Ayuthaya – Ancient Capital
Sunday, my second day in Bangkok, my friend Tony had booked a wonderful full-day tour for us to Ayuthaya. (Thanks again, Tony, for everything — if you’re reading this!) Ayuthaya was the capital from 1350 to 1767 or something like that — so at least by Chinese standards, it’s not so much ancient as old. But it’s definitely very impressive and beautiful, and one learns a great deal about Thailand by reading this. (The city was attacked and sacked by the Burmese, for example.) The Emerald Buddha Temple/Grand Palace complex you saw earlier is modeled after one of the temple/palace complexes here in Ayuthaya, since Ayuthaya represented a political and cultural high point in Thai history.
Buddha at Home
This statue is inside one of the stupas (I think that’s what it’s called…not really sure whether the different architectural styles have different names) shown in the various shots — up the steps you’ll see shortly.
Flowers on the Steps
Flowers on the Steps
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann. These steps lead up to a room with a Buddha statue inside. I climbed them…see next photo.
Ayuthaya from the Heights
I’ve only posted this photo since it shows the river in the background and you can get a sense of the lay of the land. I’m at the top of the steps shown in the prior photo, which are pretty darn steep. The dumb look on my face is ‘cuz I was trying to do this dumb “help me, I’m falling thing.”
Big Buddha at Ayuthaya
This statue resides in the new temple you’ve seen in the background in some of the other photos – it dates from the 1950s, as does I think the Buddha himself.
The Temple Cat
This little guy was snoozing in the sun on one of the ruined stupas the whole time, and woke up just as I was leaving, to gaze into my lens…made me miss my beloved Kona even more than usual.
Bang Pha In Palace
Just outside the old city of Ayuthaya lies a small island where a future King once met the love of his life. After becoming King, he renamed the island in honor of meeting his love, and began a project his heirs furthered of turning the island into a royal palace compound. It’s a lovely complex with a widely varied mix of architectural styles: here you see Thai and Neoclassical revival juxtaposed. In the next set you’ll see closeups of the “Chinese” style – many of the elements were crafted in China ad brought here for assembly. The truth is, the roof in particular is a bit more ornate and upward-reaching than any Chinese roof I’ve ever seen, though I can tell it’s trying to be Chinese. Maybe it’s what Chinese artisans of the 19th century thought a Thai King would like?
Chao Phraya River
Ayuthaya and Bangkok are both on the Chao Phraya river — Ayuthaya perhaps 100 kilometeres upstream from Bangkok, and Bangkok less than 100 kilometers up from the Gulf of Siam. We took an early morning bus up to Ayuthaya, but took a leisurely lunch cruise down the river coming home. We saw dozens of children swimming in the river and jumping from trees down into the river;we saw temples and places of worship that we lost count of. We saw the life of a river that’s clearly a vital link in the life of this part of the country. Here you see a lovely boat that I think is used for tourism; in later photos you’ll see other boats for more blue collar uses, and various shots along the main river upstream from downtown Bangkok.
(so much world, so little time....) 