"The first I heard of the beach was in Bangkok, on the Kao-San Road..." read the opening page of Alex Garland's "The Beach". I first read the book about five years prior, and I saw the movie immediately following it. Since then, I had always been fascinated with Khao San Road. A few people I knew had been there, reporting back how it had lost its charm, while some still perceived it as a place to really kick-start one's backpacking trip across Asia. Romanticism aside, Khao San was nothing but a stretch of short road circling toward another street that housed hostels, hotels, restaurants, souvenir and tattoo shops, food carts, and almost everything that catered to a backpacker's needs.

We arrived on foot at the banks of the Chao Phraya River early in the morning, and on the west bank, opposite the small dock where we were standing, the tall, imposing prang of Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) stood proud and mightily against the blue skies. We had to cross the river in small passenger boats to get there. We paid the three-baht fare to an elderly woman working at the seemingly inconspicuous ticket booth. We arrived on the other side a few minutes later, and the temple was just beginning to open; we watched as the guards lined up and prepared to listen to their commander's instructions for the day.

Ariadne and I awoke around 5:30 a.m. at our lovely hostel, the Shambara Boutique Hostel on Khao San Road, eager for our day trip to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, located about seventy-six kilometers north of Bangkok. We took a cab from Khao San Road to Victory Monument (eighty-one Baht) and then a van (a spacious and comfortable Toyota Commuter - sixty Baht) for the hour-long journey to Ayutthaya. We arrived in Ayutthaya around 8:30 a.m. and began our temple hopping aboard a motorized three-wheeled Tuk-tuk driven by the middle-aged woman who approached us as we exited the van. Prior to that, we agreed on a deal for her to take us around and show us at least ten temples for 500 Baht.

I heave a sigh of relief when the guards asked us if we have any reservations to Antonio's Restaurant, to which Eileen Campos answered with a negative. Earlier on the car, Lauren was saying "Ang cute, we shall have lunch at Antonio's" and I was like thinking "yeah read online that the average meal costs 1,500 pesos". I could not complain since I'm just a passenger on the car and these two lovable crazies might ask me to buy a pack of black Marlboro on a random highway store and might speed off the moment I get off. So I stayed put planning to order only a glass of iced tea and chips, if ever they serve some. We primarily went to Tagaytay for a food trip, but not necessarily to splurge. To think, it was a trip that started when Lauren texted me about a 1,000 peso Pampanga food trip challenge.