Ayutthaya : The Ancient Capital of Thailand

Our trip to Ayutthaya happened on Mar 13, 2005. Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand, is located not far from Bangkok, about 1.5 hours train trip. The city used to be one of the marvellous cities of prosperous South East Asia. Unfortunately, it was devastated and levelled during war campaign with the Burmese. Modern Ayutthaya still keeps all its ruins, tracing back from the glorious past. It is now one of the World Heritage Site, and is under supervision of UNESCO.
Getting there
Willy had been to Ayutthaya once many years ago during his first trip to Thailand. Now since Astrid and Rudy were visiting, we decided to take them to Ayutthaya, since Visca had also not yet been to the place. We took train from Hua Lamphong station which was leaving for Chiang Mai. It departed at 09.30 and arrived in Ayutthaya at 10.51. The train fare was only 40 Baht (air-con) to Ayutthaya, but without seat number. It means if there were empty seats due to few passengers travelling to Chiang Mai, we were allowed to occupy them.

Time Was Frozen in Laos ...

Perjalanan kami ke Laos (Vientiane, Luang Prabang & Vang Vieng) dimulai dari kota Vientiane. Sebagai ibukota Laos, Vientiane memiliki posisi yang unik. Tidak seperti ibukota negara lain, yang umumnya terletak di tengah, Vientiane terletak di perbatasan dengan Thailand - dengan kota Nongkhai. Letaknya yang sangat berdekatan dengan Thailand, mengakibatkan penduduk di sini, hampir semuanya bisa berbahasa thai, hal ini juga ditunjang dengan kemiripan antarkedua bahasa tersebut.

Walaupun untuk sampai ke Vientiane, ada pesawat dari Bangkok langsung ke Vientiane, namun kami memilih naik pesawat dari Bangkok menuju Udon Thani, karena kami ingin melihat kota-kota lain (walaupun hanya sekilas), dan juga terutama karena perbedaan harga pesawat yang hampir 2 kali lipat. Pesawat berangkat sekitar pk. 07.30, dengan lama perjalanan sekitar 1 jam. Setiba di airport Udon Thani, kami naik van menuju ke Nongkhai. Van ini tersedia di airport dan diorganisir oleh airport Udon Thani, dengan biaya THB 100/orang. Perjalanan dari Udon Thani ke Nongkhai sekitar 30 menit.

Sunflowers and Dam in Lopburi, Thailand

Yesterday on Dec 4, 2004, we had a short weekend getaway to Lopburi, a very exciting place to watch sunflower blooming. Very simple, we just went to Hualamphong station, buy a one day train tour package at the ticket counter, only 300 Baht per person (note : this tour is only available on weekends). We think it's very worth it, 300 Baht, and you got the round trip train ticket plus 3 meals (2 snacks and 1 packaged lunch)! 

phuket, phi phi, phang nga

Phuket, Phi Phi Islands (Krabi Province) dan Phang Nga Bay are all located in the southern Thailand. They are famous for the breathtaking views of their beaches and waters. Our activities for our vacation on Nov 13-15, 2004 were mostly swimming, snorkelling, and sightseeing. Sand so white, sea so blue, a perfect weekend getaway. We booked our tour package in Bangkok for 6,000 Baht/pax and took Nok Air (1,250 Baht/pax - one way) for about 1 hour from Bangkok to reach Phuket International Airport. The airport is so strategically located on the beach that passengers can see directly to the sea and surrounding islets.

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Thailand

Liburan kami ke Chiang Mai ini sebenarnya tergolong dalam “liburan tak terencana”. Bermula dari niat kami sekedar ingin mencoba naik kereta jarak jauh di Thailand, kami pergi ke stasiun kereta api Hua Lamphong untuk mencari informasi rute-rute kereta api. Kami pun mendatangi pusat informasi di stasiun ini. Bapak petugas informasi sangat ramah dan membantu. Kami diberikan informasi rute-rute KA yang ada di Thailand, dan juga rekomendasi tempat-tempat yang dapat dikunjungi, salah satunya adalah Chiang Mai. Melihat kami tertarik, Bapak petugas ini pun menyarankan kami untuk pergi ke counter tour travel yang ada di stasiun ini, bahkan menyempatkan diri untuk mengantar kami ke counter tersebut. Dan tak lama kemudian, tiket kereta api dan voucher menginap di hotel sudah di tangan kami.

Magnificent Angkor Wat & Phnom Penh

We had a good chance to visit Cambodia as part of our vacation. We travelled to Siem Reap, saw the Magnificent Angkor Wat together with other temples, travelled further down alongside the Tonle Sap river, spent 1 night in Battambang, then further to Phnom Penh. 

My First Trip to Sri Lanka

It was my first trip to Sri Lanka. I was assigned for an onboarding visit in Colombo, March 2004. Hectic days. Jakarta, Singapore, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Colombo, back to Jakarta... However, it was such a great trip around Lanka. The country is very beautiful. After 2 days of onboarding in Colombo, I decided to extend my stay to 2 days and covered the ancient cities of Anuradhapura, Sigirya, Pollonaruwa. Really wanted to catch Kandy, but there was no time... Well, I am saving Kandy for the future then...