Lynn the Japanese Tourist and Her Adventure in Ayutthaya

(Please click on the following pictures to enlarge them.)

Despite the fact that I've lived in Thailand for nearly ten years now, I've never been to what must be one of the nation's most famous tourist destinations - Ayutthaya. In order to remedy this, Siri, Beer, Tim, Toon, and I climbed into Toon's car and headed up north for Ayutthaya yesterday. Us girls yakked away about everything from Jay Chou's awesomeness (Beer thinks his "In the Name of the Father" video is the coolest thing ever) to how frigginly good Beer's toasted bread topped with chili paste and moo yong tasted (sounds gross, I know, but believe me when I say it tasted heavenly). Even after a quick stop at the gas station in search of some rations and nourishment, the trip only took a grand total of about 45 minutes from my house. Not too bad.


The designated driver, Toon, and his faithful companion, Tim.
It's Timmy Toons!

Tim is Toon's Australian friend from Adelaide and is currently vacationing here in Thailand. He's really laid-back, and from talking to him, I could tell that he's a really great guy. We borrowed his Lonely Planet book on Thailand and tried to cram some 400 odd years of Ayutthaya history into our heads in about ten minutes. We then whipped out Toon's map and tried to help him find the way into Ayutthaya's city center, but, um, I'm sorry to say I don't think we were much help. Beer and I are clearly dummies when it comes to map-reading/deciphering. Siri, on the other hand, was rather adept with map-reading. When we later got to Ayutthaya, she was able to memorize all the twists and turns of the city with such fluidness, Beer and I swear she might have been an Ayutthaya princess in her last life.


Beer seems to have given up on the map, and telling from Siri's expression, I think Toon's taken a wrong turn.

~*~

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ayutthaya's history, here's a quick historical briefing taken from the tourist brochure:

"The 16th-18th century temple ruins at Ayuthaya, 86km north of Bangkok, date from the most flourishing period of Thai history. Ayuthaya was the Thai capital from 1350, and 33 kings of various Siamese dynasties reigned here until the city was conquered by the Burmese in 1767. The old capital was, by all accounts, a splendid city which was courted by Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, Chinese and Japanese merchants. By the end of the 17th century, Ayuthaya's population had reached one million and virtually all visiting foreigners claimed it to be teeming with majestic grandeur, and many said it was the most illustrious city they had ever seen.

In April 1767, after a 15-month seige, Ayutthaya finally succumbed to the Burmese, who ransacked and burned the city, thus ending one of the most politically glorious and culturally influential epochs in Thai history."

~*~

When we arrived there, it was almost as though we had stepped out of Thailand and into an era when ancient civilizations flourished with grand splendor. The city was unlike any other provincial town in Thailand, and was definitely a far cry from Bangkok's chaotic hustle and bustle. This is going to sound corny, but the sights that greeted us were unbelievably magical.


We headed straight for the TAT office (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and they gave us these great maps, guidebooks, and postcards. The lady who worked there mistook me for a Japanese tourist, and I have to say that this isn't the first time that this has happened. In fact, this just happened to me on Saturday when I was at WTC with Paddy, Monta, and Caro. People have mistaken me to be every possible nationality you can think of (Singaporean, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Malaysian), but never Thai. I guess it's not that odd, seeing as how I don't even have a single drop of Thai blood flowing through my veins. Ah, but who cares, I still consider myself Thai to the bone.


In front of the TAT office.

We then went to the Exhibition Center at the building next door to get a brief overview of the city and its various wats (temples).





~*~

As we headed for our first stop, Wat Phra Sri Sanphet (or at least what remains of it), someone brought up the possibility of renting bikes.


"Let's rent some bikes and bike around the main area of the city."
"Ooh, awesome idea!"

30 minutes later, after having parked the car and having walked in the "winter" (sheah right) sun for a good 20 minutes:

"DAMN. It's hot."
"Dude, are you sure it's still winter?"
"Uh, you guys still wanna go bike-riding?"
"Ja bah reu?! Us spoiled city girls are gonna end up falling off our bikes from the afternoon heat, and I don't think Toon and Tim are gonna haul us back to Bangkok. They'll leave us here to die, and we'll either die by being trampled by passing elephants or by being smothered by big bombs of elephant poop."


