Ayuthaya and cruising the Chao Phraya

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We have now been for few days in Thailand. Home is starting to really mean home...and this is great. Lelsie has plenty of friends at school, and we are all settling pretty well.

So week-end are in for discoveries. This time, it's a day trip to Ayutthaya. It's the second capital of Thailand. Ayutthaya lays some 90km outside of Bangkok. There are many ways to visit it...we chose the "easy" way by booking a tour through the Shangri-La. You leave the hotel early morning by bus, visit Ayuthaya, and than board a 3 hours cruise on the Chao Phraya on the "Horizon", the boat is run by the Shangri-La. Good news, they even have nice deals for the "locals"...yes, that means us!

Put it simply, the all day was nice, it was a good deal, but nothing really impressive. Temples in Bangkok itself are way more amazing. I'm happy we did it, but I wouldn't put it as a top priority.

Ayutthaya has more than 500 temples. Yes, as another blogger put it on travelblog once...this is a lot of Wat! Here you can find temples of Thai (Siam) style as well as some temples of Cambodian style. Most of the time, if I didn't get the ticket or the name written somewhere...I would not have been able to remember their names, most of these temples do have "very" complicated names.

We started our visit by the "Summer Palace", aka Bang Pa-In Palace, and this is an easy name! The palace is actually a collection of buildings of very different styles. One minute you are in a chinese temple, the next, you could be in the "Jardin des Tuileries" in Paris....with the occasional amazing Thai building. Interesting mix, but nothing to be too impressed.

Next stop was at Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol temple. Here, you've got a very nice white Buddha lying. A huge stuppa, and a lot more Buddhas sitting around. The nice point is that most of them are drapped in Orange. Don't forget, we are a Saturday...meaning also, a LOT of people around us.

Next stop, was...well, I cannot remember the name, but one more Wat in the middle of Ayutthaya and another beautiful sitting Buddha...another bronze and gold huge statute, follow by few stuppas outside the main building. They did have the "elephant ride" outside of the temple. So sad to see these big giants touring a parking lot for tourists...wish they were somewhere in the nature. No pictures, no rides, not my stuff!

Next, another Wat, outiside of Ayutthaya. Wat Chai Watthanaram, built in the Cambodian Style. This is an impressive temple built along the river. Sadly, the other tourists in our group were all in a rush as it was time to go to eat on the boat. But Wat Chai Watthanaram does get my vote for today excursion.

We made it for 40 more minutes more on the bus before reaching the Horizon Cruise. I thought, well, if it is run by the Shangri-la, it must be good. Well, it was not good, it was average as a boat and as the lunch they served. I won't complain, it was not bad, just pretty average.

The ride back on the Chao Phraya was relatively boring. I was expecting impressive temples on the way, never saw them (and I did not nap!). The ride was smooth....rainy season, no rain, but cloudy, which is way better to enjoy the outside deck. We were all happy to make it to Bangkok. Will I ever do a diner cruise on the Chao Phraya...well, my guess is no.

Next week-end will be...between 2 flights for me...so no "far and away" excursions. There is a travel and tourism exhibition in town. This should keep us busy for a good half day, and will hopefully find a lot of new places and ideas to discover over the next few weeks and months.

Our next blog should be coming in 2 weeks. A nice week-end away from Bangkok is in the planing....coming soon, from three of us in the land of the smiles...with Love!

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