Today our agenda was Ayutthaya, capital of Thailand c.1350 - 1767, when it was sacked by the Burmese and doomed to lie abandoned for centuries.

Getting there, was, fortunately, not as much of a hassle as getting to Sukhothai, although we had to wake up really early to catch the train. A taxi to Bangkok’s Hualamphong station followed by a 1.5 hour ride on State Railway of Thailand, third class was sufficient to get us there. The station was rather quaint and possessed a fair degree of old world charm, as train stations tend to. Third-class travel may sound rather undesirable, but it was not a bad experience, really. We were comfortable enough, after a fashion, and the journey there was not half so painful as our bus ride to Sukhothai.

Upon attaining Ayutthaya, we were almost immediately approached with an offer of transport - in a tuk-tuk, this time. Being quoted originally at 300 baht per person, we managed to reduce the rate to 250, which we found acceptable. Upon setting out, we were to discover that this was a wise decision, for to traverse between the ruins on foot would have been rather… impossible. We also found that it was impossible to spend an entire day in Ayutthaya like we had planned, because a) After a while all wats just look the same and b) The town is really dead. It’s full of stray dogs and children and taxis and guesthouses and absolutely nothing of interest other than its grand past.

Fortunately, transport was to take care of our afternoon for us. We were scheduled to leave Ayutthaya on the 1530 train for Bangkok. Instead, we left at 1610 and the relaxing journey of 1.5 hours we expected turned into a frustrating 2-hour nightmare. It was unbelievably hot and constant stoppages for seemingly no reason were rather difficult to wait out. By the time we got back to Bangkok it was past six and the sun had long gone down (it rises and sets earlier here).

With the night still to go, we decided to catch Casino Royale. We found that the cinemas in Thailand are really amazing - Singapore-style comfort (or better) for a fraction of the price (120 baht per ticket, or $5+; in Singapore the minimum price is $6.50?). We thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and are looking at what other movies we can catch here.

Anyway, that’s about all we did today. Roger will be around soon with today’s pictures.

Right… day 3 of our trip. It was a day set aside for travelling, so it has not been as exciting as the previous two days. Nonetheless, I shall try to sum things up for the benefit of our audience.

We had originally planned to spend two days in Sukhothai, but after just one we realised that, no disrespect, when you’ve seen one wat you’ve seen them all. So we decided to pack our bags and head to the Bangkok one day early. Catching the 9.20am coach to Bangkok, we settled in for yet another long and boring seven-hour drive.

So far, we have been travelling first-class. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Well, not until you see their buses. And anyway, there are basically only two classes: first and second. After seeing first-class, we knew it had to be our only choice, because the way first-class looked, we didn’t even want to imagine second. Comfortable enough, though, it was; for 350 baht the first trip there and 328 baht for today’s trip back: roughly fifteen dollars each way, including drinks on board and a meal stop each time.

Speaking of food, what we have come to realise after three days in Thailand is that people seem to eat much less here. All our food portions have been a lot smaller than we are used to. The upside, of course, is that street food is really, really cheap, so we could always purchase some more to fill our stomachs. Our last dinner in Sukhothai did not even cost us 2 Singapore dollars, and we had rice/noodles, fried street food and satay; quite a spread. Bangkok is probably different though; it is the big city, while Sukhothai was very much a provincial rural town.

Anyway, by the time we arrived in Bangkok and settled down in our hotel, it was evening. We decided to go look at the night market in the tourist-infested streets around. Of course, it was far larger than the one in Sukhothai, and offering all sorts of goods and services, including the famous “Thai girl” shows. We were offered these more than a couple of times, but of course turned down all offers. The array of goods, sights and smells was simply overwhelming, and it was difficult to take in everything all at once.

No matter; we have five more nights in Bangkok. Plenty of time to take in this vast, teeming organised chaos of a metropolis.

This is a very good idea, but technically I would not yet have ORDed by then.

First question: How much baht to bring?