Before entering every wat, you have to pay an entrance fee. For local Thais, it's 10 baht (25 cents), but for foreigners, it's 30 baht (75 cents). I know it's not that much, but still, talk about blatant discrimination! Poor Tim had to chuck up an extra twenty baht to get into every wat.


One of the three main chedis at Wat Phra Si San Phet.
Wat Phra Si San Phet served as the king's royal chapel and is the equivalent to the Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew) in Bangkok. It contains three main chedis, all of which contain the cremated ashes of three Ayutthaya kings.
Despite the obvious ruin, one can still get a feel of its former splendor.


Siri, Beer, and I taking turns hogging the umbrella. Like most Asian girls, we avoid the sun like the plague, and yes, we realize we look an awful lot like Japanese tourists because of our umbrella, but hey, a girl's gotta take good care of her skin! (left)
Tim and Toon trying to act like fly GQ models. (right)


Beer, Siri, and the umbrella making the steep climb to the top.
Beer looks, uh, happy. (left)
Me and Siri actually made it to the top. You can't really tell from this pic, but we're holding on for dear life. (right)


Siri, me, and some farang tourists sitting at the entrance to a stupa at the top of the main chedi. I believe this particular chedi contains the cremated ashes of an Ayutthaya king, although I'm not exactly sure which one. (left)
Here I am at the entrance to a stupa on the other side of another chedi. The reason why I'm tilting over sideways and have my hand propped up against the wall is because I was kneeling and teetering due to my slight fear of heights. Hey, it's a looooong drop to the bottom ya know. (right)


Trying to decipher the darn map. Siri, help! (left)
Tim and Toon the fly GQ models again. (right)

~*~

Next, we headed to Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit where one of the country's largest Buddha statues is located. Historically, this statue was located outdoors, however when the Burmese ransacked the city, the right arm and part of the head got burned. It has recently been restored to its former glory and is now housed by a rather modern-looking wat.


Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit where the restored Buddha statue is now located. (left)
Picture of the burnt statue before restoration. (Check out the funky Engrish!) (right)


The statue restored once again to its original grandeur. (It's HUGE.)

~*~

Before heading to our next stop, we stopped by a row of vendors and bought some drinks and snacks. Siri, Beer, and I got some fried fish skin with chili sauce. Okay, before you start gagging and hurling everywhere, let me tell you that fried fish skin is good! I got an extra bag for my parents and offered some to Tim. Poor guy looked all green in the face.


I bought some water from this one vendor, and as I was waiting for my change, these Thai-American teens who must've been here for vacation came up from behind me and bought some drinks too. The lady totally overcharged them! She charged them 40 baht for a bottle of water when she'd just charged me a mere 10 baht two seconds ago! Despite their Thai looks, they were overcharged because of their tell-tale accent. Ah, the injustice.

~*~

We then headed to Wat Yai Chai Mongkol where one of the country's largest reclining Buddhas is located. Wat Yai Chai Mongkol was named by King Naresuan to commemorate a battle he fought upon an elephant's back against the crown prince of Burma in 1592. His victory brought independence to Ayutthaya after 15 years as a Burmese vassal.


Ooh, Buddha's got curves. (left)
The reclining Buddha statue was HUGE. We were practically miniscule next to it. (right)


Whoo! Buddha sure is trendy!
Check out the cool gold nail polish on his toenails!


Here we are behind the statue seeking refuge from the afternoon sun.
Beer was wondering what the statue was made out of and how people in the old days were able to build such amazing structures.
She wanted to lift up his robes and have a look, but hey, that's indecent! :-P


P'Poh once told me that some Thais in the remote areas of Thailand believe that phallic-shaped objects are highly revered and considered to be holy artifacts. I seriously thought that he was BSing me, and so I laughed in his face when he told me that.

I sure wasn't laughing when I saw what this one vendor dude had for sale. Eep! (P'Poh was right.)

~*~

I don't remember the name of the next set of ruins we went to, but it was only a five-minute walk away from Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. There wasn't that much to see here, but it was still very pretty.






Can any of the guys out there please explain to me why guys refuse to smile in pictures?
Is it because you guys think it makes you look all manly and serious?

~*~

We then climbed into the car again for what must have been the umpteenth time that day, and headed for the next set of ruins. We rolled the windows down because it was starting to cool down, and we wanted to get some fresh air. Uh, we later realized that this was a rather bad idea. When Siri, Beer, and I pulled out the toasted bread topped with moo yong and chili paste, feathery, hairy moo yong started flying all over the place and got into our eyes. Gah, I'm blind, I'm blind! Poor Toon, I think we messed up his car pretty badly.


