January 22 (day trip)
On the day before our last day in Bangkok, we made the trip to Ayutthaya. The local bus station of Bangkok was close to Julie's apartment and a quick 20 min taxi ride got us there. The bus ride was quite convenient, but what surprised us the most was the urbanization of Ayutthaya. We were expecting to be dropped off in a quaint town like Sukhothai, but , the urbanization of Bangkok has poured out and has now enveloped Auytthaya.
On reaching Ayutthaya, we tried to look around for a map, but found none. Luckily, we bumped into a couple of German tourists who had finished their tour of the city and they had managed to photocopy a map which they generously shared with us, and we graciously accepted. We later found out that most of the maps are with all the tuk-tuk drivers who will try to convince you to ride with them. On hindsight, we should have probably gone with the tuk-tuk drivers, since the sun was beating down, but having biked around in Sukhothai, we decided to go with renting bikes.
We found a bike rental nearby, and before heading out to see the sights, we had wanted to eat something. After trying to look for a place in downtown Ayutthaya, we decided that most of the streetside stalls did not look very appetizing, and ended up going to a local pizza chain. After food, we biked to the first wat structure. Here the Buddhist temples were mostly built out of red firebricks and the ruins were large. The very first chedi we visited had a museum and a crypt inside it. We walked into the crypt to discover various colorful paintings on the inner walls. We could not stand there for long, since the air was very stuffy . In my enthusiasm to get up quick, I bumped my head on the stair case (Ouch!!!). [Nicole writes: I felt suffocated especially due to the pungent smell of bat pee, surrounding us!!].
We also read with much disgust and regret, regarding the looting of these structures for all the gold and various artifacts which are now making the rounds in the international art market. Destruction, looting and ruining seems to run in our blood (as evidenced from the various ruins we have visited in our travels). I just hope at some point, we can create something long-lasting instead of destroy that which has lived beyond our years.
Next, we wanted to visit the working temple next to the Queens palace and an adjacent temple, with three large stupas, in ruins. Both of these are a part of the central complex in Ayutthaya which is largely visited by tourists. Before going there, we were way-led to another functioning temple with a large sitting Buddha. After realizing that we were at the wrong place, we made our way to the central complex. But then again, we lost our way near the complex and had to circle around a kings temple which had a gopura like a Hindu temple. This structure was very reminiscent of a what we had seen in Sukhothai and we did not venture in to see it any closer.
We finally made it to the intended complex next to the Queens palace. The image of the three stupas has become synonymous with Ayutthaya and they look quite impressive from a distance. After parking our bikes, we first had some fresh tender coconut water which was very much needed. The sun was blazing hot and we were losing a ton of fluids.
After some much needed re-hydration, we first went to the temple with a large Buddha statue made out of bronze. This Buddha statue is really beautiful with mother of pearl eyes. We were very happy to sit inside the temple and away from the sun for a little while. I made an interesting observation during our travels which played out in this temple as well. Most of the foreign tourists including myself, were found hanging around the fans, while the locals moved around , as if the weather was normal. This time though, I was really glad for the shade and grumbled when I had to move on to the next stop.
Next we visited a temple in ruins with the three large stupas. We managed to squeeze in another tender coconut along the way. The three stupas are very big and impressive. We walked into the core of a stupa, only to smell very strong bat pee...(yikes..) and ran out again. The place was very popular with tourists (who were posing in crazy ways) and we even found a couple of local models who were shooting with the stupas in the background.
After this, we decided to go to another temple in another part of the town. This involved some adventurous biking in the middle of the city traffic. Just before entering the temple, we bought some boiled peanuts from a local (yummy!!!). The Buddha statue in this temple was unlike any other I have seen before. The statue is made from bronze, and the Buddha is actually wearing regular clothes, and his face has a much more Indian feature to it (an extremely sharp nose). It looked more like Siddhartha, just after he became Gautama. We again sat down in this temple for a while (right next to the fans :), to cool off. Right next to this bronze statue temple, was another smaller temple with a 1000 year old iron-casting of a Buddha with a unibrow..... Buddha it seems, is omnipresent in Thailand. We made a lotus offering at this temple.
After this, it was time for us to head back toward the center of the town and visit our last big temple called, Wat Mahathat. The ruins are mostly of red firebricks with a few large chedis in the center. There were a lot of stone Buddha statues, but the heads had been smashed up - mostly during a Burmese army invasion in this area. In this temple, we also saw a Buddha head buried in between a Banyan tree, which makes for a very unique spectacle. [Nicole writes: there are a couple of theories of how this Buddha head became entwined by the roots of the Banyan tree, though nobody knows exactly how or why].
After visiting this site, we were pretty much "templed out". We came back to the center of the town and debated going even further to visit the largest sleeping Buddha outside the town. We began to head out to the location, but halfway through, the traffic got crazy and we were the only cyclists on the road. With the blazing sun over us, we re-thought our plan to continue on. We decided that we did not have the enthusiasm to do this part of the trip and just headed back and returned out cycles. [Nicole writes: I'm the one to blame! Not being used to city biking, I started to freak out at the craziness of trying to bike on even busier roads going toward the site of the sleeping Buddha... it wasn't worth risking our lives, just to see one more Buddha!].
The evening bus took about an hour, and we landed in Bangkok right in time for dinner.
