Day trip to Ayutthaya, Thailand (26 Sep 2015)

While I was in Bangkok recently for a business trip, we had some time for a little R&R and wondered where we could explore. It had to be somewhere near Bangkok as we only had 1 day. Since my mom didn't feel like being adventurous, day trips to tiger temple or River Kwai were ruled out.  Finally, we decided upon Ayutthaya.

There are 4 capital cities in Thailand, namely Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Thonburi & Bangkok - the current capital. Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-1767) was involved in several internal power struggles as well as various wars with neighboring countries. The most prominent of them all were Burmese-Siamese wars which took place several times over a few decades.  While Thailand invaded mainland Burma up to  Taungoo, Burmese forces also captured Ayutthaya, which culminated in the fall of Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767.

Today, visitors can get a glimpse of the once impressive days of Ayutthaya, through the remains of temples, pagodas and palaces. These buildings were once the only ones built of stones, which allowed them to survive wars and weather conditions to this day.  Ayutthaya is now recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. These glorious ancient ruins are only about an hour to an hour and a half drive away from Bangkok, which make it a perfect choice for a day trip destination.

We booked this tour through the Canary Travel for 950 Baht each.  The package includes a free pick-up from hotel, a visit to 6 pagodas and 1 palace as well as lunch. 

Wat Yai Chaimongkhon
This is pretty photogenic and probably my favorite temple in Ayutthaya. When 2 princes of Ayutthaya passed away in 1357, their father (the King) ordered the building of Wat Yai Chaimongkhon so that their ashes could be cremated there. Many Buddha images here were still in relatively good condition, especially compared to the headless ones at Wat Mahathat.

Wat Mahathat
Wat Mahathat is located right smack in the centre of Ayutthaya city. This is the temple with the famed Buddha head in the tree. Apparently, a Thai man cut off the head of Buddha image to export to overseas.  Before he could successfully escape and make a sale, he was caught by the police and sent to jail.  Buddha head was left forgotten and it was eventually swallowed by the growing tree, to result in an amazing sight that we see today.

Ruins of the main prang which collapsed in 1911, due to heavy rain.

Wat Lokayasutha
At 42 meters, this is the 4th largest reclining Buddha image in Thailand with Bangkok's Wat Pho being the third largest. According to our tour guide, the uniqueness of this Buddha image is the eyes which were closed, as they signified the time after Buddha had moved onto nirvana. On a side note, the largest reclining Buddha at 90 meters in length in located in Myanmar, in the city of Monywa.

Wat Phu Khao Thong
A huge roundabout with the monument of King Naresuan greeted us before we saw the chedi (pagoda) properly.  This Wat was built in celebration of King Naresuan's victory over Burma. What attracted our attention was rooster statues, of varying sizes and vibrant colours. Our tour guide told us that King Naresuan was a big fan of cock fighting and hence, people pay respect and pray to him with such statues. 

Visitors can go up the chedi to enjoy a panoramic view of the Ayutthaya city. We, however, gave it a miss as we didn't really want to subject ourselves to sweltering heat, which was starting to be unbearable around 12 noon.

This temple was built by the Kings of Burma and Thailand.  Burmese King built the 3 tiers of the base, while the Thai King continued with the chedi on top.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet 
After a quick local lunch, we headed to our 5th temple. Housed within the grounds of a former royal palace, this Wat was part of the once glorious temple and palace complex, at the height of Ayutthaya's status as one of the best cities in the world. Understandably, this Wat was exclusively utilised for royal ceremonies. There were 3 chedis, which housed the ashes of 3 late Kings of Ayuthaya. Two of them were built in 1492, while the third was constructed in 1592.

Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit

This beautiful sanctuary is home to a large bronze-cast Buddha image.  The statue was almost 17 meters high, including the base. The bronze image was covered in gold leaf quite recently, in 1992.  I personally think  that this is part of our tour itinerary since it was in the same compound as Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Otherwise, we could have skipped this.

There was this Thai traditional house, next to the car park of the Wat Phra Si Sanphet.  We realised the architecture included many windows to ensure sufficient air and sunlight.

Bang Pa-In Summer Palace
While the palace could not be considered humongous, it would really be a pain to cover the grounds on foot.  Sunny  azure skies, while they do make for a perfect blue backdrop for photos, are definitely not conducive to taking a stroll especially in this tropical country.  So we rented a golf cart for 400 Baht (for the first hour).  For each subsequent hours, it would only cost extra 100 or 200 Baht but I don't really think you need more than an hour? 

Although the palace was first constructed in 1632, most of the current buildings were constructed around 1889. While there were over 30 buildings, there were just 6 highlights - each building with characteristics of a different country's architecture. Among them was a Russian-style Royal Family's residence which was out of bound for visitors since the current Royal Family still visit and entertain guests at Bang Pa-In till today.

A Khmer-style Prang

(spot our golf cart in the background!)

A Thai-style pavilion in the middle of the pond, which houses a statue of King Chulalongkorn

Vibrantly painted Sages' Lookout Tower

A Chinese-style royal palace & throne room

I must say the furnitures in this tiny museum were delicately decorated with beautiful, intricate designs. Do note that photo-taking was not allowed inside the throne room.

Khao San Road
As promised, we were back in Bangkok by 5pm and we explored Khao San Road.  Both of us really needed foot massage but didn't dare to follow ushers before judging the place ourselves.  Our 1-foot massage cost 250 Baht each at Charlie.  I spotted about 2 other places which looked like legit (grandmother-approved) massage places. 

We had dinner, sipped on coconut juice, devoured coconut ice-cream as well as shopped a bit before heading back to hotel.  If you have plans to go to Chatuchak weekend market, my advice is not to shop at Khao San Road.  Even if you do, don't forget to bargain.  I purchased a couple of floral hairbands and found out the next day at Chatuchak market that prices were marked up by 4 times!!

If you are wondering how to get to Khao San Road, the best way is to take BTS to Ratchathewi Station and transfer to a cab (the fare would be around 60-70 Baht).  When we made our way back, it was slightly after 7pm, evening peak with a terrible traffic jam. That was why we decided to take BTS from Ratchathewi Station and managed to be back at hotel by 8pm.  If we had taken cab all the way, I guess we would be back only around 830-9pm.

While we enjoyed our visit to this ancient capital, the soaring heat and humidity was a bit of a problem. It was too warm so make sure you drink lots of water, wear shades, use umbrella and dress in cooling outfits.  While there is no official checking visitors for appropriate dress code at the temples, make sure you wear clothes that cover at least your shoulder and knees, out of respect. At Bang Pa-In Palace though, you have to rent sarong and a blouse if they deem your outfit inappropriate.

Have fun!!!

Adios!

xoxo

Miss N