We were all starting to feel a little tired, but we still had loads of energy left.

~*~

We then randomly stopped the car and hopped out to take some more pics. Sorry, I don't know the name of the ruins in the background.


Siri, me. (left)
Tim, Toon. (right)


Uh, me. (left)
Hehe, this pic is cute. Check out Beer and her kick-ass boxing moves.
Go Beer, hie-yah!(right)

~*~

Our next stop was Wat Mahathat. In front of the wat were little souvenir stands where some local folks were selling some waaaay overpriced souvenirs to unsuspecting tourists.



Here we are acting like unsuspecting tourists.

Of course, that isn't to say that the souvenirs they had on display weren't beautiful, because they were.



Before entering Wat Mahathat, we of course had to pay the usual entry fee. However, Siri, with her slightly accented Thai (she has an American accent when she speaks Thai), asked the ticket guy a question, and so he suspected we were foreigners trying to speak Thai. He tried charging us "the foreigner fee" of 30 baht, and so I said to him in Thai, "Hey, we're Thai. I thought Thai visitors only have to pay 10 baht." The guy then apologized and said he thought we were Japanese tourists. Gah, not again! (Maybe I should move to Japan.)


Walking towards Wat Mahathat.

Wat Mahathat was my favorite wat out of all the temples and ruins we visited that day. There's something hauntingly sad about Wat Mahathat, and you can't help but feel a sense of loss and sadness for the great majestic beauty that once surrounded Ayutthaya. Lining the sides of the ruined temple walls are hundreds of headless Buddhas whose heads were all chopped off by Burmese intruders back in 1767.


I felt that every single headless statue was a testament to the immense amount of hatred that drives humans to rampant and heedless destruction.
The general atmosphere was very melancholy and eerie indeed.


Me and Siri in front of the famous Buddha head entangled by tree roots at Wat Mahathat. There are many stories surrounding this, but perhaps the more common one is that while ransacking and burning down Wat Mahathat, Burmese looters and thieves were hurriedly trying to escape the flames, and so they dropped a Buddha head at the foot of the tree. Nearly 300 years later, the roots of the tree have grown around it, pulling it into a rather human-like embrace.


More headless Buddhas.


Siri and I sat in front of this Buddha for quite a while, simply enjoying the quiet stillness of the settling day. A few farang tourists joined us and we all sat in the company of the statue's serene tranquility without saying a word.


Tim, Toon, Beer, me, and a row of devastatingly sad headless Buddhas.


Beer, Siri, and me.
We look tired and haggard.

~*~

We hopped into the car again and set out for the main highlight of the trip: Wat Chai Wattanaram. This is perhaps one of the more famous wats at Ayutthaya, and is also where Bon Jovi filmed their "This Ain't a Love Song" music video.


A magnificent sight, isn't it? (left)
More headless Buddhas and an archway leading to even more rows of headless Buddhas. (right)


Stairway to heaven? (left)
The stairway leading to the top is INCREDIBLY steep and the steps are very tiny. You either have to have super small feet, or you have to walk sideways in order to get to the top. Siri, Beer, and I were rather hesitant at first, but after seeing these monks practically fly to the top, we decided to give it a go.(right)


Okay, so Beer and I didn't really make to the top, but at least we went halfway.
Even so, the view from where I clung to the railing for dear life stood was absolutely stunning.
Bwahahaha, Tim and Toon chickened out and didn't make the climb.


Two guards hanging out as the sun gets ready to set to the west of the ruins. (left)
No, those aren't two freakishly absurd statues you're looking at. That's me and Siri being our usual retarded selves.(right)


Here we are trying to look cool (and failing horribly).

We explored a bit, and later, the five of us sat along the temple walls of Wat Chai Wattanaram and waited for the sun to set.


Waiting, waiting, yaaawn, waiting.


Ah-ha! There's that gorgeous sunset!
Simply put, the view of the sun setting was absolutely incredible.
What a great closing to a wonderful day.



~*~

There's an incredibly haunted sense of tragedy surrounding the city, and if you've ever visited Ayutthaya before, I think you will agree with me when I say that this is the general essence of this once enchantingly illustrious city.




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