Ancient Ayutthaya
written by vstephanie
on March 21st, 2009
, 6 comments
(5 votes)
The cheapest and most amusing (in my opinion!) way to Ayutthaya, which is 76 kilometers north of Bangkok, is to hop on the local train from Hualamphong station in the city central. The ticket was dirt-cheap and surprisingly our coach wasn’t bad at all! The journey takes a little less than two hours, sitting in between slumbering oldies, anxiously hoping we won’t miss our stop – thank god, one nice lady pointed us into the right direction!
We finally arrived to the train station of Ayutthaya and quickly made friends with Manop, our soon to be Tuk Tuk driver and certified tour guide. He even showed us a photo of him on the Driver’s wall of fame to show that he is indeed qualified. The man was sweet and without a hassle we settled on a good deal.
Ayutthaya is Thailand’s ancient kingdom and capital with plenty of historical sites to visit! It was known to be one of the wealthiest cities in the East during the 16th century. Ayutthaya is named after a holy city in northern India, which is also the birthplace of the Hindu god, Rama.
Our tuk-tuk took us to the main sites on the map from a golden indoor Buddha, to two reclining outdoor Buddhas, the miniature version of Angkor Wat, and copious amount of temples and ancient ruins! It was extreme information overload, and I don’t remember the complicated names of each place by heart, as I was too busy shooting and shooting some more.
So please enjoy my finished rolls of Wat Mahathat, the chedi of Wat Phu Khao Thong, the courtyard of Wat Yai Chaimonkorn to just name of few that I can recall! My plastic friends and myself felt uberly beat and pooped after this outing, in a good way of course!
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