{"id":1361,"date":"2013-07-02T04:36:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T11:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=1361"},"modified":"2013-07-04T20:26:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T03:26:18","slug":"day-2-go-go-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=1361","title":{"rendered":"Day 2 – Go, Go, Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

The next item on our list of things to accomplish while we are in Bangkok is a day trip out to Ayutthaya<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0to see the ruins of the previous capital from the 13th and 14th centuries. \u00c2\u00a0We have done this day trip before, so to change things up a little we will be taking part of the trip on a boat along the Chao Phraya river.<\/p>\n

Our trip starts at 6:30am with a pick-up from our hotel, and they will take us to a central collection point where we will transfer to a air-conditioned bus for the outward part of the trip. \u00c2\u00a0We are still adjusting to the time difference a bit so the good news is that we are awake at about 4:30am without the aid of an alarm, of course the bad news is that we are likely in for a looong day.<\/p>\n

The bus makes it’s way through the city and we can see the inbound rush-hour traffic. \u00c2\u00a0The tour guide informs us that the rush hour goes from about 6am to 9am and if you are unable to make your commute either before or after the rush, it can add as much as 2 hours to your trip!<\/p>\n

Our first stop is at the summer palace at Bang Pa-In<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0Built and expanded by previous monarchs of Thailand the summer palace is now only occasionally used for special occasions and ceremonies, but it is open daily for tourists. The grounds are immaculately maintained and the buildings are inspired by various other cultures – Chinese, Italian\u00c2\u00a0Renaissance, Colonial, etc.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-191812-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-192828-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-193339-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Having been here before we know most of the narrative and so we separate ourselves from the tour group to wander about on our own, and take in the peacefulness of the area while avoiding the large tour groups – with good timing we are able feel like we mostly have the place to ourselves.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-194150-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-194801-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-195130-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From there it is off to the city of Ayutthaya to see some of the ruins from centuries past. \u00c2\u00a0The area has dozens of sites and temples that co-exist within the city that has grown around them and there is a stark contrast between the new and the old, often right across the street from each other. \u00c2\u00a0We only have time to see three of the sites, and as luck would have it there is only one spot that overlaps with out last trip here, so it is nice to be able to take in the tour without it feeling like just going back for a repeat.<\/p>\n

Our first stop is at Wat Mahathat, a collection of temple runis that dates back to around 1374. \u00c2\u00a0In 1767 the capital was sacked by the Burmese and upon gaining victory they defaced the local Buddha statues by removing their heads – sort of a 13th century ‘in your face!’ \u00c2\u00a0One of the Buddha heads was left by a tree and in the centuries that followed the roots of the tree have grown around the head and it is now one of the distinct features of this site (and why it is a stop on almost every tour of the area).<\/p>\n

\"20130630-205710-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-210017-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-210353-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up is Wat Na Phra Mane. \u00c2\u00a0During the final conflict with the Burmese the city of Ayutthaya was one of the last hold-out and was finally taken by siege. \u00c2\u00a0The city was surrounded by Burmese forces and finally after about 18 months of being shut off from supplies and under attack the city was taken. \u00c2\u00a0The temple at Wat Na Phra Mane is a very solidly constructed building and it was from here that the Burmese forces headquartered their siege of the city. \u00c2\u00a0In addition to it’s military significance, the large temple building houses an elaborate Buddha statue and shrine, and the\u00c2\u00a0monastery on the grounds houses a Buddha figure carved from stone that is estimated to be over 1000 years old.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-214215-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-215321-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our final temple stop is at Wat Lokayasutharam to see a reclining Buddha statue. The statue is quite large and impressive – similar in size to the one at Wat Pho in Bangkok we saw the day before, but this one is outside on a plain along with some other temple ruins. \u00c2\u00a0Of particular interest to me is to see the statue directly and compare it to the photos I had seen of the same statue during the massive floods of central Thailand in 2011. \u00c2\u00a0There was about 2 meters (about 6-7 feet) of water in this area and it was over a month before all the flood water\u00c2\u00a0receded.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-221537-1280R\"<\/a>\"Buddha<\/a><\/p>\n

After the last stop it is back on the bus where we are driven back towards Bangkok to a pier on the Chao Phraya river for the final leg of our journey. \u00c2\u00a0For the rest of our trip we load onto a large boat for a late buffet lunch and a 2 hour trip down the river back to the heart of Bangkok where we started the day.<\/p>\n

The trip along the river is a nice change, and after a big lunch we secure some chairs out on the back deck and watch the sites along the banks of the river.<\/p>\n

\"20130701-002200-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130701-002720-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130701-010521-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall it has been a long day, but a good bit of sightseeing and we are all once again fairly beat. \u00c2\u00a0It is still too early to turn in though so after a bit of freshening up we head out for a massage (’cause we can) and then a bit of wandering around for some street snacks (banana pancake, woot!) before calling it a night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next item on our list of things to accomplish while we are in Bangkok is a day trip out to Ayutthaya\u00c2\u00a0to see the ruins of the previous capital from the 13th and 14th centuries. \u00c2\u00a0We have done this day trip before, so to change things up a little we will be taking part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[10,9,8],"class_list":["post-1361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summer-2013","tag-ayutthaya","tag-bangkok","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1361"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1385,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1361\/revisions\/1385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}