Bangkok Day 2 – Ayutthaya Tour

We were picked up at our hotel at 8.30am and driven north for about an hour towards the ancient city of Ayutthaya, where the temples and ruins have been declared a World Heritage Site.  Before getting there we visited the Summer Palace in Bang Pa which has beautiful extensive grounds, and the buildings and gardens have a distinct feeling of Europe.

The palace is rarely used by the current King, so it is open to tourists to look around.   There is a Chinese-style royal palace and residence, a brightly painted lookout tower and many ponds.  It was also a bit cooler here probably due to all the gardens and water.

 

 

 

Then we went by a “Flying Fox” basket to visit Wat Nived which is a gothic inspired Buddhist temple, with stained glass Buddha, on the banks of the Chao Praya River (the same one that winds its way through Bangkok). 

 

 

 

Then it was off to the city of Ayatthaya for an authentic Thai lunch on the banks of the Chao Praya.  There was a cooling breeze on the balcony overlooking the river, but Mal’s watch was saying that it was 36 C, so very hot.  This photo from the restaurant shows the common sight of poor residences next to expensive looking Buddhist temples.

Today at least we were travelling in an air conditioned van and had an endless supply of cold water and cold towels to help cope with the heat.  Santana our tour guide again said that April is the hottest month in Thailand, and today must have been around 37-38 maximum.

Finally we went to the ruined temples that had been ransacked by the Burmese in the 15th century, and they were really amazing.   There are several leaning towers and walls of Ayutthaya that are still defying gravity, and there are rows of headless Buddhas.  There is also a tree that has grown around a head that belongs to the Buddha in the back of the photo.

 

Then we visited elephants where you could ride them if you wanted to, but we thought it was far too hot today. 

We then travelled about an hour and a half back to Bangkok through heavier traffic than in the morning, but it is still light as it is a Sunday.  We got back to the hotel about 4 pm with lots of intentions to go for a swim, but there were no vacant chairs around the quite small pool so we sat in our air conditioned hotel suite and read the papers.  Very relaxing.  Back to the food court in the nearby shopping centre again for tea.