Ayutthaya and Lopburi

After losing my temper with the 3rd tuk-tuk driver who wanted to take us to the tourist office (I sense more commission!) instead of the train station we had asked to go to, we finally got there to take a train to Ayutthaya, only an hour and a half from Bangkok. It was an easy journey (apart from the jaw achingly sweet coffee I made the mistake of buying!) and within 5 minutes had ourselves a guesthouse to stay in run by a puzzle/magic obsessed man who claimed to be called David Cameron. I now know all the countries in the world with 4 letters. I know which countries begin and end in the letter A. I know at least 4 new magic tricks, and I can make a 3 by 3 grid of the numbers 1 -9 with all sides adding up to 15. At first he was entertaining. Then we starting to avoid him...
Our first (and only) full day was spent on bicycles exploring the ancient temples of the town. I really enjoyed seeing the temples here as they were spread out throughout the town so that just riding through we saw many of them. We stopped at 3 of the major ones for some proper sightseeing. We then took the bikes a bit further and promptly got lost - Ayutthaya Old Town is situated on an island surrounded by river. We seemed to cross this river a few times and so were never sure whether we were on the island of not. As we looked around us, completely clueless about where we were, we saw ominous rain-clouds forming, heard thunder and realised were not only lost; we were about to get VERY wet. Finally, with 30 minutes to spare before the bikes were due back and just the first spots of rain starting to appear, we entered the city and finally found the shop. Where we also found 2 English guys who lived locally and had clearly been in the bar next door for a few hours. The beers they bought us were very welcome after the long ride! The teaching job offer may come in useful in the future as well!
The next morning we left for Lopburi, an further on the train and another temple - rich town. However, it is mostly visited for one temple in particular with a large resident group of renegade monkeys. They stole our food, they climbed on my back, and we watched in fascination as they jumped into pick-up trucks waiting at traffic lights and stole anything they could find from the back. They were great to watch and a good way to spend the day before catching a night train to Chiang Mai, where are currently.
Tigers, elephants, cooking, trekking, biking, rafting... it's going to be a busy week - more to follow!