Impromptu Weekend Getaway: Ayuthaya

It was a normal Friday morning, Jonathan and I woke up and got ready for school. Then I get the thought to look at my phone. There awaited two texts from fellow teachers at our school saying that all the universities and schools were closed that day because of the declared coupe. Cool, long weekend! However we sat there wishing we could see into the future so we could have put together some sort of trip. Dang.

But then Jonathan turned to me and said, "Why don't we just go somewhere? Like maybe that Ayuthaya place." Although he didn't really say Ayuthaya, it was more like uh-you-tayama, haha close. But I got the gist. We pulled out our Thailand travel book, read a little bit about the area, packed up our backpacks and headed toward the train station! Can I just say how awesome this felt?! I am the kind of person that has to have all the details worked out in my planner before we take a trip. I need to know where we are going to stay, how we are going to get there, and what we are going to do once we get there. But this was so exciting! Just dropping everything, grabbing a toothbrush, toothpaste and some cash and heading out the door. 

The train schedule said that the next train heading towards Ayuthaya would be getting in at 11:51, so naturally, we Americans made sure to get there a few minutes early so we could buy our tickets. Haha, silly Farang. We forgot that Thailand runs on "Thai time." Turns out the train would be an hour delayed, coming in at 12:51. So we walked around, grabbed some lunch and went back to wait at the station around 12:30. Time came and went and then the train finally showed up at 1:22. An hour and a half late - mai pen rai! We were shocked that the tickets were only 9 baht each, that's about 28 cents for an hour train ride, but it made a little more sense when we boarded. There were at least some benches, but it was pretty crowded, super hot, and vendors were walking up and down the aisles selling dried squid on sticks....ulgh.

Ayuthaya is somewhat known to be the "Venice of Thailand." The central part of the city is completely surrounded by a river so you have to ride a ferry to get across. Once getting to the 'island' we found the soi (street) where most of the guest houses are and found a place to stay. It was very interesting because as we were walking down the street, people would be running out to us and asking us if they could show their place. It is the low season for tourism, so for once, we Farang actually had a bit of say in the price! Found a little room (with AC - that is non-negotiable), dropped off our stuff and went back out to see the sights. 

So when you see pictures of ancient ruin temples in Thailand, almost all of them are in Ayuthaya. This city was the ancient capital of the Siam Kingdom from 1350-1767. It was a major trading port between Asia, Southeast Asia, India and even Europe. It was a pretty big deal back in the day. Because it was the central capital there are temple ruins everywhere! Apparently at one time, there was a total of 400 temples standing within the city. Modern Ayuthaya has been built up around it, so you'll just be driving down the street and then a huge ruin pops up on your right. Here are some pictures of the Wats (temples) that we ran into on our first night out:

Wat Phra Mahathat. Throughout all the temples, most of the Buddha heads are cut off, I'm not sure why. I think they were stolen by thieves after the Burmese ransacked the city. But looks like they left one behind! Some people say the head was too heavy to steal so it was left and trees protectively grew around it. 

Wat Ratburana. At night, they turn on a bunch of floodlights towards the temples. It was gorgeous. Too bad they were doing construction... pardon the scaffolding.

The next day, Saturday, we wanted to spend hitting up all the most famous wats in the area. One of the ways to get around the city is by tuk tuk - those 3-wheeled kind of car things. But they are pretty expensive...they try to charge 'farang price' which we couldn't afford paying all day. So we chose instead to rent a couple of bicycles! Turned out to only be 30 baht each for the whole day (that's under $1). It was a blast!!! Riding our bikes around, pulling the map out, getting lost (once), and discovering everything on our own. We started the day off by stopping at this little vendor on the side of the road. This really sweet lady made each of us a rockin omelet with some toasted garlic bread and orange juice. Perfect way to start out the day. It was so funny that she really wanted to get a picture with us - we are just such an oddity out here I guess.

Our first stop on Saturday was Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Well, actually we went into this building which is right next to the wat. This building, Wihan Mongkhon Bophit, houses a 17-meter tall Buddha statue so those people who come to see the once-great temple can pray and pay homage.

Here, you can see a picture of what the Buddhist monks look like. We see them everywhere here, just walking down the street, riding the train, some even using their cell phones haha. But of course you see them most frequently in the temples. I also wanted to show that little Buddha statue on the right - it's covered in little paper gold leaves. As part of 'paying tribute,' people will either buy a lotus flower and kind of shake it while praying, or you can buy a little gold leaf to press onto one of the many statues located around the inside of temple. As you press it on, you make a wish for good fortune. It's also a good way to keep all the Buddhas looking golden!

Now here's Wat Phra Si Sanpet. The largest (and most iconic) of all the temples in Ayuthaya. Love it!

Wat Lokayasutharam. Has the largest reclining Buddha in all of Ayuthaya at 37 meters long.

After a morning of biking around, we grabbed a couple of smoothies and spent part of the afternoon in the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum where they house all of the images and Buddha relics found in the temple ruins. It wasn't really air-conditioned but it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit.

Then we were back out on the road. This was our last and probably our favorite temple. It took quite a while to get to it considering it's 'off the island.' Wat Chaiwatthanaram. SO massive, pretty well put-together still, and there weren't hardly any people around! I did get my first Thai sunburn that day so I spent most of the time hiding in the shade while Jonathan walked around some more. (Can't believe that we forgot sunscreen!) But yeah, I could have sat in this spot for hours just taking it all in. Beautiful.

Sunday morning, we were able to find the Ayutthaya LDS Branch and go to church. Again, everyone was so incredibly sweet and inviting. We enjoyed a very Thai lunch afterwards and then walked over to the last few neighboring temples.

Here is Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. One of the few temples that you could actually walk up the stairs and see inside one of the chedis/prangs (those cone-shaped things).

Wat Phanan Choeng. And here is the largest Buddha in all of Thailand! Just kidding, it's not. Stands at 19 meters tall. I just did my research and this one doesn't even come close to the largest in Thailand... which is 92 meters tall, but that one is outside. This one was pretty big for being indoors. By the way this picture does NOT do it justice, so you will just have to take our word for it. It was huge.

Then before heading back to the train station, we spent an hour walking through the Ayuthaya floating market. That was a perfect way to end our weekend. Found some good spots to get souvenirs and bought some fresh coconut ice cream topped with peanuts and sweetened condensed milk - the Thais drizzle that stuff on top of every dessert. It was delectable! And was served in a little clay pot, which we got to keep.

There are still SO many things that we didn't see! We will definitely be taking another trip back down here to hit up that market and see more of the sites. The city itself is not that big, but there is just too much to see in only 2 days. Our trip back to Saraburi was much better on the train (I think we may have inadvertently bought seats in a nicer car), but still 2 hours behind schedule haha.

Mai pen rai!