The Giant Prawns of Ayutthaya

There is a local delicacy. It’s a giant prawn. They are found near the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya and like the name suggests they are huge, about the size of your forearm. These are not cheap, even by western standards so it is something of a treat to be eating them. 

However before we got to lunch we checked out an ancient temple dating back to the 1357, the Wat Yai Mongkhon. It has a giant reclining Buddha and a number of Stupas containing different relics used for various acts of worship or meditation. It was pushing 38 degrees when we got there with a relative humidity of 65%. I felt like I was walking in a hot bath. The tourists were fairly thin on the ground but a healthy swath of locals were in attendance. The interpretive signage was is in Thai and English but the calendar they used was the Buddhist one so a little tricky for me to figure out on the spot. I didn’t get anywhere near the feel for the place as I did in Angkor Wat but it was definitely worth the visit. Like Cambodia there are temples scattered all over the place in various states of ruin. Fortunately unlike Cambodia the fear of setting off an old land mine was not ever present. 

From the heart of Ayuttaya to the banks of the Chao Phraya River where we went to dine on the aforementioned giant prawns. We got a little lost trying to find the place, also it didn’t help that one of us used a Phnom Penh address in the sat nav. Before long we found ourselves on the edge of the river elevated over the water watching jet skis, river barges and an assortment of aquatic activities taking place as we feasted on these fresh water crustaceans. I could smell them as we walking in from the car park, just like barbecued prawns back home and yes they were massive. This is one time a picture does paint 1,000 words. 

We still had a little under two hours to go before we hit our destination Bo Phloi in the Kanchanaburi province and guess what the province is famous for? No less than the Bridge Over the River Kwai, made famous by the William Holden and Alec Guinness. Can’t wait to get there.