Ayutthaya

This is a city (town) in proximity of Bangkok and one of the main tourist attractions of Thailand. Well, more on the cultural side! According to Wiki it was the old capital of Siam from 1350 until the Burmese destroyed it.

The old town, where most of us end up, is a picturesque archaeological site.

 

Arriving by train

 

We took a train from Bangkok “Hua Lamphong “Station. There are trains every hour leaving to Ayutthaya and it costs 35 Baht. It is a third class sitter and it takes close to 2 hours to get there.

We took a Tuk Tuk to our hostel for 100 Baht (10 min max). However, you can cross their canal (Station is separated from the city by a canal) with the public boat for 5 Baht and walk to your place id it is not to far.

 

Hostel

 

There are many places to spend a night there. You can cover the town in two days ( one night).

We stayed at a hostel called Sleepaholic. It was clean, new and staff where nice and helpful. We took a private room for 650 Baht. I saw the dorms where nice and much cheaper.

Attractions:

 

Well… everything! You get a map with all the historical locations pointed on it. Rent a bicycle and go around. The city has designated bike lanes into some of the major streets but you are still sharing the road with the bikes. But here are some top selections in case you have very short time:

Wat Mahathat

 

If you Google “most famous Buddha statues” this will definitely show up. It is the famous “Buddha head in the tree”. The body is lost but probably the head got stuck in the roots of a tree and after this many years, it has become a part of the tree.

Wat Phra Sri Sanphet

 

Apparently this site was the holiest of all the temples. It is still an important, sacred area for the Thai. The three remained Buddhist Stupas are definitely an archeological masterpiece.

 

Wat Lokayasutharam

 

This is mostly an attraction for the foreigners to take a photo of the reclining giang Buddha.

 

Wat chaiwatthanaram

 

We tried to bike there but we ran out of time. It started getting dark and pouring rain . A note about biking in the dark: Don’t! It is not really that safe as you share line with the cars.

I have heard this is the best location to view the sunset!

 

I continued my trip to Chiang Mai ( Night train)…