Waking up early in Bangkok, we jumped
on the sky train with our backpacks and took a ride for a few stops to where we
read that we could find a ride to Ayutthaya. We finally managed to find the
mini-bus going to Ayutthaya and jumped in. We had to pay for a third seat for
our luggage, but who can complain when it costs about $6 a piece. It was a
cramped 2 hour ride to the north and we didn't feel any better when we were
abruptly dropped off on the side of the road not knowing where we were. Nothing
a quick tuk tuk ride couldn't fix. We found a really cool, hip little place to
stay called Tony's Place in the middle of town.
Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of
Siam. For 417 years this city flourished with 33 rulers with several dynasties,
dozens of temples and a grand palace till it was overthrown by the Burmese in
1767, leaving the city in ruins. Like Bangkok, Ayutthaya relied heavily on
its many canals and waterways for trade and protection and that is not the only
similarity. Bangkok was built with Ayutthaya as its model so the layout and
design of many important buildings and temples are almost identical. The only
large difference is that most of the ancient city of Ayutthaya have been
damaged or abandoned. But for us, we didn't see crumbled stone but rather a
beautiful glittering past that we got to admire.
We thought we would start viewing the
city by taking a long boat to visit 3 temples on the other side of the river.
We thought we got such a great deal because it was again only 6 bucks per person,
but we learned real quick that you get what you pay for, and the boat had no
room left to take us from the first temple to the second, therefore they just
left us on the dock. We missed the entire second temple and got picked up
for the third.
All that craziness aside, we really
enjoyed the two ruins we did see. The first was Wat Phanan Cheoeng which holds
one of the largest gilded Buddha image in the world called Luang Phor.
We
were very surprised of its size because the statue took up most of the room.
The reason why it built so big was so that it could be seen by everyone from
every angle on the river. Many of those people in Ancient times were Chinese
sailors looking to trade, which is why off to the left of the temple is a
Chinese temple with very intricate Chinese symbols and designs.
Our final stop
(after being abandoned by the boat) was Wat Chaiwatthanaram which was very
impressive monastery. It was built by the royal command of King Prasat Thong.
This place in its time of glory must have been breath taking because we were
astonished by its ruins. Just incredible.
Day two we were ready for some more.
We rented a motorbike and headed for the Grand Palace or "ancient
palace" as people in Thailand say.
We first visited Wihan Phra Mongkhon
Bophit, one of the royal temples which holds a large bronze cast Buddha.
Unfortunately, the Buddha we saw was a reconstruction because the real one had
been burned.
Next to the temple was Wat Phra Si Sanphet which was the most
important and outstanding monastery inside the palace. It was used as a
residential palace for King Ramathibodi I and then was dedicated as the royal
chapel where no monks were allowed to live.
Back on the motorbike, we stopped
by the famous 42 Meter long sleeping Buddha. The statue was placed in front of
a ruined monastery call Wat Lokayasutharam.
Our final stop of the day was Wat
Maha That which in ancient times was the residence of the highest Priest in
Ayutthaya.
This place is also famous for having the head of Buddha growing in
the roots of a tree. It was really neat.
All of Ayutthaya was just so
beautiful. We were really glad we got a glimpse of the past and to see what
ancient Thailand was like.
All our sight seeing made us so
exhausted. It was such a hot day out. We cooled off at a nice restaurant on the
river while waiting for our night bus to come pick us up. Next up, Chiang Mai
for the Festival of Lights!
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