Ayuthaya Warnings Or Dangers

My Tuk-Tuk driver tried to pull a fast one on me. He is an officially sanctioned driver but that doesn't seem to stop him from trying out some sneaky moves on me.

After my first stop, I returned to the Tuk-Tuk to find a lady next to him. He introduced her as his wife and said that she would follow him for the rest of the journey...which was fine by me. However, instead of sending me to the agreed 2nd stop, he made a detour to a destination that wasn't on our agreed itinerary. The wife proceeded to indicate that she would be my guide for this sector.

I disagreed. I told both of them I am not going to pay for this extra sector. I firmly told the driver to stick to my itinerary.

To their credit, both of them merely shrugged and the driver proceeded to fulfil his end of the agreement. There were no more surprises....and I paid up as agreed at the end of the journey.

This might sound really silly, but i got burnt on my leg from the damn thing even though i knew it was there and that it was hot, so i figured that seeing as id written a tip about renting motorbikes id put in a safety tip regarding the safety aspects of it. it does burn pretty badly so avoid at all costs!!!!!

There are many dogs in the back alleys and side streets of Ayutthaya. They are not particularly friendly, but if one tries to nip you, but don't panic. Walk away at your normal pace; running away is a bad idea. Or so I've been told. You may also see dogs that have obviously been involved in unpleasant traffic accidents. A truly painful sight!

I really don't think this will fall but for safety stay away with this one though this is a brick but this sure is heavy! This one is around the Wat Chaiwatthanaram, at the right side of the area. Just be carefeul!

Well my friend scales it like it is nothing! I help my son (11 years old) up and over the top being very careful that he doesn't slip as I can't call my wife and tell her that he was hurt doing something stupid like this! Now I've got to get my fat butt over the top of this thing without goring myself.
I made it up to the top and it took me a couple of moments to gain my compusure as my hands were getting very slippery from the sweat! I didn't want to call my wife and tell her that I was gored either!! I dried my hands and carefully climbed past the sharp spikes and made it down safely.
We then walked another 75 feet or so to only find another LOCKED GATE!! I couldn't believe it! So the process started all over again. I'm happy to say that we made it out ok! But beware of entering grounds at the end of the day that could be locked up with you inside.
This photo is of the grounds and was taken in 2003 on our last trip back to Ayuthaya.

This isn't a real warning but it could be. LOL
One evening in March of 2002 My Friend (from Ayuthaya), My son and I went for a walk from his home near Wat Budhaisawan to St Josephs school which is about a 1 kilometer walk each way. It is a nice walk as part of the path is along side the Chao Phraya River where we could see the barges working their way up and down the river to Bangkok.
After wandering around the grounds of the school we spent some time skipping stones on the river and talking about different stuff. It was a beautiful evening also. Watching the sunset is a great pastime for me. I didn't bring my camera with me as it was just a friendly stroll and I didn't feel the need to document our stroll. lol
Well for those of you that live in the middle latitudes you know the sun goes down much faster than it does here in Kodiak Alaska. So as darkness was coming upon us and the dang mosquitos were coming out as we were walking with only shorts on and no shirts the mosquitos were attacking us. So we made our way up to the gate to go out of the grounds only to discover that it had been locked for the evening! Hmmm.. No problem my friend Wakin says. We'll just climb over. Well there are very sharp spikes that spread out both ways at the top to keep intruders from coming into the grounds!!
The story is too long for VT so check out part 2 in the warnings and dangers.

No real dangers in Ayuthaya, but I was a bit scared of the groups of stray dogs around.
They didn't attack me at all, but sometimes their attitude was a bit aggressive.