Visit to Thailand's Old Kingdoms: Sukhothai and Ayutthaya

Last week, I had a wonderful field trip to two of Thailand's ancient kingdoms -- Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. The third old kingdom is Bangkok. We left early on Wednesday morning and took a comfy chartered bus 5 hours south to Sukhothai. I was thankful that we left so early because it was easy to fall asleep on the bus!

When we got to Sukhothai, we had lunch at a street shop and relaxed after the bus ride. We arrived at our hotel, which was like a little village of guest houses with a pool! We took a quick nap and a shower and then went off to the Ramkhamhaeng National Musuem to see some really cool exhibits of archeological excavations of the ruins. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but I have a few of outside. After the museum, we rented bicycles and rode around the Historical park -- we saw a bunch of really cool ruins and I had a great time riding lazily along!

Bupe, Tim and Anna outside the museum

Life from my handlebars

Later in the evening, we all met up for dinner and then hung around the pool with some beers and turned in early!

Thursday: We woke up VERY early so we could head to the historical park and explore many different ancient sites. Our first stop was to Wat Sri Chum, which is located at the northern end of the park on a hill about 200 m up. Here, I was confronted with the tallest and biggest Buddha that I've seen in Thailand so far! It was a really amazing site as there were a million trees and many different Buddha sites.

This Buddha image measures 11.30m wide from knee to knee and 15m high!

Me and Buddha. He's about 700 years old.

Our next stop was just a few minutes across the park to Wat Wat Saphan Hin, which is located at the top of a very large hill. We climbed up to see the Buddha image, and the view from up top was amazing!

Me at the top!

A really cool fossilized tree stump on the path down

 We made our way back down to the main section of the park and boarded a trolly car that took us to many different wats. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of all of them because we just passed along quickly! But this is a picture of a really cool temple that is built in Khmer (Cambodian) style. This style is influenced by Hindu architecture, and is very popular in Cambodia. I'll be seeing a lot more like these in just a few weeks!

 Our last stop in the park was to Wat Sa Si, which is significant as it was built with a hall for ordination and a hall for assembly -- it's huge!

Buddha in the Assembly hall

Walking Buddha

 After all the wats, we boarded the bus and traveled 6 more hours to Ayutthaya! It was a long ride, and we were exhausted when we arrived. We had a quick dinner and fell asleep in our cozy air-conditioned rooms.

Friday: Another early morning! No time to waste! Our teachers took us to a number of significant holy sites in Ayutthaya. Our first stop was at Wat Phra Si Sanphet, built around 1448 AD. The stupas at this temple contain the ashes of three or so kings that ruled during this period. The area that these temples encompassed was immense -- it was a wonderful spot to climb around and take pictures! There were many groups of school children who kept running up to us and asking our names. They wanted to take pictures with us, and we felt like celebrities! They were very eager to practice their English, which was fantastic.

Three HUGE chedis!

Catherine, Emma and Me

View from the top!

There is also a modern temple built next to this chedi, called Phra Mongkhon Bophit, which is home to one of the largest bronze Buddha's in Thailand. We played a game of sorts that revealed fortunes to us -- there are small cylinder containers that hold sticks with numbers on them (think like a tube of pick-up-sticks). You shake the can sideways slowly until one single stick falls out. You tell the number to someone at the 'fortune desk' and they give you a small print out card that corresponds to your number. I had number 22 and received lots of wishes for good health and good luck. Nothing too specific, but it was fun to do it anyway!

Next, we traveled to Wat Chai Watthanaram. This complex was built on the river bank in 1630 by King Prasat Thong during the later period of Ayutthaya. It is quite impressive! It was a nice spot to visit because it was a little off the beaten path; we had about 45 minutes of peace and quiet in an incredible place. The other attractions were so busy, it was nice to have some time to observe and reflect.

Anna, Me and Tim

This was particularly fun -- climbing up the stupas! Long way down...

Me, Catherine and Emma on the King's promenade, also used as an ordination hall

Our third destination was Wat Maha That, which is an especially sacred place as it is believed to hold some relics of Buddha himself. This was also a cool place because there is a statue of Buddha which has since fallen, but a tree continues to grow around the head.

A rainbow 360 degrees around the sun! No rain, just lots of moisture!

Our last stop was at Wat Yai Chaimonkhol, home to a very impressive lying-down Buddha image and a very large chedi. We had about 2 hours here because we needed to eat lunch. I took my time wandering around the grounds, and climbed up into the massive chedi. Inside there was a wishing well, so I made some wishes (not telling!) and threw a baht coin down. This was a heavily tourist-ed area, so it was nice to go off alone for a bit.

A massive Buddha...I had to use 'panoramic mode' to get a full picture!

Baby Bodhi trees!

Chedi Chaya Mongkhol

Down the rabbit hole...

Our incredible rainbow!

Saturday: We had a very cool opportunity to visit the grand palace Bang Pa In, maintained by the Bureau of the Royal Household. We were required to wear our uniforms, and some girls had trouble getting passed the guards as their skirts were too short -- we had to have skirts that covered our knees! They were extremely strict about this rule, and some had to go out into town to buy sarongs that covered their legs. This place was very interesting as it blended numerous kinds of architecture from all over the world. Here is an exerpt from a travel website regarding the palace:

"Originally built by King Prasattong, Bang Pa-In was the residence of all the kings in the Ayutthaya period but it was let unoccupied when Bangkok became the capital. Its importance was reestablished in 1851 when King Mongkut restored the palace and monarchs resumed residing there." The current royal family uses this place from time to time for different events and ceremonies. 


The reason for the wide variety of European-style architecture was that the monarchs of Thailand believed it was necessary to prove themselves worthy of European monarchs -- as if to say that they were just as competent and powerful. It is really a strange experience to be immersed in the hottest jungle climate and come across 19th century French and Dutch architecture. It was amazing nonetheless!

Feeding bread to gigantic turtles!

Me and the only Thai-style building in the whole park

Chinese-inspired, bedroom and living quarters to Rama V

 To close out the day, we visited the Ayutthaya floating market. Catherine, Emma and I wandered around and ate some delicious mystery lunch from a family that didn't speak a single word of English. Figuring out where and whom to pay was quite a challenge, ordering was the easy part. Just point!
I had a ball spending money (haha) because I'm usually pretty frugal.  I bought some great gifts to bring home!

The market is built on a canal, and it sort of feels like walking along a boardwalk that goes in circles along the water. There are shops on one side and boats selling goods on the other side. It was very crowded, and there were a ton of school children on tours!

Mystery foods!

Emma found a puppy!

Floating shops!

Emma and Catherine after a long day of shopping

 Sunday: Sunday morning was another early day because we had to make the 9 hour bus ride home to Chiang Mai! I enjoyed a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon at our hostel, and I even had time for a hot cup of tea! (Side note: I'm actually surprised for the lack of hot tea I'm drinking here; I expected it to be a pretty big part of Thai culture like it is elsewhere in Asia, but alas. Oh well!)

We boarded the bus and I fell asleep for most of the morning. But the bonus was that we got to watch a half season of Dexter because we had so much time to burn! 

This trip was really wonderful because I got to see so many important historical places. I must admit that I'm a little "wat-ed out" but I am so glad I got to take pictures and experience all of these amazing sites. (Side note 2: I took over 500 pictures. Holy guacamole!)

This week has been pretty laid back, but I am starting to get very nervous for finals next week. I have tests and papers due almost every day -- even at home I've never had such a hectic finals week! 

This weekend is my last in Chiang Mai, and I must admit that while I am so excited for Cambodia, I am very sad to leave Thailand. I have realy formed a wonderful connection with this place, and I don't want to go! I have some fun things planned for this weekend before everything gets crazy on Monday!

I leave for the islands next Saturday, which will be AWESOME! We're going to Koh Tao, on the eastern side of the peninsula. Here's a link to the wikipedia page.

More after the weekend! I have lots of studying to do!

Love and peace to all :)