That evening we got yet another night train to Ayutthaya (ay-a- thaya) (said with kind of a lisp)
It is a little town which was a little off the tourist trail around 2 hours from Bangkok. We had heard and read that there was some stunning temples and Burmese ruins there so decided to check it out.
We arrived at 6am. Not the best of times to be checking into accommodation but in our experience definitely the best time of day to be lugging our bags around! Midday is unforgiving!
After checking into our Bungalow which was very unique, we ventured out in the early morning for breakfast. We were soon picked up (as always in Thailand) by a Tuk Tuk driver who offered us a great rate for going around all the temples. He even dropped us at a gorgeous little guesthouse restaurant for breakfast where i have to say i had the best Poached eggs i have had in Asia! Dave was elated to also see hash browns on the Menu!
So after filling our boots it was time to get out and about. We let 'Anan' our driver take us to where he thought as locals generally know which is best.
The first ruin we went to was just stunning. Wat Chai Watthanaram (1630). I never thought piles of old rubbled areas could intrigue me so much! The Camera was out and ready for action. Amongst these ruins there were hundreds of stone figures of Buddha which had been beheaded! Eerie but beautiful at the same time. The entire inside walls were lined with them.
The second place we visited was a 12meter sleeping Buddha. Built in the 1300's it was still in amazingly good shape considering the harsh Thai sun and monsoonal rains! We were approached by a Buddhist lady who gave us some lit incense and some flowers and told us to present them to Buddha. We did it but could help 1: feeling pressured (as afterwards she asked for money) and 2: feeling cheeky as we are not Buddhist (imagine a person tapping the cross on themselves and not believing in God) I'm all for the up keep of temples and pagodas and helping towards the monks but we did feel that 'The woman from the lemonade stall' was not worthy of our charity and felt we had been targeted, almost singled out as a quick buck.
The third temple was in complete contrast to the 1st it was an old white, almost Pyramid looking Burmese built structure. We climbed the VERY steep steps to the top and were lucky enough to see a beautiful rainbow form right over the peak. Great photos right there! It was getting really hot now and our driver then took us to the Royal Palace which was a giant Bronze Buddha. He was huge and i imagine he weighed a bit more than a ton! The building was very impressive and we managed to bag a cool drink as the midday sun was getting a little to much.
We then finally hit the last Ruin. Wat Phra Mahathat. This was impressive. One of the defining items was the Buddha's head surrounded by a tree roots. No body knows if it is just a lone head taken from a beheaded Buddha and stashed in the tree roots or if the body is buried deep beneath. The was eerie to look at though and i imagine if it wasn't signposted you wouldn't see it!
We were shattered after our morning and decided to escape the midday heat and had a well deserved power nap.
We met a German couple who that evening we went for some local grub with!
Just a short stop here and we are off to Kanchanaburi tomorrow....
To see our pictures from Ayutthaya click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/AyutthayaThailand29thTo30thJuly2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmEvKfGpYbJDg#
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