Bangkok 2008 Day 17: Sightseeing at Ayutthaya City

For some time I've wanted to do a little sightseeing in Bangkok. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Ayutthaya immediately sprang up and Day 17 being a Saturday, was the most ideal day to do some sightseeing as I had the following day to get much deserved rest.

The group decided to hitch a ride to Ayutthaya with special vans that ferry tourists to the premise.

Before that, we started out taking the BTS train to 'Victory Monument' BTS station.

Nana station. 8.30am. I was already sweating like crazy due to the surprising early morning heat wave, and the distance from the hotel.

Victory Monument BTS station

Once out of the station we crossed the overhead bridge overlooking the victory monument (Placed in the center of a roundabout) turned left, then walked down towards the van area.

The victory monument

The van area. After facing the Victory Monument, turn left and down the steps. Turn left again and you will find the van area. Speak to one of the conductors and haggle for a good price.

Victory monument area also serves as a bus stop.

One of the many vans waiting to ferry tourists to Ayutthaya city

The ride cost 70 Baht per head.

The van merely took us to the outside compound of the Ayutthaya city. The driver stopped us at a bus stop where a local tour guide waited. After an unsuccessful attempt to engage business with us (Due to overwhelming pricing), a tuk-tuk drove by and offered a more enticing preposition. He offered to take us to a designated spot for only 10 Baht per person. Naturally, being the cheaposkate peepos we are, we agreed.

Ayutthaya city map. With all the main Wats (temple) being highlighted.

There was a small problem however, nobody had an itenary. So decided to head for Wat Chai Wattanaram (Buddhist monastery).

Our tuk-tuk

Decided to be adventurous, stuck out my hand carrying the handphone and decided to take some above the tuk-tuk shots. Thank God we didn't hit any pot holes/bumps that time (In which later we did very often), otherwise I would have dropped the phone. Then that's bye-bye w700i >.<

Mr. Driver

When we reached Wat Chai Wattanaram , we decided to rent the tuk-tuk for the whole day. And only for the price of 750 Baht, which include all 4 of us.

In my opinion, of all the places we've been to in Ayutthaya City, Wat Chai is the best place. It's big and better maintained compared to the other places. Admittedly we could have enjoyed the place a lot more if there was a tour guide explaining the historical significance of the place. Instead we were reduced to eaves dropping on other tour groups and relying on booklets purchased. (Oh and as well as the Internet. kekekeke, ooo never failing tool of knowledge).

Prang in the center, surrounded by chapels.

The broken Buddha statues

If I remember correctly (Or not) this could be one of the 8 chapels surrounding the Big Prang in the center.

Ceiling of the chapel

One side of the Prang

Atop one side of the Prang

Atop the other side of the Prang. There's nothing inside the Prang other than a small alter with Buddha statuettes

Outer courtyard with 2 Buddha statues in meditating position. There were supposed to be 3. Probably the third (On the left), was destroyed some time back.

A replica of Wat Chai Wattanaram in it's glory days.

We saw this cute Caucasian kid (Probably at about 4-5 years in age) throwing a tantrum and refused to budge. His father probably gave up persuading him and headed for the inner courtyard while leaving his son where he stood. Probably some reverse psychology thing going on. I was sure whilst doing that the father was still keeping a keen eye on his son. ;-P

The boy was so stubborn that he actually resorted to play around in that same spot without getting to his dad. >.< Very very cute... naughty but super cute.

Our next destination was: A place with a reclining Buddha statue! I have no idea what this place is called. Though I know that the Tuk-tuk driver sorta misled us here. Originally we wanted to head to Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, but instead we ended up here. Nothing to do here but drink coconut water. ;-P


Next destination was: Wat Phu Khao Thong (The Golden Mount)

Do you see the tower tilting to the right? as if it's gonna collapse.

We couldn't enter the premise because it was flooded. Very sad case. I would love to see this place closer than what you see above. Anyways, there's a small stream full of fish. There were some packets of bread left in a basket. Visitors could place 10 baht in the basket, grab the packet of bread and feed them to the fishies.

Next destination: Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Surrounding this Wat is a HUGE market that sells lots of food stuff and some accessories. The amount of foodstuff sold here is so unbelievable. And I noticed that food/things sold don't tend to repeat across different stalls. There's just so much variety. Being well disciplined person, I resisted the urge to sample each stall. ;-)

This is a temple modern day temple that houses a huge Buddha statue.

The exterior of the temple.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet and its 3 Chedis

We spend a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time here. Including a 40 minute lunch break. I had 2 bowls of food... ermm... that certainly squashes the entire I am so discipline remark huh... *Paiseh*

Next destination: Elephant ride. Was interested. But the girls expressed how inhumane to ride the animals. So naturally being a softy myself, I passed the opportunity.



Next destination: Wat Phra Ram


There wasn't much to marvel at here. The place was practically deserted. And the structural integrity of this monument is no longer sound. There are signs placed all over warning visitors to thread lightly. And some places are barred because the walls seemed to be so worn out that they are on the verge of collapsing.

Next destination: Wat Mahathat




This was the place I was waiting to be the whole day. It houses a Buddha head nested within the upper roots of a huge tree. Sad to say I was kinda disappointed. Please read on to find out why.

A structure that's shaped like a Sphinx in one angle. I was quite amused with this.

The Buddha Head.

The tree.

Like the first Wat I've been to earlier, this place was flocked by many tourists. I am guessing it's one of the major destinations in Ayutthaya city.

Why the disappointment? Welllllllllll... mainly because I was expecting a HUGE lush forest environment, with thick foliage surrounding the place, and that the place was coowl enough to just stroll in, and the Buddha head and the tree... Kinda hoped that it was HUGE! But instead it's a live size head... and the tree... well, from the pic I took above you could roughly guess the scale of the whole thing.

That was our end destination. We headed back to Sukhumvit, Bangkok after that. For a much needed rest... and dinner. of course. =P

The bus ride cost us nearly 50 Baht. And the journey cost us nearly an hour or so. The bus sent us to the Mo Chit bus depot (Near Chak tuk Chat weekend market), where we got on a cab and headed back to Nana area.

That's about it. We took nearly a day to cover the place. Although, we have missed out some highlights... you can find that out in the website shown below.

A word of advice. Before visiting historical sites in Thailand:

1) Try to get a tour guide who speaks English. Or better yet... Learn thai and your options would be more diverse.

2) Get a cap, lots of sun block.

3) Know how to say Soo-am (Which translates to Toilet), just in case of 'emergencies'.

For some brief info on Ayutthaya City. Visit here.

Tata for now. ;-P

Ayutthaya map courtesy of http://thailandforvisitors.com/