A few weeks ago, back in England, I was contemplating the road atlas of Thailand and planning the route from Phuket to Thamuang. It is a long way; the best part of 1,500 kilometres, and to make it manageable and enjoyable I decided to definitely break the journey at Ayyuthaya. Khamma and I often said we would like to visit the ancient city of Siam. It is a UNESCO World Heritage city and has very strong connections with Thai culture and history. We had already enjoyed a stopover at PKK, and a day's break in Ayyuthaya seemed perfect.
Looking at the map, the journey seemed straightforward enough; route 4 north as far as road 35 east to road 9 north to Ayyuthaya. We set off from Prachuap at a reasonable 9am and estimated our arrival at around 4pm. I set the sat nav, not that I particularly thought we would need it (ha ha), but because we had it and had grown confident in the way it guided us around. In any case, on a serious note, we were going to flirt on the outskirts of Bangkok and after the last experience of driving there I thought we needed all the help on offer.
Time moved on and after a short stop at the Floating Market in Hua Hin (not recommended) we found route 35 and moved closer to Bangkok. At this point the simplicity of the map was overwhelmed by the reality of the Bangkok traffic. The intersections are plain enough on paper, but the problem of getting the car into the correct lane and therefore the right direction, is another matter entirely. Five and six lane roadways converging into huge junctions. The signs for route 9 are clear enough and ever so close, but it was a battle to get there. The sat nav lady was speaking directions in such a clear calm but insistent voice I thought she was talking to me from the meditation room in the nearby temple. I was frantically looking how best to cut across six lanes of a moving mass of traffic with bicycles, motorbikes, motorbikes with sidecars, trucks, lorries, transporters, tankers, articulated lorries from China, Malaya, Laos and Cambodia and cars of every shape and size and some were even roadworthy! Every one of us wanted to go in a different direction and began weaving in and out in the automotive equivalent of musical chairs, the music stopping when a red light appeared, and even then some cheated and carried on. Remarkably no one crashed, on this occasion, no one got hurt and as far as I could tell, I was the only one worried by it all, followed by Khamma (maybe at my driving rather than the frenzy around us - I don't know and I didn't ask).
The road appeared endless, and at one time it passed underneath the construction of the extension to the Bangkok urban train. But, in due course the mayhem started to subside and we could relax as the signs started to appear for Ayyuthaya. We arrived unshaken, but a little stirred, at 4pm.
Another experience and thankfully one we survived. At least the car hire company will be pleased.
Looking at the map, the journey seemed straightforward enough; route 4 north as far as road 35 east to road 9 north to Ayyuthaya. We set off from Prachuap at a reasonable 9am and estimated our arrival at around 4pm. I set the sat nav, not that I particularly thought we would need it (ha ha), but because we had it and had grown confident in the way it guided us around. In any case, on a serious note, we were going to flirt on the outskirts of Bangkok and after the last experience of driving there I thought we needed all the help on offer.
Time moved on and after a short stop at the Floating Market in Hua Hin (not recommended) we found route 35 and moved closer to Bangkok. At this point the simplicity of the map was overwhelmed by the reality of the Bangkok traffic. The intersections are plain enough on paper, but the problem of getting the car into the correct lane and therefore the right direction, is another matter entirely. Five and six lane roadways converging into huge junctions. The signs for route 9 are clear enough and ever so close, but it was a battle to get there. The sat nav lady was speaking directions in such a clear calm but insistent voice I thought she was talking to me from the meditation room in the nearby temple. I was frantically looking how best to cut across six lanes of a moving mass of traffic with bicycles, motorbikes, motorbikes with sidecars, trucks, lorries, transporters, tankers, articulated lorries from China, Malaya, Laos and Cambodia and cars of every shape and size and some were even roadworthy! Every one of us wanted to go in a different direction and began weaving in and out in the automotive equivalent of musical chairs, the music stopping when a red light appeared, and even then some cheated and carried on. Remarkably no one crashed, on this occasion, no one got hurt and as far as I could tell, I was the only one worried by it all, followed by Khamma (maybe at my driving rather than the frenzy around us - I don't know and I didn't ask).
The road appeared endless, and at one time it passed underneath the construction of the extension to the Bangkok urban train. But, in due course the mayhem started to subside and we could relax as the signs started to appear for Ayyuthaya. We arrived unshaken, but a little stirred, at 4pm.
Another experience and thankfully one we survived. At least the car hire company will be pleased.
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