After a couple of days in Bangkok, where one out of every six people in Thailand live, I was ready to escape the crowds and the pollution. I caught a cab to the bus station and bought a ticket for Ayutthaya, about a two-hour ride to the north.
Ayutthaya is one of the ancient capitals of Thailand and was the seat of the government from about 1350 to 1767, when it was destroyed by an invading army from neighboring Burma and the capital moved south to Bangkok. At that time, Ayutthaya was one of the largest cities in the world with over a million inhabitants. Today, the historic district has over thirty temples sitting mostly untouched since then in various stages of ruin.
In stark contrast to Bangkok, the streets of the old city were mostly empty (though not completely as there seems to be a problem with stray dogs) and quiet. Walking around the deserted temple grounds with my camera was a nice change of pace. The skies were clear and blue, the air fresh, the other tourists few and far in between.
Among the numerous temples (most with a standard entrance fee of 30 baht) I took in a good taste of the mixture of Thai and Khmer style architecture. Two of the prominent elements at most of the temples are the Chedi, which are Thai-style Buddhist stupas, and the thicker, rounded Prang. The pictures at the top and bottom of this post show both, with the smaller chedi, surrounding a central prang. One of the most famous sites in Ayutthaya, can be found at Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone carving of a Buddha was gradually engulfed by a nearby tree to the point where now only the face remains, sticking out from the gnarled roots. Pictures can be seen in my webshots album from Ayutthaya.
On my second day in Ayutthaya, I was taking a shortcut through a small, out of the way temple when I randomly ran into Kevin Mills, one of the Maryknoll teachers in north China. It was a nice surprise to see a familiar face so far off the beaten path. We ended up spending the afternoon exploring more of the city and had dinner together, catching up on China stories, before parting ways.
Ayutthaya was a nice relaxing break from Bangkok and definitely gets my recommendation for anyone visiting Thailand with an extra day or two on their hands.
Ayutthaya is one of the ancient capitals of Thailand and was the seat of the government from about 1350 to 1767, when it was destroyed by an invading army from neighboring Burma and the capital moved south to Bangkok. At that time, Ayutthaya was one of the largest cities in the world with over a million inhabitants. Today, the historic district has over thirty temples sitting mostly untouched since then in various stages of ruin.
In stark contrast to Bangkok, the streets of the old city were mostly empty (though not completely as there seems to be a problem with stray dogs) and quiet. Walking around the deserted temple grounds with my camera was a nice change of pace. The skies were clear and blue, the air fresh, the other tourists few and far in between.
Among the numerous temples (most with a standard entrance fee of 30 baht) I took in a good taste of the mixture of Thai and Khmer style architecture. Two of the prominent elements at most of the temples are the Chedi, which are Thai-style Buddhist stupas, and the thicker, rounded Prang. The pictures at the top and bottom of this post show both, with the smaller chedi, surrounding a central prang. One of the most famous sites in Ayutthaya, can be found at Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone carving of a Buddha was gradually engulfed by a nearby tree to the point where now only the face remains, sticking out from the gnarled roots. Pictures can be seen in my webshots album from Ayutthaya.
On my second day in Ayutthaya, I was taking a shortcut through a small, out of the way temple when I randomly ran into Kevin Mills, one of the Maryknoll teachers in north China. It was a nice surprise to see a familiar face so far off the beaten path. We ended up spending the afternoon exploring more of the city and had dinner together, catching up on China stories, before parting ways.
Ayutthaya was a nice relaxing break from Bangkok and definitely gets my recommendation for anyone visiting Thailand with an extra day or two on their hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment