Cock-a-doodle doo. Cock-a-doodle doo. That's all I heard from 7am on Christmas Eve morning; possibly even worse than waking up to an alarm clock. Our plans for this day were to see as many of the lost ruins as we could fit into the day. We took an opposite turn out of the guest house this morning and discovered where the "restaurant and bar" part of town was and stored it in our mind for later.
The temples were all a pretty far walk from our guest house. The first temple we arrived at was called Wat Thummikarat. There wasn't much left of this temple. You could get a good idea of what it would have been like prior to being ransacked, but it had really been destroyed.
Then we walked to Wat Naphramera, the only wat in Ayutthaya that wasn't destroyed when Burma invaded. According to my guidebook, the story goes when the Burmese were on the brink of capturing Ayutthaya in 1760, a siege gun positioned here burst, mortally wounding their king and prompting their retreat; out of superstition, they left the temple standing when they came back to devastate the city in 1767. It was a white building with the traditionally Thai gold trim around it that was built in 1503. Inside is a 6 meter high Buddha.
Then we ended up at Ayutthaya Golden Palace which housed several ruined buildings as well. The bits that were most in tact were pagodas that were all over the compound.
It was a hot day, so we enjoyed the fruit of Thailand, sipping coconut juice through a straw.
Inside the wat in this area housed a very large Buddha, resembling those I have seen in Japan. This buddha was called Phra Mongkhon BoPhit. The lap of the buddha is 9.55 meters wide. The image is 12.45 meters high and the base stands at 4.50 meters. The total height is 16.95 meters high. This Buddha was restored in 1957.
We all had quick showers and then went out for a night tour we had signed up for. First, it took us to distant temples that we couldn't get to by ourselves without a car. The first one was called Wat Yai ChaiMongKhon and was probably my favorite temple in Ayutthaya. It was built in 1357 as a meditation site for monks returning from study in Sri Lanka. It had a reclining buddha draped in gold silk.
The actual temple was surrounded by sitting Buddha's also draped in gold silk.
Behind the temple was a main buddha and then a bunch of little statues worshiping it. It was placed in front of a gorgeous garden as well.
Also included in this tour was a stop at an elephant camp. It depressed me a little bit seeing the animals chained but it was neat to be so close to them. I fed one as snot from it's trunk went all over my hand.
We watched the sunset from Wat Phu Khao Thong. This temple was really tall and white. You could call it "the leaning temple of Wat Phu KHao Thong" if you wished as it wasn't exactly perfectly upright which was kind of funny. The sunset from the top was terrific - it set over the rice paddy's of Thailand. While watching it, I really fell back in love with Asia again. I truly think that the best sunsets I have ever seen have been in Japan. The sun appears so much brighter and bigger here than back at home. Moreover, while setting over the rice fields - it really makes the earth look sooo much greener, so much healthier, so beautiful. I used to almost get in car accidents last year while driving during the sunset because I can't stop looking at such beauty. This year, as I'm in the city, I don't really get any mesmerizing sunsets. I know though, that when I think back to Asia, one thing I will always tell people is how gorgeous and stunning the sunsets are here. Just as the sun finished setting, nearby monks began chanting reminding me that we're in Thailand, not Japan.
The main selling point of this tour was to see the temples and ruins under illumination at night. We saw about 3 different ones this evening. I tried my best to capture it but it is definitely something you can't capture and just have to see. At the finish of the tour, we went back to that bar and restaurant street we had discovered earlier.
Tonight was Christmas Eve and so we definitely wanted to celebrate a bit. We chose dinner at an outdoor seating restaurant and decided to drink there. It was a really fun night with my friends. I had really wanted to stay out until it turned Christmas day but we had a curfew at our guest house so we had to go back.
1 comment:
The pink sunset is gorgeous along with all those temples. I can't believe all that you have seen and done, it's amazing! Good job picking out Thailand to visit.
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