On the day before our last day in Bangkok, we made the trip to Ayutthaya. The local bus station of Bangkok was close to Julie's apartment and a quick 20 min taxi ride got us there. The bus ride was quite convenient, but what surprised us the most was the urbanization of Ayutthaya. We were expecting to be dropped off in a quaint town like Sukhothai, but , the urbanization of Bangkok has poured out and has now enveloped Auytthaya.
On reaching Ayutthaya, we tried to look around for a map, but found none. Luckily, we bumped into a couple of German tourists who had finished their tour of the city and they had managed to photocopy a map which they generously shared with us, and we graciously accepted. We later found out that most of the maps are with all the tuk-tuk drivers who will try to convince you to ride with them. On hindsight, we should have probably gone with the tuk-tuk drivers, since the sun was beating down, but having biked around in Sukhothai, we decided to go with renting bikes.
We found a bike rental nearby, and before heading out to see the sights, we had wanted to eat something. After trying to look for a place in downtown Ayutthaya, we decided that most of the streetside stalls did not look very appetizing, and ended up going to a local pizza chain. After food, we biked to the first wat structure. Here the Buddhist temples were mostly built out of red firebricks and the ruins were large. The very first chedi we visited had a museum and a crypt inside it. We walked into the crypt to discover various colorful paintings on the inner walls. We could not stand there for long, since the air was very stuffy . In my enthusiasm to get up quick, I bumped my head on the stair case (Ouch!!!). [Nicole writes: I felt suffocated especially due to the pungent smell of bat pee, surrounding us!!].
We also read with much disgust and regret, regarding the looting of these structures for all the gold and various artifacts which are now making the rounds in the international art market. Destruction, looting and ruining seems to run in our blood (as evidenced from the various ruins we have visited in our travels). I just hope at some point, we can create something long-lasting instead of destroy that which has lived beyond our years.
Next, we wanted to visit the working temple next to the Queens palace and an adjacent temple, with three large stupas, in ruins. Both of these are a part of the central complex in Ayutthaya which is largely visited by tourists. Before going there, we were way-led to another functioning temple with a large sitting Buddha. After realizing that we were at the wrong place, we made our way to the central complex. But then again, we lost our way near the complex and had to circle around a kings temple which had a gopura like a Hindu temple. This structure was very reminiscent of a what we had seen in Sukhothai and we did not venture in to see it any closer.
We finally made it to the intended complex next to the Queens palace. The image of the three stupas has become synonymous with Ayutthaya and they look quite impressive from a distance. After parking our bikes, we first had some fresh tender coconut water which was very much needed. The sun was blazing hot and we were losing a ton of fluids.
After some much needed re-hydration, we first went to the temple with a large Buddha statue made out of bronze. This Buddha statue is really beautiful with mother of pearl eyes. We were very happy to sit inside the temple and away from the sun for a little while. I made an interesting observation during our travels which played out in this temple as well. Most of the foreign tourists including myself, were found hanging around the fans, while the locals moved around , as if the weather was normal. This time though, I was really glad for the shade and grumbled when I had to move on to the next stop.
Next we visited a temple in ruins with the three large stupas. We managed to squeeze in another tender coconut along the way. The three stupas are very big and impressive. We walked into the core of a stupa, only to smell very strong bat pee...(yikes..) and ran out again. The place was very popular with tourists (who were posing in crazy ways) and we even found a couple of local models who were shooting with the stupas in the background.
After this, we decided to go to another temple in another part of the town. This involved some adventurous biking in the middle of the city traffic. Just before entering the temple, we bought some boiled peanuts from a local (yummy!!!). The Buddha statue in this temple was unlike any other I have seen before. The statue is made from bronze, and the Buddha is actually wearing regular clothes, and his face has a much more Indian feature to it (an extremely sharp nose). It looked more like Siddhartha, just after he became Gautama. We again sat down in this temple for a while (right next to the fans :), to cool off. Right next to this bronze statue temple, was another smaller temple with a 1000 year old iron-casting of a Buddha with a unibrow..... Buddha it seems, is omnipresent in Thailand. We made a lotus offering at this temple.
After this, it was time for us to head back toward the center of the town and visit our last big temple called, Wat Mahathat. The ruins are mostly of red firebricks with a few large chedis in the center. There were a lot of stone Buddha statues, but the heads had been smashed up - mostly during a Burmese army invasion in this area. In this temple, we also saw a Buddha head buried in between a Banyan tree, which makes for a very unique spectacle. [Nicole writes: there are a couple of theories of how this Buddha head became entwined by the roots of the Banyan tree, though nobody knows exactly how or why].
After visiting this site, we were pretty much "templed out". We came back to the center of the town and debated going even further to visit the largest sleeping Buddha outside the town. We began to head out to the location, but halfway through, the traffic got crazy and we were the only cyclists on the road. With the blazing sun over us, we re-thought our plan to continue on. We decided that we did not have the enthusiasm to do this part of the trip and just headed back and returned out cycles. [Nicole writes: I'm the one to blame! Not being used to city biking, I started to freak out at the craziness of trying to bike on even busier roads going toward the site of the sleeping Buddha... it wasn't worth risking our lives, just to see one more Buddha!].
The evening bus took about an hour, and we landed in Bangkok right in time for dinner.
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