Last night, I slipped at the hotel and hyper-extended my left knee. Ouch. I didn’t want to think about it immediately after it happened – let’s see in the morning.
The rooftop area at the hotel has recently been painted with some light coloured, glossy waterproof compound. That’s fine, but the roof had leaked, and I didn’t notice the wet bits. In the morning, there was no swelling, but it was still very sore.
After some brekkie, I packed and rode the 10 mins to Hualumphong station (Bangkok Central). I didn’t think much about the traffic but thought it was pretty aggressive – I should have expected that. I’m in Bangkok.
Next job was to buy a ticket for myself – easy. Then I had to take the bike to the train and pay the porter, and load the bike. The handlebars are too wide so you had to be smart to get it on board. Unfortunately, the guy was frustrated and useless. I know it’s not the done thing here, but I had to briefly yell at him and take the bike off him, to stop him bashing it on the door. He let fly with a stream of vitriol that I luckily couldn’t understand – except for the word ‘falang’ (foreigner) repeated between every spray. After that, we were best friends and solved the issue.
When we arrived in Ayutthaya, I quickly loosened the stem and turned the bars to make it easy to get out. Shouldn’t have bothered. They passed it out the window. 😂
It was humid and hot, so I dawdled, ate lunch, drank coffee and a smoothie and finally made it to Plus Hostel to be greeted by the owners.
I told them that Stuart T had suggested I come here, and I could immediately tell that they were good friends of his by the big smiles on their faces. What lovely people they are. They run an amazing little hostel and take an interest in everyone there. Thanks for the recommendation, Stuart.
In the afternoon, I went to see some of the temple ruins which are very very good. It was also good to see so many tourists. As usual, there were Dutch people everywhere. It seems they travel more than anyone.
That night, all of the lodgers at Plus Hostel ate dinner (cooked by our hosts) at the big table outside, and we all talked for hours.