Ayutthaya, Thailand
One of my favorite images of the trip so far...
A cramped minibus trip landed us in Ayutthaya, the ancient former capital of Siam. Ayutthaya features some of the best of both worlds- impressive ancient ruins and stunning modern temples. There’s also a very impressive and modern historical museum, featuring incredibly elaborate models of the city’s temples and diorama depictions of traditional village life. Unfortunately, the museum has a strict no photography policy, so you’ll just have to take our word for it…
We took a riverboat tour of about 5 of the city’s most famous temples, which did not disappoint:
We stopped and toured several of the temples, though time was very limited, and it made it a little difficult to really see everything at any given site. Still, a very nice tour and a definite highlight of the trip so far.
The next day, we did a self-guided (read: lost) tour of the city’s more famous wats, including Wat Mahathat’s oft-photographed Buddha head entangled in tree roots.
We made a bit of a whirlwind tour of Ayuttaya, but we’re trying to avoid the dreaded “Temple Fatigue” so many travelers in SE Asia experience. We enjoyed our time there, but were ready to move on when we did.
October 25th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Ok, what the hell is in those plastic bags? It looks like steamed cockroaches. Probably a good source of protein, and readily available. Like the kitty on the scooter, and all the gold Buddahs.