We were whisked to a big cosy and new bus in a taxi from our hotel. It took only about an hour plus to reach the destination. On the way, teh sight of Thailand is all about paddy fields, flat and plain until the horizon.
The first stop is a temple called Wat Yai Chaimongkhon. It was said that there was a famous fight between the kings once upon a long long time ago on elephant backs. This king won the war but furious that his knights weren't following him closely on the frontline. The king came back and wanted to sent the knights to death as punishment, but some monk asked for leniency and thus, how this wat came into place...go figure yourself.
The ordination hall where men became monks officially.
INside the temple, there sits this so real-looking monk in a chamber. I really thought he was real. He's much real compared to those wax people in Madam Tussaud. The tour guide said he was made of microfiber, and it was made to commemorate him for rebuilding the temple, apparently, I think. Not quite sure of the facts though.
This is called something which starts with an "s". Can't remember, but I know what it's for. It houses the ashes of the royal family. You can see it everywhere in Ayuthaya. There's Vietnam style, Cambodia style, Sri Lanka style, and what other style you just name.
A bodhi tree, now this tree should be a familiar household name for Buddhists. Obviously, I know nothing much about bodhi tree except it has something to do with Buddha sitting under it.
Then, we went to this elephant stop. A picture with the little jumbo costs THB20, please have your own camera ready before moving over to pose with it. The jumbo take the money from your hand right after the picture is taken.
Now isn't this jumbo baby cute? She moves over to the little baby tenderly as if to "sayang" her.
A buddhist view on a tree outside the historical site. I feel it's rather an unusual sight.
Being in the ruins is pretty eerie. History is that some time long long ago again, the rulers had lost to a war, and the intruders then set fire on the whole city of Ayuthaya, especially in this temple. What is left are the headless or armless buddha statues all around the place. It was said that the buddha heads were made of gold, and they had taken down its head for that gold.
Walking around here, I could almost imagine the kind of hell it was when the whole place was on fire.
It was the kind of sightseeing I like compared to the city lights and concrete. As the town of Ayuthaya is designated as UNESCO World heritage site, it was prohibited from building any highrise or made any improvements to the town or these sites for fear of ruining the authenticity of the ruins. It made me think about A Famosa of Melaka, what peanuts compared to this.
The last stop was teh Bang Pa-In Palace, a real palace. In there houses some magnificient buildings, one of this is the Grand Hall, what we say in laymen terms as dining hall. NO cameras were allowed in there. I was amazed at every single detail adorning the whole hall, even the drapes had the same number of folds. Tried to visualize how the royals ate their meals there.
The little temple in the lake is painted with gold. From the view here on the bridge, there were italians statues standing along it. It was said that the king (Rama something) who built this palace loved italian designs and had italians to build part of the palace for him.
This part of the palace is the "bedroom". Alas, unfortunately, we were not allowed inside. I just wondered how the beds looked like.
This tower was where the king liked to go up himself to see the place's surroundings and if there's any enemy coming, I suppose. KT said what there is to see when all the view is just his palace surroundings. My guess is that it's just a playtoy for the king only la.
After being burnt in the hot sun for some hours and soaked wet from the sweat, we were finally on the way back on Chao Phraya river cruise with lunch served onboard. This is one of the view from the boat.
We went back to the hotel, checked in to another hotel and went for sweet, spicy and sour Thai dishes like the one below. Isn't this mouth watering?
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