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Ayutthaya- With more pics!Apr 20, 2008
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Vayo and her pigtails.
Wat Mahatat
Wat M. You can see the blackened brick from when it was...
This weekend, I went by myself to the city of Ayutthaya, which is 1.5 hours north of Bangkok. It is a small town with little besides a few 711s and lots of cheap restaurants and guest houses. I stayed at a lovely guest house with very kind owners. The attractiosn of Ayutthaya are the very well preserved ruins. Dad, you would have died!!! I'll keep this journal entry brief to spare you all the boring details; I know my last two entries were long.
HISTORY:
*Ayutthaya was the Siamese royal capital from 1350-1767, after the fall of Sukhothai.
*In 1767, after numerous conflicts with the Burmese (neighbors to the west, current day Myanmar), the city was sacked by the invading Burmese army. The temples, buildings, statues, and treasures were looted, and the Ayutthayan royals were taken as prisoners.
WHAT I SAW:
(*Note: Ninety-nine percent of the Buddha statures in Ayutthaya do not have heads or right hands, because the Burmese and Thais believed that these two body parts housed Buddha's power. The Burmese decapitated the Buddha statues and hacked off the right arms.)
*Wat Phra Mahathat: The center of the old sacred city. One of the most famous Thai photo-ops is located here: a Buddha head embedded in twisted tree roots. Very cool!
*Wat Ratburana: Very interesting because it has a tall, well-preserved "prang" (main tower) and the ruins of a building that looks similar to a cathedral (see pics).
*Wat Phra Si Sanphet: Famous for its three bell-shaped "stupas" (smaller towers).
*Wat Chai Wattanaram: A large Angkor-style wat, which is located on the river. This was my favorite place in Ayutthaya.
*I forget the name of the last wat, but it is nicely restored and currently functioning as a temple and meditation center. The best part was the beautifully landscaped grounds.
Overall, it was a very nice weekend. I had a TV in my room which had cable channels... one of the only English channels was "Fashion TV India," which aired all runway shows, all the time. If the picture hadn't been so fuzzy and the sound warped and intermittent, it would have been perfect.
Love, Heather
P.S. Also posted is your daily picture of Vayo... I had to put it up because she begged me (in Thai) to take a picture of her pigtails. (A Thai aide translated the request.)
