The ancient capital ruins of Thailand: Ayutthaya

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One place that has been on our Thailand must see list was Ayutthaya - An ancient capital up until the 18th century before it was burned and ransacked by the Burmese. It's about 2 hour train ride from Bangkok then a 2min boat ride from the mainland.

After paying for our 3rd class tickets 20baht/40p each we briefly got talking to another British couple Harry and Jazz. Also at the start of their round the world trip, we soon realised we were taking similar trips.

Once arriving in Ayutthaya, we paired up with this couple again and chatted excitedly about our previous/current trips and our lives back home as we set off to explore the site together. Across an area of 14 sq kilometres, this site contains a mixture of stupas, temples and headless buddhas.

With a backdrop of perfect blue skys and green trees the bell shaped stupas often stood in different sizes, some standing in perfect form, others tilting to one side and others only partly standing altogether. Built in red brick and positioned in a way to make the most symmetrical curves, we admired the skill and effort needed to create these structures. As some had been partly restored we caught a glimpse of their beauty that once was. Rather than having a red brick outer layer they were all once covered over in a white smooth surface (Somewhat like the pyramids of Giza were masked over) often showcasing elaborate corner patterns and designs

All the stupas here contained staircases leading up to rectangular doorways positioned in the middle of them. Feeling slightly adventurous and forgetting english health and safety regulations we clambered up the stairs and marvelled at the positioning of these doorways and the impressive views from them.

One stupa in particular allowed you to explore deeper inside. Down the steepest set of stairs lay a set of tiny chambers with beautifully decorated walls covered in detailed images and once vibrant colours; most noticeably deep reds and golds. We were blown away that we were able to see this as other sites we have visited in the past does not allow visitors to enter the temple's chambers.

Along with stupas were many statues of buddha always sat with their legs crossed and positioned in lines next to each other. Some of them were toppled over and most of them missing a limb but most visibly their heads. We believe the heads were taken once Burma overthrew this city due to the gold they possessed. This was such a shame, but has given this site a distinctive character in its own right. One obligatory stop was indeed to see the iconic image of Ayutthaya; the buddah's head nestled in the truck of a tree at Wat Mahathat.

As the day progressed the suns heat became relentless and we all caught the sun due to the hours of exposure we had and the increasing lack of shade.

Sweaty, thirsty and exhausted the 4 of us agreed to find food before we caught the train back to Bangkok. We stopped by a little restaurant to refuel on some tasty, thai food. After getting lost in conversation we soon realised our next train was due in 30mins and as we were still a distance away we had to get there quick. If we missed the 16:37 train then its a 3hr wait for the next one.

Despite the heat, power walking turned into a light jog and then a full on run. All out of breath and shining from the heat we got to the pier with 15mins to spare. We waited anxiously as the slow ferry arrived and then had to manoeuvre past a tug boat pulling a train of 3 other larger boats behind it. Typical. Eventually we made it to the other side of the river with Harry sprinting ahead to buy tickets at the train station. Luckily we arrived with a minute to spare and the train was 10 minutes late! We made it.

The journey back took longer than the journey there as the train slowly crawled along its tracks. During this ride, a very serious faced train conductor (in military looking attire) walked towards us with another man, he pointed at Harry and our thoughts were that he wanted us to move to another seat. Turns out the conductor just wanted his picture taken with Harry! This had us all laughing.

Once arriving back in Bangkok we sat down to have an evening meal together before exchanging contact details with the possibility of meeting up later on our trips when our itineraries crossed.

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Photos

Headless Buddhas
Stolen by Burmese during the 18th century