caveman and I were up early on Saturday 13th April and it looked to be a hot and sunny day in Ayutthaya, Thailand. After some research, a plan had been made by Captain Caveman to visit Jaeb Tom Leud Moo, a local Thai breakfast restaurant. It was famous for its blood and entrails soup but (luckily) it was also good for dumplings. It was already busy when we arrived but we found one available table at the back. We ordered various pork, prawn (or both pork and prawn) dumplings with soy sauce, a big bottle of water, an iced coffee and a hot tea.  The dumplings were only 25 baht (54p) for a dish of 2 or 3 so we ordered 3 lots initially. We loved them so ordered the same again. When the drinks came, they both had ice in and so much sugar I couldn’t tell which was tea or coffee. Captain Caveman drank both as the least offensive of the 2 drinks was full of condensed milk which I can’t stomach. We paid just over 200 baht (£4.33) for our feast and we were ready to explore the old temples of Ayutthaya.

We walked around and I tried my very best not to moan about how hot and sweaty I was but it was about 39°C by lunchtime. We’d walked round the old temple grounds, seen some elephants where people were riding them. I hate seeing tourists ride the elephants as it’s not good for them and they are probably not looked after very well. Previously, the thought of being sprayed with water in the street to celebrate the Thai new year had not been appealing to me, whereas now I could walk fully clothed in to a cold shower just to cool down.

As we approached a cafe there was a member of staff at Boran Cafe, dressed up and armed with a water gun. Captain Caveman went past without even a squirt but I lingered a bit and got my torso wet!
The cafe was very nice and was probably not the cheapest place in town but it was clean and had friendly staff. Here’s what we had for lunch with the prices in Baht;

Boran Cafe
1 soda water 25
1 steamed rice 25
1 duck curry 150
Prawn Pad Thai 190
Crispy Wontons 220
3 Leo beers 240
Total spent 850 Baht (£18.44)

The food was fantastic and made me feel better, as I continued with the cold and cough. I did have one of the Leo beers just to try it and at 80 Baht (£1.74) it was good but I didn’t finish it all. The staff asked if they could put a paste on our faces which is one of the oldest of the Songkran rituals. They mixed a white powder of limestone in to a pasty substance in a bowl and got us to shove our fingers in it then smear it on each others faces as a sign of protection to ward off evil. We looked very fetching as we made our way ‘home’ trying to avoid getting too wet.

Back at Nature Home hotel, Captain Caveman went to the room to play Bridge on his phone while I went to find the pool. There was a nice small, but deep enough, pool and I chatted to a Thai guest who was there and then the owner.
When Captain Caveman came down to the pool we decided to miss going to the 3.30pm water festival nearby. We bought a couple of large Chang beers for 90 Baht (£1.95) each and shared the first one while the owner stuck the second one in the freezer. It was a lovely hotel and I’d definitely stay there again if I went back to Ayutthaya.

That evening was the Thai new year’s eve and we had planned to go to the local night market which was famous for having lots of food stalls. While we were in the room getting our showers, an almighty storm started and we were going nowhere until it finished. When it did eventually stop we went out to find there were some casualties; a tree had been struck by lightening and had fallen across overhead cables on to the metal gate of a property. A group of people congregated outside and it looked like no-one was brave enough to touch anything for fear of electrocution. We found the night market but there were not many stalls that were functioning, much of it was in darkness and the vendors burned candle wax to give them some light. I decided I wouldn’t be eating from the stalls, my stomach can’t cope at the best of times, and I was concerned we couldn’t see if items were cooked or what they were. I encouraged Captain Caveman to try some food but he didn’t look keen either and we had a big day planned tomorrow. Instead, we walked the streets trying not to get soaked with water from all the Thais out on the street having water fights, or people with super-soakers and buckets in the back of pick up trucks. I was doing so well until we turned a corner and a guy with a small container threw it at me, it was quite nice in the heat. It wasn’t so nice when the next guy along tipped a bucketful on us both!
We walked, sopping wet, and a bit cheesed off that we wouldn’t get our clothes dry before travel tomorrow. At least we had both put our phones and stuff in my bag inside a plastic bag to protect them from getting soaked. I even had my tissues and Hall’s mentholyptus sweets in to a plastic bag too.
We had trouble finding somewhere open where we could get an evening meal and were about to give up and go back to the hotel when we came across a white building called Walk In Cafe and it also had a sign saying Grandma’s House. We walked in to the cafe which was freezing due to us being wet and the AC being on. I was starving and so we ordered some dishes to share and extra pork. I was tempted to order the cheese toast as the menu made it look amazing but the Thai dishes were better value and a bit more diet friendly. All our food was amazingly tasty and I really enjoyed it but I didn’t take any photos of it. Here’s what we had and the prices in Baht;

Walk In Cafe
1 soda water 15
1 Leo beer 90
Chicken Pad Thai 100
Chicken & Cashew nuts 100
2 crispy pork 300
Total spent 605 Baht (£13.13)

The place started to close just as we finished eating and we walked home. It was dark and we noticed the property with the fallen tree was still dealing with it. Back at the hotel, we hung our soggy clothes out to try to dry them as much as we could before we had to leave tomorrow. Captain Caveman was still in two minds whether to leave on the early train or check out at 12 and then get the train. We had plans to meet his friend for a bit of a special Thai New Year celebration.

Photo credit – some photos taken by Captain Caveman