Friday morning one week ago I rented a bicycle in order to drive around Ayutthaya and visiting some of the old Buddhism temples. First I went to Wat Phra Mahathat, its famous because of its Buddha head in the roots of a tree. From there I could also glimpse to Wat Ratchaburana with its high tower, but I declined to pay another entrance fee to it. Instead I moved on to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, as I was told I could go upstairs the towers, but that might have been an outdated information, as all access to them was closed. Hence, I just walked around, but in essence could have saved the money, as the three towers are also clearly visible across the fence. After a short visit of the Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit with its golden Buddha I passed by the elephants, where old fat tourists can ride on them, before I shortly stopped at Wat Lokayasutharam, where only the 50 m long laying Buddha remained. Well not really remained, it was rebuild with concrete in the 1950’s as much other remaining site. If there seems to be something intact, it might be suspicious and just rebuilt 60 years, and be far away from being original. After crossing the Chao Phraya river, yes it’s the same as in Bangkok, I went to Wat Chaiwatthanaram. Even it’s only partially preserved it was the most beautiful temple I visited in Ayutthaya. Afterwards I drove back and further on to Wat Phanan Choeng. In order to get there, I needed to take another, but cheap, ferry. This temple is still in operation and receives lots of visitors, who are worshipping the large golden Buddha. The temples are more or less same, same after Chiang Mai, Sukhothai and Luang Prabang, except for some unique highlights as the Buddha head or the Wat Chaiwatthanaram.
After finishing my temple circle I took the evening ordinary train back to Bangkok, which was pretty packed with tourists, which have made a day excursion to Ayutthaya. But luckily I got a seat for this almost two hours drive. At the main railway station I took the MRT for about half an hour. At the MRT station my host Ekkasit picked me up. His place is located much more convenient in Bangkok. He’s a very kind guy and even it was already pretty late, we had a very nice conversation until the early morning, where we could exchange a lot of our travel experiences. He told me also a lot of Thai people and culture, which surprised me in some details 😅. In essence I had only 2 hours sleep until, I needed to wake up and head back to the railway station. In my planning I didn’t want to stay another night in Bangkok, but due to the schedule, there was almost no other option. But I would have definitely regret it, if I wouldn’t had met Ek.
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