Ayutthaya Day Trip From Bangkok - Architectural Paradise!

7am and I'm waiting for the minibus to pick me up and whisk me off to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, boasting some of the oldest Siam temples. Ayutthaya was the second of four capitals of Thailand, with the capital moving when wars were won and lost or environmental changes made the current location unsustainable. It's the architectural capital of Thailand and most famously hosts the beautiful Buddha in the Tree, and the original reclining Buddha temple.

There are so many ways to do Ayutthaya for all levels of comfort, budget, and interest! 

Getting there 

If you're on a budget then you can get to Ayutthaya on the train for 20 baht (less than 50p) which is awesome. This would definitely come under the "experience" bracket though, as that ticket is for a 3rd class, non air-conditioned carriage and no guaranteed seat for 2.5 hours. Upwards of this, there are more comfortable options on the train, public busses, and minivans which leave central city locations frequently and for under 550 baht (around 11 GBP). The alternative is to book through a travel agency locally or online, which is usually a bit more expensive but there's some sense of organisation. All have their pros and cons - train is the most scenically pleasing and cheapest option for shoestring travellers, but having a guide for the temples and an organised day plan may be more suitable for a backpacking treat.

Day vs stay

Most people do a day trip from Bangkok as it's very easy to see the main features within a day, but there is also a fair amount of accommodation if you prefer the idea of staying over. Make sure to bring a lot of sun cream as there's little shade as you adventure!

Guides

As with most attractions, there are plenty of "tour guides" willing to sell their services outside the temples, even though this is technically not allowed. The best way of guaranteeing a legit and language specific guide is to book through an agency. If you're not fussed about guides or info, a great way to do Ayutthaya would be to get the train or a minibus and then hire a bicycle at Ayutthaya to get between the temples! 

My trip

I booked Ayutthaya as my first step in escaping Bangkok. I like the city but, after 4 days of running around every Wat I could find, I felt like a change of scene would be good. The promise of ancient temples and a historical background to them hit all the right archaeology and anthropology buttons for me and I couldn't wait for a day of total geekery! 

I booked through Peterpans, simply because they were next door to my hostel and offered similar rates to those I had read about on the Internet and in guide books. For 650 baht (around 13 GBP) I got an air conditioned minibus which would take 1.5 hours to get to Ayutthaya, an English speaking guide, lunch, entrance tickets, and return transport. Whilst I could have got there and back for 40 baht, the idea of potentially standing in a full carriage for 2.5 hours with no a/c brought back memories of similar adventures in India and with that (and a flashback of cows and the vomit soundtrack which accompanied) in mind, I took the easy route. I'll be taking the train from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok so I'm sure the 14 hours of fun there will make up for slightly more comfort here.

The Bump Mobile - forget Zorbing, this is the way to be thrown around an enclosed area

Getting up at 6am, however, was less than thrilling. In Bangkok anything organised runs a minimum of 30 minutes late and so, true to form, the minibus picked me up and took me to Khao San Road. We were then turfed out of our bus and herded into groups depending on our tour (half day/whole day/plain/added extras) and off we drove: 15 people in an air conditioned tin can hurtling down the highways of Bangkok. Whizzing past rice paddies demonstrated the huge divide between labour and producer in Thailand, which reminded me of the same in rural East Africa and northern India. Corrugated iron sheets providing housing in long, thin rows barely set back from the road for the rice farmers contrasts so starkly to the huge industrial processing buildings, factories, and often houses at the back of the paddies.  

We hit 5 temple sites during the day, given a brief history when we arrived at each one and then let loose for a while to explore independently.

Wat Phew Khao Tong - Stone golden mountain 

Beautiful stone chedi which has survived huge floods and fires since the 14th century to remain a beautifully solitary landmark amongst rice paddies. Whilst originally a Burmese symbol of victory over Thailand, the chedi is now shared as a symbol of their diplomatic relationship. The surrounding smaller and red chedis contain the bones of the monks who reside on the site and therefore are treated with utmost respect, whereas the central stone chedi is completely solid with no bones, and therefore the steps are welcome to be climbed.

Wat Lokkayasutharam - Original reclining Buddha

Whilst Wat Pho definitely wins the beauty contest, Ayutthaya boasts originality. Most reclining Buddha images depict the Buddha with eyes open as sleeping or resting, whereas this image has His eyes closed as the King of Thailand wanted to honour the Buddha's death. This is a nice and low key site with far fewer tourists!

There used to be a huge temple surrounding this Buddha which unfortunately burnt down, also damaging the back of the Buddha image

Wat Phra Mahathat - Buddha tree

Story goes that after a war the locals of Ayutthaya were feeling the pinch and so took to beheading Buddha statues to sell the heads for money. The police caught one culprit and left the head on the ground, where it remained for many years. A tree grew around the head, and is taken as a symbol for Buddhists of the symbiotic relationship with nature: the Buddha protects the tree from being chopped down and makes nature his body, and the tree provides for Him. It's like a nativity play for proud tree-huggers.

Buddha's a pretty down to earth kinda guy

Wat Phra Si Sanphet - 3 stupas 

A stupa is a long spire on top of a temple, and these are the Thai originals! These three stupas were built to commemorate Kings Rama VIII, IX, and X. Their wives are commemorated in smaller chedis surrounding the stupas. Previously, Kings would have numerous wives as any military win resulted in the loser's women being taken by the victor. Consequently, Thai kings would have wives from Cambodia, Laos and Burma as well as Thailand. Wives tended to last as long as their pregnancies, however, as a daughter would mean the Queen should be replaced and a son would let her continue as Queen. It's a tough world for the uterus.

I seem to have got the only cloudy day ever here! Adds to the incredible atmosphere though - these are the ruins, imagine back in the day...!

Wat Mongkhon Bophit - Chinese temple

I spent the first 5 mins trying to get "Ooh, Ahh, BOP IT" out of my head. Not a lot of preamble here as the temple is fully active still, and is essentially a huuuuge Buddha and museum of gold leaf Buddha images.

Overall

A great day trip out of Bangkok and an excellent tour with more mooching than driving which was ideal. There are add ons available such as extra temples, elephant walks, etc too if you're up for them! I would do it again for sure, but I think I'd personally like to cycle around between the locations - extra breeze at 35 degrees is always appreciated!

Ayatthaya is a melting pot of architectural prototypes which are steeped in war history, which makes for a great day out and an escape from Bangkok!