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Ayutthaya
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| Ayutthaya |
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This is another post from back in late December 2018 when Sam and I were on our cruise around South East Asia. Today the ship docked in the industrial port town of Laem Chabang and we bused around three hours in to Ayutthaya, which is just to the north of Bangkok. Like our visit to Ho Chi Minh City earlier on the cruise I found the bus ride towards the city fascinating, passing by a seemingly endless number of huge factories as we made our long journey up towards our first stop today at the Bang Pa-in.
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Our morning started with a scenic drive through Bangkok's sprawling industrial suburbs.
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The lush grounds of the Summer Palace.
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With European, Thai and Chinese buildings featuring at the Summer Palace it makes for an eclectic mix of styles.
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The shaded boulevards at the Summer Palace were appreciated today.
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Summer Palace
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The Summer Palace is a calming oasis in the surrounding organised chaos.
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Summer Palace
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Summer Palace
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| The Summer Palace, I loved the different architectural styles here. |
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Bang Pa-in is a summer palace complex and it was a beautiful spot to wander around exploring the beautifully manicured grounds and fine buildings. This spot is big though and of course the weather is pretty well always stinking hot so either be prepared for long walk in the sun or hire one of the golf buggies near the entrance. The peaceful green gardens, water features and stunning architecture inside the walls are a stark contrast to the organised chaos outside the walls. I think the best way for me to convey the essence of this place is probably through my photos and their captions, otherwise things are gonna get a bit dry!
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Summer Palace
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Summer Palace
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Summer Palace
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Topiary Garden, Summer Palace.
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Summer Palace
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Like I said there is no shortage of variety at the Summer Palace.
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Summer Palace
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| Summer Palace |
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After our soothing visit to Bang Pa-in we jumped back on the bus and headed to the bustling Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is the former royal capital and the city dates back to the 13th century, now days a lot of the old city has been restored (or partially restored) and it is a stunning place to visit. The reclining Buddha represents the passing of Buddha into parinibbana (nirvana after death). While our stay here was short it was fascinating spot and it like Bang Pa-in it’s another spot that Sam and I will revisit next time we visit Bangkok.
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Reclining Buddha at Ayutthaya.
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It wasn't only the Buddha that was taking it easy today.
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya...I'm thinking that the gold sashes are a form of religious offering - they could be purchased on site.
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| Ayutthaya |
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Unfortunately now we took an hour off our travels to sit down to a buffet lunch, now normally I’m pretty keen on a good feed, but today I’d really rather of preferred to have more time checking out these stunning old sites rather than eating, we were in no danger of wasting away on the ship that’s for sure. Eventually we headed off to our next great spot Wat Maha That in the historic UNESCO world heritage site Ayutthaya. Wat Maha That is the temple that housed Buddha’s relics. The building of the main pergoda here was commenced in 1374 and over the centuries has been laid to waste by various conquerors until it looks like what you see now. This spot is also home to the famous site of the Buddha’s head embedded into a Fig Tree which is prime ‘selfie’ territory by the look of it, although it’s important to know that to respect the Buddha you need to sit before it if you are dead keen on that selfie, there is even a policeman stationed here to make sure the selfie loving tourists respect the Buddha.
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Ayutthaya
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Damaged buddhas at Ayutthaya, they were decapitated by thieves who sold their heads to tourists.
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You may have seem this one before?
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya - I'd love to comeback here in the twilight hours.
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Ayutthaya
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| Ayutthaya |
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Our last stop today was only a few minutes further away in the bus was at the huge Phra Mongkon Bophit bronze Buddha, well it was bronze but in 1990 the Supreme Patriarch presided over a candle lighting ceremony here and announced that people could honour the image by covering it in gold leaf, so now the bronze Buddha is now the gold Buddha.
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It was baking hot here this afternoon.
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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| The Golden Buddha |
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We now moved into Wat Phra Si Sanphet which from what I can tell is the old Royal Palace going all the way back to when Siam was the capital of Bangkok between 1350 and 1767. These ruins are arguably the most photogenic ruins scattered around the Ayutthaya precinct I'm thinking (although I didn't see every ruin today). The main attraction here are three huge chedis lined up in a row, these old temples are really very big and impressive, I'm thinking that this spot would be stunning in the twilight hours. Unfortunately for us we were there in the mid afternoon today though, and the day was stinking hot so really it was a matter of moving from place to place and utilising any shade that we could find.
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Ayuthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya
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Any bit of shade was good at Ayutthaya this afternoon.
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| Ayutthaya |
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Way to soon our time here ran out and we had to return to the bus for the three hour drive back to Laem Chabang, although to be totally honest it wasn't that disappointing to be sitting in the air conditioning again. By the time we arrived back at the ship we'd been out and about for around 12 hours on this tour so it was a fairly big day out. That said, after a quick shower and change of clothes we still managed to get up on deck as we sailed into the night away from Laem Chabang and out into the Gulf of Thailand.
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Ayutthaya
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Ayutthaya - this place is simply stunning.
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Ayutthaya
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| It's not all UNESCO world heritage sites at Ayutthaya. |
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The Dirt.
We headed out on a Princess tour today. The tour was called
Ayutthaya and it set us back just under $110 US which I didn't think was too bad for a 12 hour tour with everything included. One of the issues with these tours is that apart from the tour guides spiel you don't get any printed information about the wonderful places that you visit, so if your memory is a little dodgy (like your ageing Feral correspondent) then it can be a little hard to remember all the fun facts. Anyway what I'm trying to say in a round about way is that is the reason that this post is a bit of a photo dump as I've either missed or forgotten a lot of the details.
Relevant Posts.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2018.
Singapore, 2017.
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Sailing out of Laem Chabang tonight.
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| Laem Chabang is a working port. |
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| Sailing out tonight we passed the Costa Fortuna. I wonder if Captain Schettino was onboard, actually come to think of it he was probably somewhere on dry land....! |
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| Laem Chabang....definitely looks prettier at night. |
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| Sailing out into the Gulf of Thailand. |
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