Call me Mr Bombastic: Ayuthaya

Ayuthaya is bigger than it looks on the map in the Lonely Planet, so renting a bike would be a good move.

I see you

Don't rent the one I did, though: the brakes were wonky and after three hours of cycling the chain fell off and couldn't be reattached without a screwdriver (which I didn't have). The funnest bit was that, when the chain fell off and I lost control, I was unable to stop easily because of the wonky brakes and instead toppled over sideways in slow motion.

Luckily I was on a quiet country road miles from anywhere, so there was no traffic to fall in front off and I didn't even get a bruise. Annoyingly, as I couldn't repair it, I had to walk the bike a long way back to a main road in the midday heat.

And it is hot here. I've bathed 4 times today (3 full showers and one go-over with a wet-one) and I still feel sweaty and smelly.

Nice ruins, though, and the "festival of history" is on. There's a great night market selling fantastic food - barbecued bacon skewers, stuffed omelets, ice cream topped with corn kernels, ground rice, and bean paste.

The festival also hosts a "sound and light spectacular" as they are calling it -  a rather bombastic recreation of major historical battles, complete with charging elephants and traditional dancers.

Holy crap! A white elephant!

You put your left foot in....