Nov 11, 2022

Our last tour before heading north and back on two wheels.

We boarded a van for a two hour drive north of Bangkok to the ruins of Ayutthaya.

Built in 1350, Ayutthaya was the second capital of the Kingdom of Siam. It was a huge development of temples and monasteries and included a hydraulic water supply system that was extremely advanced for its time.

It was attacked and burned to the ground in 1767 by the Burmese army, and never rebuilt. The capital of Siam was later moved to Bangkok.

Wat Chaiwatthainaram consisted of five pagodas, with the main prang in the middle the other four spires at the corners of the cloister.

Main Pagoda or Prang

When the Burmese Army attacked Ayutthaya, they chopped the heads and hands off of all of the Buddhas. In some cases they also dug below them looking for hidden treasure.

A colony of bats lives in this corner pagoda.

Two women wearing rented costumes pose in front of the ruins.

Another large reclining Buddha. This one was originally in a wooden building which deteriorated over time. UNESCO chose not to reconstruct the building.

Due to its’ condition and location, you are allowed to touch the feet of Buddha in order to make a wish. Pretty sure she wished for shade and/or air conditioning.

At our lunch stop we saw these tourists on an elephant. While this is no longer encouraged it is apparently still allowed on a limited basis.

I also saw this Yamaha R1 at our lunch stop. This is very unusual here in Thailand, where the most common motorcycle is the 125cc Honda Wave scooter.

At our last stop, Wat Maha That, we saw the famous Buddha head in the tree. The head was laying loose at the base of this tree which then began growing around it.

The tree has begun to lift the head as it grows.

Tomorrow we fly to Chiang Mai to pick up our wheels for the rest of our Thai travels.