Ayutthaya   

Old Capital

Ayutthaya, the ancient city was declared a UNESCO world Heritage Site in 1991 and is bordered by three rivers. This situation is in the meantime more a curse than a blessing, because the old ruins have been repeatedly damaged by flooding.
The hardest flood was in 2011. Many pagodas have become dilapidated and tumbled down, irreparable damage to almost all historical sites. We did not have it expected so bad, because at our first visit to Ayutthaya in 2001 all buildings were o.k.
At that time we only made a day trip from Bangkok by boat, this time we liked to see the temples in calmness and so we stayed here for 3 nights.

(lick for large image!)

We started with a guided tour around the Historical Park. The large number of temples, palaces and stupas were mainly visited by local groups and not by international tourists.

We could not keep all the names of the sights and places in our mind while the statements of our two tour female guides were very good and interesting. Again and again we were fascinated by all the old brick buildings and the spirituality of this special places.

The other two days we strolled alone around and have been on our own discovery tour, which was a lot of fun, despite the great temperature. The boat trip around the historic center with some stops at various temples and ruins was really great and we could watch the normal life on and around the river.

You can get to Ayutthaya from Bangkok very easily by car (80 km), boat or train. But to travel by train or boat is really much more nostalgic and romantic than to rush by car on the highway.

 more photos from Ayuttha 2013

 more photos from Ayuttha 2001

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