Exploring Ayutthaya

 We were in the mood for some cultural exploration. Ayutthaya , the ancient capital of Thailand, and one of  the "World Cultural Heritage"-s , was our next destination

Only 45 minutes from Bangkok on a minibus, it was an easy (and cheap) trip.  When we reached Ayutthaya, a tuktuk driver approached us and offered a tour for the whole day, to 9 tourist places. 550 Baht per person sounded good enough (on hindsight we could have just rented bikes since the places were quite close to each other, except for the 2 temples).

Our first stop was the Wat Maha That, which was constructed in 1374 AD. It was said to be a royal monastery. Wat means monastery or temple, in Thai language.

At the Wat entrance

The big Buddha and the countless small headless Buddha figures -or "Buddhitas"- as my
 Spanish speaking friend calls them

Our second stop was the elephant ride...which I will never ever ever do again.  I dislike how the Mahot (or the trainor) treats the elephant and will never understand the need to constantly hit them with stick close to the ear! The ride made me sick.

Adorable creatures - in a cruel industry

Our third stop was the golden Buddha image known as Phra Mongkonbophit. It was located pretty close to the first wat we visited. It was surprising to see a number of monks, not on their knees, praying to their Buddha , but were instead very busy taking digital pictures. 

Me at the entrance of the Wat housing the Buddha

My friend Fer and the monk photographers

The Wat Phrasisanphet was our next stop- which was right beside the Phra Mongkonbophit. It was the former location of the royal palace in 1350 AD but a wat was built on the site in 1448 AD, which became the royal chapel.

Behind me are pagodas (chedis) which houses the remains of an ancient king
and his brother

Our next stop was my favorite among all the temples in Ayutthaya--the Wat Chaiwatthanaram. The locals call it Thailand's Angkor Wat (a very famous and grand temple in Cambodia).  Chaiwatthanaram is an ancient monastery established in 1630 AD.

As grand an entrance as can be

Our nth stop is the 37 meter long Buddha image called Phra Buddhasaiyart, where Buddhist offer prayers and flowers, and light their incense sticks.

Last stop was the Wat Phu Khao Thong-which was quite a climb but will give you a very nice view of Ayutthaya at the top.

What? Me? Climb? Nooooo!

And that concludes our Ayutthaya exploration.

Note to self: No temple visits again for the next 3 years. I had enough today to last me that.