Ayutthaya

This was the 3rd of the 4 historical areas we were visiting, and the 3rd in the timeline as well (Phimai/Phanom Rung, Sukhothai, Ayuttaya, and Bangkok). The main part of the city is a large island, created by the intersection of three rivers.


Nov 24 - Nov 25

Ayutthaya (or Ayuthaya) was the second capital of Siam, taking over from Sukhothai around 1350 and lasting until it was sacked by the Burmese in 1767. The main part of the city is a large island, created by the intersection of three rivers.

This was the 3rd of the 4 historical areas we visited, and the 3rd in the timeline as well (Phimai/Phanom Rung, Sukhothai, Ayuttaya, and Bangkok). Ayuttaya is much larger than the other sites in terms of how spread out the ruins are. We had intended to rent bikes, like we'd done at Sukhothai, but when we arrived, we discovered it was still very much an urban city and not a historical park. So, we skipped the bikes and walked and took tuk tuks and taxi trucks instead.
We stayed at the Baan Thai, which was a new "village style" hotel across the river from the main city. It was a beautiful place with each room being an individual cabin set in very well kept grounds. Our cabin had an indoor and outdoor shower, which was fun, but not for me since the outdoor shower was cold water only. Danny enjoyed cooling off in it though. There was a large, open air dining room and lounge next to the cabins, and tables near a large pond with a waterwheel. The hotel also had a pair of guardian geese which hung out at the edge of the pond as it ran along the main driveway. Whenever we walked past on our way in or out, the geese started a terrific honking.

Baan Thai hotel, from Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

To get to the city proper, we had to take a ferry, which was about a 5-10 minute walk down the street, right next to the train station and a small food market. The ferry fare was very small, I think 3 baht (10 cents).

Our first night there, we found out about a night tour that the hotel owner could hook us up with. The major monuments are illuminated for several hours each night, and although you can't enter the grounds at night, they are very pretty to look at from outside the gates. We took this tour, run by a woman and her husband. The only downside was that they brought along their little girl, who was fun, but was then used to give us the hard sell on an all day tour, which we refused due to the expense.

[There were more upsides than downsides. In fact, we had a lot of fun seeing the sights and playing with their daughter, but what irritated me was that when we were all done, the woman who guided us around for the evening asked about our day plans. When we mentioned that we'd probably go back around and see the temples again when they were open, she wanted us to hire her for the day. We didn't want to spend that much money, and turned her down, and then she began pleading "for the sake of her daughter" etc, and giving us a hard sell. That's what Ryan means by "the only downside" - but it's not like we had a miserable time. In fact, we had a great time, other than that. --Danny]

Wat Chai Wattanaram at night, from Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

The next day, we set out to visit as many of the monuments, temples, and ruins as sounded interesting.

• Wat Chai Wattanaram - It had a beautiful spot right by the river and a pleasing geometrical arrangement. We climbed up the staircase and around the ledges on the central prang for a different view of the Wat and the surroundings. Here we encountered an unusual selling practice - a vendor would take a picture of you with a digital camera as you entered, and while you visited print and shellac your picture on a small plate. Then when you left, he'd find you and try to sell you the plate. We wondered if we bought it if we'd find layers of other people's pictures underneath.
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  
• Phu Khao Thong - This monument was out of town and seemingly not popular. There weren't any other visitors while we were there, except we did find a small group of people working on the inside of the monument, gluing thousands of little mirror tiles on the wall. We took a taxi here, and then made the mistake of not having it wait, thinking it would be easy to get another. We had to walk a long way back* until a nice woman gave us a ride. There was an active Wat next to the monument where there were lots of puppies, chickens, and a couple horses. This monument was constructed by the Burmese during the occupation, and outside of it is a monument to King Naresuan, who led the armies and kicked out the Burmese. The King's monument contains friezes showing his fighting skill - attacking the Burmese and fighting a shark and crocodile. There are also hundreds of his fighting cocks throughout the grounds, ranging from small souvenir size to bigger than man-size and covered with mirrored tiles.
  *[We had to walk 3 km in the hot, Thai sun to get to the next temple on our list, until this very nice businesswoman shopped and offered us a lift. Not only had there been no taxis, tuk-tuks or any thing of the like, we were hungry and thirsty, since we'd also run out of money and not seen an ATM all morning. We spent "the last of our money" several times: I spent my last 20฿ bill on a drink from a serendipitous vendor at Phu Khao Thong, then we spent Ryan's last 20฿ note on the roof tile at Wat Na Phra Meru, and at last, we spent our very last 5฿ of change on a chicken snack. That is, I confirmed that it was chicken (some meat on a skewer), but I didn't think to make sure she meant meat, and not chicken fat. It was grilled chicken fat, and we were out of money with only a single baht coin in my pocket. Much later, we managed to find an ATM next to a 7-11, and boy did we go crazy with slurpees, ice cream and drinks. --Danny]
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  
• Wat Na Phra Meru - The woman who gave us a ride was kind enough to drop us here, where we saw their 1300 year old Buddha, one of the oldest on the trip. The temple was also replacing their tile roof, and we made a small donation in exchange for writing a message on one of the new roof tiles.
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  
• Wat Phra Mahathat - This temple ruin is famous for the Buddha head cradled in the roots of a tree. Legend has it that thieves stole the Buddha, but it was too heavy to carry, so they left it by the tree, which grew around it. It was a little smaller than I expected.
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  
• Wat Suwan Dararam - We stopped by here just because it was on the way to something else, and it turned out to have some very pretty murals.
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  
• Wat Phanon Choeng - A very different temple, because of the heavy Chinese influence. There were lots of statues the likes of which we hadn't seen before. It was also a very noisy place, with gongs and bells and chanting and firecrackers. Plus, it had a very nice giant Buddha. This was definitely one of my favorites of Ayutthaya.
  
  

  From Thailand 2009 - Ayutthaya

  
  
  

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