When we're in my hometown, Saraburi last week, we did a day trip to Ayutthaya, the nearby province to just drive around, check out temples and find some good food. It's a short & sweet trip though we have experienced quite a good amount of things and here to share it with you.
.. a few must-dos or must-eat here in Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya used to be Siam (Old Thailand)'s capital so for sure a lottttt of Buddhist temples and historic sites for you to check out, Wat Mahathat, Wat Yai Chai Mang Khon, Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Lokayasutharam), just to name a few. There are many other ones as well and each one has its own uniqueness.
So many wats, so little hours so we went with one, Wat Phra Si Sanphet (วัดพระศรีสรรเพชญ์) because it's chosen to be one of the world heritage sites. Totally amazed to see all the runes that are still left but also, the sun was so strong and the heat was killing us so, a temple for the trip sounds about right.
**Wat = Temple
Ayutthaya is a province just by a river, Chaophraya River to be exact so, in the past for what I understand, people sold things on boats and yes, noodle is one of them. That's why it's called, 'Boat noodle'! Even through out the country these days, some places you still can see boat noodles in other provinces with the sign 'Ayutthaya Boat Noodles' so why not try it when at its origin.
Funny enough, we have only one lunch to choose from as we were doing a day trip. We decided to ditch the boat noodle and go with curry noodle instead.
Reasons? My Ayutthaya local friend recommend this 'Crab meat curry noodles' which is a thick red curry with ton of crab meat chunks. I know curry probably doesn't sound so special but it's my first time trying it with just crab.. Sounds rare and yup, I think it tastes great!
I have written about this place on my latest Hive post, MUST-TRY Crab meat curry noodles in Ayutthaya. Do check it out, a little surprise at the end of the place as well :)
Another type of food that Ayutthaya is known for is Cotton Candy but.. nope, not a type of cotton candy you know. It's Thai old-school style cotton candy. Thicker, more rough and not as dreamy as other ones you used to.
The way they eat is also different. The cotton candy is normally wrapped in a roti dough and eaten as a sweet roll.
I have tried it that way a dozen of times so this time we decided to just go a little wild. We went visit Busaba Cafe which offer various dishes that has cotton candy fusion like this cotton candy latte, cotton candy waffle. Quite impressed with the combination but if it's a little too much, it could get a little too sweet as well.
Totally recommend the place but if this is your first time here and if you also haven't tried the original version of this Thai old-school cotton candy, do try that original one first!
We finished the day with this one coffee shop which I recognized later when we were that at the shop that it's the brand I used to see online every so often. One of the coffee shops I'm a regular in Pattaya also use their coffee beans. The roaster is here in Ayutthaya which is super cool that I suddenly has a chance to visit without knowing it's the same company I'm used to!
Another lovely reason to visit besides their good coffee beans is that, it's located just right by the Chaophraya river. Great coffee, great view, sure great vibes.
It's sure a well spent day. There are so much more Ayutthaya has to offer but with so little hours, what we have done for the day I would consider impressive! Totally love the day trip we just did there and sure will be back next time for the new route to enjoy the province.
