Ayutthaya, a former capital of the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand), it was a cosmopolitan city of trade and diplomacy from the 14th to 18th centuries. It was sacked by the Burmese in 1767. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ayutthaya was located on an island surrounded by three rivers, with at least one connected to the sea.
Burma (now Myanmar) had been in conflict with Siam and in 1767 they invaded and burned the city to the ground so it was abandoned by it’s citizens and not reoccupied (except in modern times).
It is now a huge archaeological site with the remains of colossal temples and the Khmer style prangs (corn on the cob style towers) very much like Ankor Wat I understand.
It must have been stunning in its heyday.
We borrowed bikes to see the area over a couple of days. We also had a private boat ride around the Island.
We saw many people who rented costumes for the day, men, women and children. Some were having a formal photo shoot, while others were with thier friends.
We visited one temple building that you could walk inside. As soon as we were on the threshold I could smell bat droppings! Now in the UK we don’t often smell this because our bats defecate and urinate leaving the roost but, these don’t seem to follow these niceties. The next issue for us was we had to remove our shoes to enter and the floor was tacky, I retreated! Tatjana had to clean her sandals later!
Many of the statues have been beheaded despite the invading Burmese being of the same religion.
All of the above pictures show the beautiful side of Ayutthaya but, there is a not so lovely side we found on a cycle ride. There is a whole road that is a rubbish tip. In one area a Muslim woman was picking through the rubbish and shooing the dogs away! That was very disappointing to see.
On the final day we visited a great little cafe and saw a female monk, dressed all in white and with cropped hair. Tatjana had a chat with her and she said she didn’t have to follow the 220 rules of men and the 300+ of the women, she has to follow only 8 which is why she is not a Bhikkhunī (fully ordained).
We took the train back to Bangkok and started to prepare for our flight……
The Travelling Bee 