Ayuthaya and The Monkeys of Lopburi

Wave farewell to Kanchanaburi from the back seat of a taxi to arrive a couple of hours later in historic Ayuthaya, the former capital of Siam for more than 400 years.

This Unesco-designated World Heritage Site is the cultural heart of Thailand and home to ancient palaces and ruined temples situated on an island surrounded by three rivers - Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak.

The city may not boast as impressive an array of temples as those around Angkor - Burmese invaders sacked the city and stole most of its treasures in 1767 - but, if you can't get to Cambodia, then poking around Ayuthaya's ruins makes for a very good second best, particularly as it's only a couple of hours north from Bangkok.

After checking into the Baan Thai hotel - lovely pool and gardens sitting alongside a river which is home to some fearsome-looking monitor lizards - we take a guided tuk-tuk ride around the city and its outskirts.

Glories of bygone days are immediately evident at the stunning Wat Phra Si Sanphet temple built in the late 14th century and home to several kings, while Wat Chai Wattanaram was uncovered as recently as 40 years ago from the strangling jungle around it.

Eye-catching too is a lone stone Buddha head embedded among a tree's tangled and twisted roots at Wat Phra Mahathat - one even the Burmese missed as they looted Ayuthaya's famed treasures.

We return as evening falls to the Thai Baan and a cooling swim - no monitor lizards (we spot one around six foot long on the riverbank) in pool, thankfully - before dinner.

Just as night closes in we are caught up in a fierce tropical storm - huge peels of roaring thunder and flashing sheet and forked lightning. It's not only darkness on the edge of town, but everywhere and a candle-lit dinner in the open-sided but sheltered restaurant.

We are treated to a light show extraordinaire - the garden alongside us one second inky black, the next lit up in dazzling fashion by the pyrotechnics around us - making for a great accompaniment to our Thai curry and Singha beers.

Monkeying around Lopburi
The following day sees us head off early to Ayuthaya's railway station to climb aboard a third-class-only train to Lopburi, where troops of monkeys scavenge among the little town's decrepit Khmer ruins.

After a long delay at the station and a baking hot ride north - no air con and just the odd ceiling fan in working order - we reach Lopburi in about an hour, but almost immediately on arrival wish we hadn't bothered.

Now neither of us mind the odd monkey here and there - they can be quite engaging little fellows - but when there are hundreds and hundreds of them, not only crawling all over the temples but hanging from buildings and roofs everwhere it makes for a pretty uncomfortable and disconcerting experience.

These kleptomaniac scavengers will nick anything they can get their hands on - jewellery, handbags, cameras and the sunglasses off your chops if you get up too close and personal. We have heard stories of tourists losing their belongings to the Monkeys of Lopuri, even getting scratched by them in their eager pursuit of the material goods humped around by us farangs (foreigners).

Lopuri itself appears dirty (spotting a large rat out in the mid-day sun doesn't help) and uninteresting, so we decide on one quick temple visit - to Prang Sam Yot, whose three linked towers once symbolised the Hindu trinity of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

Again it's not a place we fancy hanging around - because the monkeys are doing just that, swarming all over the ruins in their hundreds. While they are not outwardly aggressive, we keep our distance inching around the temple and trying to give the 'residents' as wide a berth as possible. Getting scratched by one of these mangy-looking creatures is not on our agenda - particularly as we are on the last leg of our trip and home is in sight.

Enough monkeying around for one day then, it's back to the station - and another long and sweaty wait for a train. Great Western where are you when we need you?

No more temples, no more monkeys. We are going to spend the next morning monitor-lizard spotting, swimming in the Baan Thai's pool and chilling out before making our way south to Bangkok.

We've a few days back in Thailand's capital to sort out a few loose ends, pick up a suit and dress for Chris from a tailor and do some pressie shopping (a stick of rock each for family and close friends!).

Nine months after setting out from London's Heathrow Airport on an adventure of a lifetime and living our dream we are preparing for our return to the green green grass of home - clutching not only some goody bags, but memories we will cherish forever.