Temples and ruins in Ayutthaya

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After having spent some fine days in Bangkok I headed to the ancient town of Ayutthaya to discover some ancient ruins hidden around this beautiful town.

Ayutthaya has been the ancient capital of the kingdom of Thailand for many centuries until 1767, but most of the temples have been destroyed due to the past wars and conflicts and now only a few of them still stand gloriously.

However, I feel more awestruck when I explore the collapsing structures than the restored ones. It makes me feel like an early explorer.

Ayutthaya is probably one of the most culturally and historically interesting towns nearby Bangkok, worth of a visit, if you are heading up north, which I really recommend it and I believe it is much better than the southern part which is just packed with bloody masses of tourist that go there for fun only and uninteresting.

Ayutthaya is teeming with thousands of temples, shrines and is surrounded by forest, rivers, and stunning countryside.

I just love to bicycle into the Historical Park and to see other travellers having an elephant ride passing along the street, it is the kind of ambiance that I love, when the sun is about to set and the temples, statues and shrines assume a different hue and all the area becomes fascinating.

As I said the temples in Ayutthaya are numerous and it takes a good time to visit the whole area, so I would recommend to stay two or three days, at least.

Just to mention a few sights: Grand Palace, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the Royal Chapel, and Wat Mahathat ,the Temple of the Great Relic.

These are the most visited temples and ruins in the Historical Park.

Also interesting was to know that the first European settlers were portuguese that came in the 1511 as missionaries and were also part of the Ayutthaya's army.

It gets crowded, seeing its vicinity with Bangkok, and better visiting it early in the morning or at sunset.

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Ayutthaya
Definitely on the must see when in Thailand it seems Marcos. Denise has been there but I have not.

[Travelphilosophy]

Ayutthaya
I do not know what it could look like now, since that when I was there it was already, unfortunately, touristic and I actually enjoyed much more Sukhothai which I will publish soon.