Ancient Ruins, a boat ride around the City, and the biggest Buddha imaginable! We looked and played the part of Tourist.
After another night in a traditional Thai wooden Guesthouse we decided to stay an extra day, be tourists, and head for the ancient ruins that the city is built around. They are old, majestic, and mesmerizing. Not wanting to disrespect Buddha at the ancient Wat, we paused at a nearby store to pickup a pair of long pants ($6) with pretty elephants all over them to cover-up my Canadian legs.
Ayutthaya is 70km from Bangkok and was founded in 1350. It was the capital of Siam for 400 years until about 1767. The city is surrounded by waterways, important for trade for hundreds of years. The city fell in 1767 when the Burmese brutally attacked it, much of it by fire.
After the ruins we hopped into a rickety TukTuk to take us to the start of our river expedition through the surrounding waterways. What a fascinating way to see the City! We finally did more than just photograph a Wat from the outside—we took off our shoes and quietly went inside. Absolutely amazing! The Buddha housed inside the Buddhist temple Wat Panan Choeng is one of the oldest, largest, and most worshiped in Thailand. Great. Big. Gold. Buddha!!
After the boat tour we walked the 1.5km back to our Guest House, and passed another market. We couldn’t resist a few chicken dumplings and some fresh oranges. We noticed that most of the vendors were preparing Halal food and the place was busy with locals but very few tourists. They were all at the touristy Night Market a few kilometres away.
It was a great day for picture-taking! So many to choose from!
It must be a bit cooler for you as your pictures are much clearer than on past days…wish you could import the floors for us. But time for some more dramatic dog stories or flat tire stories. You guys are starting to feel too comfortable I think.
But, hope you are able to keep well!
It’s not any cooler….actually it’s a little hotter! it’s probably because these ones today were taken with my little Canon camera instead of the iPhone.
Excellent day, Anita and Randy. Thanks for sharing your journey!
I am enjoying your great commentary and gorgeous photos, Anita and Randy. Makes me want to go to Thailand, but not on a bicycle! 💕
Thank you Rita Mary, we are happy to share our adventure with everyone. It’s such an interesting place, so different from everything we are accustomed to. But that’s what we came for!
I was hoping to see the elephant pants….
I’ll have to get Randy to send me one of his pictures of me so you can see them. 🐘
I have been following you and Anita, looks really fascinating. Kerry.
What an amazing adventure, thanks for sharing🙏