Ayutthaya Temple Tours
Posted by Stuart at 09:49 PM on September 07, 2003I had been to Ayutthaya one time before. I was with a group of students from my school on a day-trip to visit the old capital and the palace at Bang-Pa In.
This time, however, I was on my own (which of course, I prefer). I started early by having breakfast at the guesthouse where I was staying and then rented a motorcycle from the guesthouse across the street. The rest of the day was spent visiting many old temples, both the temple ruins in the center of town and the still-standing old temples outside of town.
The most interesting part of the trip for me was the distinct feeling that what I was looking at was not really all that exotic to me any more. This time I looked at the ruined temples and could imagine what they looked like in their past glory. Symetry and shapes and designs that once looked random or chaotic now are deliberate and ordered to my eye. Now, when I see Thai art and architecture, it is beautiful to me not because if it is different and exotic, but because it is all related to each other as each period of history has left its mark on the country.
In any case, luckily the rain held off until after I had returned the motorcycle and had made it back safely to the train station. On the way from Lopburi to Ayutthaya last night and then to Bangkok tonight, I took the 3rd class (un-air-conditioned) train for the first time. It actually wasn't that bad. Both nights the air was relatively cool and so the whole ride was quite comfortable with the "cool" air coming in through the open windows. Plus, the tickets cost 13 and 15 baht (around US$.40) respectively -- cheaper than taking the SkyTrain to work every morning.
