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A reasonably but not too early start the next day saw us after another excellent hotel breakfast assemble outside for a group photograph (above) before setting off on our travels again.
Whereas day one had concentrated on the architectural heritage of Ayutthaya, day two was aimed at giving us a flavour of the other attractions that this part of Thailand has to offer.
However before moving on to these there was one more temple to visit that had originally been part of the previous day’s i tinery but which time had excluded. This was at Prasat Nakornluang and contained a revered image of a footprint of the Buddha.
There a climb up through the ruined walls led to the inner sanctum containing the footprint. This was clear ly an important religious symbol to the number of Thai wives and friends accompanying our party as well as some Buddhist members, and they paid it due reverence.
From here a short coach trip brought us to the village of Aranyik where we visited a factory shop producing and selling high quality knives and cutlery as well as traditional swords. En route we noticed that the whole village was devoted to this one product with several other shops displaying similar items - this we were told was part of the government ‘One tambon (district), One Product (OTOP)’ local industry promotion scheme.
I n the factory we were treated to a display of knives being beaten into shape and then sharpened and fashioned, before moving on to the well stock ed outlet shop where a good number of our party were enticed, especially by the very modest prices, to purchase either some household knives or more lethal looking kitchenware or more souvenir orientated fare.
Perhaps it was the unlimited self service coffee on offer or perhaps the delusions of being a sword fighter that gripped our party but either way the result was that this particular stop-off was very enthusiastically received.
Back onto the coaches and an hour long journey heading out of Ayutthaya province in the direction of Saraburi took us to our lunch stop at a roadside restaurant which in spite of being advertised as a ‘steak house’ once again provided a comprehensive  and very tasty Thai food meal.
Once we were all well fed, a short journey further on took us to a loca l vineyard, which if nothing else did prove that grapes can be grown and wine produced in this tropical climate.
Unfortunately it didn’t prove much else as the producers were clearly not very commercially minded and had to have their arms twisted quite hard before giving us a sample to taste, and not sufficient to persuade many to purchase any bottles.
However they did have good ice-cream.
From there it was only a few minutes drive to the Chet Sao Noi waterfall which was  actually more a series of water rapids in the stream. We were informed that there should have been seven sets of rapids in all but as we we were well into the dry seas on, only three would be visible.
Nevertheless the shaded surroundings proved a peaceful spot to rest and relax for a while and some of our number were even persuaded to try the waters.
Whilst travelli ng to these locations we had passed a number of fields containing large numbers of sunflowers, and our final stop was at one of these which provided an ideal photo opportunity, and a chance to purchase a souvenir sunflower decorated shirt, or maybe even just ta ke a silly photograph (thank you Greg).
It was also a good point at which to pay our thanks to our excellent tour guides for all their hard work and ever friendly assistance with a small presentation.
 Then it was back on the coaches for the long journey back to Pattaya arriving there late in the evening. During this we were asked if we had enjoyed the trip sufficiently to be interested in doing another similar group outing in a few months time – the answer was a resounding ‘Yes’. Our thanks to all the many people who worked so hard to provide us with a memorable experience.
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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