Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya is a small town. Easy travel from Bangkok. Although I was not very happy when the lady at the ticket booth told me the fare was 2xx bahts per person. I guess she knew I was a tourist and tried to sell me the best seats available, thank you very much, but having done enough homework and being cheap, I asked for ticket that is one tenth of the price and got it. No assigned seats, but we managed to find place to sit down. We rent bikes for only 50B each per day, and took the ferry to cross the river. Whenever I take the ferry, I feel I am having a vacation, a feeling beyond description.

The ruin area is not far from the pier. Although tour books recommend travelers to rent motorcycles, I still think bikes are quite enough. Yes, it was hot, but we expected hot weather anyway. We had bought hats from Jatujak park one day earlier and brought enough water, so we were pretty fine.

It is interesting to see those ruins and to imagine what had happened, why the angry soldiers chopped all the Buddha's head and destroyed the city. The photo attached here is probably the best known. It is surrounded by a tree, elevated only a few inches from the ground and still in the upright position. It must have been on the ground after the war, and the tree simply grew around it and protected it. Looking at those Buddha's, I feel sense of calmness.

The bad thing is that we do not think the site is well maintained. There was no designated route for visitors so I saw visitors running around everywhere, the signs were not clear, there were no guards or visitors' center to help people know more about the place and its abundant culture and history. We bought tickets, but had a feeling that no one was watching if people paid. After I returned, I was not surprised to read it from the newspaper that Ayutthaya could be removed from the world heritage.

We chose a Japanese restaurant right across the street from the ruin. It was not busy at all. We got a very nice window seat, with the view of the ruin, but stayed very cool. After that we went to visit some more, but had a feeling of 'see one and see them all'. I guess I was a bit dehydrated, so when we went back to the train station, it was so breezy and cool, I lay down and the bench and actually dozed off.