The historic city of Ayutthaya

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The historic city of Ayutthaya

The fact that we’ve been in Bangkok three times and until now we haven’t found time to go to this historic city must mean something … Well it did, and I ended up visiting it on my own 🙂 After months (especially the last few in Asia) spent visiting monasteries, palaces and temples day after day, the boys had really had enough 😊 😊 I realized that as soon as I tried to wake Fábio up 😊 😊

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I took a minivan from Mo Chit terminal bus station to Ayutthaya. The minivan dropped us off next to some quick-witted tuk tuk drivers, although I didn’t pay them much attention. Straight away I thought of asking someone if they wanted to share the day and the expenses with me. Arunya accepted and after several questions we ended up in front of Wat Ratchaburana. There we found a tuk tuk driver who agreed to drive us around for our visit, and he started to charge when we left that temple.

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Wat Ratchaburana was the royal temple, and the main pagoda (Prang) was the most important part.

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We went inside the pagoda via some very narrow stairs to get to what seemed to be a secret chamber.

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The next stop was Wat Maha That or, in other words, the face of Buddha rising up out of the roots of a Bodhi tree.

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Family Travel Secret
The main pagoda has a tragic history, as it was destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions before being burned down during the Burmese invasion and downfall of Ayutthaya (1767), when only its foundations were left.

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The walk was very pleasant thanks to Arunya 🙂

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Towards the end we arrived at Buddha’s head (which is believed to date back to the mid-1600s). I really thought that it would be more complicated to get a photo there … Sometimes there are nice surprises 🙂 🙂

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Wat Phra Si Sanphet has three impressive pagodas which are a considerable height and very beautiful. All three are lined with stucco.

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Wat Choeng Tha has several pagodas surrounded by several more, some of which are in perfect condition and some of which are just ruins. Even so, it was a visual treat 🙂

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We went to several places … Ayutthaya has hundreds of ruins, including Wat Lokayasutharam where we found a Buddha which was lying down and 42 meters long.

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Thanks to the tuk tuk we reached a fairly isolated temple called Wat Salapoon Worawtham (in fact there was hardly anyone there).

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In a room at the top of the stupa you’ll find a red image of Buddha, among other things.

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The following stop was at Wat Chalwatthanaram, which was apparently a sealed temple with several rows of Buddha statues on its walls.

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We saw bats hanging from some of the ceilings.

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The view from a distance is just beautiful.

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We made a brief stop to eat, with a view of the river and Saint Joseph’s Church.

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Wat Ya Chai Mongkhon is a monastery which was built in 1900 … Its huge stupa, surrounded by a piece of orange fabric, dominates the area.

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When we entered there they were – several hundred Buddhas sitting in the lotus position, many of them wearing orange sashes.

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The pagoda is also impressive from the back 🙂

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Before leaving we visited the reclining Buddha.

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The tuk tuk driver took us to the ‘floating market’ and it wouldn’t have been bad to walk around it, but it included several animal shows and neither Arunya nor I was really interested in that, so we decided to return to Bangkok.

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Next stop, New Delhi – India!

Important facts:
Metro from Asok: 37 bahts; Bus from Kamphaeng Phet to Mo Chit bus station: 11 bahts; Mo Chit to Ayutthaya: 70 bahts. Return ticket: 60 bahts; Departure: 9:30; Arrival: 10:30; Tuk tuk for 5 hours: 800 bahts for two people; Entrance fee per temple 20 baths, but I did not have to pay them in Honor of King Bhumibol Aduyadej (till 31st Januarz 2017)

 

Ruth

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