Ayutthaya
Today we had an earlier start for our tour so we were up at 6:30 am and down to breakfast soon after. By 7:15 am we were back in our room preparing for the day.
We went downstairs around 7:50 am to wait for our guide. When he arrived promptly at 8 am he introduced himself as First, which he told us later was because he was his mother’s firstborn. He ushered us to a Toyota van waiting in the hotel driveway, seated us in the back, and introduced our driver, Goong (as in shrimp). While Goong manoeuvred into the narrow street and through more backstreets to the motorway First outlined our program for the day and a little of the related history. Before long we were heading north on the motorway in moderate traffic. Those heading into the city were less fortunate.
It took a bit more than an hour to reach Ayutthaya. The first part of the journey was on motorway but even after we passed the final toll gate the roads were good though the traffic was a little busier.
Our first stop in Ayutthaya was Wat Maha That which we reached around 9:20 am. First explained some of the history of Ayutthaya as the second capital of what is now Thailand but was Siam. This Buddhist temple complex was built in the mid-14th century and its towers follow the Cambodian corn-shaped pattern as at Angkor Wat which predates it by more than a century. A significant feature of this site is the head of Buddha trapped among the roots of a bodhi tree. Like almost all the buildings we would visit today this was a ruin that had been overgrown by jungle and forgotten for generations before being rediscovered and cleared of most vegetation.
While we stood in front of the ruins, First took the opportunity to tell a story. He began by asking us to imagine a lad aged 16 who played truant from school to wander the ruins with a sketchbook, draw what he saw, and approach tourists with his one word of English, ’souvenir’. He then revealed that was him 35 years ago. Ayutthaya is First’s hometown. Since then he has worked with elephants, completed art college, and become a tour guide.
Most of the buildings are in ruins with stabilisation but very little restoration. After explaining the history and the relationship to the tall tower still standing in an adjacent complex built by a descendant of the king who established Ayutthaya, First left us to wander at will for a time.
When we returned to the van we set off for Wat Phra Si Sanphet. As we alighted there were two elephants on the footpath with handlers and passengers. First knew at least one of the handlers and encouraged us to pat the elephants. He assured us that the elephants in Thailand are treated well.
We walked on into the temple area which is significant for three stupas built to hold the ashes of three successive kings. The stupas are in the later bell shape rather than the corn shape. The whole site was destroyed by fire when the Burmese conquered the area. The bricks from the nearby palace were used by a later king to build a royal residence in Bangkok so restoration of the palace is impossible but some work has been done in the temple area. First pointed out new bricks adjacent to old ones that showed signs of fire damage.
For photos of the three stupas First showed us the spot from which a famous National Geographic image had been taken and the led us into the ruins for ’secret’ locations where the stupas were framed by windows in a brick wall.
We had time to wander around the ruins before visiting the nearby chapel which has been restored. The restoration work was partially funded by the Burmese government following an apology during a prime ministerial visit for the original destruction. The major Buddha figure in the chapel has been undergoing restoration for the past couple of years and was still shrouded but we walked around the interior perimeter and saw several smaller Buddha figures including heads recovered from the ruins.
Our third visit for the morning was to Wat Lokaya Suttha, another ruin with a reclining Buddha which was the model for the one we saw yesterday at What Pho. The chapel that once surrounded and protected it is gone and the 42 metre figure is painted yellow rather than covered in gold like the 46 metre figure in Wat Pho.
It was approaching noon and time for lunch which was included in our package for today. Goong drove us to Raan Tha Luang, a riverside restaurant where we were seated with a view of the river and a cool breeze. We ordered drinks – honey and lime soda for Majella, lime sodas for Ben and me – and waited for the set menu to arrive. First stayed a while to ensure we were set with the first dishes and then left us to it. The main course included chicken in coconut milk, shrimp with vegetables (too much brassica for me) but the shrimp was good, chicken with cashews, spring rolls, and sweet and sour pork plus steamed rice put on our plates to go with whatever. We did the best we could but there was more food than we needed. Once that was done there was dessert – a platter with watermelon, pineapple, and dragon fruit. When we were done we waddled outside to the van.
Next stop was a short distance up the street to a wharf. We waited a few minutes for our boat to arrive. As we did a tug pulling barges similar to what we had seen during lunch in Bangkok yesterday came up the river. It was interesting to see how the tug in front and one behind manoeuvred to get the unwieldy barges around the river bend.
We boarded our boat, donned our life jackets, and sat as we circumnavigated the island on which Ayutthaya sits. We saw a variety of Buddhist temples or other structures, two mosques (identified by the crescent on top of a minaret), many houses spanning the gamut from traditional to very modern, and more. On some structures we could see marks high above us that indicated a history of floods. Our circumnavigation of the city island took about 45 minutes.
First had one more ruin to show us, Wat Phra Ngam (Portal of Time). Its main feature is the entrance arch which is overgrown by Bodhi tree roots. The arch was the main feature but we walked through the ruins beyond to see the Buddha images and remnants of the old building.
As we left past a large pond full of lotus plants and home to some ducks, First paused at a small stall and bought a bottle with a number of small fish in water from among a selection of similar bottles with fish on a table. He walked back to the pond and stood on a pontoon near its edge. Holding the bottle with fish he became meditative for a few moments and then invited us to do the same and wish for the future. He then released the fish gently into the pond. Evidently setting the fish free is good karma. I surmised that it was good business too since they could not escape the pond and would likely be recycled for this purpose more than once before they were large enough to be eaten.
Our drive back to Bangkok was pleasant in the air conditioned van. Traffic was mostly light and we were back at our hotel around 3 pm. We rested for a while before considering other activities.
Sometime after 4 pm we walked out onto the street. Majella was keen to see if she could find the jam she had been enjoying at breakfast – made from a mix of tropical fruits. She thought the next door 7-11 too small and the one across the street too difficult to reach through traffic. We tried a larger 7-11 part way down to Sukhumvit with no luck.
We walked a few hundred metres west on Sukhumvit. The most interesting thing we saw was some sculpture made from discarded plastic items. We crossed the road on a pedestrian overpass and found a building with a supermarket in the basement. It didn’t have the exact item but Majella found a tube of something similar and grabbed a bag of marshmallow spirals filled with jam for snacking. At the checkout she discovered the latter was a 2 for 1 deal – bonus.
We walked east along Sukhumvit and explored a couple of seedy side streets but found nothing to interest us. When we reached another pedestrian overpass we crossed over, walked west Sukhumvit 11, and back to our hotel.
It was after 5:30 pm and pool time. We headed up to the pool. Ben swam, Majella sat on the ledge at one end in 150 mm of water, and I sat on one of the chairs in the pool area. I had thought of swimming but decided against it.
Sometime after 6:30 pm we decided to order pizza again. It was happy hour and Majella did not want a cocktail so I settled for 2 Singha beers for the price of one. She eventually taxed one of those as we ate the pizza. It seemed cooler this evening and Ben was cold after swimming but with an extra towel he survived to eat dinner.
We made it back to our room around 7:15 pm to rest and reset for tomorrow. We have nothing scheduled but there are sure to be things to interest us.
