Ayutthaya - The Ancient City

Today was group tour day. I was booked on a bus tour with a group of Japanese tourists. We left the lobby at 7am and headed north. We had a large tour bus, a guide, and a driver. The ride to Ayutthaya took appoximately 1.5 hours. We had several sites to see including the Bang Pa-In Summer Palace, which has served as a summer palace for Thai monarchy since the 17th century (2245). There were 5 men mowing a small patch of lawn. It looked like they were all mowing the same patch. The topiary elephants are the largest (2233) I have seen thus far.

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Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand (Siam) from 1350 through 1767 when it was burned and pillaged after a 2 year siege by the Burmese. The two ruin sites that we visited were the Wat Phra Sri San Phet and the Wat Chai Wattanaram. The Wat Phra Sri San Phet (2272) is the largest temple in Ayutthaya and a former royal palace of several kings of Siam. The Wat Chai Wattanaram (2285) was built in 1630 and features nearly one hundred beheaded Buddha statues (2290). We also saw the largest gold sitting Buddha and concluded the tour with a boat ride down the Chao Phraya River.

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At each stop the locals would set up tables of food and goods, hoping they'd be able to make a sale from a tourist. I purchased a woven grasshopper from a young boy for 20 bht (50 cents). It is made from palm fronds (2281). I was nearly lured into purchasing fruit...isn't this display beautiful (2282)?

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When I returned to Bangkok I headed back to my hotel on foot. I captured two electrical photos for all of the men reading the blog. Flourescent lights are strung on a cord and dangle all around town - to illuminate the night market areas. Also, men at a local hotel are installing lights (2324)and decorations (2249) for the King's birthday (on Monday). KD

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