We met our guide for the day, Laki, bright, early, and ready to take on our next adventure together after a wonderful few days in Bangkok. We traveled a little differently than we otherwise would have to Ayutthaya – wanting to make sure that Mimi was comfortable and that we made the most of our time together – and boarded an overly spacious, comfortable van. As we kicked off our 90-minute drive to the Summer Palace (the first stop of the day), we peppered Laki with questions about life in Thailand, Thai history, and the royal family which she enthusiastically answered. We would later come to realize that she was a little bit more of a royalphile than some of the other Thai people we met on our journey.

For reasons we will never know, the Summer Palace had the most stringent dress code we had seen anywhere on our travels, including no “tight pants.” Mimi, who was unfortunately wearing leggings, was not exempt from this requirement and changed like a champ in the car before going in. Though not as ornate as some of the other sites we visited, the Summer Palace was a lovely place to spend an hour and learn more about the history of the Thai royal dynasty. We whipped through the palace grounds on a golf cart, stopping every so often to admire a residence, temple, or other historical monument. We learned that one of the kings enjoyed spending time at the Chinese palace where he pursued affairs with men in secret. At one point, we stopped at a pond to feed the fish (this seems to be a popular activity in Thailand). Laki walked down to the edge of the pond and stuck out a piece of bread. A massive turtle made its way from the center up to the side of the pond and ate it right out of her hands!

After the Summer Palace, we boarded our mega van and made our way to Ayutthaya. On our drive, we learned that Ayutthaya had once been one of the largest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It was a global city where nations came together to trade and engage in diplomacy — further evidenced by the presence of a Dutch village, Japanese village, and French village amongst others in the city. Our first stop in Ayutthaya was Wat Yai Chaimongkol or the “Victory Monument.” This site was our favorite in Ayutthaya – it was full of ruins and chedis from the 16th century built to commemorate Siam’s war with Myanmar that were surrounded by what Laki called Buddhist “follower” statues of those that had not yet reached enlightenment. It was also a lot more peaceful, quiet, and shady than some of the other places we visited (emphasis on shady – it was hot that day)! 

We moved on to the Ayutthaya Historical Park and roamed around the grounds. The highlights there where what we deemed the “leaning tower of Ayutthaya” (a temple that had a lean to it), hundreds of Buddhas with severed heads (they had been illegally decapitated as the heads often sold for a pretty penny as antiquities and were lighter to transport), and a Buddha’s head embedded in an old tree. We met some of Laki’s friends here too – a group of six puppies that had recently lost their mother. She feeds them chicken kebabs every day in order to make sure they have enough food.

We were all excited for lunch – both for food and to be in AC for awhile! Laki dropped us across the way at a touristy, kitschy restaurant while she went to go eat pork noodles at a local joint (we definitely would have preferred the local spot, but didn’t have much say in the matter). Lunch was probably the most mediocre meal we had in Thailand — the papaya salad, jungle curry, and green bean curry were all unremarkable. On the flip side, we got our first taste of Thai tea here and loved it! What’s not to like about an iced, orange-colored tea with condescended milk on a hot day?

Before getting dropped off at our hotel, we made a quick stop at Wat Lokaya Sutharam – a temple with the biggest reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya. We can attest that it was an exceptionally large reclining Buddha and a neat site. Then, we parted ways with Laki, thanking her for a great day of exploring and education on Thai history, and settled in to Baan Thai House.

There are not too many accommodations to choose from in Ayutthaya and we were on a budget (Mimi generously treated us to everything in Thailand, but we felt proud about booking our own accommodations), so we weren’t quite sure what we were going to get with Baan Thai. We also found a lizard in a room right when we checked in (we didn’t tell Mimi about that one until a few days later) which enhanced our reservations. Luckily, Mimi is probably the easiest and least picky 79 year-old world traveler out there and she was totally unphased! She even thought it was a nice spot (despite avoiding the shower).

Upon checking in, Jessie and Mimi spotted a small pamphlet about massages at Baan Thai and decided that it could be a fun way to spend an hour. Thailand is famous for Thai massages which we quickly learned are more like forced stretching (read: incredibly painful) than a typical massage. With no expectations for these $8, hour-long massages, we changed into purple scrubs, laid down on futons on the floor and mentally prepared ourselves for an interesting hour. We luckily avoided eye contact for the hour, otherwise we probably would have burst into hysterics. The massages started off quite painful with the masseuses contorting our bodies in ways we didn’t know we could bend, but turned into a fun and relaxing experience. So much so that Mimi looked up massage places back home shortly after.

We met back up with Doug for an easy dinner in the lodge. Dinner was nothing to call home about (though better than lunch), but we shared many laughs and played countless games of dhumbal which was quickly becoming an obsession of Mimi’s. We topped our long and exciting day by sharing a dish of ice cream that was surprisingly delicious.