Just one more sight to see

Arriving in Bangkok on Tuesday, we did a lot of nothing. We checked into a nice room for our last two nights in Thailand and made use of its roof top pool. We spent a very enjoyable evening with friends and made plans for Wednesday, our last full day.

We decided to visit Ayutthaya, since it is just 1.5 hours outside of Bangkok by train, making it a good day trip. Ayutthaya was the capital of the area from 1350-1767, containing beautiful temples and royal facilities. It is believed to have been a hugely international city of nearly 1 million inhabitants. Thanks to war (mainly a Burmese invasion that burnt the entire city to the ground) and time, these structures are now all ruins. Some are restored and others are still left as is. I had wanted to visit during my last trip to Thailand, but hadn't, so I was excited to get the opportunity this time. I love sights like this, with all the history and stories that the bricks must contain. I have a feeling that Jeff doesn't find them quite so interesting, but he humors me!

Although we arrived to the city later than planned, we had no trouble picking up a tuk tuk tour guide who would take us around to all of the better sights. We spent a few hours exploring the various wats and royal constructions before heading back to Bangkok on one of the evening trains. While we know that we certainly didn't see everything we could, we had a great time with what we did do. 

The start and end to our day

A Buddha that has been restored to modern standards and enclosed inside a Wat.

We witnessed some sort of blessing ceremony.

One of the most iconic images of Ayutthaya, a plaster Buddha head encased in the roots of a Bodhi tree.

Remnants of original plaster

A surviving Buddha statue. Few exist in such good condition.

The original brick base of these stuppas are now exposed. The crowning spire of the foreground stuppa has fallen.

This amazing Buddha was restored in the 50's

We noticed that all of the ruins housed many street dogs. These guys had climbed a wall, trying to beat the heat.

One of the more intact sites

I apologizing to those who would have liked to know the names of the Wats and ruins seen above, but we saw them in a rather short time span and I simply wasn't paying attention!

On a side note, I have to say that I just love train travel. I know it's probably due to the novelty of it all, since train travel is not nearly as established in the United States as in other countries, but it was just so much fun!